I put my camera to one side momentarily (letting someone else man the controls!) for the only other activity that would make me do so, and went racing at the weekend…with a rather unexpected result…
I was due to race a single on both saturday and sunday in several different events, the first day a 1500m course and then 1100m the next (on the same stretch of the river Thames near Reading). It has been several years since I lined up at the start of a race, let alone lined up to race on my own, nevertheless I felt the best way to approach the weekend’s racing was with an open mind…especially since some weighing scales most helpfully informed me I’d lost almost 5kgs since being ill a couple of weeks ago. Its fair to say I was less than prepared for racing but what the hell, have to start somewhere!
There was nothing special about my first race other than I reached the finish line. I learned my opponent was a GB rower so coming across the line not too far behind him wasn’t anything to really worry about, in fact I surprised myself somewhat by actually leading him for quite a chunk of the race until around 2/3rds through when my lack of fitness peeked its ugly head out and I couldn’t respond to a push he made on me. Oh well, it felt good to be back at it after all this time…
Sundae’s Sunday’s surprise came in the form of having to substitute into a coxed four (that being a boat of 4 men plus a coxwain steering), as well as race my own events in my single meant I had a busy day ahead. The day kicked off with a win in my single, I was leading all the way up to the last 200m when my opponent fell in after clipping a buoy, poor chap was ok and laughing about it later, I was quite a way ahead anyway but shame he never crossed the line. Then it was time to hop straight into the 4 which is far from my favourite boat but I jumped at the chance not wanting to let the other guys down. With a row over in our first round (when our opposition didn’t turn up) we got used to moving pretty well together and led right from the go the next round to win comfortably to earn a place in the final. Then it was time for more sculling for me and despite pushing along staying a few feet in the lead (through a ton of weekend cruiser wash!!!) up to 350m to go, I got caught out in the same way as the previous day, with nothing to respond with I lost by a boat length…its all about relearning at this stage I guess. I had a longer break until the 4′s final so found somewhere in the shade to get the weight of my feet and down a load of rehydrating fluids. When the time came we faced off against an old opponent in the form of an Imperial College crew. I put everything into it and left nothing for the line, we had a big shove just off a fast relaxed start and led by over 2 lengths by halfway but their relentless charge meant we didn’t let up at any point, a final push to the line hammered home our dominance on the race to a solid win…I forget the verdict, by that stage my mind had shut off and I was starting to embrace the familiar claws of fatigue I’d long forgotten.
Saddly our celebrations were short-lived as I had to go out again and race a straight final in my scull. I had just enough energy to paddle up to the start to my 6th race of the day. As I took the first 5 strokes I shut my eyes and punched hard as I could with my thighs, willing myself to keep on going despite the fatigue from the race only 20mins previously. I surprised myself more than anything by hanging on beyond halfway, exceeding my expectations I didn’t let up until the line…though I knew I was running on fumes by 300m to go (helpfully just where the watching crowds are sat!) as I struggled along desparate for the race to end so I could finally collapse in a heap in some quiet corner in a cool dark room…

So, a mixed weekend with a surprise result; a win in a scratch boat! I’m pretty happy to be back at it again. Despite the pain and the gruelling agony you endure to reach the line first, I’ve missed it…and there’ll be more…I just need to get myself a bigger tank!

Other good news is the women I coached earlier in the year (before I got the silly notion I could get back to racing again!) beat a fast American crew to reach a final to face, unfortunately, a fast Oxford boat containing a number of Blues. They didn’t do badly ata all but lack of overall raw power let them down. Still, some of them had a great win in a scratch quad (4 people sculling) to bring home some more medals…so, maybe it was a weekend for scratch crews?! The Senior men won the Elite eights too…big stuff.