Peterborough Regatta 2013

Glancing back at James' write up from Peterborough Regatta last year, recalls a really enjoyable weekend from 2012 - and it seems this year was more of the same. His Daviness the Smith scored another win in MasD 1x but with the men's eight racing at the Metropolitan Regatta, the spotlight was on the girls.The squad looks to be in good shape at the moment with some new athletes joining and many of those who have learned to row with us showing the benefits of all that hard work over the winter. With multiple wins the gentle clank of pewter tankards accompanied the girls' progress home. Thanks to Clare Sachs for this write up - and to Cat, Paul and Craig for coaching the squad and Les for towing the trailer up there. 

From the women's (used to be) novice IV+

It's 6.30am on a Wednesday morning (when normal people would still be in bed), the Tideway is calm and it’s suprisingly warm for such an early hour. Despite the sleepiness of the crew we are all excited as this is our last outing before Peterborough Regatta; the next time we will get in a boat together will be for the first heat of the novice fours.

Sunday arrives, sunny and warm, and we all get to the lake bright and early. The butterflies are fluttering in our stomachs and nerves are high. All four of us had put in the hard work, done the training but hadn’t had much practice on the water in this combination. Therefore, we all felt that this four had potential but weren’t sure whether we could get it together on the day. We had all reached the final in the Eight the day before but this time there are only four of us. The day before Bab's four had triumphed but would we be able to do the same?

Up to the start we paddled and Paul, our cox, got us attached to the stake boat. 'Twickenham, Sons of the Thames, De Montford, attention, go!' And we were off into our start. After settling into our race pace I allowed myself a quick glance either side and could see both boats which just kept getting further and further away!

After winning the heat so comfortably we knew the final would be tough. We kept our focus and executed another good start, getting our bow ball in front. However, Derby weren't going to let us have it all our own way and started to come back. Paul called for a push and we pulled it back. We managed to hold them off in the last 500m as Miyesse remembers thinking ‘this is hapenning!! This is happening! We are winning this!" and then " don't let them to catch us up! Keep pushing!".

Thank you to everyone who helped us win our Novice Pot - to Paul for coxing and coaching us, Cat for her coaching and organisation on the day and for all the women's squad for supporting and cheering us on! We are still smiling like idiots almost a week later!!

Clare, Miyese, Amy and Jess

How to describe racing at Peterborough? For some of us, it’s been the best racing weekend of the season so far and what a weekend it was! We went from Novice status to IM2 in our 4+ in less than 24 hours.

We arrived at Peterborough on Friday afternoon/evening ready for the weekend, which was going to be fairly busy, with the mad racing schedule the coaches had in place for us. We had probably the largest number of boat combinations that Sons’ ladies squad has taken to PEBO in recent years, due to the increased number of rowers in our squad.

But focusing on the WN4+ that had raced at Putney Town, we went in on Saturday with a lot of energy, a fair amount of nerves and a huge desire to win a regatta. The coaches kept the same boat combination: Stroke – Babs; 3 – Lucy; 2 – Josie; Bow – Sandra and Tash as our Cox. We had been training as much as we could and we knew we had a fairly good chance to win. We went into our Heat on Saturday morning with one goal in mind: do our own race – this has always been our motto. And we did, we won the heat to move to the semi finals with clear water between us and the other 3 boats. 

The semi final was more complicated, maybe we let the nerves get to us, maybe because we had another Sons crew racing us and we got caught up in the emotion of competing against some of ‘us’ but we got through, again, ahead of our opposition. When we got out of the water, we had a little chat and told each other: relax, we can do this. Our coaches, Cat and Paul told us: ‘Go out there and, no matter what the end result is, make it your best row, leave it all out on the water. Don’t come out thinking you could have done more or better’. We told ourselves in the crew: Let’s show ourselves what we are made of.

We have a little tradition, maybe the same as in other crews, but we always “pass the good luck” up the boat, from stroke to cox (in a bow loader) or from cox to bow (in a stern loader). It’s always been my way to calm my own nerves but it’s also a way to assure our team that we are in it together. We all loved our final on Saturday. We pushed from the start and we settled into OUR race, never giving up, OUR rhythm flowing from stroke to bow and back. We couldn’t hear much of what Tash was saying as we lost the cox box early on but we knew what had to be done. We could hear the cheers where our squad and coaches were based, less than 250 metres to the end. We had clear water between us and the other 3 crews and we just kept our rate up and power down in the water.

When the buzzer signalled the end, I remember looking to the sides, looking back towards Lucy behind me and screaming!! We had won our 1st regatta and what a race it had been. We were so relaxed, no rushing, no frustrations, pure enjoyment! We were helped out by our squad friends and hugs all around. We were tired but no one could stop us from smiling!! Group hug, 5 very happy rowers and cox! We put the boat away, had a debrief chat with Cat and Paul to go over what we had done and celebrate that we were no longer novices. That also meant that the next day we would be racing in IM3 and that was a bit of a scary thought.....

Day 2 at Peterborough was more relaxed, we were going to race IM3 level to see what it was like. None of us was going for the pot. But we were going to do our best because you don’t go into a race to lose. There were 3 heats, our crew in Heat 1 and the other Sons crew in Heat 2. A victory would take us to the final, 2nd place would lead to repechage. This time we had Paul, one of our coaches, as our cox and we rowed in Jo Frost, a stern loader – a new experience for me in a Four, up till then, we always rowed in a bow loader. But Paul is an experienced cox and the 4 of us went through our own strategy with him so he was aware of how we like to row, what calls work for us. Paul took everything on board and relaxed us on the row up to the start. We had some time before we were called to line up and got to see some of the other crews start. We did our ‘luck shuffle’ up the boat from me to Sandra but then the girls remind me that this time we had a stern loader so we passed the ‘luck’ around once more and Paul took it but look at me as if I was mad...

The Marshall then called the crews to line up for the 1st WIM3 4+. We went to our lane and, for one second, we all thought Paul had lost the plot and the sense of the race, because our bow was almost at the stake boat. I did turn to him and say: Paul, you realise that the race is the other way round, right? But this was all part of Paul’s plan, we spun and we were in place quicker than any other crew.

We won our heat after a good race against Churchill College and we were off to another final in 2 days. The other Sons crew also won their heat in a tight race against Loughborough. We were going to have another Sons vs Sons race, this time in a final. Churchill College won the repechage and we met them again in the final. We went to rest because 2 of us in the boat were also racing WIM3 8+, which went to repechage. An hour after the repechage, we had our WIM3 4+ final and we tried to relax, get into 4+ spirit. Cat and Paul had a chat with both crews and to us, they told us to enjoy it, see how it went as it was going to be our 1st final as IM3 and it was going to be harder than the day before. 

We were relaxed, we just said (again) to each other, let’s do OUR race. We didn’t think for one minute that we had a chance. We wished good luck to the other crew and got the boat on the water and went up to the start. We practiced just one start and, at that point in time, I felt extremely tired. I had already raced 3 other races that day and wondered if I still had any more energy in me. But I thought that it had to be done and other crews had raced just as much.

We lined up, race faces on but we were relaxed, ready to get the last race of our weekend out of the way. The Marshall on the bank called all the boats, followed by ‘Attention... GO’ and off we went. We kept our rating steady from start to finish and kept our eyes on the boat... most of the way... I know that I kept checking Churchill’s crew to see where they were to see if Paul was going to call for a tactical move to push us away. But I shouldn’t have worried, we were pushing off from the other 3 crews and we were ahead. Paul told me to look at him, he was in control. When we reached 800m, where our squad was cheering for us and the other Sons crew, we had clear water but we kept pushing till we could hear the buzzer. Paul’s voice also told us what we already knew because the level of excitement on his voice was telling us we were winning. When Paul called to ‘easy’, we looked to the sides and then at the each other and it dawned on us what we had done: we had won the WIM3 4+ final! Let’s say that I screamed yet again because I couldn’t believe it! We loved our NOV final the day before but the final on Sunday came in par with it because it was so relaxed, proof that you can have fun while rowing. We gave 3 cheers to the other crews and came off the water shaking because, yes we were so exhausted but also we couldn’t quite grasp that we had won 2 more points. A member of Peterborough Rowing Club took a photo of our crew hugging after we won our 2nd race and it was one of those Kodak moments we are glad someone was there to register it. It symbolises what we felt the whole time we’ve been rowing as a crew.

We can’t thank the coaches enough for their time, help, (wonderful) quotes and trust in us! We couldn’t have done any of this without them.

On Sunday, Sons of the Thames won 3 pots in total and most crews that raced that day made it to a final. The WNOV4+ won their 1stpot and point as well. I think there’s nothing like seeing your friends win their first pot and we were all cheering/screaming for them!

All in all, a very successful weekend for Sons of the Thames Rowing Club.

Babs Pinheiro

Plovdiv attracts events of the calibre of the World Rowing Championships, and a pleasing amount of sunshine. Drago first arranged a training camp there in his native Bulgaria in 2012 - generally thought to be crucial in getting two crews to Henley. This year, the guys were back for more - including Ross, who took this shot. Thanks to James Reeves for the write up.  

It’s 2.30 in the morning and I’m on a train. That’s pretty odd in itself, but weirder still is bumping into two people you know, and yet not being surprised that they are there.

Greg, Mark and I are on our way to Gatwick to catch a plane to Bulgaria for the annual senior men’s squad training camp. It’s my first, and I confess to being a little nervous at the prospect of nine consecutive days of rowing at three outings a day. But I’ve got a healthy supply of recovery drinks, blister cream and I’ve been doing all the training to date; how hard can it be?

We meet the rest of the squad in the baggage queue. There is a mixture of bleary eyes and surreal early morning excitement. Marcus appears to have arrived in his work suit. After the usual queuing and much shifting of rigger-jiggers into hold luggage we make it to the plane and we’re on our way to Sofia. I’ll never get bored of that feeling you get after a cramped, air-conditioned flight and step out of the plane into 30 degrees and glorious sunshine. After an hour in a taxi we arrive at the Hotel Globus in Plovdiv, our hosts for the next nine nights. Dave B and I grab the key to our room, and spend the next ten minutes trying to work out how it opens the door.

Dump the bags, change into rowing kit, and we’re off for our first outing. There is barely enough time for Mirko to apply his third coating of sun-cream. It’s a casual 10 minute stroll to the sport’s complex which consists of a stadium, a few tennis courts, football pitches and, of course, a rowing lake. My only previous experience of a 2km rowing lake had been Eton Dorney. There my first thoughts were “Man, that’s a long way” and “If it’s a lake, why are there so many waves?”. But in Plovdiv: “Is it a lake or a swimming pool?” It is sheltered by trees on three sides with a pedestrian bridge at the 1km mark. The boat house is at one end, a climbing wall at the midway point; and a conveniently positioned bar is at the finish line.

We settled into a consistent training routine over the week. Get up around 6.45, grab a snack, and head over to the lake for 7.30. The first session is a 10km technical session; lots of squared blades, slap-catches and all that good stuff. Off the water at around 9, and back to the hotel for breakfast and a quick doze. We head back over to the lake for around 10.30-11 for the second session. The sun is beginning to get serious, so it is time to lather up with sun cream and bring out the bad hats. The second session is much more intense; some days a heart-pumping series of UT1 pieces, others a series of back-to-back sprints. A particularly ‘memorable’ session involved a series of (eight?) 500m sprints; as much a mental as physical test.

After the 2nd session there is just time to take a quick dip in the lake, before heading back to hotel for a much-needed lunch and a couple of hours sleep. It’s then back in the boat for the last session, a quick shandy, dinner and bed.

It’s an intense schedule, but there were some moments to relax. During those periods I learnt a few things: bowside are better than strokeside at LaserQuest, there is such a thing as a ‘four hand massage’, the mountains around Plovdiv are spectacular, rowers are really good dancers and there is a very funny nickname for Dave and Dave in a pair.

Over the week the boat just got quicker and quicker. As a relative new-comer to rowing, I quickly realised that I hadn’t previously been in a boat that really moved. At the best moments I could just finish a stroke and sit at back-stops watching the water stream by. I think it is fair to say that at the end of the week there is a real sense of optimism around the squad that we are going to be competitive in the upcoming regattas, and hit our end-of-season goal of qualifying for Henley. Thanks to all the squad; to Peter and Kate for coxing; Sam and Drago for coaching and organising; Drago and Michael for translating. It was a terrific week. 

James Reeves

I went up to Peterborough on Saturday morning for a weekend of racing. My head was a cloud of sleep deprivation brought on by a late night out. Just say "no" when it comes to a night out before a regatta. Not ideal preparation for up to 6 x 1000m of racing in one day.

Not long after I arrived at the lake I would need to head out for my first heat. I was about to compete in only my second single scull race, just a few weeks after my very first. As I paddled towards the start, going through some warm up drills, my body filled with nerves and adrenaline and washed away the fatigue of the night before.

I knew I would have 4 x 1000m in my legs to make it to the sculling finals. So if I was going to still be competitive at the end of the day I would have to be strategic. I only needed to finish second to progress. I would have to conserve my legs as much as possible. 

So when I got away in the first heat and established a small lead I wanted to slow down. But the gap between 2nd and 3rd was too close. I would need to stay in 1st or risk misjudging 2nd and finishing 3rd. So I held a pace that kept me in 1st and progressed to the semi finals.

For the semi final I would meet 3 new opponents. I had another good start and again found myself in the lead. With about 300m to go 2nd would be just over a length behind, 3rd even further back. This time I decided it was safe to switch off the gas and cruise home. I finished the semi second, but it was enough to book a spot in the final.

The next event for me was a heat of the pair. After this race I had about 3 hours of recovery before my final in the single. So I decided to go for it. Unfortunately we were only able to achieve 3rd and would not progress to the final. I just hoped this wouldn't take the precious kick out of my legs I expected to need in the finals of the single scull. 

By the time I was paddling up for the final I already had 4000m of racing in my legs that day. I looked at my competition. I would be meeting 3 young scullers. In lane 4 the lad who finished 2nd in my heat, lane 3 the young guy who was first in my semi. Then in lane 2 was a guy who sculls for Rob Roy. I saw him as my biggest threat. He had equalled my fastest time of the day and others had said he looked good in his races. I was grateful he would be starting in the lane next to me, where I could keep an eye on him. 

I managed a good start in the final was able to get an early advantage. From there I could see lanes 3 and 4 starting to fall behind. But Rob Roy, in the lane next to me, was holding on and not more than half a length down. 

As we approached the 500m mark I began to feel the day of racing in my body. Various limbs and muscle groups began to protest. Then with about 300m to go Rob Roy launched his attack. I was on rate 34 when he drew level. It was time for me to go. So I kicked up a gear, taking the rating up over 36. If Rob Roy had another gear I don't think I could have done anything to stop him. So I just dug in and gave it everything. With less than 150m to go my boat started to move away. Whether I had done enough to crack Rob Roy or he just ran out of steam. It was enough for me to hold onto 1st all the way to the finish line. 

You can't really do the traditional "3 cheers" when you're alone in a single scull. Nor does it seem necessary for small boats. There is just an implied respect for each other and plenty of mutual appreciation for what was a great and enjoyable race. 

Not having any crew mates in the boat makes racing more exciting and significantly more nerve racking. I have to thank Drago for helping me through the day with his typically calm demeanour. Getting through those races was only possible with his support.

With the men's squad away at training camp in Plovdiv, Sons of the Thames Rowing Club still had plenty of representation at Putney Town Regatta. Three women's crews, a men's novice four and one Masters D single sculler, know to us as Dave Smith, left Hammersmith to do battle. Although all four crews fought their way through to the finals, we were denied a win despite some very close racing. After all the interest generated by the Olympics, novice racing seems especially competitive this year, but despite that the crews have demonstrated good boat speed and all are capable of winning this season. It was left to Dave to bring home a pot with a comfortable win in MasD 1x. 

All the training we did in the winter is starting to pay off… That’s one of lessons we have learnt from Putney Town Regatta.

We took 3 Women’s boat to race, a WN4+, a WN8+ and a WIM38+. 

This is the tale of the WN4+’s crew: Stroke – Babs, 3 – Lucy, 2 – Josie; Bow – Sandra and Cox – Tash.

We met early in the morning for a pre-race outing and, as the river was quiet, we managed to enjoy some time with Paul, one of our coaches. Racing starts were on the menu and we tried to go for it, show him what we could do. We kept getting one of Paul’s favourite lines: up, up, UP!!

Yes, we were nervous but a good kind of nerves that gives you butterflies in your stomach because we were so keen on getting the first race out of the way. Our goal: win 1 race. We had BBL ‘A’ Boat in our Quarter-Final and, although we would have to through a Semi to get to the Final, in our heads, that first race of the day, wasour Final. We wanted to prove ourselves that we could do it.

And… we did!! We got to the start with plenty of time to relax, dekit and take on some water (unlike at Chiswick Regatta, where we started the race as soon as we arrived at the start, 20 minutes early!). We watched the school kids race – we still get tired just from the mad rushing of the slide!

We lined up with BBL, the Umpire called up the race and the clubs and ‘Attention, Go’ and we were off! Our start was good, we’re not sure if we had them off the start because we were all focussed on rowing as a crew and doing our own race. We won with, at least, 2 lengths, in a controlled way and we enjoyed every bit of it. We always make sure that we greet our opposition and Tash called for 3 Cheers for Barnes Bridge Ladies.

We couldn’t believe it!! We beat a boat!! So, we spun the boat and rowed up back to Sons for a rest, next race would be 2 hours later and we took a nice paddle back.

Next, we raced Parr’s. We were under no illusions that because we won one race, we would do the same thing again. But, all 5 of us, said: we’re going to row our own race. We had Susi and David from the Novice squads supporting us at the start – thanks, guys!!!

It was hard(er) work, it was an awesome race, and we loved it because we kept going and pushing off Parr’s boat. We kept together and our finish saw us win with at least ½ length. 3 Cheers for Parr’s and we cheered ourselves!! We were going to the final! WOW!! When we got back to the club, the rest of the racing squad was down and Paul came round in the launch to find out the result. We had made it to the Final! Thumbs up, coach!

The final… well, let’s say that we’re still Novice rowers… But no way are we feeling defeated. Our opposition were King’s College and we did our best to stick it to them. King’s C. won with 4 lengths but kept up the fight.

Bring on Peterborough, we’re ready for you!

Barbara Pinheiro

The club had a good day at Borne last year, and the 2013 event has turned out well for us too. In a post-Olympic flood of enthusiasm it's been hard to get an entry accepted, so for many of us, this was the first regatta of the season. 

First up for the club was your correspondent in MasC/D 1x, making a rare regatta appearance. Hopes of an easy first round were quickly dashed by De Maria of Putney Town who refused to give up and maintained an overlap right the way down the course. The verdict was just three quarters of a length, and it felt like less. 

Still struggling with oxygen debt I landed at Mortlake Alpha and Anglian Rowing Club in time to see our IM2 4- in a forget-to-breath-out close finish with Thames Rowing Club. The men in red, black and white got it by a foot - the turn of the bend towards Middlesex favouring them as the line approached. 

Revenge came swiftly though as our other IM2 4- crushed them in the next round by four lengths. Things didn't go quite so well in the IM3 4+ race where we were squeezed out by Walton. 

Last year's category winners Faith and Anna were not racing this year, leaving Lju to represent Sons single scullers. All I know about her IM3 race is the terse Twitter feed two lengths verdict. I did see her other race at novice where she narrowly lost to an accomplished looking sculler. It's never easy in a single but Lju's first win can't be far away. 

And so to my MasD 1x final against Grylls of MA&A. I tried a race-pace burst paddling up to the course from Hammersmith but felt so tired after the previous round I didn't bother with any others. In fact, sitting on the start I'd pretty much thought myself into the loser's position, a state of mind not improved by an awful wobble on the very first stroke. Luckily a decent wind brought me back on terms, with the boats level for stroke after stroke. In a mind-wiping effort I remember thinking that I had two artificial legs, both of which had blown oil seals. Only towards the end did the bow ball of the Empacher slowly recede. I continued to row at race pace past Chiswick Pier, unable to understand that I'd crossed the line. It was great to get a pot up at MA&A and it would be churlish not to acknowledge the friendly efficiency of all the volunteers there. It's a well-run regatta Borne and everyone I spoke to, including my opponents, were really nice.

Something had to go wrong eventually of course, so I managed to lose my pot struggling to empty a flooded footwell back at the Sons pontoon. A combination of wind on tide and a sailing regatta had churned up some of the worst water I've ever seen. 

Into these sea-like conditions I could see Sam and Drago paddling off for their IM2 2x final, waves slapping over their double. In a way, as rower coaches, they put themselves on the line by competing together but never missed a beat coming in three lengths ahead of a Thames RC crew. It was Sam's second win of the day. 

All in all a really enjoyable day and a promising indicator for the men's squad.

When the draw for Putney Town was published, I discovered that I had a straight final against a sculler from London Rowing Club. I checked the Scullers Head results and discovered that I had finished 1 place ahead of him, beating him by just 0.3 seconds over 7km! It look as though a close race over 1200m was on the cards. However, the ace up my sleeve was that my opponent was a Masters C sculler, which meant a whopping 11 second handicap against him.

I almost didn’t make it to the race, as I managed to run over one of the shoals just past Barn Elms. Luckily, despite the sickening sound of my boat scraping on rocks as I was 5 strokes into a practice start, it was only the tip of my fin that hit the bottom, and it held firm.

As we eyed each other up approaching the start, I felt a little sorry for my opponent, but I told myself to be ruthless, and attack the start as if we were starting together. 

I got a good start, off at about 42, reducing to 35, and by the time of the second ‘Go’, I was a good 5 or 6 lengths ahead. He tried to catch me, but I settled to a good 32, and gradually extended my lead. By the time I passed the Sons girls, cheering me on as they paddled up to their own race, I had a comfortable lead, and let the rating come down to about 28, concentrating on using my legs in the middle of the stroke. So I duly won, and paddled back to Putney to pick up my prize – not only the traditional pewter pot, but also a mounted certificate. 

I stayed down at Putney to cheer on the Sons girls in their finals, but sadly there were no more Sons victories today. The women’s novice four came very close, convincingly winning their first two races, and the men’s novice four also won their semi-final but both crews lost their finals, as did the women’s novice eight and IM3 eight. However, the close results show that everyone is on the pace, and it certainly won’t be long before more silverware is being won, and that dreaded novice status will be history.

Dave Smith

We can get about 100 seats into the ballroom at Linden House so there weren’tany going spare when Sir Matthew Pinsent visited us last night. He comes over just the way he does on the telly, only bigger.

It’s probably true to say that the less you need an introduction, the more likely you are to get one. Talking him in, Rory was at pains to point out the races Matthew didn’t win. The bronze medals and the fourth places, the “failures” most of us would dine out on for life.

As a piece of psychologically levelling it was doomed to failure of course. You can’t overlook 10 world championship and four Olympic gold medals. They came too those four dully gleaming discs of hope, effort and victory. When you’ve never seen even one before, the Pinsent set takes you into sensory overload. Matthew passed them round with a casual generosity that made your worry a member of the criminal classes might have slipped in undetected.

The man talks as well as he rows and pretty soon we felt like members of those GB squads, - as if Jurgen Grobler was our coach, Sir Steven Redgrave was a mate and sub six minute 2000 metre ergo times were nothing special.

You realise also that however ordained they might seem in retrospect every one of those golds was fought for, especially the last.  It’s one thing to remember reading in the paper that Alex Partridge was diagnosed with a punctured lung just weeks before the games, another to hear Matthew describe what it felt like when Jurgen said “Alex isn’t coming”.

As question followed question, we started to see the Matthew Pinsent of today – a thoughtful protagonist for our sport, and someone who sees the threats and opportunities for rowing in Olympic and international competition.

We can’t thank Sir Matthew enough for coming over for no better reasons than plain old-fashioned generosity. It was a candid and inspirational insight into the life of one of GB’s all-time sporting greats.