After last year‘s good finish for Girls‘ Captain Caroline Dickinson, with a medal at the National Championships and a win at Ross Junior Regatta the new season was viewed with much hope.
However, with the news of her mother‘s illness coming just after her return to school we knew it was going to be a difficult year. Caroline tried hard to concentrate on her rowing and the season opened well with a win at Worcester Head and a good national training camp during half term. She was in the first eight throughout the training camp, but things were becoming difficult to cope with and in early November Caroline took a rest from rowing. With the sad loss of her mother on 1st December 1998 the whole Boat Club tried to rally behind and comfort her through this sad time.
After the New Year, Caroline returned to rowing, but with the river high, outings were difficult. Her sculling however was still slowly improving and with the new term she started to train hard once again, but almost immediately damaged a muscle in her back. After a patient lay-off she was struck by a ‘flu virus during the training camp in France and on her return her back problem flared up again. Unfortunately this put paid to the rest of Caroline‘s rowing year. With all that has happened to her over the past nine months and with everyone in the Boat Club behind her, we hope that the coming year is a happier one for Caroline and her family.
The winter season however saw some new senior girls on the water — Alleta Van Bartold, Ella Bird and Kate Ewart. Ella and Kate were complete beginners but Alleta had rowed before coming to Monkton. The early outings were restricted to sculling on the temporary Monkton lake next to the boat house. As the river levels fell, outings with some of the novice boys in an eight saw a great improvement in the girls‘ technique. After Christmas the aim was to get a novice girls four to race at the Schools‘ Head in London. This we succeeded in doing with the help of Sarah Coates from the fourth year.
The crew finished with honour and enjoyed the experience. Alleta stuck with rowing into the new term and started to scull regularly. She competed with Barbara Girard from Nantes in Monkton Bluefriars Head at Saltford. She then sculled throughout the season and rounded off the year with her first regatta at Monmouth. The Fourth year girls, consisting of Ailsa Greenlees, Sarah Coates, Iona Meryon, Camila Thomas, Gabby Price, Sophie Harwood and Claire Nicholson, with Sarah Douglas as a new cox, started to understand the sport properly. Ailsa and Sarah trained in singles through the winter and after competing well at Monkton, Wycliffe and Avon head races, Sarah joined with the sixth form girls to do the Schools Head, with Ailsa putting in a good performance as their cox.
The regatta season loomed large and it was time to put some crews together. Because of Sarah and Ailsa‘s steady progress through the winter we put them in a double scull in which they competed at Avon County, Coatwater Park, Thames Valley and National Schools regattas. With improving performances throughout the summer the girls look set for a good year in 2000. The five girls also formed a coxed four and with steady improvement we prepared to race at Tewkesbury. They performed well for their first regatta but were beaten in the final by Canford.
The Fourth year girls also sub‘ed in the boys J15 eight when they were short of crew members and even raced with them on two occasions. The boys were more than grateful and were happy to race with any of them. This culminated at Tewkesbury regatta where Ailsa rowed at three in the eight and performed with distinction, helping the eight beat two very stunned crews from Shrewsbury and St Edwards! During the summer term the Third year girls came down on rotation to the Boat Club. Each group showed promise and we look forward to seeing them next year. Hopefully the upward momentum in Girls‘ rowing will continue next year and with time some good racing results should follow.
Barry Taylor