Friend and Geffen strike Gold at Nat Champs

After suffering disappointment at the gruelling GB final trials where
Nick Friend (PBS), Will Geffen (MGHM) and Denis Zaboronsky (NCWS) just
missed out on places at the Coupe, Will and Nick stayed on in
Nottingham to try their luck in the Junior Coxless Pairs event in the
National Rowing Championships last weekend. Despite fatigue and the
lack of time to prepare the pair came together well under the guidance
of HGCC. On Saturday the pair sailed through their eliminator
comfortably while at the same time recording the fastest times to both
the 1000m and 1500m marks. However, last year a pair of Will and Ben
De Jäger (Coll) performed a similar feet in their eliminator and yet
only managed fourth in the final. Fortunately it was a different story
this time round with Nick and Will winning Sunday's final by an
impressive margin of 9 seconds. The pair now go on to represent
England in the Home Nations Championships in Cardiff this weekend.

GB/France Match

On Sunday 15 July the coxless four of James Goble (NCWS), Lucas King (PGW), Freddie Fisher (TEJN) and Charlie Thurston (GRP) raced for Great Britain in the Great Britain versus France Match in Gravelines, France. Having spent three days training on the river in Kingston, they arrived in France last Thursday for three further days of training on the course in Gravelines which next year will host the World University Championships. Having won the trials by 13 seconds much was expected of the boys and in the first half of the race on Sunday all looked as though it was going according to plan as they established a commanding two length lead. However, the French refused to accept that they were beaten and put in a monumental push that brought them back to within a length with 250m to go. The French then began their charge for the line and even though our boys raised their rate of striking to well over 40 the French continued to gain. Spectators' hearts were in their mouths as both crews appeared to cross the line level. A hush descended on the crowd as it waited for the result to be announced. When it finally came - Great Britain by a foot – there was relief and jubilation. The closest race of the day had sealed victory for Team GB in the boys' match (4-3) and contributed to an 8-5 win in the match overall.

Henley round-up

The VIII bowed out of Henley on Friday to Scotch College, Australia.  It was a keenly fought race, in which Scotch's tactics were always going to be clear.  They have a more or less flat out charge to the Barrier and then look to maintain that advantage over the rest of the course.  So, in that early part of the race they established a lead of a little over a length, which The VIII reduced to half a length coming into the Enclosures.  Into a really very stiff headwind and a continuing strong stream this was a considerable effort, and though Scotch pulled away a bit more in the closing stages, the boys were pleased with the way they had rowed; this was a fitting way to go out in what had been a good Henley week.

On Saturday Abingdon, as widely predicted, saw off Scotch.  After containing their early charge (giving a way a lead of a canvas or so) they rowed through to win by clear water.  The more nail-biting race was Hampton against Radley.  Hampton took an early lead of nearly a length, but were rowed through by Radley who continued to pull away through the Enclosures.  Radley always pick up speed between NSR and Henley and today's final should be a great race.  The form book would favour Abingdon, but Radley could well pull it off.  With a host of foreign crews here this year, the excellent standard of domestic rowing really has come through.  We were less than a length from having all England semis, never mind an all England final.

OE interest today will centre on the Ladies', where Caspar Jopling will row for Harvard against Mike Evans of Leander, guaranteeing a Henley medal for one OE.

With four ECBC crews at the regatta, The VIII performing to its full potential and enjoying the week, a strong Eton Vikings crew racing (unluckily meeting a crew which I think will win the Brit in the first round), and OEs again in finals, this has been an excellent Henley for the club as a whole.

Henley Thursday

Today saw another good day's racing for our crews.  You had to be in Henley early to catch the warm-up act, the 'B' quad consisting of three boys from the 3rd VIII and one from the 2nd.  In the good conditions that blessed the early morning this crew raced well against Windsor Boys' 'A' crew.  Windsor Boys' took an early lead, and had around a length by Fawley.  However, our boys pushed hard past Remenham, and kept them under pressure down the second half of the course, partly through excellent steering (commented on by umpire Matt Pinsent no less) keeping them out of the stream as much as possible.  Windsor Boys' have been a strong sculling school for many years,  and to keep their top boat honest down the course was a good achievement.

The VIII raced in the afternoon and had a comfortable victory over Bedford School.  The verdict was just short of 'easily' and the boys were again quick out of the blocks, posting good times to the Barrier and Fawley.  This was another row to build on the confidence engendered by yesterday's win.  Henley campaigns are a bit like Wimbledon fortnights; it is a long haul, and there is much to get right.  Seeing off the more straightforward looking fixtures effectively is an important part of this, and adds to the resources to be drawn on later in the week.  Tomorrow will see a sterner test in the form of Scotch College, Australia at 1620.  The evidence suggests that this will be a close encounter, but it is certainly a winnable race.  The towpath chatter is starting to suggest that some of the hype around this Scotch crew may not be entirely justified...

Elsewhere in today's races there were some results to put a couple of our defeats yesterday in perspective.  The Canadians from Victoria (again on Bucks) saw off Conestoga High School of the US, who are a selected crew, by a greater margin than they managed over our 'A' quad yesterday. The Star crew who beat the Vikings saw off Agecroft with ease and look a good bet for the final of the Brit.

OE interest is now mostly centred around Harvard.  Josh Bernstein rows in their Temple 'A' crew at 1030, and Caspar Jopling will row in their varsity boat as it starts its campaign in the Ladies' Challenge Plate at 1520.  Henry Goodier is going strong with Imperial College in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup and will race next on Saturday.  Chris Snowden was in a Goldie four which went out on Wednesday, and Will Kenworthy was in a UL four which went out today.

 

Henley Wednesday

A good day for the club overall today, with strong performances, but mixed fortunes.

First ECBC race of the day saw the Temple Challenge Cup composite of Colts A and the 2nd VIII going out fairly comfortably to Reading University, but we knew that this crew was around the same speed as The VIII.  This crew had done very well to qualify for the regatta (there were only 3 school crews in the Temple, which is a university event) and this will have provided invaluable experience for some of our up and coming oarsmen.

Next came the 'A' quad in the Fawley, against good opposition from Canada (Victoria City RC).  Today was not the day to be giving away a stone and a half per man, into a strong stream and with the headwind unhelpfully strengthening a couple of races ahead of ours.  The  boys went down off the start (costly when on Bucks) but put in a considerable effort to come back to just a third of a length down at Fawley.  Unfortunately you really need to be up by then on Bucks, and the enclosure advantage of Berks took the Canadians away to just over a length.  This was a gutsy row, and a keen contest; a credit to the boys.

The 'B' quad provided our most exciting race of the day.  Oundle (on Bucks) took an early lead and were out to close on a length at one point.  However, the base speed of both crews through the middle of the race proved the same, and Oundle held a lead of half a length for much of the course.  Our boys kept their nerve creditably, and took full advantage as they came into the enclosures, taking the lead as they hit the crowds at the mile and the eigthth, and pulling away to win by almost 2 lengths.  This was a really mature row for boys from the 2nd and 3rd VIII.

After lunch came The VIII, who pulled out to a (perhaps unexpected) early lead against Phillips Exeter from the USA.  These were opponents who deserved some respect for their results in the US this season, and the manner in which The VIII pulled away from the start was both pleasing and impressive, not least as this is an area of their race on which they have been working recently.  After moving out to a lead of 2 lengths, the boys were able to relax into the row a little, and build that vital early confidence so crucial to a good Henley campaign.  The final verdict was 3 lengths.

The Eton Vikings coxed four in the Britannia Challenge Cup was beaten by Star Club.  Although the HRR has this as one of its headlines and one of the upsets of the day, I think that those in the boat thought that this would be their sternest test of the week ahead of the weekend, and probably the final.  Star won Elite 4+ at the Metropolitan Regatta, and quite why they aren't selected is a bit of a mystery.  The crew is drawn from those who made the final of the Thames Challenge Cup last year, where they met the newly revived (possibly by ABH) Upper Yarra of Australia.

 

Tomorrow the 'B' quad will race Windsor Boys' at 0945; The VIII race Bedford School at 1545. 

Henley draw

Wednesday will be a day for the early riser.  We get underway with the second race of the regatta, at 0835, when the Temple crew will race Reading University.  We know that Reading are slower than The VIII, but this will be a stern test for our Colts and 2nd VIII boys.

At 0945 the selected Eton Vikings crew will race Star club, who have put out some good crews this season, so this could be a close race.

We then move to the quads, with the A crew first, facing Victoria City RC, Canada at 1050.  These folk are a bit of an unknown quantity, and one would normally expect foreign crews to be strong, but it is not always the case, and they have not been selected by the Stewards.  The B crew race Oundle at 1220 and the pre lunch billing suggests that the hope is that this will be a close fought schoolboy clash.  It is certainly a winnable race.

After lunch, at 1440, The VIII will race Phillips Exeter from the USA.  This will again be a good race I suspect, with Phillips Exeter having placed 3rd in NEIRAs, five seconds behind Tabor who are a selected crew.  The draw has given what should be a more straigtforward race on Thursday as a reward for coming through this tough early encounter. 

Four boats at Henley

Today has been an excellent day.  All the deliberations about boats for Henley have paid off, and it is a great achievement that all our boats will now be rowing at the regatta.  It would be very interesting to know when a school last had four crews rowing at the regatta, and I am fairly sure it hasn't happened since entries in the Princess Elizabeth were limited to one eight per school.  In addition to The VIII in the PE and four of the 2nd VIII in the Fawley, our 2nd VIII/Colts A composite will row in the Temple and our 2nd/3rd VIII quad will also row in the Fawley.  Details of the crews are below.  Conditions were very demanding (a stiff headwind and a fair stream) and this may well have helped our boys to get the better of some less well-drilled university crews in the eights' event.  The quad had the pleasure of overtaking another crew in the qualifying race.  Credit must go to SPH and Sam Grant for moulding these crews together in such a short period of time. 

We have entertained all sorts of Henley ideas in the past, but this plan has really paid off; there have been many days to treasure for the club over recent years, but today is up there with the best of them.

Henley crews, Marlow news

Yesterday saw Marlow regatta run in very testing conditions, with a persistently strong crosswind throughout the day.  Unfortunately this meant that the regatta could not run to time, and IM3 8+ was axed as a result, putting paid to racing in eights for the 3rd VIII and Colts A.  However, that aside it was a very good day for the club.  Two wins were had, in J15A 8+ for Junior Colts A, rounding their season off in some style, and in IM2 4- for half of Colts A, who will be strong contenders for the coxless four spot in the GB France match.  The VIII raced very well in reaching the final of Senior VIIIs, where they were very  much in the race with some top class university and club crews.  With a much better race profile, this was just the sort of confidence boost that the boys needed in the run up to Henley.  Junior Colts B and the 2nd VIII both had to step up and race above their usual categories owing to early season success, but half of the 2nd VIII reached the final of Junior 4x, reinforcing their NSR result and securing prequalification for Henley.  Junior Colts C and the 2nd/3rd VIII quad kept Mr Cross busy, the former leaving their fin and rudder in the warm-up lane, and the latter splitting a sculling blade clean in half...

 

Crews for Henley (other than The VIII in the Princess Elizabeth) will be as follows:

 

Jordan	Fawley A
Metcalfe OS	Fawley A
Scott, C	Fawley A
Zaboronsky	Fawley A
Durini di Monza OS	Fawley B
Klebnikov	Fawley B
Lawson	Fawley B
Strong ma	Fawley B
Bruce ma	Temple
Cornelissen	Temple
Fisher mi	Temple
Friend OS	Temple
Goble	Temple
Jhaveri	Temple
King, L	Temple
Peters	Temple
Thurston mi	Temple

Difficult choices

At this time of year thoughts always turn to how best to serve those boys not in The VIII with regard to Henley entries.  With only one crew allowed in the Princess Elizabeth (the school event for eights in which The VIII always compete) the options for other crews are either to try to qualify in the Temple Challenge Cup (the eights event for universities) or the Fawley Challenge Cup (the event for school quads).  This year the decisions have been particularly difficult.  To qualify for the Temple you really have to have a 2nd VIII or Colts crew which is a little way clear of the field.  Back in 2008 our Colts A fulfilled this criterion.  In the last three years the 2nd VIII have done so.  No other school has consistently qualified crews for the event.  However, if we did nothing differently this year, the gut feeling of the coaches was that we would be putting our chances at 50/50 for the 2nd VIII, worse for Colts A.  We could have had just one boat rowing at the regatta.  As a result we have done something a little different this year and we have done some extensive testing over the last couple of days to back up our decisions and choices.  This testing has also confirmed that there aren't any boys in these crews who have come on and deserve to challenge for a seat in The VIII for Henley, so we can be sure that we have explored all avenues.  The boys from the 2nd VIII in Champ 4x at NSR will race in the same crew in the Fawley.  Having come 7th at NSR they will hopefully prequalify, but if not they should certainly get through the qualifiers.  One or two boys have shown that they are on a par with boys in this crew, but not faster.  A mix of 2nd and 3rd VIII boys will form a B quad in the Fawley (last seat still to be confirmed) and should have a decent chance of qualifying, having only been a few seconds behind the A quad at NSR.  The Temple eight will be a mix of boys from the 2nd VIII (3 oarsmen and cox) and Colts A (five oarsmen).  This should form a crew which is faster than Colts A, and hopefully one which is faster than the 2nd VIII too (it has some strong sweep oarsmen from the 2nd VIII in it).  If the rowing gods smile upon us we could end up with four crews at the regatta, but one can never take anything for granted.  How the Stewards will run the qualifying races if the weather keeps on like this is, for example, something of a problem...

Parents of boys in crews for the regatta will get an e-mail about tickets for the Stewards' Enclosure shortly.

National Schools

A meteorologically grim Sunday could not take the edge off what was an excellent weekend for the club as a whole in Nottingham.  Whilst there were some near misses, which might so nearly have gone the other way, the club came away with three golds and four silvers.  This put us 4th in the medal table (headed up by Headington as almost always at the moment), and highest placed of the boys' sweep schools.  More importantly, I think, this was the first time for a number of years when success was spread across all the age groups (with gold and silver medals at all three levels).  This is great testimony to the strength in depth of the club, and bodes very well for the future.

In more detail, The VIII rowed through the field in their heat to finish second, and so go straight to the final.  There, they narrowly missed doing the same, missing out on taking bronze from Radley by just half a second (Abingdon won in a new record time).  This was always our realistic aim for this season, in what was always going to be a very strong year for Hampton and Abingdon, so it was a good performance from The VIII, not least considering there were two boys in the crew for whom this was their first NSR final.

The 2nd VIII progressed easily at the head of their semi-final, but allowed Abingdon to take a little too much of a lead around 500m gone.  In a tailwind, this was hard to take back and to Abingdon's credit they held off two strong challenges, to win the event. In an unusual regatta season, we had not seen Abingdon for five weeks, and had to remind ourselves that, until recently, our target of medalling was looking tricky; this crew had come a long way since March.

The 3rd VIII rowed a great race to win the West cup.  It was nip and tuck all the way with Hampton, and again this was a race which was won in record time.  Many boys in this crew had had a difficult season (through illness or injury) and the result was all the more pleasing for that.

At Colts level, both A and B crews won silver in the eights.  Both crews finished strongly, but had left themselves with a little too much to do in the closing stages, missing out to fast starting crews from St Pauls (A crew) and Hampton (B crew).  Four boys from the A crew got the chance to put this right on the Sunday with a win in the Windsor Cup for J16 coxless fours.

At Junior Colts level this was our most successful regatta for a number of years (probably since 2004).  The A crew won silver, missing out by two thirds of a length to Latymer, and so having closed the gap on them since Wallingford.  The B crew built on their success at Wallingford, this time beating all comers to take the Monkton Bluefriars' Cup by clear water.

National Schools' Regatta

National Schools' is now looming large on the horizon, with the draw published and lots of our crews looking in good shape to be in contention for medals.

Saturday will see racing in VIIIs, with Upper Boats and Colts also racing in small boats on the Sunday.

The action starts early on Saturday morning for the J15s, with a time trial for JCB and JCC in J15 2ndVIIIs.  Semi-finals are all in the middle of the day, led off by The VIII at 1156 (first event off as there is a repechage a couple of hours later).  JCA and the 2nd VIII will also have semi-finals.  For all Colts crews and the 3rd VIII it's straight to the final.  Finals start for our crews with J15 2nd VIIIs at 1704; the final of Championship VIIIs is the last race of the day at 1938.

On Sunday The VIII will split into a coxed and coxless four and there will be two quads, drawn from the 2nd and 3rd VIIIs.  Colts A will race in two coxless fours.  There are time trials for all these events, from 1005 to 1105.  Semi-finals would be in the early afternoon, and finals around 1700.

Wallingford

After all the excitement of BASHER, the first main regatta of the season say excellent racing across the club. There were four wins in all, with the 2nd VIII taking both Intermediate 3 and J18B VIIIs. Colts A won J16 VIIIs and Junior Colts B won J15 B VIIIs. Both Colts B and the 3rd VIII came in ahead of their rivals from Hampton. There were near misses too. The top half of The VIII just missed out in Senior Coxed Fours in a race which went down to which crew was taking a stroke on the line. Junior Colts A rowed a gutsy race in their final, holding the lead for much of the course, but not quite keeping Latymer at bay.
The club is in fine spirits.

Wallingford off to a good start

Wallingford Regatta

Apologies for the lack of more recent updates.  For reasons that some of you will know, life has got more hectic than ever of late.  Tomorrow sees a full day's racing for the club, and an excellent chance to see how we are shaping up for Nat Schools.  Crews will be racing in the following categories:

Div 1      The VIII                IM1 8+

                2^nd VIII                  IM3 8+

                3^rd VIII                   IM3 8+

                JCB                         J15B 8+

                JCC                         J15B 8+

 

Div 2      The VIII                Sen 4+ and IM3 4+

                2^nd VIII                  J18B 8+

                JCA                         J15A 8+

                Colts A                  J16 8+

                Colts B                  J16 8+

Nearly at journey's end

Safely in the charming surroundings of Bilbao on a lovely sunny day. There's a trailer from Winchester here which now looks a little small...

Time to go home...

Boys clearly missing from the photo below; unfortunately the ferry doesn't sail until tomorrow evening.
The final day saw a strong tailwind blowing down our usual course, providing testing conditions for the younger crews but also the opportunity for some fast times to round off the week's training. A fairly late flight today allowed for a bit of downtime yesterday and the traditional 'quiz' on the final evening.
Now back to the rather surreal experience of being in a hotel which is being thoroughly gutted and sluices by Isabel, Rosa and the team...

Portugal latest

Today a decidedly wet day was sent to try tired bodies and to dampen spirits.  Up until now, even on rather grey days, we hadn't really come away from outings much the worse for wear, but today there was definitely no escape.  Spirits soon recovered over dinner however, and the forecast for tomorrow is rather better.  Tomorrow will see the traditional end to Portugal, with 1500m pieces in different boat combinations, before the business of loading 21 boats, 68 blades, 8 ergos, 5 engines, 2  inflatables and goodness knows what else onto the truck and one trailer.  I keep reminding people that in 2003 it rained more or less relentessly for the first 5 days (of 9)...

Portugal news

After a rather chilly and damp start, the sun has now come out, and the boys have made the most of it for these past two days, not least as the forecast suggests it won't last, sadly.  However, the weather has been kind in terms of wind, and the lake has been near mirror flat for the technical and distance work in the mornings, with rather more breeze for the pieces in the evening (good practice for Nottingham!).  Today was warm enough for the traditional swim to the island for a group photo, which should be on the album on the right before too long.  Now that we are more than halfway, there is  a much needed lie in tomorrow, before we get going with the final three days.  Plenty of good progress has been made thus far, with most crews feeling that they have really moved on.

Off to Portugal...

I'm driving...

Off to Portugal...

Schools' Head

Conditions look set fair for the Head tomorrow (start 1415), and so it looks like last week's practice will have been fairly representative after all.  All three Upper Boats crews will go off 2nd in their divisions (2nd, 44th and 81st respectively).  Colts A are 88, Junior Colts A 108, Colts B 117 and Junior Colts B and C are 147 and 151.  Upper Boats will be looking to perform at their best first time, and so improve on Kingston and Reading.  Colts have been hit by some illnesses, but with encouraging results to date will have to see what they can deliver despite this adversity.  For Junior Colts, this is always a bit test, and a chance to see how much ground has been made up on other schools over the half, and what the targets for training camp and the early summer will be.

The VIII should be off Putney around 1430, and thereafter expect crews to have started at a rate of around 4 a minute (so it will be after 1500 before our last crews are nearing Putney).  We boat from Imperial College boathouse at Putney, so that is the place to meet other supporters and boys (after racing).  Hammersmith provides the best view of the course though, especially on the outside of the bend on the North (Middx) side.

 

You might have noticed that the lead BBC Sport article is currently about Constantine Louloudis (Captain of Boats 2010).  Many congratulations to him on his excellent performance at Trials (with pairs partner George Nash).

A little motivation before Schools' Head

Boys were incredibly fortunate tonight to have Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent talking to the Sports Society, in an evening hosted by Jim Rosenthal.  Steve and Matthew both spoke about how they had got into the sport of rowing, giving an insight into the commitment required to compete at the top level, and sharing thoughts on what motivated them to achieve the various goals that they set themselves through their careers.

Photo of The VIII with Steve and Matt attached, which will hopefully load up properly...

Not your typical Tideway experience...

More like being in Portugal really. Here's hoping it does actually end up being representative practice for next week.

Kingston Head

A rather last minute update I'm afraid (such is the end of the Lent half).  Tomorrow Junior Colts and Upper Boats will all race at Kingston (D block stay home for their specialisation meeting, as do I as I am organising it).  JC's, 1st and 2nd VIII will all go in the morning division at 1100, 3rd VIII go in the afternoon and should be joined by The VIII out for a second run.  Reading provided a useful marker for many, after quite a long gap since Wallingford, and the aim tomorrow will be to see if our crews can continue to close the gaps, largely on crews from Hampton, who are always strong in the head race season.

The Lake has been somewhat busier than usual this week, with GB trials this weekend gently elbowing our remaining crews onto the river.  Everything comes to a head during the late morning on Sunday, and there will be plenty of folk around the college following the performance of one Constantine Louloudis...

Reading University Head

So, the forecast looks decent and, with any luck, the whole club will actually get to race this weekend.  Our four Junior Colts crews, who of course had a run out at Hampton, will the have the opportunity to see how much they have improved since that promising start and will be able to gauge how well they are closing the gap on the opposition.  For Upper Boats and Colts this will be an important opportunity to try out some possible crew combinations and get some key race experience over a good long course.  There will then be the chance to fine tune things at Kingston before our attention turns to the Tideway.

All Junior Colts crews race in the first division at 1030, when The VIII will race in IM1 and a 3rd VIII will race in IM3.

In the afternoon (at 1500) The VIII may race again in IM2, where they will be joined by a 2nd VIII.  Colts A will race in J16, and Colts B will race in Novice.  Directions and so forth are all now linked from the website if you are coming to support.

Mr Cross has worked his magic

Looks a bit better than the photo below at Hampton...

Hampton results

These are now up and linked from the website. For such an early stage these were encouraging times, especially from mixed crews. The learning curve is steep indeed at this point (see below)!

An interesting day at Hampton...

Peterborough cancelled

The Nene has iced up so there will be no racing at Peterborough tomorrow. Hampton is still on, but we have had to withdraw Colts C.