A Senior 4- and an IM1 4x travelled down to London to race the annual Fours Head of the River Race, a processional head race over the boat race course from Chiswick to Putney. Fresh from their success at the Diamond Jubilee, the four of Lindsay, Fiona, Laura and Catherine were looking to win their category. Starting behind men's IM2 coxed fours, they weaved their way down the course, steering clear of trouble, whilst others in their category tangled with the slower mens crews ahead. Although the four didn't feel they had their best race, they won by over 15 seconds, smashed the course record and were also the fastest women's four on the water.

The IM1 4x of Nikki, Ellie, Philly and Louise struggled with illness in the lead up to the event, and although they had a solid first half, overtaking 2 crews before Hammersmith, the lack of sustained training pieces in the lead up to the event meant they were unable to build momentum into the finish. In a large field they managed to overtake 3 crews, and caught a 4th and finished 7th in their category, which was won by a very strong Molesey crew containing a European medallist and athletes close to the squad. 

The squad now concentrate on GB trials coming up on the 24/25th November, where they will race against all athletes wishing to be considered for the GB squad for the 2013 season.  

 

The group travelled down to Dorney Lake, host of the Olympic rowing to race at the Diamond Jubilee regatta last weekend. This was a unique showcase event celebrating the success of teamGB at the Olympics and a chance for crews to race against some of the very best, with all triallists who wished to be considered for the 2013 season required to race, and a number of Olympic athletes also attending, racing for their clubs. Racing took an unusual format, with 1900m time trials being used to determine allocation into A/B semi-finals, C/D semis etc. All the categories were combined, for example the women’s heavyweight, lightweight, under 23 and under 19 doubles all competed against each other, providing some very close racing.

On the Saturday two heavyweight fours, a heavyweight double and 2 lightweight doubles were entered. With the phrase ‘As long as we can see your bow number through the fog’ still ringing in our ears everyone boated, heading into the unknown of both the fog and the experience of racing a flat out 2k in October. The time trials went well, with the top four of Lindsay, Fi, Laura and Catherine and two doubles making it into the A/B semis, and the second four of Laura Champion, Rebecca, Ellie and Philly finishing 13^th and just missing out, going on to win the C final later in the day. The top four went on to race against Leander and Sport Imperial for the top spot, and after an excellent final won silver, beating the favoured Leander boat. The U23 heavyweight double of Pippa and Katie Bartlett came in 3^rd in the B final, placing them 9^th out of the 44 entries, the lightweight double of Louise and Yasmin came in 15^th, and the lightweight combination of Nikki and Lizzie Polgreen from Isle of Ely came 5^th overall, in an event won by the European bronze medal winning lightweight crew, but beating an Olympic gold medallist in the process.

On the Sunday Yasmin travelled home and went on to win in her single at Notitngham Autumn Head, impressive given the amount of racing she had done the day before. Staying down at Dorney, the two fours combined into an 8 which finished 5^th overall. Due to some last minute substitutions, Pippa and Katie raced in a scratch quad with 2 girls who competed at Junior Worlds last season, but had to race as time only due to these substitutions. Nikki joined with some fellow lightweights to race in a quad, which came home with bronze, beating 24 other quads, and only beaten by girls who had represented GB last season.

The following month is a busy one, with Fours Head coming up in a fortnight, some girls travelling out to defend their title in Barcelona the following weekend, and then GB trials at the end of the month so watch this space!

Nottingham Rowing Club Needs You!

Have your friends or family ever commented that you are too competitive? Have you played a sport for years and fancy a change? Have you been inspired by the success of rowing at the Olympics? Then Nottingham Rowing Club's high performance group is for you! We are currently looking for women under 23 years old and 5'10 or over who are interested in starting rowing with the aim of competing for the GB team. You do not need any experience or specialist equipment - everything will be provided- you just need the desire to win!

Nottingham Rowing club is the largest and most successful club in the East Midlands, boasting use of a 9km stretch of the River Trent as well as use of one of the only purpose built 2000m rowing lakes in the country. As a member of the high performance group you will also get the benefit of being coached by a full time coach, receive sports science support, have access to an English Institute of Sport gym, a strength and conditioning coach and as many rowing machines as you could ever want!

In the past few years the group has won all of the premier events in the UK, and currently boasts 3 British Champions and 5 Home International Champions, hold a course record at Henley Womens regatta and this year were the only British crew that qualified a quad for Henley Royal Regatta. The group also contains European University and Commonwealth Games winners and medallists. So where can our group take you? 3 of our recent alumni are currently in the Great British squad, having raced and medalled at the World under 23 Championships whilst rowing in Nottingham.

If you are interested in finding out more then please e-mail us at nrc.hps@gmail.com. Even if you do not fit the criteria for the high performance group or just fancy trying rowing on a more casual basis, then please go to www.nottingham-rowing-club.co.uk for more information and contact details.

Pippa Whittaker travelled out to Kazan in Russia to race in a double with Karen Bennett at the beginning of September to compete at the World University Championships. This event is seen as a chance to prove yourself on the World stage against some tough opposition. Only 4 crews were entered from Great Britain. The double made a strong start coming second in their heat, and progressed through to the repechage on the following day. Racing in continuingly deteriorating conditions, the girls put in a strong performance to take the second qualifying spot into the A final, a great achievement for Pippa as this is her first World Championships. Unfortunately the girls couldn't quite make an impact on the medal positions in the final and finished in 6th position.

A week later, three former Nottingham RC athletes were due to race at the European Championships, a stepping stone up to the full senior team. Unfortunately Tina was forced to withdraw following a reoccurrence of a prior injury. Vicki Meyer-Laker and Monica Relph raced in the women's eight, which had an excellent race against the Olympic bronze medal Romanian eight. The eight finished in the bronze medal position, only the second time the eight has finished on the podium, and shows great promise for the next Olympiad.