Crew : Tom Heathcote, Ed Johnstone-Burt, Tristan Saunders, Tom Crisford, Pete Riera, Will Quayle, Joel Jameson, Paris Hearn, Dan Whiting

It amuses me to think back to earlier in the year when I was worried that with the mix of personalities within the senior squad, we would not get an eight that gelled together. How wrong I was to be! We tried lots of combinations in fours and small boats, but the boat that always went best was the Eight! Gradually the boys themselves realised this and despite their different idiosyncrasies, formed a strong bond that united them in training and racing throughout the rest of the season. It seems ages ago that we learned that Matt Wordsworth, our strongest athlete, had broken his wrist playing rugby. After initially assuming that he would be OK for rowing in January, it soon became apparent that there were problems. For the rest of the year we kept clinging to the hope that his wrist would suddenly show signs of mending and he would step in to provide some much needed power into the Eight. It was never to be and we will never know what might have been had Matt been fit. Apart from the loss to the crew, it was obviously a bitter blow to Matt himself, who missed out on most of his sport during his last year at Monkton. During the year we also had initial problems finding an experienced cox for the Senior boat.

I am very grateful to both Georgia Hall and Lydia Meddings for helping out early on, but a lack of confidence combined with the fact that they both really wanted to stay within the girls' crews, meant that we did not hang on to them long! The first race of the season was at Wycliffe Head in February. Despite some fairly unsettled training over the previous weeks and suspect fitness of the stroke-man Ed, the crew started positively and settled out to good rhythm. Cover remained good all the way down despite rowing in a huge vacuum. The result placing us well up in amongst the school and university eights was certainly pleasing. Its not often we are on par with St Edward's, but we knew that we would need to work on cohesion and sharpness if we were going to progress further. I had decided the split the eight into two fours for the afternoon division. The lighter, coxless four, looked comfortable from the start but struggled a bit against some very strong and experienced opposition. The coxed four however could accurately be described as a disaster! Although this is a race the crew themselves will want to forget, it is a good illustration that just by putting the four biggest ergo-pullers in the same boat, does not mean the boat will go fast. Tom C was never comfortable on bowside and this partly contributed to a lack of cohesion and balance, both in training and during the race. The race was a slog from start to finish and it was desperate to watch the crew putting every ounce of strength into each stroke yet seeing the ease at which the chasing opposition caught up and overtook. Also an impossible race for cox Lydia to maintain crew morale. Basically an experiment that went seriously wrong - SORRY GUYS!

The struggle to find a cox became critical at City of Bristol Head, where we had to persuade Jon Short to give up his rowing seat in the Senior Novice 4+ to cox the Eight at the last minute. With a scratch combination and a collision with the dock wall, I am sure he wished he'd stayed where he was! Particular thanks to the remainder of his crew which had to cope without him. With nine oarsmen but no cox, there was only one solution - Dan! As not only the lightest oarsman but one of the most experienced, he seemed ideal for the job. However, as a very good oarsman in his own right, he was obviously very reluctant to swap. I am grateful to him for doing so however and in particular for his help in eventually bringing out the best in the whole squad. The new line-up stormed The Head of River Race, fighting off the challenge of RGS Worcester behind, to finish 143 out of the 420 crews racing - one of our best ever results.

Now on a real high, the sights were set on the Schools Head, three days later. Despite a lack of sleep the night before due to the hard floor and noisy central heating system of Walton RC, the crew were really looking forward to this race. With strong winds (against the tide), conditions however were pretty bad. Literally just as we had completed the warm-up and were carrying the boat to the water's edge with the crew well psyched-up, the news came through that the race had been cancelled. Gutted or what?! Good training and good improvement followed out at Nantes and I am grateful to JMB for some excellent technical crew coaching.

However, a real turning point was when Rowley Douglas agreed to come and coach the eight for a few sessions back home at Saltford. This was not only the voice of an Olympic champion, but the inspirational voice of one of the best coaches in the world and of course the crew hung on his every word! After a few sessions, confidence abounded and with the VIII racing in J18 and Senior 4 at Wallingford Regatta a few days later, the crew were eager to display their new talents. What a shock then to suddenly find themselves over a length down after the first 10-15 strokes, in the heat of Sch/J Eights event! Despite catching right up with the tail of the pack by the finish, they were unable to avoid being eliminated in last place. A very disappointing start to the day, though on a more positive note at least we knew where improvement was needed, since the general cruising speed was actually quite good. The crew were much more fired-up and focussed for the heat of S4 Eights. This time there was no holding back on the start and they stayed close to the early leaders. Once into cruise mode, the confidence really blossomed and they went on to win the race by a canvas from Canford II in second place. This was just what was needed and the upturn in self-belief made the final an exciting prospect. With the aim of going even harder off the start, the boys suddenly found themselves right up there. A great race neck and neck with U.W.E. BC ensued, with the latter unfortunately winning by a canvas. The best thing was to see the other schools such as Canford II, Oratory and King's Canterbury in our wake!

We were brought back down to earth at Coate Water Park Regatta two weeks later. We were basically annihilated of the start by both Oratory and Monmouth School, but then proceeded to make up some of this ground over the latter part of the 750m race.

Although disappointing, there was still just cause for optimism with National Schools Regatta only a week away. We knew we were too slow off the start, yet we were confident that we could settle into an efficient, fast rhythm. National Schools was held over a 2000m course, twice as long as any of our previous regatta races and should be much more up our street! In common with most of the other Monkton crews, the 1st VIII were unlucky in being drawn in a very tough eliminator. Kingston Grammar, King's Canterbury, Methodist (Ireland) and Westminster providing the opposition. With our sluggish start, the intention was simply to stay in touch with the other crews off the blocks and assume we would be a length down (no more!) by 500m. From this point on we would begin to reel in the leading pack to half a length by 1000m, draw level by 1500m and then push through into a qualifying place over the last 500m. It almost went exactly to plan! By 1400m gone we had pulled back to within a canvas of King's Canterbury, but did not have the firepower to push through and kill them off. Despite finishing last by half a length and therefore being eliminated, our time would have easily qualified us for the semi-finals had we been racing in one of the other heats. C'est la vie! Spirits were regained somewhat the following day when we travelled to Northwich Regatta to win both Senior 3 and Senior 4 Eights. Although very comfortable wins against fairly mediocre opposition, it was certainly a great morale boost after the disappointment the day before. The fact that quite a few of the parents also made the journey from Nottingham to Northwich to watch, made it that much more special. After some start and sprint practice with JMB and one more great session with Rowley, we were heading towards our last race before Henley, at Reading Amateur Regatta. Despite an early start (6.00am leave) and miserable weather (heavy showers interspersed by short periods of light rain!), the first round was won easily against a rather scrappy Twickenham RC crew. Though 5 or 6 lengths up coming into the enclosures, we were still rating too high and rushing the slide, thus wasting valuable energy which might be needed later in the day. In fact the second round against Leicester University was a lot more of a challenge and a hard-fought, half-length victory in front of the Head Master, was pleasing reward. Unfortunately there was the familiar story of being dumped on the start, this time by an Eton crew in the semi-final, who with the advantage of the stagger in the early part of the race and quickly moved out to clear water. The lack of opponents in vision made it difficult for Monkton and confidence dropped. Although technically quite good all the way to the line, we did look a little tired! The Eton crew did look good but the winning distance of 2 lengths was emphasised by: a lack of consistent training over the last three weeks; our third 1500m race of the day (Eton's 2nd); a tough previous round and a 5.30am start to a long day in wet kit! Excuses? - never!

For many, Henley Royal Regatta is the ultimate place to race. Unfortunately with a large international entry the Qualifiers were going to be tough. Despite only 7 crews in the qualification race, with 3 to go through and join the others in the draw, we had already raced all the others at some time during the year and knew that they were all very competent crews. In addition the wind had blown up to a strong headwind - not exactly what we wanted being probably the lightest crew in the field! Nevertheless, the crew went out with confidence and a desire to prove something. They raced superbly, rating high off the start, settling at a lively rate, with every push showing attack and more importantly an increase in boat speed. They wound it right up through the enclosures and with lots of support from the bank (notably from the Pangbourne 1st VIII whom we had trained with earlier in the season), gave everything to the line. Whatever the result it was obvious they had performed to the best of ability and it was a proud moment. In true Monkton fashion, we soon heard the news that we had just missed out by a fraction of a second. Despite the desperate disappointment felt by all, Tristan's words on hearing the result accurately summed up my own feelings 'at least we ended the season with our best row of the lot!'.

Finishing with a DRJ-style personnel analysis of the 1st VIII:
Tristan - amazingly strong, reliable!
Ed - dynamic, moody!
Tom C - eye-popping determination!
Joel - total consistency and ultimate endurance!
Pete - blaster!
Tom H - deceptively very effective!
Paris - comatosed, but superb rhythm maker- with style!
Dan - eternal optimist, great all-rounder!
Will - frightening potential!

Thanks to the lot of you for a highly enjoyable and highly competitive season!

D M Conington