We arrived at Warrington excited for the day ahead and were greeted with good rowing conditions: flat water and no rain. We were given a quick talk about the format of the event by the event organiser, shown around the (very impressive!) facilities and allowed a quick warm up on the ergs before racing commenced.
There were four teams in all: Hollingworth, Warrington, Runcorn and Lancaster and the day was to be divided into quads and doubles events. First up were the quads with Lancaster in the first round! We noticed a fine racing quad on the trestles and immediately began to adjust our footplates. Oh the naivety! This was not to be our boat and we were soon to be escorted to the water where the great, unsinkable training quad was waiting for us. Just as we thought it couldn’t get any worse, they presented us with our blades, which can only be described as teaspoons. Reluctantly we clambered into the quad and as we set off, it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be the race we envisaged.
After our unsteady racing start we set sail, leaving the junior cox speechless as we surged onwards mostly at an angle. Needless to say we didn’t win, although in our defence we were up against the so-called novices of Hollingworth who had actually competed in several of these events over the last two years! We were straight into the second round against Warrington, which although not exactly smooth, went much better and we managed to win, regaining some of our dignity in the process. Onto the third round and with a different cox in tow, we opted to ditch the messy racing start and despite putting in a much smoother performance were pipped at the post by Runcorn. At least we had secured one victory!
The doubles events were up next and we had opted to put Megan Abra and myself in the first crew and Geoff Roberts and Julian Kollard in the second. The first round saw the girls take on Hollingworth. As we set off to the start line we noticed an immediate improvement in the boat, what an upgrade! However we soon found ourselves in trouble when after a few metres our steering saw us plough straight into the hedge on the river bank! Fortunately this is where my backing down skills acquired from many hours spent trying to free myself from the tree trunk in the Lune came in handy and within moments we had escaped.
Although our steering skills in the first round were questionable, we still managed to put in a good enough performance to secure ourselves a win! Hoorah! The second round against Warrington was much smoother, helped by starting from backstops with which we felt more comfortable. Despite managing to hold a much straighter line we were just taken at the finish by Warrington.
The final two doubles events saw the men take on Warrington and Runcorn. The first race was neck and neck until moments before the finish line, a giant crab was caught and Warrington snatched away the victory. The final race of the day was slightly less successful and Runcorn ploughed to the finish line, leaving the guys feeling somewhat deflated.
Overall everyone agreed that the event was a good learning experience if nothing else. It provided a gentle introduction into the world of the regatta and gave us all something to think about in terms of our technical ability and areas to focus on in the future. The support and organisation from Warrington was fantastic and obviously generally glorious conditions helped to lift everyone’s spirits! Here’s to Lancaster holding a similar event in the future.
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