June 2003
28th June - Reading Town Regatta
Platt/McCallum MS3 2-
Pete and I duly entered the RTR thinking we would be able to use our new acquisition, Heart & Seoul. Nature had a different idea. H&S has been at Radley for some weeks for repair. A wren has built a nest and taken up residence in stroke's left shoe. Being the unprincipled type that I am, I was ready to make an eviction but the Radley boatman rightly called to my attention that it may be illegal to do so. Pete checked the web and we now have details of the incubation period of the 5 eggs and the fledglings should have gone by mid-July. The Oxfordshire RSPB advise that the wrens have no security of tenure if they have the bad judgment to choose a man-made movable object as a home. If they were in a hedge different rules apply. We are now torn between committing wrenicide and having bad omens in the boat for ever more or continuing to row in Doug Norris even if it is too light for us brutes.
So to RTC, we loaded DN on our new roof rack and went to Reading. Journey, unloading, rigging, boating went uneventfully. We were drawn against kids from Cincinnati, Ohio. Strange really as I had overflown this city on the day before on my way back from a business trip to the US. Nice kids, empathised with my jet lag. We didn't see them after the start. We went off like a rocket. I was rating what seemed like 40 (got a bit worked up) to Pete's more sensible 30 which in a pair can be a bit tricky! The umpire was most helpful in keeping us heading upstream. We finished second in our semi but did not progress to the final.
I must say that I have never, even in my long gone GB running career, been asked by an umpire at the end of a race if I had had "a health problem". Were we that good!
A thoroughly enjoyable (if disappointing) day and a great event but too many pre-Henley US school and college crews.
The regatta was founded in 1877, was called "Reading Working Men's Regatta" and was initially sponsored by Huntley and Palmer biscuits. Pete and I think that, with our time on Saturday, we would have had a very good chance of qualifying for the final in that first regatta. Now for Henley Vets .... perhaps.
"Slow but straight"
Stewart
20th -22nd June – Henley Womens Regatta
Both our lightweight crews made it through to the finals. Tanya fought through four hard rounds to the final only to lose to an U23 lightweight from Switzerland. Shelley and Emily made the final but lost out to a Notts County double. Helen and Flic got to the quarter finals but lost to City of Cambridge / Trinity Hall. Nikki led her opposition off the start but her 'exertions' at Ascot the day before took their toll and then one of the booms got in the way .... The club 4+ lost to a Vesta crew which had won S2 at Met, but are fired up for another go next year.
22nd June – Thames Valley Park Regatta
Juniors
On Sunday 22nd June 6 of our juniors raced at Thames Valley Park, near Reading, in a double scull and four singles. The day started with a violent thunderstorm which fortunately cleared up. Our first sculler to compete seemed, however, determined to get wet and Victoria Poyner in WN1x fell in whilst attaching to the stakeboat. Still she swam very elegantly and came up with a smile --- so not a complete disaster ??? Next on for us was our WJ16 2x of Alanah Wells and Emma Rawlingson. Having trained mainly at a rating of about 34, they attempted to surprise the opposition (and melt the slides ??) by not going below 40 over the course, a tactic which worked well for the first half but which allowed the opposition through in the later bits. Hattie Drury (pocket rocket) was next to race in WJ13 1x. Coming in second of three in a heat which was 12 seconds faster than the other two heats probably meant she was the second fastest of the 9 girls in the event, so better luck next time. Her sister Isobel in WJ15 1x made a good race to come in a decent second of three in her heat. The final sculler was Robert Hares (he of the mega ergo) in J151X. In order to give the opposition a fighting chance he obliged by catching a mega crab on 3rd stroke and we thought we had another swimmer --- however he recovered about 2 lengths down and proceeded to power through to take the lead only to lose grip on one of his blades about 50 metres from the finish and nearly taking a swim again. This let one of his opponents past to leave Robert second of three. If only we could find an ergo which floats !
! ! ! Still, an enjoyable day unmarred by the bureaucracy which makes some aspects of today's Regattas a pain - and the sun came out ! ! --
TONY
26th June
15th June – Nat Vets
Sunday's racing at the National Veteran Championships got off to a flying start with the scratch coxed four combination of Phil Haycock, John O'Donnohue, Andrew Veal, Steve Banks (from Tradesmen) and Dru Riddell-Black winning the Vet B category with clear water over the rest of the field. This was followed by a further convincing win in the Vet B Eight where the coxed four were joined by Simon Wilson (Tradesmen), Orlando Warner, Mike E and Pete King again with clear water over the rest of the field. Colin Cusack and Sean Morris similarly had a very productive day winning Vet E pairs beating their opposition by over 10 seconds despite their 9 second headstart. They also comfortably won Vet D coxless fours and narrowly missed gold in the Vet D pairs by 1ft taking the silver medal. Orlando and Mike were in a different class to the field and comfortably won their Vet B double sculls.
Going into the last race (Vet B 4-) this left everyone in the squad with at least one gold medal and some looking for their third of the day. However the rowing gods had other ideas. Through confusion over the start time of the race, which was said to be running 25 mins late but ran on time, the crew boated as the other 2 crews in the race crossed the finish line. Scullduggery and mischief were suspected but no proof was possible, and the crew were left saying 'We was robbed'.
For full results see:
http://www.nationalwatersportsevents.co.uk/Loughboroughresults2003.htmPete King
14/15 June - Reading Amateur
Men's Squad get burnt at Reading.
The Men's Squad competed at Reading over the weekend, racing s1 and s2 4- both days. The longer course on the Saturday proved too much for the crew of Angus Guyatt, Duncan MacIntye, Tom Williams and Lez Dix, being beaten by Reading (s2) and Abingdon (s1), although we managed to leave our mark on Abingdon School's first eight as they overtook in the navigation channel...Sunday began to look more fruitful as the crew beat Curlew in the first round of s2, albeit that the opposition couldn't steer and got themselves disqualified. The second round saw Wallingford convincingly beat City of Bristol by 3 feet...they all count...which meant they had to race Reading again in the final. Far be it for me to claim that a Reading crew might receive biased home advantage, but when the start umpire gives us an official warning by confusing us with a Leander coxless four you have to start to question how much some officials know about rowing...oh, and then he started the race without giving a roll call so we weren't ready, but I'm not bitter!
S1 saw the Wallingford crew return to familiar waters, racing former national lightweight champions from Furnival, Lez's steering shoe decided enough was enough and didn't want to play anymore. Disconnecting itself from the footplate, it dived into the water and headed downstream looking for calmer waters...Lez is now inconsolable as he searches the lower Thames for his beloved shoe.
Tom Williams,
Men's Squad Captain
19th JuneMens Novices
The Wally A coxed four had a tough draw against Hampton School. The race went something like this ....... attention ....... goodbye ... as they whipped us !!
Wallingford B coxed four had an outstanding two (ish ?) length win over Curlew in their heat but came up against the aforementioned Hampton School in the next round .... need I say more !!
The mens eight put up a great performance against Curlew but were pushed into a close second place !!! Sunday saw a similar format of entries to Saturday. Mens A coxed four had a bye in the first round and easily beat Reading (if you ignore the fact they crashed into the bank off the start !!!) and that put us into the final against Twickenham. The verdict was Twickenham win by 4.5 lengths - However they had all been rowing for 18 months and were blatantly on steroids (they were massive !!!)
Mens B coxed four were hampered by a small crab at the start but believe it or not were fighting back with a rate of 40 spm [quarter slide? coach & Ed....?] and did themselves proud with a really gritty performance.
Mens 8 again put in another great performance but finished a close second again !!
About eight months ago none of us had been in a boat. With excellent coaching from Martin/Susan and coxing from Kathryn (not forgetting Zippy on Saturday !) it will not be long before we get our mitts on that first pot !!!! Roll on Bewdley..........
Adam Swaine
26th JuneWallingford Women Novices
A Four and an Eight was entered both days; the Four came second comfortably (they can't remember the names of the crews who beat them - a bit of repression and denial going on there).
The Eight was comfortably beaten by Oxford Brookes on Saturday and then met the same crew last thing on Sunday. This time we gave them a huge fright and hung on in there - just like Oxford and Cambridge, though the rowing was a bit different. They won by 2.5 feet This was a good race, and we kept with them all the way, thanks to great support from our coach, Susan, and some remarks from a rude fat boy on the tow path.
7th June- London Docklands Regatta
Maybe a heading
Rowing at Docklands can often easily be mistaken for rowing on the sea and this year was no exception. After missing the early part of the season due to illness, Shelley and Emily Booker (Marlow RC) were keen to give their lightweight double a run before Womens Henley. In a storming head wind and very rough water, the double battled it out with the heavyweights in the WS1 2x to take bronze behind Guin Batten’s double and a Thames combination.
In the WE lightweight category the wind speed picked up to a strong cross-head giving all the crews trouble staying in their lanes but not enough to stop Emily and Shelley from taking gold easily over the other lightweights
31st May / 1st June - Peterborough regatta
A gorgeous weekend of fine weather made the weekend camping at Peterborough regatta much more enjoyable. With Zippy having a last minute panic when she found her scull had been locked away in the Reading Uni boathouse, she had no choice but to jump in a boat at the last minute kindly loaned by Emily Booker (Marlow RC). Unfortunately with such different limb lengths Zippy found sculling rather difficult in the borrowed boat and sculled off the course, the only thing keeping her from entering the camping area was the concrete edge of the regatta lake. Needless to say she sadly didn’t proceed into the next round.
Shelley had a good few races without incident winning the WS3 1x. None of the Wallingford party participated in any of the naked rowing activities that they witnessed on the Saturday evening and their good behaviour was rewarded with wins for Shelley in both the WS3 1x and the WS2 1x on the Sunday.
Club News Snippets
The club has just taken delivery of a new Burgashell stern loading coxed four. This will be used by the Veteran and Novice squads. If your crew would like to use the boat, please check with Mike Maggs (01491 833318) before booking it for the first time. The boat will be named after Chris Bomford.
The club is also going to commemorate Chris Bomford with a trophy at the regatta. There will be a box behind the bar for donations if you would like to contribute to this trophy.
Many thanks to those of you who contributed to the scrapbook for Carolyn Jones. Carolyn's mum said that she was delighted with the scrapbook and spent ages looking through it.
The juniors have now completed their Red Nose Row and raised an admirable £178 for the Carolyn Jones Trust. Thanks to everyone who sponsored them. The juniors have also recently competed at Avon County Oarsome regatta where they came first and second in the team events and got the top 5 individual scores. Something to build on !!
You may have noticed a couple of improvements down at the club recently. Many thanks to Colin Baker and Chris Turner for building a new section of raft. Also many thanks to Kathryn Parry for organising the servicing of all the cox boxes.
Rachel
11 June
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