Rowing Race for Thames Scullers Junior

Hi, my name is Bayley, I am 15 and a member of Thames Scullers Rowing Club.

On Sunday 13th April I competed in the Abingdon Head of the River Race along with other members of the Thames Scullers Club. There are two main race events in rowing. A Head and a Regatta. A Head race is a long endurance time trial race, the boats set off one by one and your race time is compared to that of other racers in your category. A Regatta is a side by side race.

The Abingdon Head of the river race, was a 2000m upstream, on the River Thames and I was racing as part of the WJ15 4+ crew. This a four person boat with a cox. It was the first sweep race I have ever participated in so I was a bit unsure how it was going to go, I find sweep a harder technique to sculling as I’ve not been doing it as long.

When it is our divisions time to get ready, the boat is loaded onto the water and we row up the course to the start. The anticipation of the race got my adrenaline going and as we got into our start position I was excited to compete. You build up your pace as you progress and the first part of the race is relatively straight but then it gets really curvy which made it hard to steer. As we reached the last 750 meters of the race it became more straight, as a team we powered on knowing we didn’t need to worry about any turns.

There is great support in the club both when we are training and at races. At this race, the club members as well as family and friends set up a “camp” along the river bank so we could watch the races and support each other and most importantly share sweets and snacks! For extra team spirit the girls all put neon ribbons in our hair, which is the Thames Scullers Club colour.

Thames Scullers had a good amount of crews participating on the day, with crews of doubles and quads. The event had a really great atmosphere. Sadly my crew didn’t place, but it was a really great team effort rowing together. As a club we did come away with a Gold and Silver medal for other team members which was brilliant.