- A Memorable Week for QEHS Rowing Club
- QEHS Rowers Rescue Dog From The Tyne
- England Colours for QEHS Rowers
- Head of River Race
A Memorable Week For QEHS Rowing Club
Sunday 19 June saw Old Boys and Girls of QEHS Rowing Club gather on Tyne Green to meet the founder of the club Chris Grabham, who was visiting from Canada to see the new Boathouse. Chris established QEHS Rowing club in 1980 and can be proud of the club he started with borrowed boats and no facilities. He was astonished at the new facilities on Tyne Green and was pleased to see that the club has continued to flourish since his departure eight years ago.
QEHS Rowing Club continues to influence the national development of rowing with ex-members coaching throughout Britain. Ex QEHS rowers are coaching at many universities, top clubs and prestigious schools, for example, at Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities and Tideway Scullers. To spread the influence even further Matthew Mole will soon leave Year 13 at QEHS to begin a one year coaching post at Christchurch Grammar School, Perth, Australia before returning to complete his Sports Science Degree at Northumbria University. He will be the second QEHS rower to go down-under as Ashley Haycock is currently coaching rowing in Melbourne.
The ex QE rowers were put into crews and took part in some interesting racing, culminating in a six boat side by side race which brought a moment of excitement to the people walking dogs or enjoying a picnic on Tyne Green. The current coach Pauline Higgins was worried about her boats surviving the race without mishap as the club is currently preparing for the National Championships. Some of the Oldies were feeling the effect of the racing and needed assistance to get out of their boats, offering those immortal words of Steve Redgrave ‘ I’ve had it. If anyone sees me near a boat they can shoot me’. However, everyone survived and were pleased to continue the celebrations, enjoying a meal with Chris at the Boat at Warden.
The club celebrations continued when Pauline Higgins was presented to The Queen at the Carers and Volunteers Garden Party at Alnwick Castle on Wednesday 22 June. Pauline talked to the Queen about her role in developing rowing for young people. Pauline is normally seen on Tyne Green wearing a waterproof with Queen Elizabeth on the back but on this occasion she didn’t want to confuse the public at Alnwick so wore something more appropriate for meeting our monarch. Pauline and her husband Geoff enjoyed a fantastic day and would publicly like to thank all those who organised the event, especially The Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, The Duchess of Northumberland. The organisation was flawless and all the event and Alnwick Castle staff were outstanding in every way.
QEHS Rowers Rescue Dog From The Tyne
Rowers from Queen Elizabeth High School were arriving for their training session knowing that the freezing conditions would mean they would not be out on the river yet again. The river was frozen over several meters from the bank with lots of ice floating down the remaining section.
Unfortunately a dog had decided to investigate the frozen river and had fallen through the ice. The dog tried but was unable to get out of the freezing water back onto the ice. The owner came to the boathouse looking for a canoe but the rowers do not have access to the canoe shed. The small rowing boats are not stable and a distressed dog could easily tip a single or double sculling boat so if there was to be any chance of a rescue a quad had to be launched. Meanwhile the desperate owner was trying to reach the dog with the rescue ring without success.
The rowers set to with spades and lengths of wood to break the ice at the landing stage whilst ex QE members Will Briggs and Chris Scrimshaw joined Zak Varty, Sam Stokoe and Avram Benjamin in preparing a quad. Fortunately the ice was not too thick and the boys were soon on the water rowing towards the stranded dog. Using the bow to break the ice they plucked the frozen animal from the water and returned to the landing stage. It was then wrapped in foil blankets and the relieved owner rushed it to the vets.
As the boat was being returned to the boathouse one of the boys commented on the appropriate name of the rescue boat: Alive and Kicking!
The owner returned later to thank the boys and report that the dog was doing fine, despite having been in the water for about 15 minutes. This is a warning to other dog owners using Tyne Green during the current conditions to ensure their dogs stay clear of the frozen Tyne.
England Colours for QEHS Rowers
Three girls from Queen Elizabeth High School Rowing Club and one from Talkin Tarn Rowing Club have achieved the ultimate goal for most athletes, to represent their country. Last weekend was the Home Countries International Rowing Regatta in Cork, Ireland. The English team, consisting of 54 junior boys and girls, a further 54 senior rowers and their coaches met at Heathrow airport early on Friday morning to fly to Cork for the event which was held at the Irish Rowing Centre.
The girls (left to right in photo); Gina Lamb, Steph Charlton, Katrine Hardy and Catherine Gammage were selected at the British Rowing Championships the previous weekend at Strathclyde Park in Glasgow. The girls had raced in a coxless four and although they did not win the event they were the highest placed eligible crew so were asked to represent England the following weekend.
The days in between were hectic with blades to be painted in England colours and the boat to be transported to Runcorn and then by ferry from Liverpool to Ireland.
The travelling and work involved to get these girls to the event was all made worthwhile for Talkin Tarn coach Graeme Mark and QE’s Pauline Higgins when the girls took their places with the rest of the team in the departure lounge at Heathrow. Dave Higgins, who coaches the QE rowers was unfortunately unable to attend due to work commitments.
Buses collected the team from Cork airport and took everyone directly to the course for a practice outing on Friday afternoon then to the hotel for dinner, a team briefing and an early night. Saturday was the big day. The QE / Talkin Tarn girls were in the first race of the day in the junior girls coxless four so there was no time for nerves as they prepared for their race. The lake was calm; in fact conditions were almost perfect for rowing.
The steep sides to the lake meant that the only commentary came from a boat alongside the competing crews. Scotland took an early lead with England, Ireland and Wales remaining close together over the first 500metres. Then England pushed on leaving the other 2 crews behind in the middle stages of the 2000metre race. In the final 500 the Irish made an attempt to catch up but the English girls were not going to be pushed into third place. They finished in second place; close on the heels of the Scottish crew who had taken the gold medal at the British National Championships a week earlier. The four girls came off the water satisfied that they had done their best and had obtained 3 points for the England team. In fact their finish position was one of the best achieved by any of the English girls who finished second overall.
It was an experience to remember and to be proud of and one that will hopefully inspire other members of the club to emulate. They can wear their England kit with great pride as the work these four girls have put in over the previous year deserved success.
The girls were selected at the British Rowing Championships but they were not the only members of QE to demonstrate their talent at this event. Four other crews qualified for finals. The girls four also teamed up with girls from Yarm, Durham School and Tyne Rowing Club to compete in the Junior Girls 8 event. They came 4th. Also achieving 4th place were the junior boys pair of Matthew Mole and Charlie Dickinson.
The under 16 girls four of Sarah Robinson, Natercia Correria, Laura Scrimshaw, Poppy Brewer and cox Gemma Mills have struggled for success but this year have shown that hard work and determination does pay off. They won Durham Regatta in June and although they were disappointed not to medal they came a creditable 5th place in a strong field.
It was the first Champs for the Under 14 girls crew of Fran Ronan, Lydia Vennart, Nicola Charlton, Robyn Dodwell and Laura Mills, who have only been rowing for a year. They too qualified for the final coming in 6th. With hard work over the coming year, who knows, they could be the medal winners of the future.
Head of River Race
The Head of the River Race (HORR) is the biggest event of the Head season. It takes place on the Thames between Mortlake and Putney in March each year.
In 2010 QEHS Rowing Club were celebrating 30 years so some of the old boys led by Olympic medallist Matt Wells decided to mark the occasion by entering this event. The entry was made in the name of Hadrian Boat Club, a club established a few years ago for 'old boys and girls' of QEHS.
Pictured above are the crew after their race. Left to Right are Pete Wells, Dave Higgins, Chris Jacklin, Robbie McFarlane, Matt Wells, Matthew Mole, Charlie Dickinson, Ian Stubbs with their cox Ashley Haycock.
