You win some, you lose some
Every rowing season has its memories of highs and lows, and 1996 is no exception. Three pairs of crews come to mind. Many readers watched the Olympic Regatta, and saw the GB Coxless Pair (Redgrave and Pinsent) winning yet another race in a long series of successes. This race was different, and victory by less than a second put Redgrave into the record books and confirmed him as a supreme champion. He went home shattered by the effort, but the goal had been achieved. Later, on the same water, the Coxless Four went out to win Gold, and they missed it by a second or two. Bronze to them was a bitter colour, and they too went home shattered, in a different way.
Sport at the top level demands success, and those who do not achieve it are soon forgotten.
A bit nearer home, at Henley, we saw two ex-Captains of MCSBC rowing in semi-finals. One of them won his race by under a length and went on to win the Wyfold Fours; the other rowed in one of the best races of the Regatta - he was a length down at the top of the Island, and was still the same distance down at the winning post after a gruelling race. Both Queens Tower (with Jeremy Hepworth on board) and Oxford Brookes (with Steve Williams) had trained to the highest standards, and had rowed to the limits of their powers. One got the medal, the other not. However, we were delighted to hear that a month later, Steve Williams and Rowley Douglas represented England at the Home Countries, and came home with three Gold Medals between them. Their eights race was won by just a foot.
In our own club, the 1st VIIIs (boys and girls) had mixed fortunes. The girls were rightly praised for their achievements - winning both races and events. The boys had little reported success, winning at Hereford against poor opposition. For them, it was just as important that they had picked themselves up after a disappointing row the day before. The articles that follow in this Newsletter amplify these bare facts, and one hopes that the full stories are more important than the headlines. It was very good to see the girls reach the final at NSR, but it should be noted that they got there with a semi-final time well over a minute slower than the winner; at the same regatta, the boys missed a final place by only a handful of seconds.
Both the boys and the girls had their finest races at Henley. The girls were beaten by an outstanding crew from the USA; the boys had all their training and work together through a difficult year put to the test and they had the satisfaction of rowing to the best of their ability. Some members of the crew had very little experience and they were not talented sportsmen, so it was heartening to see them row so well, even if it was maddening that they just missed qualifying.
Much of what we do in school sport is not good headline material, because school sport (indeed school anything) as about far more than gold and silver, though of course it is right and proper to aim for success. It is not uncommon for crews to remember good races - won or lost - and happy training for years, when memories of easy victories are of only passing importance, even if they boosted morale in the short-term.
One hopes that school sport has a powerful influence in the general development of the people who take part in it, otherwise it can so easily become merely a demonstration of talent, training and sometimes brute strength. Rowing has for many years had a special part to play in the education of young people, and for over 30 years, Bluefriars has encouraged and supported it at Monkton. The physical education and development of school pupils and students is recognised as a charitable activity, though the pursuit of excellence in itself is not. It is the everyday work done in sport, not only the grand occasions, which contributes so much to the development of those who take part in it.
The recent foundation of the Monkton Bluefriars Charitable Trust is a natural step to take. Our aim is charitable; a large number of people help in this endeavour, financially and in many other ways; it is right to use the tax benefits that are available to registered charities; we have been encouraged by supporters to form the charity. We look forward to continuing our work both as Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club, and now, additionally, as The Monkton Bluefriars Charitable Trust.