High Winds and High Drama at the National Schools' Regatta
National Schools' Regatta: 24-25 May 2008
Leaving with a full trailer of boats and minibuses full of athletes for several days of racing, everyone was hopeful on the Thursday before half term that the school would come away from the National Schools Regatta with a few medals to our name. Unfortunately however few could have predicted just how bad the weather was to become as the weekend continued, and ultimately on Saturday just as our medal chances had started to come to light the regatta was cancelled due to the extreme weather that was running its way down the course; with high waves, crews sinking and the threat of oars hitting swimming oarsmen during the 1st 8’s race, the organisers had to take the decision to cancel the event before anyone was hurt. Their decision was undoubtedly the correct one.
Thankfully that is not to say the whole weekend was ruined. Many of the crews learnt a lot from their races, and a full day of racing was had on Friday in which many of our junior crews managed to perform well. The J14 crews are obviously still learning from every regatta they go to, and having raced very few straight sprints they all managed to do well. Both of our crews first had to go through a time-trail before the side-by-side racing started, and this can be extremely tricky if not approached in the right manner. Thankfully both our J14 crews managed to progress, though the girls admitted they did not start quite as well as they should have done. Coming 9th out of the 12 crews that did go through, they unfortunately came 5th in a tight semi final. The J14 boys octuple fared similarly, coming 11th in their time trial with just 10 seconds dividing them from the leaders, they too came 5th in their semi final but showed real strength of character to produce a strong sprint for the finish.
The other crews to race on the Friday were our J15 girls doubles, an event that was extremely competitive this year with 30 crews entered and only 25 seconds separating first from last in the time trial. Though one of our crews did well to qualify in 14th place, our other double sadly failed to proceed after a row in which eventual winners Latymer unsettled them by racing just in front of them. Hopefully they will learn from this not to let outside influences affect their own performances. The ‘A’ crew carried on to row an extremely difficult semi-final and despite the sudden dramatic downpour and the stroke girl, Verity McCann, accidentally pulling a foot out of a shoe did well enough to earn the praises of their coach even if they did not manage to make the final.
With Friday over Saturday morning greeted our crews like something of a nightmare – from the minute boats hit the water the conditions were dreadful, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits of crews, which meant business. Our boys’ 1st 8, J15 8 and J16 girls’ double all had high hopes of medals and knew that the time trials might be their only way to win them if proper racing were to prove impossible later in the day. Our J16 girls’ composite double of Isabella Cartwright and Alex Pearson of Christchurch were justifiably happy with their row, ultimately finishing 4th and just one second off a bronze medal. The J15 boys did not row quite to their ability however, finishing 5th in their time trial though they knew a medal would certainly have been within their reach had racing continued. Sadly for our 1st 8, it was during their race that the weather really hit home, sinking three other crews and therefore bringing an end to racing. Though unofficially finishing in 3rd place they would not be receiving a medal for their efforts. We must say well done to all of our crews for coping so well with the weekend however, all the coaches agreeing that we finished on a high.