After the disappointment of Wycliffe Head I decided it was time to put out the strongest eight for Avon County Head. The crew had a good outing at Saltford on the Wednesday before Avon and confidence was growing with every stroke they took. Fitness levels were good, however the stroke profile needed much work.

Avon County Head
We were entered into both divisions at Avon and I was hopeful that the crew were going to perform well. In the morning division they raced well despite the strong wind conditions and losing over 20 seconds due to a crew pulling out in front of them. However, the crew were unhappy with their row and were determined to put it right in the second division. Unfortunately, we never got that chance. After seeing that the time-keepers had got the timing wrong on the first division and a massive accident on the water involving another club, I decided it would be best if we didn‘t row the second division. Disappointing, and it was difficult to see if the crew had improved from Wycliffe.

Reading Head
Having had more outings with a settled crew, we went to Reading full of confidence. The crew were rowing much better and the fitness was far superior to what it had been earlier in the term. Yet again we got caught behind a slower crew at an unpassible point and lost more time. JMB and myself watched the crew from the bridge at the finish and were impressed at how much the crew had come onŒ..not perfect but improving. However, the crew felt that there was a lack of power coming form everyone and that they could give a lot more. Having been over 1.30 minutes behind Canford school at Wycliffe we had made up 1.20 minutes in this race. Improvement indeed.

Schools Head
Having only a week to train between Reading and the Schools head, the crew were very focussed and we worked on the power delivery from the legs onto the oar. The crew had a few scrappy outings due to a number of changes because of back injuries. However, a trip to the chiropractor sorted out the twinges and the two guys were back in the boat for the schools head.

We travelled to London a few days prior to the race so as we could train on the Thames but more importantly to have some concentrated time with each other. Despite a horrendous trip on Saturday evening and GPR falling in the river on Sunday the crew rowed well in very choppy conditions on the and performed an excellent 4 minute push from Hammersmith bridge. The cox steered an excellent course and over-all the crew were happy with their training.

The crew were looking confident as they took the water and knew what awaited them. JMB and GPR watched the race unfold from Hammersmith bridge and waited for the crew to show their bows. Having set of 19th it was clear that they had already been overtaken by St. Peters by the time they reached Hammersmith. Despite this setback the crew looked good and Oli Cantwell was setting a strong rhythm. They looked better than they had done on previous outings and when the crew returned to land they were quite happy at how they rowed.

When the results were announced we had come in 36th and were 26th out of 35 first eights. At first I was disappointed, as were the crew, but when I analysed the results I was much more upbeat. The first 14 crews are all Championship eights which we will not race at National schools, but the next 20-25 crews are all bunched up and are within 20-30 seconds of each other. From my experience, this kind of time difference is very recoverable in the regatta season and I am now very pleased with our progress and confident that we will do well in the regatta season.

Many people will disagree with me about how we are going but I will always say that we a re peaking for National Schools and Henley not the Schools head! We will now move on to the eights head and then onto our training camp in Nantes. The crew will come back a much more efficient outfit and we will be well drilled and disciplined. Progress has been made and we are picking up speed, technical ability and confidence all the time.

Watch this space.

GPR

Coach : G P Reay