The Salopian Summer 2023

76 SCHOOL NEWS
Boat Club Dinner
some encouraging results so early in the season. The
Senior boys placed 6th and 19th in the coxed four, 9th in
the coxless four and 24th (of 39) in the quad. The Senior
girls placed an impressive 4th in the coxed four and 16th
and 38th in the quad.
In December, six Shrewsbury crews travelled to Chester for
an invitational Head Race with the four local clubs on
the River Dee. It was great to have the J15s, J16s and Senior
crews racing at the same event. Two Senior mixed VIIIs and
the J16 VIII were the fastest three crews down the track. The
Boys’ J15 octuple posted an encouraging time to place sixth
overall of the 36 crews. The J16 Girls’ quad and J15 Girls’
octuple rowed well to place 1st and 3rd out of boats in their
respective age groups.
In the Lent term, the Boat Club Dinner was held just before
the first coach weekend. It was wonderful to have boats
and oars in the hall to set the scene. The dinner provided
the Boat Club with the perfect opportunity to show our
appreciation to both Huw Peach and Steve Fox for their
significant contributions to the Boat Club over the past 32
and 29 years respectively. It was a fitting tribute to name the
School’s new coxed and coxless fours after them. Our guest
speaker for the dinner was Will Satch (MBE). Will stroked the
Great Britain Men’s Eight to gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Will spoke with great passion as he shared his story and
inspirational advice with a captivated audience.
At the beginning of February, six Shrewsbury crews raced at
the Wycliffe Head over a 4500m stretch of the Gloucester
and Sharpness Canal. The conditions were ideal for racing
and saw the Senior Boys place 3rd, 4th and 8th in the J18
Eights event. The Senior Girls placed 4th and 5th in the WJ18
Eights event and the J16 boys placed 3rd in their event.
On the Saturday preceding half term, four J15 crews travelled
to Chester for a match with The King’s School Chester.
The match saw the crews take part in a time trial over two
legs of a 1500m stretch before facing off in a side-by-side race
against the equivalent King’s opposition. The match provided
an ideal opportunity to prepare the crews for managing
themselves on and off the water in a low-stress environment.
The crews more than held their own, with some impressive
rowing on show from all involved. There were some very
close margins in the time trials, with the boys’ and girls’ crews
compared by relative gold medal percentage times. The first
of the Shrewsbury Girls’ octuples recorded the highest gold
medal percentage time with 85.5% - only 0.1% over the first
of the Shrewsbury Boys’ octuples at 85.4%.
Over the second coach weekend, the Girls’ 1st VIII and
Boys’ 1st and 2nd VIIIs travelled to Chester to race in the
North of England Head of the River on the River Dee. It
was the first opportunity for the selected crews to show
their speed in a race situation. The event saw 129 crews
tackling the 5000m course. The boys’ crews raced in the
first division and put on a strong performance, with the 1st
VIII winning the J18 category and placing 3rd overall. The
2nd VIII placed 3rd in the J18 category. In the afternoon
division, the girls relished the chance to get out racing
and produced an impressive row to not only win the J18
category but also claim the overall headship as the fastest
women’s crew at the event.
Six crews travelled to London to race in the Schools’ Head
of the River over the 6.8km course of the River Thames from
Chiswick Bridge to Putney Embankment. Despite little recent
water time due to flooding, the crews coped well in the wet
conditions to record sound early season results:
Boys’ 1st VIII - 9th of 38; Girls’ 1st VIII - 17th of 34; Boys’ 2nd
VIII - 10th of 20; Boys’ 3rd VIII - 4th of 7; Boys’ J16 VIII - 10th
of 14.
On the final Monday of the term, four Shrewsbury J15
crews joined 3,000 other junior rowers to race at the
Junior Sculling Head at Dorney Lake. The crews
completed two timed 1800m legs of the lake, which were
combined to work out the results. The two Girls’ J15
octuples placed a creditable joint 9th and 22nd out of 25
crews. The two Boys’ J15 octuples placed 3rd and 12th out
of 14 crews in their event. It was a fantastic result for the
J15A boys to win the bronze medal.
Sam and Huw Peach
Athol Hundermark