FRBC-Olympic Regatta

To celebrate the opening weekend of the Paris Olympics, FRBC held a fun regatta for all coached adult members, combining racing on the water, an erg challenge on land, an amazing array of food and a liquid debrief at the pub afterwards. 

We were fortunate on the day having fine conditions and an almost empty river. Coaches Mark, Mel and Deryn ran proceedings with Andrew in the race control booth (near the food). Racing took place on the ebb tide between our pontoon and Tea Rose buoy, being a course of about 500 metres. 

First up were the Senior and Intermediate squads. Both squads mingled, each race had names drawn from a hat, so it was a great opportunity for members to row together and meet new friends. The race reports from six races, quads side by side, included clashed oars, sailboats, wash, liberating lobsters, a dead heat and a stewards’ enquiry into lane changing (not upheld). Everyone did brilliantly but special mention goes to three rowers who maximised their points on the day and topped the leaderboard - Penny R., Yuri L. and Alex S. - Congratulations!

Next the Novice and Graduate squads took to the lower tide in our trusty training boats. An extra dimension of fun was added by coxes and rowers swapping positions in between each race. Four crews battled it out across six races to accumulate wins, each crew getting three races. In the end the results showed no overall winner, a testament to how close the racing was. A special mention must go to “Team Chiswick” (Grace, Irene V. Juan, Brandy and Olivia) who managed to win their race at the finish line despite catching a crab so hard, one of their oars snapped (equipment damage has, of course, been logged). 

Finally, on land two ergs sat outside the club in the baking sun. Initially only the bravest of souls attempted the 100m challenge, but after the coaches had a go, members couldn’t resist. Victory goes to Ben H. for overall fastest time (16.7 seconds) and Penny R (19.7 seconds) as fastest female member. Special mention goes to Coaches Mel and Deryn who battled it out for coaching kudos more than one time and to Mark for leading the way.  Apparently even Coach Andrew had a go in his loafers and Hawaiian shirt. 

Feedback from member, Ian - “Great event on Saturday thank you to all - coaches and rowers for making it fun and stretching. See we even got the seal of approval in the morning!”

Well done to everyone who took part and with huge thanks to Coach Andrew for organising