Marlow Spring Regatta: Saturday 3rd May 2025

Dear Parents and Athletes,

Marlow Spring Regatta is being run on the River Thames at Marlow over 900m downstream from Bisham Abbey to Higginson Park, racing will take place on a three lane course. Headington have entered crews in wave 1, 2 and 3 in the J13, J14, J16 and J18 age categories.

Please note that the school transport (see transport section below for timings and information) is setting off early as racing begins early in the morning but if you wish to drop your daughter off at the race venue please let the coaches know either by email or by a Spond message so we know not to expect them on the bus.

If dropping your daughter off please ensure she has liaised with her coach regarding when she should arrive at the venue for her race and in any case she should be at the race venue no less then two hours before her first scheduled race.

Rower drop off and/or pick up is in the Pound Lane (Court Garden) car park, not at the Regatta car park (trailer parking only). From there it is a short walk across Higginson Park to where the trailer is parked and where HSOBC will be based for the day.

Location:

The race site / drop off address is:

Lower Pound Lane

Marlow

SL7 2AE

The Draw:

The provisional draw can be found on the event website. 

The girl's crews will be confirmed at training early this week (if they have not been already) we have tried to enter as many girls to race as possible but there are limitations on this cased by the fixed number of seats in the boats.

If your daughter is available to race but has not been signed up via a google form please let me know as soon as possible.

If your daughter is told she is racing but is in fact now unavailable for any reason please let me know as soon as possible.

HSOBC has entered crews into the following events in each wave of racing and some girls will be rowing on two waves:

Wave 1

WJ16 2x

W14 4x+

Wave 2

WJ18 4x

WJ16 1x

WJ14 8x+

WJ14 1x

WJ13 4x+

Wave 3

WJ18 2x

WJ14 2x

WJ13 8x+

Transport:

The bus for the J14 coxed quads will depart at 6:30am at the latest. Please meet outside the school gym at 6:20am.

Please note that there are boarders and girls who may be sleeping during the morning departures. The ROWERS MUST NOT MAKE ANY NOISE while waiting outside the boarding house. Transport will be available back from Marlow to school for all rowers. If being collected by parents after racing; no girls may depart the event until the trailer has been fully loaded and/or they have been dismissed by their coach.

Itinerary: Marlow Spring Regatta - Saturday 3rd May 2025

Please note that there are many girls racing and that it is their responsibility that they follow the coaches instructions and the timings below.

0620: Meet outside school gym

0630: Bus departs from Headington

0700: Bus arrives at venue - begin rigging boats

from 0824: racing begins (see race schedule listed below)

Boats will be derigged and loaded onto the trailer throughout the day as racing continues. No girl may depart before their boat and blades have been fully loaded onto the trailer and they have been dismissed by their coaches.

Girls may be collected by parents once their racing has concluded and their equipment has been loaded onto the trailer and/or their coach has said they can depart.

1715: Approximate departure time of school transport.

1745: Approximate return time to Headington - the girls using school transport will be able to contact parents when we are departing Marlow)

Race Schedule

Please note that this is subject to change by the regatta organisers and coaches will have the most up to date schedule on the day and will communicate with the girls if there are any significant changes to timings.

Also please note that the name appended to each Headington crew on the draw may not be correct (the entries are placed many weeks in advance and crew linups do change in the meantime). The coaches will confirm exactly which crew your daughter is in this week.

		Wave 1
	Heat	Final
WJ16 2x	08:24	08:51
WJ14 4x+ (Yap)	09:09	09:51
WJ14 4x+ (Lindstrom)	09:12	09:51
WJ14 4x+ (Teeken)	09:30	10:15
WJ14 4x+ (Fraser)	09:33	10:15

		Wave 2
	Heat	Final
WJ18 4x		11:36
WJ16 1x	13:09	13:51
WJ14 8x+ (Yap)	12:12	12:51
WJ14 8x+ (Valera)	12:24	12:51
WJ14 1x (Cooper)	11:57	12:30
WJ14 1x (Davis)	12:00	12:30
WJ14 1x (Hughes)	12:03	12:30
WJ14 1x (Gore)	12:03	12:30
WJ13 4x+ (Keene)	12:27	13:03
WJ13 4x+ (Quinn)	12:33	13:03
WJ13 4x+ (Surtees-Dawson)	12:36	13:03

		Wave 3
	Heat	Final
WJ18 2x		15:06
WJ14 2x (Hughes)	15:45	16:27
WJ14 2x (Davis)	15:54	16:27
WJ13 8x+ (Rotheram)		16:00
WJ13 8x+ (Surtees-Dawson)		16:00

Kit and Food

The girls will need:

- A Large water bottle (1L) with electrolyte replacement fluid.

- Food - appropriate for race day, if you are not sure what to bring please have the girls ask their coaches

- A good breakfast before departing (eg: Porridge, toast and a banana).

- A snack for after each set of races (if doing more than 1). If not sure what to bring; your daughter's coach can advise her.

- Kit: The girls will be required to race in a HSOBC lycra and a white t-shirt, in the event of wet or cold weather the girls may wear HSOBC leggings and splash jackets. If they do not have any HSOBC kit yet please let me know.

The crews remain on the water between their heats and final so each girl must have a water bottle to take into the boat with them.

Spectating

The racing can be viewed along the tow path on the Marlow side of the river with the best view of the finish being from Higginson Park

I would ask parent to please avoid entering the trailer park or approaching the girls while they are at the trailer, rigging their boats and launching and landing for their races. The girls and coaches do not require any help with these activities.

Please may I also remind parents that under no circumstances are they to follow races on bicycles as this may result in crews being disqualified.

Policies and Documents

The following documents should be read/reviewed by all girls competing this weekend:

- Competitor Instruction

- Course Map

Any other safety documentation including risk assessments and welfare policies for the event can be found on the event website

If there are any significant changes to the information provided above I will email them to parents with as much notice as possible.