![\"Sports](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sports-lover-weve-got-you-covered-Bedford-Blues-supporters-banner.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRunning annually since 1985, the Coupe de la Jeunesse is a competition organised by World Rowing which brings together Under-19 athletes from 16 European nations.<\/p>\n
And the pressure was on on the waters of Rotsee Lake, known as \u201cThe Lake of the Gods\u201d, considering 2025\u2019s cohort of Team GB rowers saw 45 of the 46-strong squad return from Austria with medals.<\/p>\n
Come the 2026 edition in Switzerland, both Ewan and Oliver made sure they continued the winning streak with two more golds, contributing to Team GB\u2019s triumph as they brought home the Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s overall trophies in Lucerne.<\/p>\n
The culmination of an excellent season<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning on the first day brought excitement, but also a critical assessment of what we could have done better\u201d, said Oliver, reflecting on what ended up as a perfect weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat learning mindset is what led to our success. On the second day, we put everything we had learned throughout the season into one race. <\/p>\n
\u201cCrossing the line, I felt overwhelming pride and couldn\u2019t have hoped for a better end to my Bedford School rowing career than winning for GB in an all-Bedford crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
The international success caps a landmark year for Bedford School Boat Club, during which the First VIII recorded the fastest 2,000m time in the school\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Bedford School boys, Stanley and Ben were also part of a gold rush, representing England at the Home International Regatta, helping the Men\u2019s Eight secure an Under-23 title on the same weekend.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bedford-School-Rowers1-1024x637.jpg\")
Oliver and Ewan, with their coach, Mr Rudkin. Image: jeanmiphotographies<\/p>\n
A potential Olympic pathway<\/p>\n
And the pair\u2019s coach, Bedford School\u2019s First VIII Coach, Tobias Rudkin was highly complimentary of the pair, as well as the school\u2019s wider rowing contingent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity for a Bedford School crew and coach to race in GB colours at an international regatta does not come around often\u201d, said Mr Rudkin. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am immensely proud of the work that these two young men have put in to achieve these high-quality international performances and come away with double gold at Coupe de la Jeunesse.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is notable that a Bedford School pair, a domestic schoolboy crew, went to race on an international stage beating the likes of Germany, Spain and Italy\u2019s selected best crews. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis shows the level at which the young men at Bedford operate and is a real testament to them, the coaching staff and the programme that has been built over many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wider Team GB success included pairs of gold medals for seven of the crews, with many of the names taking part potentially exploring a career in the professional ranks in years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Coupe de la Jeunesse is a key step on the Olympic pathway, giving athletes invaluable international experience that will help them as they continue their rowing careers\u201d, added Under-19 Programme Manager, Dan Cooper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith many athletes returning to the U19 programme next year and others moving into senior rowing, I\u2019m excited to see where this experience takes them next.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pair of Bedford School rowers have won international gold medals on the water for Team GB at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[55877,55878,55879,37036,55880,55881,17,10009],"class_list":["post-114639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-bedford-school","tag-coupe-de-la-jeunesse","tag-ewan-fawcett","tag-good-news","tag-oliver-payne","tag-rowing","tag-switzerland","tag-team-gb"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117083717320067154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}