Rowing: Wycliffe Big Head

On Saturday, 4 February, 99 members of the King’s School Rowing Club (KSRC) set off early for the journey down to Gloucestershire for the Wycliffe Big Head. 

The 4500m course along the Gloucester and Sharpness canal was the venue for the competition, which provides the first opportunity for all age groups to race against national competition before Schools Head of the River (the first major of the season) on 18 March.

In the morning division, KSRC raced three J15 boys’ VIIIs, two J15 girls’ VIIIs and one J18 girls VIII.

In the afternoon division, it was the turn for two senior boys’ VIIIs to race the course, as well as two J16 VIIIs, one J18 girls’ quad and one J15 girls coxed quad.  

There were a number of notable performances on the day. 

The J18 girls VIII fought hard against a strong Sir William Perkins School crew. The KSRC girls narrowly lost out but still produced a performance to be proud of to finish third in their category.

The J16 boys crew enjoyed beating Shrewsbury School, but were ten seconds short of the VIII from Great Marlow School who took the win.

The J15 girls VIII, J15 boys VIII and J15 boys octuple were all the fastest crews in their category, securing three category wins for KSRC.

Rowing Coach Mr Gray accompanied the rowers to Wycliffe and was impressed by what he saw on the water.

He said: “There were some great performances today. 

“The early season speed from the J15s is especially promising, but they must continue to aspire, collaborate and work hard if they are to achieve their full potential in this season’s majors”.  

Click on the image below for a gallery of images from the day: