Novices and IM3 women at Chiswick

Sons Novices were back on the water for their second regatta of the season: a strangely familiar course but different organiser, Quintin RC - historic club house, roaring fire and, as some members discovered, cheap beer. 

First on were the men (Harrison, Lund, Brinker, Rees, Maunder (cox)) racing N4+. After a strong start last week, they were hoping to build on that experience and get through another round of a crowded draw (12 crews). Of course, these things never go to plan. Up against a spectacularly well-drilled crew from Norwich School, Sons found themselves beaten off the start and by 300m were a length and a half-down, with the schoolboys over-rating them on a very fast ebb tide. Nonetheless, grit and few big pushes allowed Sons to stay with them and as the crews reached the club houses, Sons had pushed back. Norwich, however, proved they had more in the tank and responded with an impressive sprint to the finish winning by ¾ length. The 1000m race seemed to be over in a flash. [Chaps I can tell you that Chairman Baldwin thought you looked good - and he doesn't say things like that every day. Ed]

Next up were the women (Lazarevic , Austin, Parr, Main, Crane (cox)) – racing IM3 after the previous week’s success . In what was fast turning into the theme of the day, their opponents, St. George’s College, took the lead at the start, leaving Sons in the unenviable task of having to play catch up. Despite a solid row, they – like the men - had left themselves with too much to do. They couldn’t make up the ground on St George’s who went onto win the event.

The final race of the day for the novice squad was the men’s 8+ (Hinds (cox); Harrison, Lund, Brinker, Rees, Madakbas, Taralezhkov, Grimsdale, Maunder) racing at IM3 8+. This was Matt and Alex’ s debut regatta, the boat aided and abetted by an experienced cox plus a couple of chancers with points who claimed to have rowed before. In the end it was one of those races you put down to experience. Not a bad start or row, but the opponents, and as it turned out, the winners of the category, Norwich School, were an impressive unit. The final verdict - `easily’ - was more emphatic than we’d have liked but the Sons boat offers something to build on for the rest of the season.  

Andrew Maunder