Rowing Report
Saturday 22 February
Last weekend was another dual regatta weekend with the running of the annual The King’s School (King’s)/PLC Sydney (PLC) regatta at SIRC and the running of The Scots College regatta in Canada Bay.
Our Junior Quads had a great day out in Hen and Chicken Bay, with some great racing across both age groups. Our Year 8 Quad group continue to develop their skills and, more importantly, their discipline in race scenarios, although we are still capable of the odd lookout of the boat that leads to a lost oar! The Year 8 Quads got our day off to a great start, with a highlight coming from the very first race of the day, where our newly formed Tenth Quad took on the Ninth Quad. This was a showdown for the ages, with the Ninth boat getting away cleanly until a little bit of ill-discipline resulted in a lost oar and the Tenth boat seizing the moment to take out the win. Our Ninth boat had to scramble hard but did a great job to fend off St Joseph’s College (Joeys) and Newington! Our Second boat also had a narrow miss with a lost oar close to the finish (after navigating a crash with Sydney Boys High previously). This allowed King’s to skip past them in the final 100m to claim the win.
The Year 8 Third Quad (previously our Fourth crew) had a brilliant race under the guidance of stroke seat Anders Minchin. They were ultimately our second fastest Quad on the day, which is a great achievement! Our Year 8 First Quad enjoyed a much better execution this week, which ultimately saw them close out the race against Joeys.
Our Year 9 Quads enjoyed an equally impressive set of results, with the squad recording five 1st places from their eight race starts. Our Eighth Quad had a great race to record a brilliant 3rd place, whilst our Seventh crew stepped up to compete in the Sixth Quad division, which was a brilliant challenge for them. Pleasingly, they finished in 2nd place in between Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview (Riverview) and Sydney Grammar. Our Third and Fourth crews had tough-fought wins with the course starting to show the signs of the many boats zipping around the course.
Our Second and First Quads were primed for a great showdown with their Joeys rivals, who had shown brilliant form in the lead-up regattas. In both these races, Shore was able to get away well and, despite getting hit by washes from pleasure craft, were both able to close out the races well.
In much calmer waters, our Senior squad and Year 10 group travelled to Penrith to compete in the King’s/PLC regatta. This regatta is one of the rare events that brings the boys and girls schools together to compete. Enjoying a gentlemanly later start to the day (racing at 11am!!), our Year 10 crews got our campaign underway with a bang, with our Fourth Year 10 crew recording a great victory for the shed. They were racing against a composite crew consisting mainly of Riverview boys, with one King’s boy joining the fray. In a pleasing performance, the Shore boat sat in 2nd place for the majority of the race but made a powerful move through the final 500m to record a narrow 1st place! Our Third Year 10 Crew consisting of Josh Sarkis, Max Riddell, Jack Butcher, Will Heiler, James Cunningham, Julian Noakes, Scott Robson, Cambell Binne and cox Harry Leahy shot out of the blocks to lead from first stoke to last stroke, recoding a great 5-second winning margin and showing great resilience to bounce back from the Gold Cup. Our Second Year 10 VIII had a really tight tussle down the course with Riverview (with only a second separating these two down the course). Whilst it was a win to Riverview, I know the boys enjoyed being involved in such a contest. Third place in this race was a further 15 seconds back. Bring on the Sydney Rowing Club regatta!!
Our First Year 10 crew bounced back from the rough and tumble of the gold cup to record a strong 2nd place behind Riverview and in front of King’s. The crew built a narrow lead through the first 1000m but were under siege through the third 500m. I know this will be an area of focus for the men from North Sydney this weekend.
Our Senior Third VIII raced next and found the initial pace a little too quick for their very green combination. Once the race had settled, the crew showed some promising signs.
Our GPS Fourth IV has continued its impressive run, recording another strong time and margin, which really comes from a brilliant first 1000m of the race. This crew has been a steady performer for the shed.
Our GPS Third IV had a closer race this week thanks to a spirited race coming from Riverview. This crew had a great start in the first 500m and established a sound 2-second lead by the halfway mark. This was slowly eaten into by the Riverview crew and the way they approached the third 500m. Despite this, the crew of Caleb Jones, Lachlan McIntosh, Harry Faulkner, Chris Yun and Jeddy Sam showed enough grit to get their bow ball over the line first.
Our GPS Second IV did not enjoy a great day in the office, unfortunately, by their own standards. The pace of the line was a little too much for the Shore boat to handle, and they found themselves trailing by the halfway mark to both King’s and Riverview. There has been a lot of improvement in this boat, and I look forward to seeing them sink their teeth into training this week.
Our GPS First IV did not compete in the first race due to some illness late in the week. They did compete in the second race (Under 19 IV+) with the assistance of Connor Glancy as the Second VIII was only competing in one event due to illness. Here, the Shore boat finished in 3rd place behind a First IV combination that contained two members of the Second VIII from Riverview and four from the Scots First VIII.
Our Second VIII had a storming win over the field – this time completing the 2km in what would be the fourth fastest time of the day (behind the First crews from Shore, Grammar and Riverview). This was an amazing performance from a crew of exceptional young men. A very pleasing part of this performance was the establishment of a strong first 1000m, but then the work through the third 500m to effectively close the door on the field was brilliant.
The crew of Ethan Nam, George Scammell, Angus Marshall, Connor Glancy, Addison Stanberg, Kalan Welch, Henry Roxburgh, Oli Paris and Jethro Chapman continued to drive the boat through the final 250m to set up a very pleasing margin of over five seconds.
Our First VIII had the opportunity to race twice down the 2000m track. In the first assault down the course, we saw the Riverview crew establish a very dominant performance again through the first 1000m, and the Shore crew came under fire by the Sydney Grammar combination. This, unfortunately, saw a photo finish go the way of the Grammar, with Shore settling for 3rd place, a length in front of 4th, Newington.
In the second race, Shore had to contend with King’s as the leader of the peloton behind the Riverview combination. This was a great battle between these two schools, but happily, it was a battle that we claimed with a strong final 500m coming from the north Sydney boat to push through King’s and sit in 2nd place behind the Riverview crew.
Mr Glenn Bates
MIC Rowing