As is usually the case, this season contained both its glorious highs and disappointing lows, but thankfully the highs resulted in the best overall number of trophies gained in many years. Nineteen in all and spread fairly evenly between both boys and girls. It was a great boost for the club to go to places like Birmingham Regatta and win 3 out of the 4 events entered, the fourth only being lost by 3 feet in the final! In addition, the boys' 1st IV won a bronze medal at the National Schools‘ Regatta, just being pipped for the silver by Emanuel, after a superb neck and neck race down the course.

All of these trophies came from the senior end of the club and albeit a welcome return on all the dedicated training they have put in over the years, it is also perhaps a reflection of a more complex curricular programme making it difficult to produce winning crews at the junior end of the club.

Nevertheless, numbers of rowers in the Third and Fourth Forms have been very encouraging and it was a pleasure to see both year groups winning preliminary races at Tewkesbury Regatta, the last event of the season. The J14s had started finally to show the timing and cohesion needed to be competitive in this sport, and in particular had started to develop an excellent team spirit. This must have been pleasing for Peter Bossom et al after their efforts to instil these qualities into the third form throughout the year. The J15 boys have always been regarded as a year-group with great prospects, with some big guys and plenty of talent. Though lucky enough to have the coaching experience of Julian Bewick, progress has unfortunately been held back by certain individuals lacking in self-discipline and humility. JMB‘s hard work and unstinting optimism certainly resulted in significant progress in the crew by the summer however and I hope and believe that many lessons have been learned along the way.

The girls' side of the club has continued to increase in strength and depth with the dedication, enthusiasm and experience of Barry Taylor and Gordon Reay. It has been a desperately disappointing season for Sarah Coates however, who was looking set to make a big impact on the national and international scene in her final year at the School. Unfortunately a chest infection which has plagued her in the past, came back with a vengeance and causing her to miss out on her three biggest competitions - National Schools‘, Women‘s Henley and National Trials. This was such a shame for both Sarah and Barry her coach, who have both put in a tremendous amount of effort in over the years. Maybe this will still pay dividends in the future when Sarah gains a first ever OM women‘s rowing blue?! Another disappointing end to the season was to be for Will Quayle, who after achieving the all important place at GB Final Trials, was forced to pull out before it started due to a back muscle injury.

It has been a disastrous season in terms of breaking equipment! Our boats seemed to have a self-destruct curse put on them or something. Nothing was safe, big boats, small boats, fat boats and thin boats, everything from beginner level up to the top fours and pair! Boats have been wedged in trees, impaled in muddy banks, rammed by other boats, blown off trailers, crushed by minibuses and snapped in half by passing cars! It started back in January, when the coxless four was blown off the top of the big trailer by a freak gust of wind. It crashed down through two other boats on the trailer before bouncing off an adjacent parked car (thankfully abandoned!) and landing on a fence. Strangely enough, as we drove back into the Quad later that afternoon with the wreckage in tow, any shock caused by the carnage was nothing compared to the look of horror on Denzil Hannam‘s face as they announced on the minibus radio that Portsmouth had lost 3 nil at home!

On the more positive side again, we have been lucky this year to see a good number of pupils showing real talent at coxing, from the Second Form up to the Lower Sixth. The value of a good cox is often underestimated, but is in fact a vital component for success. Another bonus was JMB‘s computer-aided entry programme. After some initial teething problems, it was eventually able to produce a full batch of completed entry forms for any particular event, crew lists for the Rowing notice board, an information sheet for the Bluefriars web site and make a cup of tea, all in less than two minutes!

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