After a long hiatus enforced by extensive flooding of the waterways this winter, the girls were back on the water in a competitive vein at Quintin Head on Saturday 25th January 2020. Quintin Head is raced on the tidal section of the River Thames from Hammersmith Bridge to 600m upstream of Chiswick Bridge (a distance of about 5km raced with the tide).
Headington had a fleet 4 eights racing comprising a 1st and 2nd eight as well as J16 and J15 crews. After a tough autumn and winter effected by poor river and weather conditions the girls were excited to be racing again especially on the Tideway ahead of the Schools' Head and Women's Head in March both of which are major events for HSOBC and are run on the same stretch of water.
All of the crews raced well, each finding a strong rhythm early in the race which allowed them to really attack the race throughout. The results were strong across the board for HSOBC with the 1st and J16 eights winning the women's under 18 and under 16 categories respectively. The 2nd eight finished an impressive 6th in under 18 overall and were the fastest 2nd eight. The J15 eight raced well in coming 4th in a very competitive field.
Quintin Head was a great event for the girls and a really useful early outing for all of the squads ahead of the major head races in March 2020.