![Year 10B rowing crew at National Schools Regatta 2024]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1718007237/dulwichorguk/hudl5et0vsvxv6asbfa0/Year_10B_rowing_crew_at_National_Schools_Regatta_2024.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1718007237/dulwichorguk/hudl5et0vsvxv6asbfa0/Year_10B_rowing_crew_at_National_Schools_Regatta_2024.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1718007237/dulwichorguk/hudl5et0vsvxv6asbfa0/Year_10B_rowing_crew_at_National_Schools_Regatta_2024.jpg","width":767}])
93 students represented Dulwich College at the 2024 National Schools Regatta at Dorney Lake, hosts of the rowing for the London Olympic Games in 2012.
On Friday three Year 9 crews raced over a shortened 1km distance. The A octuple winning their C final (13th in country) with the B octuple finishing 12th in their category and the coxed quad finishing 41st.
On Saturday Year 10 – Year 13 rowers took to the course over 2km with both the Year 10 A VIII and Year 11 A VIII winning their C final (13th in country) the senior 2nd VIII finishing in 5th in the B final (11th in country). The Year 10 group had fantastic strength in depth boating four crews, the J15 4+ finishing 2nd in the D final, the C eight finishing 6th in the C final and the B VIII of Lucas Strong, Sam Strong, Leon McConnon, Magnus Hayes, Noah Darley, Quint Meijer, Caleb Wolf, Arman Tengayev and Ethan Smith finishing 5th in the A final – the 5th best crew in the country and a fantastic reward for their commitment to training over the winter.
The best result of the Boat Club was the 4th place from the J16 2nd VIII crew of Rupert Potts, Brodie Bell, James Callaghan, William Challacombe, Joel Chilton, Ollie Dodd, Yeseong Youn, Alex Zhang and Aidan Leung who managed to juggle their training with exams to produce a fantastic finish in their final rowing through opposition and narrowly missing out on a medal.
On Sunday it was the turn of two further senior crews. The J18 2- of Jake Gillanders and Oscar Heard finished second in their C final (13th in country). The 1st VIII of Rahul Ramakrishnan, Freddie Challacombe, Zac Seymour, Matteo Hanna-Amodio, Alex Craig, August Blain, Emilio Ali, James Farrow-Smith and Nicholas Elton had a fantastic regatta in tough conditions. Two weeks prior the crew broke the Boat Club record for a Dulwich College 1st VIII and came into the regatta with excellent speed. After a positive time trial finishing 11th – 6 seconds from 3rd – the crew raced their rep well putting them in a positive position for their semi-final. Although in an unfavoured lane due to a cross wind, the crew stayed in touch of making the A final narrowly missing out. In their B final, again from an unfavoured lane, the crew showed real grit to hold on to the crews on their outside producing a fantastic finish to come 3rd, missing out on 2nd and a top 10 place on a surge.
Congratulations to all the Boat Club for their fantastic performances. Thank you to the coaching team for their great work in getting the students ready for the event, showing dedication, support and motivation for all students in the Boat Club. The support of the parents was outstanding, and we are hugely grateful for the work DCBCA do in supporting the event. Special thanks to Mr Croucher for supporting the staff and students throughout the Regatta, providing the right mix of excitement and focus to the coaching team and students.
We are excited to see how we go next year as Dulwich College Boat Club continue to improve our national standing with each regatta.
