Pair are making waves

Two pupils from Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School were crowned rowing champions of England at the National Schools Regatta in Nottinghamshire.
Georgia Shirley and Sophie Gillbanks, represented Merchant Taylors’ Boat Club in the Women’s Junior 14 category.
The pair faced tough opposition from over 30 other esteemed clubs including those from Eton Excelsior RC, City of Oxford RC, Ross Schools and Boston RC.
The regatta was split into three heats; the time trial, the semi-final and the final. The girls were fastest in all three, winning the final race comfortably by a margin of four seconds.
This success follows another runaway win in April when the pair represented the North West of England in the Inter-Regional Regatta, again finishing first in the country with an astounding 17 second lead.
Despite the formidable duo only pairing up as a team last October, Sophie and Georgia have already made Merchant Taylors’ Boat Club history as the first female team to become national champions. It has been 40 years since the title was last won in 1975 by an all-male team.
Georgia and Sophie turned their hard work and dedication into training for the British Championships which took place at Strathclyde in Scotland in July.
Their hard work paid off and they are now the British Women’s Junior 14 Champions, capping off a truly remarkable year for the juniors.