Cantabs 4s battle the elements on Tideway

The weather forecast for first weekend in November predicted just the kind of windy conditions, which can make rowing on the Thames very challenging, with heavy rain thrown in for extra discomfort! When the wind is blowing in the opposite direction to the flow of fast-moving water, conditions can quickly become very choppy, and on the winding Tideway course (the same stretch of water as the University Boat Races), there is plenty of scope for this unwelcome alignment to occur for at least part of the course.

Fours Head
On a blustery and rainy Saturday, crews from Cantabs’ Senior Men’s and Women’s squads, along with three junior Hills Road crews, headed to London to race on the Tideway at the Fours Head of the River. The total of  nine crews was the largest ever entry from Cantabs in the event which attracts competitors from around the UK and overseas; only four clubs entered more crews. The race start was delayed by the poor weather, but finally the decision was made that the race would go ahead, and the Cantabs crews joined more than 450 other boats taking to the water.

After good performances at the Pairs Head a few weeks earlier, the Senior Women’s squad entered three crews: an IM1 coxless four and two IM2 coxed fours.

Claire, Ellie, Jordan and Georgie

The coxless four, which will be named ‘Isabella and Susanna’ after coach Tom Copeland’s daughters, is a new addition to the fleet*, after having been used by the Polish LM4- at this year’s Rowing World Championships. Claire Nichols, Ellie Darlington and Jordan Bruce put in their best row so far in their limited training time together, responding well to calls made by steersperson Georgie Plunkett in the bow seat, to finish 4th in their W.IM1.4- event, only beaten by some strong Tideway-based crews.

In the IM2 coxed fours, both crews secured the highest-ever finishes in the IM2 for the club. Alex Courage, Krysia Waterhouse, Abbie Lawrence and Rachael Crockford secured a 9th place finish out of 29 crews along with new squad member and cox Esther Momcilovic.  Clare Hall, Lindsey Tate, Hannah Stewart, Zoe Wible and Will Miller did well to finish 21st after a very dicey pre-paddle which saw their boat swamped after large waves cascaded over the boat!

For the first time in many years, the Senior Men’s squad entered a quadruple scull containing Sculler’s Head hopefuls James Adams and Hadi Boukhatmi, who with crew-mates, James King and Hannes Dinse had a solid row, coming 19th out of 33 in their IM1.4x- category.

Our second crew was a coxless four comprising a mix of Cantabs veterans and up-and-coming rowers: Hugo Macklin, James O’Dell, Guy Fiddian and James Price. They managed to finish a promising 28th our of 43 IM1.4- crews despite getting into trouble in the rough water downstream of Hammersmith bridge. Finally, even with a preparation marred by injury, the men’s squads top boat of ex-Cantabrigian rower Will Hardy along with Finn Grimwood, Ricardo Herreros-Symons and James Quarrington, with Amy Henfrey coxing, placed an excellent 4th in IM2 coxed fours, and 70th overall.

Hills Road entered the Jun.4+, W.Jun.4- and W.Jun.4+ and got good experience of Tideway conditions in preparation for Schools Head – as long as getting soaked and buffeted hasn’t completely put them off the idea!

Veteran Fours Head
Sunday saw the turn of the masters-age rowers – those 27 years old or over – racing the same Tideway course. Whilst the weather forecast looked more benign, and conditions were considerably drier than the previous day, the wind built up as race-time approached.

The Senior Women’s squad were participating in Vets Fours Head for the first time and entered a coxed four and a quad.

The W.MasB.4x of Sabrina Peoples, Sue Hakenbeck, Cecile Jacklin and Marie Guingouain had an excellent start to their race and pulled away from the rest of their field. However, the windy and choppy conditions around Hammersmith proved too challenging for a crew used to rowing on the millpond-like River Cam, and saw some of their competitors make ground back on them, resulting in a 5th place finish.

After excellent results in Huntingdon Head a few weeks ago , the coxed four of Gill Cooper, Hana Lango Allen, Judith Weik, Sue Waterhouse and cox Robert Nimmo had high hopes for a strong performance in the W.MasC.4+, and started strongly, building a clear lead over their rivals Evesham and Milton Keynes by the time they reached Hammersmith Bridge. Unfortunately, in the extremely rough water approaching the Fulham Football Ground, they had a steering failure, forcing them to drop out with just a few minutes of racing left.

No doubt both women’s crews will use these results and experiences to fuel them as they look towards competing in other masters events this season.

Unfortunately two of the three Cantabs men’s vets crews scratched before the race, leaving a Cantabs-Champs composite who finished 5th in MasC.4+.

Forthcoming races
After their promising results in fours, the Cantabs squads are turning their focus to the Women’s Eights Head, Schools Head, Eights Head and Vets Eights Head races on Tideway in March.

Press
The Cambridge News provided coverage of Cantabs exploits: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cantabrigian-perform-testing-Tideway-course/story-28164635-detail/story.html

John Hale
Former Cantabs-member John Hale had a rather successful weekend, finishing second overall in Fours Head in an Imperial College Eli.4x and first overall in Vets Head in an Imperial College MasA.4x crew. Congratulations, John!

Thanks
Thanks to all the coaches who helped the crews prepare for their races, and to Tom, Joe and Oli who drove trailers. Thanks to Champs for the loan of the quad which was raced by the IM1.4x- crew in Fours Head. Appreciation is also due to Ellie, Finn and May who provided race write-ups and to Katrina who liaised with Cambridge News.

*An immeasurably special thank you from the Senior Women’s squad goes to Petr Arnold for facilitating their first-ever coxless four entry in Fours Head!