With their season revolving around July’s Henley Royal Regatta, Westminster School Boat Club’s top boys’ squad has been training diligently over the winter, including throughout the Christmas break, through the ups and downs of the turbulent weather conditions, having come face-to-face with snow on the Thames.

In early January, the squad attended their annual winter training camp in London, to develop their technique and teamwork, and they are targeting other upcoming events, to ready them for the highlight of their sporting calendar.

Captain of the Boat Club, Max (Remove, LL), aims to lead the squad in the most prestigious regatta of the School’s rowing year and to bring home the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup to Westminster for the first time, after making the final in 2015 and the semi-final in 2016 and 2021.

With high ambitions, the squad is simultaneously targeting another key goal, to play a crucial part in the legacy of their year at the club by having rowers represent Great Britain at international events, like many Westminsters before them.

Reflecting on their work, Max, won a silver medal with Team GB at the U19 World Rowing Championships in 2022, said: “The Westminster Top Squad is a community within the wider school, a place where we forget the day-to-day pressures of school life and focus on something greater, something almost transcendent – the pursuit of speed, victory, and glory.”

Filip (Sixth Form, RR) added: “Rowing at Westminster allows us to be part of something bigger and special and have the chance to feel accomplished day to day.

“Rowing may seem like a chore to many, but it can evolve into a lifestyle of wanting to be something more than what is required. The true beauty of it is the close-knit relationships forged in our time together.”