In March, we took part in the national Row the Thames challenge against nearly 180 other teams. Nobody got wet, though, as it took place in our Sports Hall.
We had two teams – one from Year 10 and Year 11 – who each had to row the 346km distance over five days. They had sessions before and after school, rowing in total for about 20 hours! With the music pumping, this was a real test of resilience for the boys. One student, Edward Astley (10Br) deserves a special mention – he had actually never rowed before this challenge, but he managed 83km, the second-highest out of our competitors! Mr Sullivan described him as a “shining example of determination” afterwards.
This difficult challenge came to an end on Friday afternoon at about 6.00pm, with both teams finishing the challenge. This really had become a test of mental toughness to get over the line, and we were so proud of our boys’ commitment to the cause. Year 10 finished first, but Year 11 had the fastest overall combined time.
The results are in! Our boys came an impressive 14th (Year 11) and 15th (Year 10) out of the 180 teams. In the U18 category, this improves to a fantastic 4th and 5th. A magnificent effort, especially as most of their competitors were rowing clubs.
Well done to the boys listed below for fantastic effort – we hope the hand blisters have now healed!
Year 10 team: James Skinner, Oliver Hone, Chris Kolev, Edward Astley & Karim Elhadary.
Year 11 team: Bryn Horton, Zaki Osahn, Zack Clarke-Green, Daniel Keyvanfari & Jaspaul Sidhu.
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