The start of the 08/09 year was an exciting one for me as it was the first group of boys that I had seen come all the way through the club since I arrived here 5 years ago. It was time to see if the template worked, and if my plans were coming to fruition. Another exciting prospect was that I had the entire squad training from September.......a first, I wonder? Not only was I coaching the boys' First VIII, but for the first time I was also coaching the girls' First IV. To add to the mix, a new baby in my household made things even more tricky. It was to prove a very challenging but ultimately a very rewarding year.
The Michaelmas Term came and went relatively quickly with all the squad sculling in small boats and quads. Being the fastest crew at Bluefriars Head in a quad immediately improved the confidence of the crew, and this set us up well for the Fours Head where two boys' quads were boated and performed very well. Both crews were in the top 250 and this was the best performance Monkton quads had made at this head since I arrived. I was already excited by the prospects. One or two changes were made in the quads for the final race of 2008 at Wycliffe, which proved to be a wise choice. The first quad was the fastest crew of the day over the 2500m course and the second quad was the third fastest crew of the day. It was nice to see Monkton at the top of the final standings once more. It was also a fantastic day for the girls' crews who won gold and bronze in doubles and then came a very close second to Bath University in the four. All in all I was pleased how 2008 came to a close.
January saw the usual floods and unusual heavy snow falls which caused havoc to water training and racing, with two events called off due to the snow fall. Despite this, the squads were very buoyant and trained hard in the gym and on the ergo's, building their strength and aerobic fitness. By the end of January the crews were itching to get on the water. I was amazed at how quickly both crews were moving despite spending nearly 8 weeks off the water. Clearly the fitness levels were higher than I had hoped for. At Avon Head, the First VIII were the fastest crew on the water again and the girls' IV were scupperd again by Bath University, this time by a mere 2 seconds. I also fielded for the first time a coxless four which I felt could be a quick crew. My predictions were right and the Four came in 5th fastest crews of the day beating many eights along the way. I was pretty happy moving into the Schools' Head. By the time the Schools' Head arrived both the boys' VIII and girls' IV were moving reasonably well. I was hoping for a top 20 finish in the VIII and a top 10 finish in the girls IV but unfortunately both crews just missed out with the boys finishing 23rd and the girls 11th. The first VIII lacked spark and cohesion whilst the girls lacked essential power. Despite missing out on our set goals both crews were reasonably happy moving into the transition period of training from head to regatta season.
Two weeks later the first VIII returned to London for the Head of the River and again slightly underperformed but did move up 100+ places in the rankings. All in all I was pleased with the position and was looking forward to putting much speed on the boats out in Nantes at our Easter training camp.
The Nantes camp is always a highlight of the year and I was thoroughly looking forward to seeing how far I could push both crews and seeing what speed everyone could achieve.
Seat racing confirmed the places in both boats and training could really move on apace. A new stroke in the first VIII also seemed to give the crew more time to breathe in each stroke and allowed the boat to run more fluently. Straight away both crews were showing good speed and 1K times were producing exciting reading. Unfortunately my camp was cut short as I had to return to Bath with a family emergency, but out in France the crews continued to move on under the watchful eye of JMB. I knew that a fresh voice and approach would do the crews the world of good. I was proved right as both crews looked crisp and fast when they returned to the UK.
The regatta season came thick and fast and it seemed that we were loading and unloading trailers more than we rowed!! Despite this the Summer Term went very well indeed. The first regatta was at Evesham where the First VIII lost in two finals by the smallest of margins, being overhauled in the final 150m by Monmouth in one of the finals. It was a sharp learning curve! The girls' IV rowed majestically and won their final by 5 lengths. It was a brilliant performance by them and one of their best rows of the season.
Avon regatta proved another good day when the boys' 1st VIII won their final by several lengths ahead of Bryanston in slightly controversial circumstances and the boys coxless four won senior fours by 4 lengths also. The girls four lost in their final to Gloucester by ½ length but did win in a cobbled together VIII, beating Bristol University in the final. All in all, a good day for both squads and I was delighted how both crews were performing in the lead up to the National Schools Regatta.
The National Schools Regatta saw the best and worst of Monkton and I was miserable on Saturday and elated on Sunday. The girls' IV were the first to row and in the qualifiers they looked extremely neat and tidy but lacked the real venom needed at this level. They were off the pace by about 30 seconds and missed out on a semi-final place. The boys' VIII took to the water soon after and were in good shape and raring to go. They looked sharp and confident in the warm up and several other coaches commented on how well they looked. I was fairly confident that they would qualify into the semi-final. However, in the race itself they looked laboured and could not lift the rate above 30 into the strong headwind. I bellowed at them but no change came. Afterwards all the crew agreed it felt a little low and heavy......so why did they not change it? I was not surprised when the results came out......fastest non-qualifier by .05 second, 13th with 12 to qualify into the semi-final. One stroke at a higher rate would have done it, but alas it never came. Disappointed and despondent was far from what we were all feeling. I was full sure that we could have been in the final but unless you perform you will be left wanting, which is exactly what happened. On the Sunday, I had entered the coxless four who were going reasonably well but thought that we would find it difficult to qualify into the semi-final of Championship fours. In the race itself the four were angry, hurting and wanting revenge for their poor performance on Saturday. I was amazed at how quick they were and how easy they made the rowing look. Not only did they qualify for the semi but they were the sixth fastest crew of the day with only seconds separating 2nd-8th. Things were looking up. In the semi-final I saw a master class of rowing from the four. At 250m the crew had stolen a half a length from Latymer, Radley, Kings Chester, St. Paul's and Bedford. At 500m they were ¾ length up and at 750m were a length up which they maintained until the final 250m. As I cycled along side the race the other coaches looked at me and said "When did you teach your boys to row? You are supposed to be the whipping boys". I was delighted to be showing the other schools that Monkton was no longer just in it to make up the numbers but here to race. In the final 250m the rest of the field closed on Monkton and in a desperate attempt to lift the rate the crew just shortened and lost out on a qualifying spot by 2/100th second. The crew were devastated not to have made the final but we all knew they had given everything they had and made Monkton and me proud. After a short break for half term it was rebuilding for women's and men's Henley. Reading Amateur saw the next venture to try to get the 1st VIII pre-qualified for Henley. The girls four lost in the first round to the eventual winners Galway RC but learnt much about their speed in the lead up to women's Henley. The first VIII won two rounds before losing to Exeter University in the semi-final by 1 length. Exeter went on to win the event. Despite losing, the crew rowed extremely well and had learnt their lessons from National Schools.
JMB looked after the boys VIII for a week whilst I concentrated on the girls four in the lead up to women's Henley. I had made a few changes to the girls' rhythm and power application in the lead up to Reading and this seemed to make a drastic difference. The girls were moving much quicker than before and confidence was growing throughout the week. With 4 members of this crew in their final year, Women's Henley was to be the last event that they would row for Monkton. The qualifiers saw 32 crews race for 16 places and it was going to be a tall order for the girls to break into the top 16 but they were prepared to give it their all. In the race the girls looked stylish and again a number of coaches commented on their technique and how well they looked. The rhythm was good and the speed was faster than they had done before. After the race the girls were delighted with their performance and said that it was the best row of the year and that they could not have done any more. As a coach you cannot ask for more than that. In the end the girls missed out on qualification by 10 seconds but had made up so much ground from what they had achieved at National Schools.
Back to the first VIII, JMB, GWB and I teamed up once again to finalise matters for the push to Henley. We tried a few new combinations and although JMB and GWB thought it was better, I'm afraid the young boy disagreed and we stayed with the original combination. Marlow regatta was one week before Henley qualifiers and we needed to perform well at this event if the Stewards were to grant us a place at Henley proper. The crew were racing in University VIIIs, and in the heat the crew raced well and were pipped on the line by Queen's University Belfast. We were the second fastest crew in the heats and the final would be a tight affair but confidence was high. In the final the crew raced well off the start but faded in the second 500m and missed the push of University of Bristol and Queen's. In the end the 1st VIII came home in 3rd, ½ length down on Bristol and ¼ length down on Queen's. The crew were not happy but again lessons were learnt.
At Marlow we were unaware that the crews who had to qualify for each event at Henley were posted and one of the boys rang me and said "I think we are in?" I ran over to see for myself and there it was - the crews that needed to qualify for the Princess Elizabeth Cup - and Monkton were not on the list. We were in and, as I told the crew, a huge roar went up and relief all around as we realised that our goal all season was met. Next stop Henley.
Henley week was again a fantastic experience. The crew were relaxed and moving sweetly and were inspired by the Henley reach and the crews around them. We were drawn against King's Chester, who had not had the best of seasons, and we were reasonably happy to race them and put them under pressure. The crew were focused and relaxed on the morning of the race and paddled off confidently towards the start. As I watched from the launch at the start the crew looked hungry to perform and when the umpire shouted "go" the crew burst off the start and matched King's stroke for stroke but after six strokes the bowman's gate snapped under the strain and the oar popped out. Desperately trying to solve the problem the bowman tried to fix the gate, but to no avail. In the matter of five strokes King's had stolen a two length lead and that was game over. The crew raced up the course with 7 men to rapturous applause from the crowd. A very disappointing end to what was an extremely successful year but when all is said and done I am proud of all the crew and what they achieved despite the problem at the end. They did themselves, me, the school and the Boat Club proud.
GPR