The 2011 season has had its highs and lows but has bought with many successes.  We had a great start to the season winning the headship at Fullers Fours Head in the WElite 4x.  Nikki, Pippa, Vicky, Lindsay and Dez then got to go down to the Fullers brewery and sample the ales at the prize giving.

 With the New Year bought training camp.  We boarded the plane and headed to the sunshine of Club la Santa, Lanzarote where we had a 7 day gruelling land based camp and the best bit we didn’t even have to  touch a ergo well apart from the mad ones that decided to take part in the 2k ergo challenge the centre had at the end of camp.  We spent our time cycling, swimming, spinning and getting stacked doing both power weights and technical weights and not forgetting some core workouts on the green.  If only we could tell the time pool time was defiantly ahead of schedule.

The cold was calling and it was time to get back in the boat a slightly bigger boat this time.  After spending so much time out in 1x our sessions in the 8+ seemed to fly by.  We then raced the 8+ at WEHORR where we won the senior pennant and finished 9^th overall.  The Men’s eight was next to race the tideway and although the narrowly missed out on a pennant win they saw the highest ranking a Nottingham Men’s eight has ever seen finishing 39^th overall.

We then had a bit of down time to focus on our training as we switched from the winter head season to the new summer regatta season.  What better way to focus on training and crew formation that training camp.  This year camp took us to Monmouth Rowing Club where we enjoyed flat water and sunshine which all in all makes for a good camp.  We made the food between us which made for a good crew bonding exercise in itself…  Just don’t ask about the macaroni cheese!!  Louise made enough cakes for the 5000 so we never went short on a sugar fix that’s for sure. 

We finally got to go out and test our crews at Metropolitan Regatta where we saw wins on Saturday from Laura and Vicki in the WElite 8+ and the WElite 4- rowing in a composite crew that is training for the European Rowing Championships.  The WSenior 2x of Kate and Grace held there winning form with an easy victory over the field.  The WElite 4x of Lindsay, Fiona, Nikki and Catherine had a disappointing row on the Saturday unfortunately that just part of the game and it’s what you choose to do about it that counts. 

They went out on the Sunday and did what we do best they smashed it to bring home more gold.  Laura and Vicki were victorious in the WElite 8+ again but did not race the 4-.  The MSenior 4- led the way in there event which led to the coached decision to race the 4- rather than the 8+ at Henley Royal.  Unfortunately for Kate and Grace they had been entered in the WIM1 2x for the Sunday which is the status below the category they won the previous day.  They had another easy win which is nice but doesn’t always make for good racing.  The final win came from Becca who was racing with Staines RC as a composite crew in the WIM1 4x.  An impressive medal count of 8 certainly isn’t bad for a weekends work.

That led us down to Henley with confidence for some Pimm’s darling.  Laura took an easy victory in the WElite 2- as a composite with Reading University and was due to race in the WElite 8+ along with Vicki.  Due to misunderstanding between the officials and the coaching team regarding the doubling up rules this was no long possible.  Therefore Pippa jumped in as a last minute sub for Laura and continued the WElite 8+ success with a victory over the American crews over from Princeton University.  The WSenior 2x of Kate and Grace battled through a tough field to make the final where they came up against a Dutch crew.  After a good race the Dutch crew just proved to be the best crew on the day and took the victory. 

While those athletes bathed in the glory of Henley disaster struck elsewhere, Louise was due to race in the WSenior Lwt 1x but due to illness she was unable to make weight.  Maybe it was her body’s way of telling her she wasn’t well enough to race but we certainly don’t like to be told that.  The WElite 4x took a tough knock in there event it just so happened that it was a boom rather than a crew.  Steering a boat that goes backwards is tough enough at the best of time let alone on a course without markers.  The crew made it to the end of the island but then hit the posts on the end of the booms stopping the boat dead.  They came in to land with some nice scrapes and bruises and a set of now deceased blades.

 Not to be beaten by the tricky course Henley provides they got back in the boat new set of blades in hand and qualified as one of the 8 crews for the W4x at Henley Royal.  Unfortunately for this Catherine was ill and it was down to our super sub Pippa again to jump in.  They made it safely down the course this time if somewhat a little behind their opposition.  What do expect when you’re racing the American National Team a great opportunity for the crew.  How many people can say they have raced against a national team boat?  The MSenior 4- had an awesome regatta going from strength to strength as they progressed through the round all the way to the final.  The final saw them narrowly miss out to London RC.

They would get the turn on home waters at the British Championships where they again race London RC in the M4- where they took Gold leaving London RC to take the Bronze.  The W4x dominated the field for their Gold which then saw Lindsay and Fiona double up into the W2x to take a second easy Gold.  Nikki raced in the WLwt 1x and timed her move to perfection to row through into the Silver medal position.  Pippa though she might like to prove a point to GB rowing selectors and led the field by some 15seconds in the WU23 1x point proved I think.

Lindsay and Fiona travelled to Scotland to represent England in the Home International Regatta where they took 2 Gold medals in the 2x and the 4x.

Rich, Stu, Ed and Nikki will be racing in Moscow for GB at EUSA later in the month so while for most of us our season has come to an end for them its train train train.  We will enjoy this bit of downtime and get in some recovery and some cross training and generally just take it easy for a bit without the pressure.

We will start the 2012 season on Monday 5^th September.  Bring it on!!!

Lindsay and Fiona travelled up to a sunny Scotland to race in the Home International Regatta where they won the double and then teamed up with the Mortlake lightweight double to win Gold in the quads as well - Well done girls!

Last weekend was the British Championships held at the Water Sports Centre. The lake was characteristically unwelcoming for all who tried to compete on it, with wind and rain forecast for the whole weekend.

After a series of earlier rounds, all crews made it safely through to the finals. The women’s quad of Catherine, Fiona, Lindsay and Nikki were first up. After blasting out of the blocks and beating the rest of the crews by 7 seconds to the first 500m, they maintained their lead comfortably, to take gold ahead of the GB junior composite and a Clydesdale/Bath composite.

Next to race was Pippa in the under 23 singles. Pippa had dominated her heat the previous day, and lead the field comfortably in the final to take gold by 15 seconds. Nikki was doubling up and was also competing in the lightweight singles and won silver.

Rich Watton was competing with the mens’ squad in the coxless 4 which narrowly missed out on a Henley Royal win, partly due to an unfortunate re-row the day before, meaning they had an extra race in their legs when it came to the final against London RC. The boys turned this result around at the Championships, becoming the British Champions and beating London RC into third.

Last to race was the new combination of Lindsay and Fiona, who despite a lack of time together controlled the race from the front with style, beating the field by 12 seconds.

Based on these performances Nikki, Rich, Fiona and Lindsay were all invited to compete for England at the Home International Regatta held a week after the Championships. Lindsay and Fiona will both be travelling up to Scotland, where they will compete in the double scull, and then move into a quad where they will hopefully maintain their winning streak – good luck!

The squad were involved in 4 boats at Henley Royal Regatta. Rich was competing in the coxless 4, a crew who prequalified after their success at the Metropolitan Regatta. Stu was racing in the u23 lightweight quad. Vicky was competing in the European 8 who had also prequalified. The women’s quad and Pippa in her single were required to compete in the qualifying race the week before the regatta. This is held in the format of a time trial, with 2 boats going through for the quad and the single, as a large international entry had meant there were only a few places left in the 8 boat draw. Pippa raced well, beating some established scullers who have spent their season in the single, and just missed out on qualification as the fastest non-qualifier. Unfortunately Catherine had come down with tonsillitis during the week, so the quad raced with Pippa as a substitute. The quad qualified for the main regatta, and drew USA ‘B’ in their first round on Friday. Despite a gutsy row, the girls were outpaced, and were knocked out. The USA ‘B’ crew went on to win the final. Vicki beat Vesta on the Friday, and were then knocked out by the USA eight on the Saturday.

Rich’s crew made it comfortably through racing from Wednesday to Saturday. On the Saturday they came up against Tideway Scullers. Despite beating them by just under a length, an appeal on the finish line by the Scullers crew saying weed had impaired them was upheld, and the crew had to re-row as the last race of the day. The crew kept their nerve, and beat Scullers again by the same distance. Unfortunately the extra race appeared to have taken its toll on the crew, as they were beaten by London RC by 2 lengths in the final. They had an excellent run at the regatta, the best that the mens squad at NRC have ever had which is testament to the hard work that the boys have put in over the year. Solace can be taken in the knowledge that London RC lost to Nottingham and Union last year – our turn will be next!

Stu's quad had a comfortable race against Tideway scullers beating them easily in the heat. The next race wasn't as easy, they were up against a strong Agecroft/Durham university composite. After leading the race up until the last moment they were eventually overhauled and beat by 2 feet!

We have some new Masters Champions!

Congratulations to Kate and Grace who won the Masters A doubles, and Lindsay and Athalie Redwood-Brown who got silver in the same race.

 Both doubles then formed a quad which also won Gold. 100% success rate at this regatta!