2016 Schools rowing

[SBrow]

Heard Scotch College were training up at Nepean, finessing their plan to take on Shore in the Schoolboy Head of the River. Shore may be laying claim to winning both conferences this year, the SHOTR and GPSHOTR. Scotch can only compete in one, so Sunday will prove to be the only opportunity to match race and see who is fastest this year. The Mexicans are having their HOTR at the same time as the Nationals. Interesting to see who wins out on Sunday.

I heard that scotch are racing the heat for nationals on the thursday, then there will be no semi's due to lack of entries so they can go home, race their head of the river, then come back for the nationals final on Sunday.
Makes you wonder, big risk for what may be very little reward

 

[behindtheshed]

training, training, training! every crew was training, no-one was racing. Did Scots send any crews to its own regatta?

 

[fpiglet]

I heard that scotch are racing the heat for nationals on the thursday, then there will be no semi's due to lack of entries so they can go home, race their head of the river, then come back for the nationals final on Sunday.
Makes you wonder, big risk for what may be very little reward

That's a helluva lot of jetting back and forth! Wouldn't put it past them! They probably have a Sydney Empacher and a Melbourne one!

 

[SBrow]

That's a helluva lot of jetting back and forth! Wouldn't put it past them! They probably have a Sydney Empacher and a Melbourne one!

Hudson USP*
But you are spot on, they have one they are leaving in Sydney and one for Melbourne!

 

[fpiglet]

Okay. This is what always gets me about some of the non-GPS NSW schools when it comes to 8+s. They either enter the 3rd 8 event and triumphantly publish their success in their newsletter over GPS crews or when it comes to competition and pitching their best eight against other best eights, they pull the pin. Both St Augustine's and KW have both scratched from the Schoolboy 1st 8 and I suggest it's because big guns have turned up. No point in a bad news story for the local paper - better get the bling in the smaller classes. Wouldn't mind if they competed regularly in 1st 8s but switching when it suits annoys me. Okay, someone will go on about illness, damage and the long trek home but spooky, eh? Good to see those other schools shaping up and going for the experience. All credit.

 

[fpiglet]

Where's LBA???

 

[fpiglet]

Backing my suggestion up. Surprise, surprise, surprise!! Yep, four of one of the eights in question race in the Schoolboy 4+ and win over Shore!! Couldn't see that coming, could we? Now that's a feel good story for the folks back home.

 

[behindtheshed]

Okay. This is what always gets me about some of the non-GPS NSW schools when it comes to 8+s. They either enter the 3rd 8 event and triumphantly publish their success in their newsletter over GPS crews or when it comes to competition and pitching their best eight against other best eights, they pull the pin. Both St Augustine's and KW have both scratched from the Schoolboy 1st 8 and I suggest it's because big guns have turned up. No point in a bad news story for the local paper - better get the bling in the smaller classes. Wouldn't mind if they competed regularly in 1st 8s but switching when it suits annoys me. Okay, someone will go on about illness, damage and the long trek home but spooky, eh?

Yes indeed. Whatever excuse appears on this forum, the jig is up and everybody knows it. Look at the margins in the First Fours at NSW champs. That's what happens when rowers ranked 17-23 go up against rowers ranked 1-4.

Yesterday saw Queenwood take out both 1st VIII and 2nd VIII convincingly, with a margin of 5 seconds in the 1sts. They also comfortably won the 1st coxed quad scull. One can only contemplate how these athletes have spent the last six months compared with their opposition. Queenwood 1st VIII did not compete at the 2015-16 season regattas hosted by Pymble, MLC, SGHS, Roseville, Loreto Kirribilli and Loreto Normanhurst. What do these 16, 17 year old rowers have to look back on? Memories of competing at a tiny handful of regattas. None of the highs and lows of a full season giving respect to your opposition simply by showing up to make it a real race.

Oh but hey......they won so I guess that's ok.


Surely it's possible to have a mandatory quota of regattas to qualify for HOTR? especially for Sydney-based schools? The arrogance of this approach is breathtaking and if I were a parent I'd be concerned that all the great character-building moments rowing offers, all those growing-up moments which give you skills for adult life have been denied to these girls.

 

[fpiglet]

It's staggering that the thirst for first overrides all else. Reading the Rowing Australia Winning Edge mission statement, it's the same thing. Unless you're going to come first then "f--k you", you don't rate for support. The qualifying times for classes were astronomical and almost superhuman. The joke is the RA programme aims for Australia to be the leading rowing country in the world. Ha! If it wasn't for Kim Brennan and Erik Horrie we would officially be a dead parrot. Basically RA just want give all the money to a few (and keep some for their junket to Rio) and everyone else can go jump - now that's what I call a Winning Edge. It's something that would suit the ISIS Winning Scimitar rowing programme I reckon. At least when you're cut from the squad, you're cut. It seems this approach has filtered down to the world-class coaches coaching at schoolboy and schoolgirl level. No wonder kids never step back into the boat after school.

 

[SBrow]

The point of racing is to win, however a school wants to do that is up to them, and if it works, then I bet they don't regret not having to go to penrith every weekend.
I would also like to point out that at the world champs this year we came 4th in the combined, which is not reflected by the medal tally, as we had crews in A-finals of the majority of events we entered.
In regards to qualification times, would you want your 17-18 year old to train throughout the entire hsc, go to world champs at the time of the trial exams and come last?

 

[fpiglet]

Wow. Your observation about racing is illuminating! Thanks, I get it now! Maybe a few should play basketball if they just want a quick victory and not move out of central Sydney?

 

[behindtheshed]

I could not disagree more strongly.


1. "The point of racing is to win"


Yes, the end result of a race is that someone will win; however, that is not the only point of racing and most emphatically not the point of competing in general.

Any good coach or educator will tell you the importance of young people taking risks - if they are allowed or encouraged to only do what they are certain to excel in, there will be a sizeable deficit in the character of the adult they become. Clearly you have a different ethos and you are entitled to your view. I encounter young people on a daily basis who fall into both camps and believe me, it's obvious where resilience is built.



2."however a school wants to do that is up to them"

Er, no - it's up to the Code of Conduct for whichever organisation is responsible. Take a look at the AAGPS code (which I had occasion to quote not long ago on this thread) and it clearly states the diametrically opposite view to yours. I have not read the IGSSA code as closely but I suspect it has a similar theme; I am sure greater minds than ours can recite the relevant passages from the RNSW code.

3. "I bet they don't regret not having to go to Penrith every weekend."

No-one ever regrets being at SIRC on race day.

We might hate getting up in the dark, suffer agonies waiting until 7 for a coffee (7.30 for a B+E roll) and curse toilets that are more humid than Ken's of Kensington but it never fails to thrill. If a parent doesn't want to go to Penrith then step aside for those who do.

 

[behindtheshed]

Where's LBA???

Where indeed? Lost overboard at Gold Cup?

 

[fpiglet]

And don't forget the sawdust!

 

[fpiglet]

I would have thought poor old Queenwood could have at least turned up to the Gold Cup because it's nice, middle class, plenty of water views and close to the North Shore and the little princesses wouldn't have to travel far because nasty old Penrith is, like, soooo bogan.

 

[Johnny come lately]

Joeys 2nd IV scratched. Just saw an orange capped four on the nepean. Interesting?

 

[behindtheshed]

Joeys 2nd IV scratched. Just saw an orange capped four on the nepean. Interesting?

Oh FFS! Really? since when did training replace racing?

Not to mention, "yeah sorry Mum and Dad, I know you drove 5 and a half hours to see me race but if you drive down the road a bit you can watch me -gasp-training!!! and Nepean Rowers does a decent crumbed cutlet."

 

[behindtheshed]

Sorry, I should have added Gold Cup to that list. So for the schoolgirl 2015-16 season, Queenwood missed competing in seven regattas. Hardly an achievement to reflect on with any pride.

 

[SBrow]

You can get a lot more out of a training session than a race - theres only one race that counts and I can guarantee nobody is going to be scratched from that to go and train

 

[SBrow]

Just a side note - I know I have sounded incredibly like a scots coach today (I'm not one) and so i'd like to say that on the other hand there are crews which have potential to go fast and need race experience. However there are crews which need technical improvement (training) not racing.
I do think, however, this close to the big one there is only so much you can do to technique - and a hell of a lot more you can do to improve a crew's racing ability