By Aaron Sims
After a gruelling but rewarding performance from the Men’s VIII at Chester the day before, the last thing you’d want to do the following day is to race again. But that’s the way it goes in Lancaster, with the following day set aside for the final Red Rose Head of the season. Fifteen crews entered the event all with excellent times, assisted by the excellent racing conditions of minimal wind and calm waters.
As per usual, Steve ‘Captain Pugwash’ Sullivan was the fastest of the day on handicap, putting down a stereotypically great time of 17.25 with a handicapped time of 19.24. Second place went to the quad of Matt, Aaron, newcomer Oliver and Steve who, for a scratch crew in an annoyingly low rigged boat, produced a blisteringly good time of 15.49 and a handicapped time of 20.26.
Aaron and Matt, having raced all head season in a double together but not having been around at the same time to compete in a Red Rose, placed 3rd with a cracking time of 17.28, giving a handicap of 20.45. 4th place went to LRSA sculler Luke Hodgeson who wanted to test out his new single in racing conditions. He earned a time of 19.01 with a handicapped time of 21.00.
The JOG/LSRA quad of Amy, Shona, Ellie and Laura placed 5th overall with a time of 18.43 and a handicapped time of 21.33, a promising time as this quad will be intending to compete together come regatta season, with an absent May Jarvis likely to be rotated into the crew at some point. More juniors finished shortly behind them with Kieran and Ben taking out a double and racing to a strong time of 18.16 and a handicapped time of 21.33.
The next two slots were filled by newcomers to the Red Rose scene. Will Kenyon, who rows out of JOG during the holidays when back from university, took out a single and navigated the course well to deliver a time of 19.52 with a 21.51 handicapped time earning him 7th overall. LUBC fielded one crew to the event in the form of a scratch pair with the two coaches Sam Nahk and Jonny Williams racing. Considering their recent inactivity in boats, their time was not as bad as it could have been with a time of 19.13 and a handicapped time of 21.52.
Phil Bell, also returning from racing the VIII the day before, decided to enter a single, posting a time of 19.54, coming 9th overall with a handicapped time of 21.53. Following him in the rankings was another scratch quad, with Florian absent, Tom, Andy and Matt ‘Wilson’ Birchall were joined by Will, posting a respectable time of 17.33 with a handicapped time of 22.04. A good time for a novice quad, they will be looking to take that crew to Northwich Spring Head in the next few weeks.
The LSRA women’s double of Chloe and Rhianne came 11th overall with a time of 20.38; a good start for this crew at a red rose event having raced together at a few other events recently. Their handicapped time came to 22.05.
Another new crew to enter was Oliver who entered a single prior to the quad previously mentioned as an attempt to get back the feel for racing. Whilst not actually pushing himself much, if at all, he still managed to get a time of 21.35 and a handicapped time of 23.34.
The learn to row guys had a sculling face off which saw Ian Davidson beat Steve Holmes over the 4km course in singles with both netting new personal bests and securing 13th and 14th places respectively for the event. Ian managed a time of 25.09 and a handicapped time of 27.08. An improvement of almost two and half minutes! Steve may have lost out on this race but can be just as satisfied with his performance, getting a time of 28.14 and a handicapped time of 30.13, a massive improvement of over eight minutes!
The first of the last two crews racing on the day was the junior women’s coxed quad of Alice, Becky, Izzy, ??? and cox Oliver who rowed to a time of 27.54 and handicapped time of 30.20. A good effort from some of the girls who are fairly new to the sport. The final crew of the day was Super-Cox turned sculler Dylan Bell who, in his training single, and his first ever time on the water raced with as much energy as he does when he runs rings round everyone at circuits. Although no official time was taken of this epic voyage, it has been estimated that Dylan scored somewhere in the region of 32.00. An excellent effort from him and from all other racers involved.
This concludes the Red Rose heads for the 2010/2011 season. Arrangements are underway to organise the Red Rose sprints for after Easter as we head to summer term. With training camp to come, the rest of the season should prove exciting for all involved at John O’Gaunt.
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