Medal Success at the British Rowing Indoor Championships

The Langley Academy enjoyed an exceptional weekend of competition at the British Rowing Indoor Championships 2025, held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, with students delivering outstanding performances across a wide range of events.

Klaudia (Year 10) and Mehrzad (Year 9) continued their remarkable success by achieving three consecutive years of medalling at the championships. They were part of a four-person relay team alongside Jasmandeep (Year 10) and Piotr (Year 9), initially securing bronze in the J11–15 boys’ relay. After organisers acknowledged that another team had been incorrectly placed in the race, The Langley Academy was rightly awarded the bronze medals.

Klaudia further strengthened her position as our most bemedalled athlete by also taking silver in the Under 15 Girls 6-minute Chase event. In this challenging format, rowers must stay ahead of a pace boat that gradually increases speed – similar to elimination races seen in world indoor cycling and on television’s The Chase. Klaudia’s performance showed outstanding strength, control, and determination.

A Weekend of Top 20 Finishes and Personal Bests

A total of 16 students travelled to Birmingham on Saturday 6 December to compete in age-group events and 500m sprints. All were selected based on predicted top-20 finishes – and every single student delivered. Across 21 entries, every competitor finished inside the top 20 of their respective events.

Piotr added to the medal tally by securing bronze in the Year 8 boys 250m event.
Our highest Saturday placing came from Zoe (Year 8), who finished an impressive 5th in the Year 8 girls 500m.
Rehan (Year 7) placed 6th in the 2-minute event and followed this with 7th in the 500m, a result matched by Angelina (Year 7) in the girls’ equivalent.

Overall, we achieved:

• 7 top 10 finishes

• 13 personal bests from 21 performances

The Saturday programme also included the 2000m open adult races, which form part of the GB Rowing Team selection process. The front row of machines was filled with current GB athletes, including numerous Olympic medallists – a powerful reminder of the elite environment our students were competing within.

Supersprints and Record-Breaking Performances

Eight students went on to compete in the Sunday Supersprints, where world and British records were broken throughout the day. Events included 1-minute sprints, 250m sprints, and 8-minute team relays. Klaudia and Tomasz (Year 11) also raced in the demanding 6-minute Chase event.

All eight students produced personal bests in the 1-minute sprint, and seven out of eight did the same in the 250m sprints – a phenomenal level of consistency and performance under pressure.

To add to the medal success:

• Mehrzad finished 4th behind Piotr in the Under 15 boys 250m, reversing their result from the 2024 championships

• Tomasz finished 4th in the Chase, which had to be rerun after the organisers set the pace boat too fast, eliminating the field within the first minute while Tomasz was leading

Looking Ahead

Our next major competition will be the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships at the Copper Box Arena in London on Friday 20 March 2026. Any student wishing to be considered must achieve 85% or higher of their age-group standard. Updates will be posted on the rowing noticeboard near the South stairs.

A huge thank you to Malgorzata Filipowska for capturing many of the photographs from the event.

This was an exceptional weekend for The Langley Academy – not only in terms of medals and placings, but in attitude, preparation, and performance. Every student represented the school with pride.