2018 schools rowing

[Geoff Geoff]

It's reprehensible but shows the lengths some coaches will go to in order to gain a result. Maybe now all the naysayers will believe the claims I made in the 2015-16 season regarding substitutions in the Fours. Do you really think that all seats are scrupulously filled each week and then out of nowhere a GPS coach decides to jump in an empty seat one fine Putney morning? He did it because he knew no-one checks and even when there are known discrepancies, no-one believes it.

If nefarious agreed.

Just looking at results on RNSW, There have been discrepancies through the season notably at plc/kings in the Riverview IVs, 2nd Iv 5sec faster than 1st iv, 4th IV 15sec faster than 3rd IV, and unexplained scratching from their VIIIs. At recent Scots Regatta. Scots 3rd IV faster than first Iv by 6-7 seconds and Riverview 4th iv 10sec faster than their 3rd. Both crews to win and both while the times from other schools comparable as the conditions have been. Also with Joeys scratching at king Plc in 1st Viii then winning the 2nd VIII with a substitution. Early in season Kings and Newington et al had weird results also but early in season these likely explained by fluid selections

I guess being a non point score Regatta the argument might be from these schools that otherwise there would be no race? Perhaps winning against no opposition or as aforementioned results show entering faster boats in lower divisions is the preference from the likes of Scots and Riverview. Shows a clear insecurity on the behalf of those there... also misses the point of competing at school, I remember competing regularly against club crews a a school boy to get more race experience. All other sports compete every weekend at this time and balance of student development surely is a priority we care about I.e. competing regardless of result for the sake of competing. Stacking, pulling out of regattas etc all highlights too much of a “wins on the board” focus

As others have mentioned it’s a shame there has been little racing this year as Riverview et al seek to do crew selections in place of the plc/Regatta, others race interstate and few schools entered the Scots regatta. Is good to see 3rd and 4th IV events at the high regatta which is a welcome change

All a bit of a mess really and probably won’t get any clearer until HOTR

 

[HeavyWind=TimeToScull]

Schools have always stacked the fours division in preparation for Head of The River, last year Kings 2nd IV had a 10 second faster time than their 1st IV and Ignatious 3rd IV has a 6 second faster time than their 2nd IV all in an attempt to knock off shore (shows that trying to gain an unfair advantage does not work and comes back to hurt you). Basically every school except St Joseph’s, Armidale and Shore has the times to show that their was stacking going on whether it was intentional or not. Newington 4th IV had a 24 second faster time than their 3rd IV.

 

[up&under]

Interesting day of racing at SIRC. Great conditions and a good atmosphere for racing. CSB 4+ final was a ripper. Scotch split their second 8 in half and they crossed 1 and 2. Good to see King's knock off Shore as well in the same race. True to form the Riverview 4th IV was their quickest boat. They went 2 seconds quicker than their 1st IV in the heat. Ridiculous stuff. SB8+ final was another great race. Shore lead from start to finish, despite a great effort from Scotch towards the end. Second best GPS crew was Riverview back in 6th, nearly 8 seconds behind Shore. I can't see them losing HOR. All in all, a great regatta. Confirms my thoughts that H&C is a waste of time, should be racing every weekend at SIRC and penalise schools for not turning up.

 

[HeavyWind=TimeToScull]

Well not the best day for GPS school racing apart from E. To be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if Shore 2nd 8 got the next best time at Head of The river with only 3 seconds seperating them from the next best 1st 8 after the Shore 1sts. Although as suspected at the beginning of the season the IV’s aren’t an obvious bet.

 

[Geoff Geoff]

In all seriousness, if Shore wanted 6 from 6, they would have to relegate their 1st 4 to 4ths and push the others up one level. Iggies have taken stacking to a new level, whereby their 4th 4 is presently the best GPS 2nd 4.

True... and whilst no changes in the program, different individuals in the boat between heat and final. at least 1 member of crew was seen in a different boat class altogether in the heats, probably why they went so slow in the final in comparison.

 

[Geoff Geoff]

Interesting day of racing at SIRC. Great conditions and a good atmosphere for racing. CSB 4+ final was a ripper. Scotch split their second 8 in half and they crossed 1 and 2. Good to see King's knock off Shore as well in the same race. True to form the Riverview 4th IV was their quickest boat. They went 2 seconds quicker than their 1st IV in the heat. Ridiculous stuff. SB8+ final was another great race. Shore lead from start to finish, despite a great effort from Scotch towards the end. Second best GPS crew was Riverview back in 6th, nearly 8 seconds behind Shore. I can't see them losing HOR. All in all, a great regatta. Confirms my thoughts that H&C is a waste of time, should be racing every weekend at SIRC and penalise schools for not turning up.

I’d dare say not representative of actual pecking order, Shore have at least 1 confirmed out from four. Riverview with weird substitutions. Joeys and Newington mixed illness, from reports New had 3 sick this week who raced and Joeys had 2 with gastro. Kings haven’t heard much, but the VIIIs seemed comparatively out of form, maybe illnes has struck them too?

 

[behindtheshed]

Can anyone shed light on the absence of Shore 2nd VIII at Gold Cup?

 

[RowingFan]

Apparently sickness... real story Is the Kings 1st and 2nd VIII don’t make the A Final their 2nd VIII is only a length up on High but somehow their 1st IV wins and 2nd IV comes second?

Crews seen swapping athletes out of VIIIs into IVs on the water, doesn’t pass the smell test.

 

[I_Snap_Oars_For_A_Living]

Can anyone shed light on the absence of Shore 2nd VIII at Gold Cup?

Yeah on the way to Riverview I Spotted Shore 2nd VIII on the water SCULLING, these boys sure aren’t mucking around with the rubbish gold cup conditions but in fact preparing for the upcoming Shore regatta

 

[HeavyWind=TimeToScull]

Yeah one of the boys is injured, their 5 seat I’ve been told. But also an injury in the Shore 1st VIII which meant a boy from the 2nd VIII raced with them today plus a couple with gastro and flu who raced with sickness. Should be an interesting Head of the River. This chat has been blank for a while now, I reckon it is time to begin the Race Predictions for all gps Crews come 17th March. Who would like to start?

 

[Johnny come lately]

Anything other than the First VIII is very difficult to pick as it is fairly obvious that there is a bit of crew swapping going on, so I'll defer from picking any IV race and even the 2nd VIII.

Any Gastro event at this stage is tantamount to a catastrophe and can really take the edge of a boats performance.

Considering Joeys have suffered their bad luck in the front end of the season and seem to be gaining consistency, I am backing them for the W in the HOTR.

 

[Jamesmcmayen]

Apparently no sign or even a rumour of a St Augustines boy at the Shore boat shed - you would think they would have had him there by now to fit him in somewhere

There is a boy who has left st augs, currently rowing with Sydney Uni Club, possible moving to shore before HOTR, or maybe for next season??? He would be a person of high interest for a large GPS school.

 

[rowbuddy]

There is a boy who has left st augs, currently rowing with Sydney Uni Club, possible moving to shore before HOTR, or maybe for next season??? He would be a person of high interest for a large GPS school.

Who would have thought that a St Aug boy is of interest to Shore a few years ago. I am watching that program for a while and they are creeping up in Yr10 8+s as well. Not enough depth I guess, but time will tell. BTW, I am sure that boy in question is Yr12, so unlikely to swap school sheds.

 

[RowingFan]

Turns out Riverview swapped rowers out too, clearly visible on the live stream..

different rowers in heat and final for 2nd IV which they won. Amateur move when it’s visible on their own live stream different stroke seat.

 

[I_Snap_Oars_For_A_Living]

Who would have thought that a St Aug boy is of interest to Shore a few years ago. I am watching that program for a while and they are creeping up in Yr10 8+s as well. Not enough depth I guess, but time will tell. BTW, I am sure that boy in question is Yr12, so unlikely to swap school sheds.

Im going to clear this up right now, there is no St Augustines Boy coming into the Shore Sheds in this next few weeks or even next season so can we get off this topic of Imports. Plus what is the point of bringing in a Year 12 boy in to row in the higher crews if Shore is already dominating. So there is no reason as to why this topic of Importing is bringing brought up so much

 

[I_Snap_Oars_For_A_Living]

Well now moving on to the Head of The River Predictions, from watching the last few races i have seen one school in particular has been decreasing their margin between themselves and Shore. I predict that Scots will cause a major upset on the 17th of March, toppling Shore off the throne that they through luck have been holding. Their last 2k testings ergs at Scots have seen many excellent performances with a standout sub 6 on flats and their boat speed has increased dramatically over the past month. Just my 2 cents. Good luck to all on the day. Go Scots

 

[Geoff Geoff]

Turns out Riverview swapped rowers out too, clearly visible on the live stream..

different rowers in heat and final for 2nd IV which they won. Amateur move when it’s visible on their own live stream different stroke seat.

Yeah just had a look... wow is pretty obvious with the HD footage. Riverview 2nd IV 2 seat had bright blond hair in the final but dark brown hair in the heat. kings first IV 2seat and stroke seat different in final to heat seems these guys will do anything to try and beat Shore.

 

[I_Snap_Oars_For_A_Living]

Strange don't you think that the Kings 2nd VIII doesn't make it into the a final then somehow the Kings 1st IV is able to win by 2 seconds when only 1 week before this race they lost to Shore by 3 seconds. Hmm and now you say that the stroke and 2 seat were different. This stacking business has gone to a complete new level, now schools will give up racing in the 8's just to get a win in the 4's. I looked at the Results page and the names do not change for the Kings 1st IV from Heat to Final. This is actually disqualification worthy as the same situation happened at PLC where Joeys 2nd VIII raced with 2 1st VIII members in the boat without specifying names which meant they won that race (Shore 2nd VIII was not there) and they were removed from the results. If Shore 1st IV want to follow this up they will have consequently won this race as Kings will be removed from the results. If Shore does not complain i hope someone else does because this is disgraceful.

 

[DrLegDrive]

Well now moving on to the Head of The River Predictions, from watching the last few races i have seen one school in particular has been decreasing their margin between themselves and Shore. I predict that Scots will cause a major upset on the 17th of March, toppling Shore off the throne that they through luck have been holding. Their last 2k testings ergs at Scots have seen many excellent performances with a standout sub 6 on flats and their boat speed has increased dramatically over the past month. Just my 2 cents. Good luck to all on the day. Go Scots

Interesting observation, an ambitious prediction considering a lack of results from the Scots shed recently. However with a determined crew and a weakening Shore outfit it will be interesting to see if Scots can bring it together with under two weeks to go.

 

[HeavyWind=TimeToScull]

Interesting observation, an ambitious prediction considering a lack of results from the Scots shed recently. However with a determined crew and a weakening Shore outfit it will be interesting to see if Scots can bring it together with under two weeks to go.

I do agree that Shore has not been meeting expectations lately with only a 1 second victory in the last regatta and the regatta before the gold cup having crews closer than ever. The Scots aspect I don’t agree with though as I believe that Newington has had some very strong past couple of regattas and without any doubt in my mind I believe that they will knock all the other crews off the podium and take out the major Rennie in 2 weeks time. Shore must really start to do something otherwise their past wins will not mean a thing.