BBRC Year 2023/24 News

BBRC PLUM PUDDING RACES

BBRC’s finale of the year ‘Plum Pud’ races took part on Sunday 17th December. We had 74 members take part in the rowing races with another 12 helping with launches, pontoon, coordinating and catering.

The crews were randomly selected mixing Juniors, Masters, Novices and Competent rowers together, and everyone had a great time, entering into the spirit of Christmas. Unfortunately, the weather got up, and the races on the water were stopped short, but completed on the ergos, with much bravado.

A big thank you to Dave, Mike and Wendy for the background work and coordinating. Sarah, Dave, and Rob M for launch safety cover. Mike, John B and Wendy for pontoon help. Christa, Helen M, Hazel and Clare for the catering tent, plus all the parents for the lovely cake donations.

Thank you to everyone who entered into the spirt of the Club event. Have a lovely Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year.

**************************************************

SUNDAY 19^TH NOVEMBER

With the weather putting rowing on hold again, the Junior coaching team are always looking for inventive ways to keep the Juniors engaged with winter training and making the sessions fun.

On Sunday the 19^th November, we arranged 4 x 20minute sessions. The Juniors were divided into 4 groups of approximately 8.

Sessions:

1. Hill Sprints -  Wendy
2. Ergo’s introducing the new sliders - Jamie
3. Basic life support, with the Annie’s - Helen
4. Capsize and Coldwater shock presentation – Dave

There was lots of running around between the Bistro, boat shed and the hill behind the shed. It was a great morning with lots of important information covered in the sessions, as well as some hard workouts.

**************************************************

MAIDSTONE AUTUMN HEAD 15^th OCTOBER 2023

Bewl descended upon the Medway at Maidstone Head, with our largest ever entry. There were 82 rowers in 52 events. Juniors, Seniors and Masters took part, ages ranging from J14 to Masters F (ages 60-65 average).

The Head race is run over 2500 metres in 4 divisions. The conditions were fast, with a slight tail wind. Everyone had a great day, Bewl winning 20 races in singles, doubles and coxed quads. Bewl’s fastest crew, Jack and Ben in Op J18 2x, also winning the ‘fastest crew of the day’, in a time of 08:42.7. Bewl ladies, Mika and Lou in W MasA/B 2x, also won the ‘fastest women’s crew’, in a time of 09:49.3.

This event historically is the first event for many of our April ‘Learn to Row’ juniors. This year we took 6 crews of our Junior Development Group (The Blades), Girls and boys ages J14 & J15. They all rowed fantastic, and learnt many new aspects of preparing for a race and executing it. Squad of: Gabi, Skye, Mia P, Annabel, Mia R, Zara, Celia, Iris, James, Dan, Henry, Nico, Luke, Ted, Seth. Well done.

Other notable performances where the J15 4x+ boys (Zac, Jack, Harry G Fraser, cox Agatha) who came second overall in a time of 08:56.7.

The Masters group has been growing over the past few years following a very successful ‘Adult Learn to Row’ program. This year Bewl had 16 Bewl Masters entries. The fastest Bewl Masters crew was Lou and Andy in Mx MasC/D 2x, in a time of 09:26.5.

Thank you to Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club for hosting the event.

Results:

https://maidstoneinvicta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MSBH-Autumn-2023-results.pdf

**************************************************

PAIRS HEAD 8^th October 2023

The Pairs Head of the river was run from Chiswick Bridge to Harrods. 370 crews took part in the 4.5K race.

BBRC had 5 crews take part. Our fastest crew was Ben and Andy, Op Mas D 2x in a time of 15:26.67, finishing 4^th in their event. Closely followed by Angus and Brooke, MxMas D 2x in a time of 15:30.19, finishing 1^st in their event.

The other Bewl Crews:

Hagen and Jess: MxMas B/C 2x, 7^th

Crawford and Lucian: OpMas D 2-, 4^th

Colin and Richard: OpMas H/I 2x, 4^th

Well done everyone

**************************************************

SCULLERS HEAD 23^rd September 2023

7 BBRC Scullers took part in the Scullers Head. This is run by Vesta Rowing Club and is the UK’s largest race for single scullers. Around 500 scullers compete from the University Stone at Mortlake and finish at Putney Pier. Conditions were great, well done everyone.

Results:

Jack R J17 3^rd

Ben R J16 6^th 

Angus Mas.Lwt 16^th

Crawford Mas.D 21^st

Mike Mas.E 17^th

Ebony W.Sch/Jun 17^th

Lara W.Lwt 7th

**************************************************

BEWL BRIDGE ANNUAL DINER AWARDS

A big thank you to the Organisers of our Annual Awards Diner and Back to the 80's disco: Christa, Nicky and Anne-Marie with a little help from several others including Peter with extra hall supplies, Wendy with junior prizes and advertising, Helen with flower arranging, Nadia, Giselle, Manuela, Gabi and Ann for setting up, Josh and Evie with awesome stamina on the bar and glass washing and last but not least Lisa for the last clearing up this afternoon after two back-to-back water sessions!

The food was amazing from:

http://www.facebook.com/thewholehogcateringandeventsmanagement

Junior Awards:

Awards for Endeavour / Fortitude / Perseverance;

Jack E, Skye & Rosie

Coaches special award for can-do / Team player: Agatha

Oarsomes award for embodying the BBRC junior ethos: Hattie

Outstanding Performance: Jack

Masters Awards:

Annie: Long service for many years of boat booking (at least since 2016)

Jamie: Exceptional service for supporting junior rowing e.g. Strathclyde

Rob P: Exceptional service for supporting masters sculling - masters sculling squad and learn to row course/development squad

Mike: Exceptional service for supporting masters rowing and infrastructure in 2023 eg weekend vets and RTR and coordinating support for LTR course, racking etc

David: Exceptional service on fleet maintenance in 2023 - incredible over and above his safety and coaching roles

Mika: Exceptional competition achievements in 2023

Well done everyone.

*****************************************************

First Masters ladies 8+ in over a decade takes to the water. Fantastic start to the 2023/24 season.