YEAR 8 AND 9 GREAT RIVER RACE ON THE THAMES

YEAR 8 AND 9 GREAT RIVER RACE ON THE THAMES

We at Glyn School are proud to report of an incredible achievement from three of our students, last weekend, Alex H (9 Carew), Vincent W (9 Merton) and Archie T (8 Tudor) were all part of a team who took part in the Great River Race on the Thames. They were part of a youth team (under 14) for 1st Cuddington Sea Scout (Warspite). They were rowing in a Home Counties Gig - a 20 foot long wood and fibreglass vessel powered by 14' long spruce oars. The team was comprised of 5 rowers (4 on one resting) and 1 cox.

This is not a race for the faint hearted - it is London’s River Marathon. It’s a spectacular boat race (266 boats) covering 21.6 miles from Millwall in the East to Richmond in the West, travelling under 28 of London’s famous bridges. There is a time limit, as you need to outpace the tide's turn and this is a heavy boat. This was a very tough race, especially at the start with so many boats starting at the same time and very choppy waters. They finished in 3h 28min, a fast time helped by the Spring tide.

It was covered by the BBC with a live feed https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ cvgl4v40670t . 1st Cuddington Sea Scout was mentioned several times and Archie was even named as one of the youngest taking part in the race.

All three sets of parents were of course very proud of Alex, Vincent and Archie’s achievement, as are we as a school, this is an outstanding example of how these boys have really pushed themselves in something new and exciting, they should be very proud of what they have achieved and will have an epic story to tell their friends for years to come.