Small Boats Regatta 2009:
Magdalene Silver Pairs
Round 1: Lost to Christ's
At the time it seemed a good idea to enter a pair in the small boats regatta; unfortunately that time was about 10:30pm at the White Hart on the last day of training camp. When, a week later, we realised what we had agreed to it was a little too late to think of much other than surviving the race but we thought, if there's an event with Magdalene in the name there really should be Magdalene in the event! We set ourselves a punishing training regime... the afternoon before the 11am race... and jumped in the boat. After a somewhat shaky start we completed a generally shaky outing along a river which has rather more bends in it than we remembered but the sun shone and we didn't capsize. As our confidence increased we decided our contingency plan of entering in a coxed tub (better to be disqualified than drown in the weeds...) was not going to be required, we would race and we would survive! Race day dawned and we paddled off to marshal at the railway bridge. When we got there without hitting anything we knew it was going to be a good day. After boosting our confidence with a good row up we went off in a reasonably straight line, completed the course using an only vaguely scenic route and only parked once on the reach. Result! Of course we didn't win but it was a whole lot of fun and we might even do some practice and enter another race in the future. Thanks for the coaching Andy!
Written by Susannah Cass
Peter Brant Maiden Sculls
Dominic White
Having taken up sculling at the training camp only two weeks beforehand, and only just (!) reached the ten outing rule for singles, it was with some trepidation that I paddled down to marshal at the railway bridge. My fears were not eased by the sight of Derek and Tucker cruising along apparently effortlessly behind me.
Round 2: Beat Pembroke (Schmertzler)
Fortunately my first opponent had a similar level of experience, and so it was going to be a true test of who had been able to get the most out of a fortnight. Narrowly avoiding the "killer swan" near the start, the marshal called us to attention, and we were off. Unlike all my practice starts, I managed to get away cleanly and smoothly, without crabbing. I began to pull away almost immediately after the start, and by the halfway mark I had opened up a large enough lead to be able to ease off the pressure slightly and focus on clean technique. It was a comfortable victory in 1:57.
Quarter-Final: Lost to Magdalene (O'Brien)
The second race was against Derek, and this was to be a much tougher test of my newly acquired skills. In trying to put more power down, the weaknesses in my technique became a problem, and after a couple of crabs, I finished 10 seconds slower than before, and Derek gained a comfortable victory. Thanks to Matt for bank partying.
Written by Dominic White
Derek O’Brien
Round 2: Beat Caius (Burkinshaw)
In the second round (bye in the first), a fast start possibly intimidated my opponent, so I had a length to work with over 500m, which was useful.
Quarter-Final: Beat Magdalene (White)
In the quarter final, a fast start possibly also intimidated my opponent, so I again had a length to work with over 500m, which was useful.
Semi-Finals: Beat Fist and Third (O'Neill)
n the semi-final, I knew it would be tough against a FaT rower. My start (which was rougher than the first two) only got me about half a length, and we held this until my opponent crashed (unfortunately... possibly because I wandered into his lane slightly).
Final: Lost to Fitz (Fell)
The final was exciting. Fitz had fielded two very good and strong scullers, so I think they expected to walk over me. My start got me half a length ahead after 10 strokes, much to his surprise. (Quote from Fitz: "I thought I had fast starts!"). We maintained this half length gap until just before the bend in the reach. He didn't gain on me, but he held station around my advantage, which was quite good. He then pulled level to win, as the finish was staggered. A very exciting race. Official result: 3.5 seconds. Though I stopped as soon as he had finished... so probably more like 2.5.
Written by Derek O’Brien
Ben Tucker
Round 2: Lost to First and Third (O'Neill)
Written by Ben Tucker