Trip down the Tideway

Well we had one of our best races at WEHORR yesterday and although we did have a bit of a battle with the Tideway Scullers crew we did manage to overtake them.  The race start's in finishing order of the previous year with all new entries at the back, after the clubs ranking of 10^th last year this meant we started 8^th which is always good when you don’t have to sit at the start for what seems like a lifetime in the cold.

The weather was far from the normal conditions we experience on the tideway in March.  There was very little wind so the water wasn’t as rough as what we come to expect from the tideway and to top it off we enjoyed some nice spring sunshine.

Our row to the start went well and we got some really good paddling in which put us in a good mind frame for the race.  We had a good build to the start and solid as a pack from there on.  We started two boat lengths down on the Tideway Scullers crew and from the off we worked on closing them down inch by inch.  Having finished 9^th the year before this was no shabby crew and they certainly made us work for every inch we took from them.  It was a long grind to get the overtake and even once we got clear they maintained on tail and continued to push back at us. 

We maintained our Nottingham rhythm throughout and left the Tideway Scullers crew in search of the Thames crew who started 6^th.  We didn’t get close enough to overtake them as you remain focused in your crew I really have no idea how far ahead they were.  That’s the advantage of a coxed boat as it’s their role not only to steer the boat and on the tideway a good line is crucial but also to keep the crew motivated and to keep them moving on as a pack.  Tamsin never let us settle as soon as we’d passed the Tideway Scullers crew that was it we were after Thames.

Having reached the black buoy we knew we were in the last leg of the race the final push to line we pressed onto it every stroke and by this point we were all in hell everything screams stop at you but you can’t you press on regardless knowing its nearly over.  We pushed the rate up a pip at a time and for the last 15 strokes or so we took the rate high and held on for the line.

We were pleased with the result as our aim is top 10 and we came in 9^th winning the senior pennant continuing on Nottingham Rowing Club's success of pennant wins since it was merged in 2006.  To view photos of the race visit the Iain Weir website.