Selection for the 1st VIII started with the customary trials, which were supplemented for the first time by ergometer tests; candidates who had taken the trouble to get fit in the holidays performed well, and they were to lead the way in fitness work for the rest of the season. There were some good outings with various combina- tions of crew during the first month of term; but these were eclipsed by the first outing of the crew late in February.
The boat was balanced; there were good ideas about rhythm and length; above all, the crew was willing and able to learn. Its only weakness was that it was light (lighter than both the 2nd VIII and the Colts), and physical strength was in short supply. Not much weight was put on by Henley, but training sessions added strength continually until the summer, when the crew was to prove a match for others with average weights two or more stones greater.
We lost our customary half term training be- cause of illness, and the performance at Henley Head was therefore poor. Illness lurked everyw- here, and a substitute had to be commandeered for the week before Avon Head, where we lost narrowly to Bryanston.
Apart from the Schools Head, where there were still signs of illness, the other Lent Term races went rather better. We missed a win at Bristol Ariel by a second (but beat Cheltenham convincingly), and won overall at Bristol Docks by a small margin
After the customary training at Cambridge, the Summer Term started with Avon Regatta, where we came up against several powerful 1st VIIIs. We led off the start in all our races; beat all the 2nd VIIIs (it's not every year that we can beat Radley II, etc.), and were within a second of Abingdon I and St. Paul's I.
We won at Worcester, but perhaps the most satisfying row of the three days was at Hereford against Emanuel. We fought hard all the way down the course and came closer to them than any Monkton crew in recent years. The National Schools Regatta was approached with enthusi- asm, as our performances over 1500 metres had been consistently good. A medal was in sight, so the abysmal conditions which caused cancella- tion of the event might well have shattered con- fidence. Not a bit of it; the crew returned to training after a break for House Bumps. The effort put into a mile course on the Thursday before Marlow was typical: pundits on the bank thought the time would be slow against a stream and head wind; the record was not broken, but the coach told the crew that it was the bravest bit of rowing he had ever seen on home waters.
It is unusual to quote from the Captain's Min- ute Book, but the following extract sums up why this 1st VIII was to become so successful: — It has become quite apparent during the last couple of weeks that pain is no longer a barrier, physical or mental. This is particularly obvious in gym sessions, where everyone does there (sic) best to see if they can actually black out or be sick... Another thing apparent within this crew is a flagrant and authentic element of trust — trust that all the rest of the crew is just as whole-hearted as yourself — and this I believe is a fundamental necessity for a record-breaking crew.
After the loss of NSR, we went to Marlow, for our second term-time regatta of the season. We demolished four First Eights (including Eton), and were unlucky to lose the final in the last few strokes after a minor shipwreck, having led from the start.
In the mile event, we lost narrowly in the first round — again after leading for the whole course. We had not yet learnt how to sprint home for the last few strokes.
Training for Henley included early rising and breakfast, and a morning outing during which the 500 metre record was broken, so the crew arrived at Henley confident about their speed and with a more reasonable draw than usual. Bryanston were no match for us, and despite being very nervous, and rowing the worst start for some weeks, we gained in the first few strokes and sat in front of them, gradually gain- ing ground to slightly more than a length at the mile post.
We came home knowing that we were in the same class as some good crews, and that better fitness and technique should bring success later.
A crew change was made in mid-May after training had become a burden to one of the oarsmen. The outings which followed, with a former substitute now brought in permanently, went so well that the crew went from strength to strength. On the third outing with the new crew, the mile record (which has stood since 1982) was broken by over two seconds. There was a help- ful following breeze, but all those involved were boosted by this success. We went to the half term regattas better prepared than many Monk- ton crews which hardly begin to think about racing tactics at that stage of the season.
A neat acceleration at the covered stand in- creased this lead, seemingly without effort, to two and a half lengths. We were much more relaxed for the second round against King's Col- lege School; there was great encouragement at the start, where two coach loads of Monkton supporters gave vocal support.
The pattern of the race was much the same, with a similar show of strength near the finish increasing the lead to three lengths in a few strokes. The Quarter-final, against a powerful Shrewsbury crew (one of the two Selected Crews), was tackled bravely. We held on well, with Shrewsbury drawing away to two lengths at the Mile and one eighth: Monkton could so easily have given up at that stage; instead, they came back on their opponents, to lose by a length and a half in a good time.
This third race had been our best of the day, and the crew deserved the many congratulations given by well-wishers. They are the first Monk- ton crew since 1953 to row three rounds at Hen- ley.
The season ended with yet another record (The quarter mile, reduced by two seconds to 1.08) and some holiday events. At Llandaff, we lost by a canvas to a Cherwell crew which in- cluded an Isis oarsman, two members of the Oxford lightweights and two Americans. It's not often that the coach makes excuses, but they are in order for this race; the course was buoyed unfairly, and we might well have won if we had been on the other station.
At Bewdley, we rowed against Cherwell again, and this time beat them and the home club to earn promotion to Senior A classifica- tion. On the second day of the regatta Thames Tradesmen were beaten, and the season ended with an exciting Senior A final (the first ever for a Monkton eight) against City of Oxford. We started at well over fifty strokes a minute, and steadied out to 44; this high rate was not as efficient as the the crew's best rowing, but was an example of the determination that had brought so much success during the season. Ox- ford were warned for their steering near the finish, we were a canvas down when Oxford steered into our water and broke two of our oars; a re-row was ordered, and we then lost the final by about two thirds of a length.
The success of this crew was built on consis- tent and disciplined training, rather than on oarsmen of outstanding ability; they started as a poor head race crew of mediocre Senior C stan- dard, via good Senior B to become a Senior A crew of some promise