On the 8^th and 9th May 2010, four HMSG girls competed at the Ghent Regatta in Belgium as part of the Welsh squad.  The girls, Emily, Jo, Freddie and Gracie were invited to race after they finished 1^st and 2^nd in the recent Welsh pairs trials.  They were selected to race in a coxless four and two coxless pairs against some very stiff competition including the French, Dutch, Belgian and Irish national junior squads.

On Saturday the four put in a very strong performance, winning their heat comfortably by over 10 seconds and as a result finished 4^th overall behind the French and Irish top boats.  In the pairs Emily and Jo had a shaky start but came back strong to finish 2^nd in their heat and 4^th overall.  The pair of Freddie and Gracie had a good start but steering issues dogged the 2^nd half of the race meaning they finished 3^rd in their heat and 6^th overall.  Sundays racing brought mixed results:  the coxless four, looking to build upon Saturday's performance, started well leading the top French boat for the 1^st 500m. However, the French and Irish were too strong in the second half and the girls slipped back to 4^th in their heat and 8^th overall.  Emily and Jo then raced again as a pair and had a strong race, building on their excellent performance the day before, finishing an encouraging 5^th against crews 2 years older than them.  All-in-all a positive weekend's racing and now we look forward to the National Schools' Regatta at the end of May.