Bedford Modern School Boat Club - Bedford | UK Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Bedford Modern School Boat Club is the rowing programme of Bedford Modern School in Bedford. It rows from the shared schools' boathouse on Longholme Island, beside the Great Ouse.

Rowing carries no termly participation fee at the school. It becomes a Games option in Year 9, while Easter and summer camps allow Senior School pupils to begin earlier. The club selects A and B racing crews from Year 10 upwards; younger squads concentrate on learning the sport and understanding the discipline.

The programme supports pupils ranging from beginners to those seeking university scholarships or places on the Great Britain pathway. The school says its crews have won locally and reached several A finals at the National Schools' Regatta, and it aims to qualify a crew for Henley Royal Regatta each year. Henley Women's Regatta has become another key event as girls' rowing has developed.

An annual Easter training camp is a major part of the calendar. More than 50 pupils travel to Italy for a programme that combines physical training with supervised academic study before the main regatta season.

The school's rowing facilities include a boathouse holding 34 boats, equipment for weight training and testing, and an indoor rowing suite. Published club schedules also list separate strength and conditioning, ergometer and girls' rowing sessions.

Notable former pupils named by the school include Olympic champion Tim Foster and Junior World Championships representative Jess Read. Six other former pupils competed for Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse, while Ellie Sillar rowed for Cambridge University in the Boat Race.