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| | Salisbury takes Kent at Reading to win finals |
Coaches: Tote Smith, Dick Curtis (Head Coach) and Matt Fitzgerald
DAILY BLOG FROM HENLEY 2010- Authors: Tote Smith, William Solberg '11 and other contributing members of the crew and entourage.
Final Henley Results: http://www.hrr.co.uk/results/index.php?eid=235&year=2010
The final word: Monday, July 5th: With the arrival of racing at Henley, our entourage of parents, grandparents, wife, daughter and friends all arrived as well. Time has been compressed, and our blog has unfortunately suffered. As we pack our bags to head off in our many directions, we think back on these past weeks - indeed months - together with a mixture of emotion. Over half of those at Henley head off to college (Cal, Yale, Cornell, Lehigh, NYU, Trinity Dublin, Northeastern), leaving a large hole in our boats and our hearts. Josh heads to Junior National Team Selection Camp, and Wlliam heads to Penn AC. Peter will be sculling for UBC. The rest of us will be rowing or sculling in our programs back home. We reconvene in the fall to begin assembly of our 2011 boat, which has great potential. In the meantime, we will be living in the memories of this remarkable year. I am hoping for some more entries from students, so watch this space.
Racing conclusion: In retrospect, in was nearly inevitable that the Eton boat of 2010 would dominate the PE Cup. The Kent eight, who rebounded from our victory over 800 meters at Reading to prevail against us by 1.5 lengths in the quarterfinals, went on also to avenge their springtime loss to St. Joes in the semifinals by over 3 lengths. Nonetheless, in the finals it was Eton College from the first stroke, taking Kent by 4 lengths in the finals. Many around the racecourse agreed that this particular Eton boat would very likely have won almost every eights event at Henley, including the Ladies Plate won by Harvard's varsity boat. It was an honor to row with them.
A final thank you to everyone who supported the boys in their pursuit of excellence, from the school's administration, to the parents, to friends and family who contributed to the effort. A particular thank you to Barbara Schoenly, P '08, P '10, who along with Newton were a source of constant enthusiasm, organization and spirit, beginning all the way back in October 2009 when she assembled the working group to begin planning this event. A thank you as well, coming from the coaching staff of Curtis, Smith, Fitzgerald, Ayer and Cheney, to the oarsmen who inspire us every day. Class of 2010: go forth and represent Salisbury well; Classes of 2011, 2012, and 2013: your future is very bright. Let's get to work.
Henley Update:: Thursday, June 31: In the Princess Elizabeth Cup, all eight "selected" crews progress to the quarterfinals, including Salisbury School. Our two races thus far, against St. Peters School and Yarm School, were both one-sided affairs, testing the eight to the Barrier but allowing us to comfortably row the last 1000 meters at a low rating. In each race, the Stewards deemed to classify our margin of victory as "easily." The other quarterfinalists progressed comfortably as well. The real racing for these crews starts today. Timetable: Salisbury vs. Kent at 7 pm Henley time/ 2 pm Salisbury time. Coverage: http://www.regattaradio.co.uk/
Saturday June 26th to Sunday, June 27th: FINALLY, WE TAKE KENT. Saturday Morning the team woke up at 8:30 in preparation for the Reading Regatta. Our first race, in the Intermediate One event, was scheduled for 11:30. We had Breakfast around 8:30, with the table laid out with the standard Waitrose Organic Whole Wheat Biscuits, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Crisps. Emery's favorite "thickly sliced" bread was also a prevalent feature on a number of the plates. However, the team faced a rather disconcerting conundrum. Mr. Smith had also chosen this morning to head down to the Henley course and complete the traditional weigh in. Each team at Henley weighs in once, and the weights of each of the crew members are recorded and put down in the record books for ever more. For some, cough the ports cough, this meant a crash starvation diet and maybe a trip or two to voms and dehydrationville. For others (the starboads), this meant entire loaves of bread being stuffed down one's throat, quickly washed down by as much water, milk, and orange juice as possible. We were all trying to break that magic 160 barrier. So the team started the walk down to the course, the ports trying to discretely spit at every opportunity,and the starboards attempting to swallow extra big gusts of wind. We arrived probably around 9:10 or so, with more than a few dry mouths as the blue lettered "Weigh In" sign came into view. For those who don't know, the English use the stone system, where your weight is recorded in stone. The Starboards were all very desirous of being recorded at above 11 stone, while the Ports desperately wanted to be sub 15. Our coxswain Bryan, having weighed in pebbles all his life, was just hoping make it into the stone class. We entered the tent door below the sign and one by one stepped on the scales. I was pretty pleased with myself as I had "forgotten" to take my cell phone and wallet out of my pocket. Grant, our former 4 seat, and now my soul, I mean pair mate was next. As he stepped behind the curtain, there was a creak and then a rather awkward silence, a few seconds later we saw a cart being wheeled up with the words "Boulder Scale: For Those Exceeding the Stone Measurement". Kyle Good could barely contain his gloating laughter. Emerging rather red face, and trying to play if off like he was still a stone man, Grant walked out to whisper his measurement to Coach Smith. On we went down the boat, till we reached stroke seat. Up walked Kyle. And all of a sudden sad Grant, became gleeful Grant. For here came the Massive Stone Cliff Scale. Kyle didn't speak for the next two hours. In those two hours, we finished the weigh in fiasco and made our way out to Reading via our trusty old van. Our Intermediate 1 event was to begin about an hour and a half or so after we got there. The setup of Reading is very unique. The race course is 800+ meters long upstream. There is enough room for 3 boats, though sometimes there will only be two in the heats. The winner of each heat (up to 3) will advance to the final. It is a foreign dominated regatta, especially in the eight. Three of the four foreign selected crews participated in it, while none of the four selected Brit crews did. We were racing Potomac Boat Club from Maryland in our heat. We paddled up, got our warmup in, and the first of many warnings for a traffic violation, before lining up at the start. It was a bit strange facing 20 and 30 year olds, and probably a 60 year old coxswain. Nonetheless, we focused on the race at hand, determined to put what we had talked about after our workout that one day into practice. And we did, taking a lead fast and holding strong to beat them out by about a length. Our race plan, which was what it was for all races, was our standard start (it has come to our attention that the website rowing illustrated has been checking this blog and therefore for security reasons we will not give the exact details of our start sequence), followed by a 38 base, with a closing 40+ sprint. We got off the water, rather tired. Though shorter than a 2k, the higher rating and absolute sprint of a 800m race really puts you in the hurt locker. Not a few of us were rather shocked we learned we would have to get back on the water in 15 minutes to race Kent and a New Zealand Crew who had been in earlier heats. Nevertheless, we gritted our teeth and paddled up the course. These past two weeks have been a fantastic experience for me as our crew reaquanited ourselves with some of our new seatings and new members. And we have each discovered, or rediscovered something that is truly the most fantastic thing you can be a part of. Every single person in our boat goes absolutely 120%, never give up, never quit, always, always, always pulling for our teammates, our friends, our brothers. We are the closest group of nine people I have had the pleasure to be a part of, and I think that this is where are speed comes from. As Mr. Smith said the night before New Englands, "you've got to be one organism, that is where your advantage lies". From our friendship comes a will to pull that results in the boat as a whole being much faster than the sum of its parts. We are a crew that will not ever give up. With this knowledge, going into the final was a very different feeling for us. We felt confident. In talking with a number of the team afterwards, we all had a feeling somehow that Kent was beatable. Not an easy race by any stretch of the imagination, just a winnable race. Whatever the cause, our recent times, the set, etc. as we lined up we were ready to go. Off went the boats, and within the first 20 strokes we had a 3 seat lead, and then a 7 and then a length of open, before we realized the red flag had gone up. Kent and the New Zealand Crew had clashed oars and there was a restart. It was here that most of the crew felt the intensity of the moment. We no longer had the surprise factor, and we knew Kent was going to come gunning for us. And as we lined up at 3/4 slide you could feel the tension. Off we went again, again taking a small lead during the start. The feeling was absurd. After 20 strokes in we were not only with Kent but up on them little. We had never had this, very few crews have, experience before. And as we settled out to base the boat really came together. Slowly we pushed away, as we passed halfway our coxswain said he had 7 seat. I had never felt our boat so together before. 3/4 into the race our coxswain screamed he had bow ball. We all felt the finish line and surged forward. Kent did two walking into us a bit, before we replied with an emphatic no and pushed our lead back out. We crossed the line about 2 seconds ahead of them. Both Kent and Salisbury were far ahead of the third place crew. At the finish line our boat went nuts. Literally pure joy. We could see Mr. Smith, absolutely beaming like I have never seen before. The parents were ecstatic. Tired, but very proud, we paddled into the dock to receive our silver tankards. It was an unbelievable moment. But as Mr. Smith reminded us, we still had a another event to race in, the Schoolboy Event. And if we made it past the heat, we would be racing Melbourne, a crew that had lead Kent in the heat before being walked through. We would find out later they were a selected crew as well. But obvi we needed to refuel. So we went out to eat at a local restaurant. A certain someone made a mid-meal skim milk run. And the entire team went to the local food mart afterwards to down the now favored food of choice, the baguette. Our race had ended around 12:45 and our lunch and such had brought the time by now to around 2. We headed back to the race course to watch Bobby, Chris, PK, John and Perry compete in their final race. Though they didn't make it out of their heat, the strides they have made over the past month or so is truly impressive, and I know that I for one look forward to them eventually joining the eight. Following this, we hung out and stayed in the shade as much as possible till 4:30 when we had our heat. We won easily, a nice break from the blowouts we had before and mentally prepared ourselves for a battle against the Australian Melbourne Crew at 5:30. By this time, our legs were incredibly fatigued but we maintained focused. We went out at 5:30 and lined up against Melbourne, a very good looking crew. Off we went, again with the same race plan. And again we gained a bit in the start before lengthening out to base and beating them by about a length I believe. It was a great feeling, knowing we had delivered to strong consecutive races. All this was topped off by excellent news from the Royal Regatta back at Henley. As many of you may know a pre-regatta tradition is the live drawing. This is when the Stewards (the kings so to speak of Henley) deliver the draw for all the thousands of races. In the Schoolboy Eights event, the Princess Elizabeth cup, they choose 8 crews as the best and place them in the 32 team draw as far away from each other as possible. They then randomly place the non selected crews in the remaining brackets. For those who don't know yet, we have been selected!! If we beat our first two crews we will meet our first selected crew, Kent (surprise, surprise), on Friday. In the meantime, the team is fully focused on winning our first race against St. Peter's on Wednesday at 2:15 GMT. In his traditional caring way, following our race Mr. Smith had us row back to Henley. It was a comparitively shorter row than the one from Dorney, and our spirits were certainly buoyed by the now two tankards we had with us. Mr. Smith made a bit of a mistake in telling us roughly the location of the house he had stayed at when racing in Henley and telling us to say high to Victoria (his Yale team's former host) if anyone was out on the lawn. I am fairly certain anyone remotely looking womanly, on, off or within a 50 foot radius of the Thames was subsequently serenaded with Victoria's, often in a exquisitely brutal English accent. Our journey home was accompanied by more than a former Queen's name however. At each loch we were greeted by a different group of parents, plying us with fruit, water, and of course the ever present baguettes. We made good time and before long were back in Henley. A triumphant return to a triumphant day. We headed home to watch the World Cup and mentally prepared for our final hard practice, a full Henley Course against Tigre from Argentinia the next morning.
We woke up on Sunday at 6:30 to eat, get dressed and get a warmup in for the race at 8:00 AM. Though our legs certainly were feeling the work of the previous day we layed down the best time we have all year. We are feeling strong as we enter the final run up to Henley. I speak for the team when I say we look very much forward to seeing all who are coming out, and that we appreciate the support from those back in the states. Again, our first race is on Wednesday at 12:10 GMT.
Video above courtesy of Allyson Good, sister of captain Kyle Good '10. Results from Reading: http://www.rtr-tvp.co.uk/rtr-2010-results.pdf
Tues, June 22nd - Friday June 25th: TRAINING DAYS. I apologize for the delayed posting, the last few days have been incredibly busy . But to the positive the work put in seemed to come to fruition yesterday (Saturday). eTuesday, after London, we were back on the water in order to fulfill one goal: blowing ourselves out. With one week of hard training left available, Mr. Smith was going to extract every last drop from us. Monday and Tuesday we did lots of hard work, including a number of Henley race pieces. All this was interspersed with a good bit of technical work. Wednesday morning heralded a long day. We did pieces with a team from Japan. A piece up the race course at a 20 rating followed by a piece down the race course at 24. Then we did another piece up at a 20, and other down at a 26. Then another piece up at a 20, and down again at a 28. Low stroke ratings at max pressure ensured a number of tired bodies returned from the time on the water. We handled them well, and believed we were headed in the right direction. Mr. Smith had planned the day so that we would have a long time off between practices, the next one was scheduled for 7 PM. A not unimportant factor in this was the US game vs Algeria was on at 3 PM. The team returned to the house lounged around, played a little Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (for those interested Bryan Wong is the reigning champion, though the rest of us are closing hard), made some phone calls to family and friends and ate absolutely as much as possible. The team has a tradition that when we eat in one side of the boat cooks and the other cleans. Tuesday, it was the starboards turn to cook and the ports to clean. So Emery, JP, Bertram and myself headed over to Waitrose after I totally smoked Bryan in Pro Evolution, to do bit of shopping. I went to pick up the 2kg of lean berkshire cut ground beef, Emery took pancake duty, JP went in search of the eggs, while Bert (French to the last) went in search of crepes. We topped it off with a few baguettes, some chocolate chips, and some skim (obviously) milk. As you can probably tell it was quite an eclectic meal. Breakfast and Hamburgers. As the big game approached, the team gathered around the TV to watch the football (yeah were pretty British by now) match. The entire team was on tenterhooks as the US, needing a win to advance, but the game was still tied 0-0 at halftime. At around 4:15 or so the starboards had to move into the kitchen to begin cooking dinner, relegating us to having to listen to the sounds the ports made from the living room to decipher how the game was going. In the meantime, Bert's iPod went in the speaker system. And we started cracking eggs, mixing batter, and pounding meat to the tune of Marcy Playground, Jack Johnson and of course, the OC theme song, California. With the game entering the 90th minute and the score remaining tied, cooking went on a brief hiatus as we all piled in front of the screen to see America's potentially final minutes of the world cup. But as many of you probably know, Landon Donovan did not disappoint, scoring a fantastic goal in the 91st minute. I think we may have made it a liittlle awkward for the British host family, they understood in the end. With a little more bounce in our step, the starboards went back to cooking and soon there was a rather large meal on the table. If you were to ask the team, preferrably the starboards, I would guess they would say we beat out the ports. After dinner, we ran down to the Thames to begin our work out. We did a 3 minute and two 2 minute pieces with Grand Valley State, the number two Division III crew team, and technical work to complete a very tough day on the water. Video taken by GrandValley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW-Bs1mgK34 By the end of these three days we were pretty tired. On top of all our scheduled practices, a number of us had been doing extra ergs and weight lifting sessions. We took a brief hiatus and journeyed out to Windsor Castle, again accompanied by the Schoenly's and this time joined by the Feeney's and the Wambold's. It was quite interesting and a good time was had by all. Following this we went to one of Mrs. Sheble's close friend's, Jigga Dunn, chateau for a fantastic meal and barbeque. There was a pool, and everyone, especially Mr. Smith's son Nate, thouroughly enjoyed it. A rather intriguing aspect was the llamas wandering around the back field. In one of the many sitting rooms, we saw an Oxford oar from the 2000 Boat Race with Mr. Ayer's name inscribed on it, quite the inspiration. We returned to Henley around 4 and prepared for practice. We went out and did a number of 3 minute pieces in preperation for the Reading Regatta the upcoming Saturday. This was a transitional day for us. After Marlow where we had rowed a great time, the general feeling was the boat had hit a bit of plateau, and that we were not moving forward in the direction we wanted to. After this practice, the entire team had a very serious talk with each other, and emerged with greater cohesion, a precise purpose and extraordinary focus. The next day, Friday, we had the opportunity to implement that for the first time as we rowed our boat the 8 miles or so to Reading in preparation for the Regatta there Saturday. To round off Friday, we were back in time to watch the four row in there qualifying race for Henley. That boat, consisting of Bobby, PK, John and Perry rowed a great race but unfortunately did not make it. They were in the same race as some very tough crews from the likes of Yale and Georgetown, quite the challenge. We finished with an excellent pasta dinner, and for a few of us some skim milk and Fage Greek Yogurt, and went to bed early in readiness for our Regatta. The full update on that will be posted later today. WJS '11
Mon, June 21st: LONDON! Monday was another busy day for the team. The Schoenly's and Harney's very kindly treated us to a day in London, the first of our two days off this trip. We woke up at around 6:30 with the plan to catch the 7:44 train into London. Rumor had it a number of the crew slept rather uneasily, what with being a bit concerned Mr. Smith had uncovered another "cost efficient" method of transportation, namely involving our bodies. Fortunately, Mr. Smith was just as weary as the rest of us and the extent of our workout was a brisk walk to the train. We arrived at 8:30 in the famed Paddington Station. It is quite the site, imposing with its incredibly high arched ceilings, and it was a nice port of entry to London. Following our arrival, we had a quick bite to eat before making our way to the Tube (for those unfortunate few not so well attuned as our team with the subtleties of the English culture, it is there word for the subway). Mr. Smith was a bit preoccupied with keeping track of the 15 of us in the crowded subway terminal. He devised numerous buddy systems, all centered around those with international phones. But in the hustle and bustle, he forgot to keep his eye on Mr. Curtis, or perhaps it was vice versa, and we lost Mr. Curtis amidst the streams of people coursing through the underground passageways of Paddington. I think this hit Mr. Smith rather hard, losing someone so early in our expedition, but in the end he believes he is that much stronger for it. We took the circle line to Westminster Station, disembarked and walked to Parliament, to find Mr. Curtis waiting with the Schoenly's. Evidenty he knew what he was doing when he wrote his travel book (Taking Off, I would highly recommend it). Parliament is typically closed to the public during the months of June and July as it is still in session. However, the Schoenly's, through the friend of a cousin, coordinated with the Foreign Minister to give our team a private tour. She was very knowledgeable and it was a great learning experience. We saw the meeting places of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, as well as the Queen's dressing chamber for when she entered parliament. The tour guide was very adept at imparting the kind of information that as Mr. Smith said "made the place really come alive". There are a set of double doors through which members of parliament walk to record their vote. The opening is bolted at a fixed width to prevent multiple people from passing through at one time. Apparently there was a rather rotund member who would have to suffer through five minutes or so of strenuous exertion each time he desired to cast a vote. Mr. Smith and Mr. Curtis workouts had ensured we all managed to get through quite safely. Though a few rowers (cough, the ports, cough) like to believe their biceps were a bit oversized as well. Afterwards, we headed to the London Eye. This is the largest Ferris Wheel in the World. It sits on the Thames, across from Parliament. The views from it are unbelievable, and Mrs. Schoenly took the obligatory pictures. By this time we were very hungry and all headed out to grab lunch and a quick ice cream before walking back to the Tube for a trip over to the London Tower. Along the way, a man stopped us and asked if we were from the Salisbury Crew in Connecticut. Apparently he was in one of Mr. Curtis's, whom he subsequently spotted, classes his first year of teaching. As Bertam Harney remarked sagely: "it is indeed a small world". We arrived at the tower of London to be greeted by a large man, with an even larger voice decked out in a ull army coat of red and black. He is one of the 37 military men residing and operating the tower of London. This is a coveted position, though very difficult to obtain. It requires 22 years of service in the military, and afterwards a rigorous application process. Apparently they are called "Beefeaters". He gave us an excellent tour, though in a somewhat gruffer manner then the Parliament tour guide. Rather than focus on the process of law, he seemed more interested in the rather grizzly executions that occurred here, and also showed a particular affinity for cracking jokes at the expense of the French. At it's conclusion we saw the crown jewels, before dispersing our separate ways for an hour to go explore the rest of the tower. By this time, we had discovered that the Schoenly's did not see eye to eye with Mr. Smith's classification of this trip as a day off. Our legs were very tired, and during this break many of us collapsed on the nearest cannon muzzle after perusing the torture chamber and the armory. After meeting outside the gates, we set out via a double decker bus (of course), to the Dorchester Hotel for Tea courtesy of the Harney's. Ironically, the English, known for their tea, turn to the American Harney Tea Company to supply the teas for one of its nicer (to say the least) hotels. It was a very British experience, repleat with waiters in tailcoats, at least 3 servings of tea, finger sandwiches, scones with jam and the like. A live musician was playing the piano, a nice backdrop in such an extraordinarily refined setting. We did manage to sneak Grant in with his expressly forbidden flip flops. After a great meal, we said goodbye to the Schoenly's and headed back to Henley. We arrived back sometime around 7:30, a few of us went to gym for a brief workout, while others decided to rest after two very busy days. We were back on the water training today, and an update will soon follow. A very special thanks to the Harney's, Schoenly's and everyone else involved for a great day.
Sun, June 20th: MARLOW REGATTA, LAKE DORNEY, ETON ENGLAND.The last 36 hours have been hectic to say the least. As I'm sure many of you know we placed first in our heat in the Marlow Regatta yesterday, beating 4 University Crews in the process. This enabled us to skip the repechage and earn a berth directly in the final. That afternoon we took second in the final behind a strong Bedford Modern and ahead of a capable King's College. It was a great race and though we were rather disappointed we did not win the traditional tankards, we were very pleased with the result, and love how well the two new additions, John Wambold and JP Ryan are fitting in. The split times show we gave up 2 seconds each in the first two 500s, before closing strong and taking back a second in each of the last two 500s. We were down about a length to Bedford Modern with 750 to go, and were battling back and forth with Kings College. Our cox, Bryan Wong called for a huge push, and we responded, going for it early. We left King's College far behind and cut the margin with Bedford Modern to about 5 seats before they opened it back up. It was a fantastic closing push, lead by stroke Kyle Good and 7 seat Emery Schoenly, and this combined with our solid base should serve us well in the slightly longer (by 112m) Henley Course. Hopefully, we will not have our rudder break 1000m into our warm up, necessitating a row back to the dock and 3/4 pressure race back up to the starting line.
Today was quite an adventure as well. We started off with our first sleep in, all the way to 9:00. The team then went on individual workouts. 5 of us, Emery, Josh, Kyle, Bryan and myself, headed to the local, as the English say, Leisure Center, to get in an erg, a bike and some weights. John and JP got in a run and Bert and Grant took out a two rower dory on the Thames. They watched the Women's Henley which occurred today. We only had one 1000m race planned for todat and we figured it would be beneficial to get some more minutes of elevated heart rate in. Little did we know what Mr. Smith had up his sleeve. The first eight arrived at Marlow in time to see the four row a really great race, taking third in their heat. It was indeed a true test as they were competing against collegiate crews. PK, Bobby, Perry, Chris, and John all deserve a great deal of credit for the maturity, poise and guts they showed. Bobby's were literally visible after the race, as he could be seen retching over either side of the boat. All are incredible fighters. In the eights final we lined up against 5 other University Crews. As Mr. Smith said, a 1000m race is a true pain contest, as you start off high, settle higher, and sprint highest. We lead from the first stroke, settling at base 38 and won the gold by about 6 seats over Liverpool University. It was quite satisfying pulling into the awards dock to receive our medals, having missed out on the previous day's tankards. Pictures and video will be posted soon I am sure. Afterwards we were rather beat, and all our unis, and perhaps ourselves could have used a good wash after two days of racing . Mr. Smith in the meantime went about in search of a trailer to take our boats back to Henley. As mentioned before Dorney Lake was the site of our training camp and Regatta since are arrival. He encountered the Reading University Coach who informed Mr. Smith of an old, and perhaps forgotten, but truly cost efficient method of boat transportation: the English Loch system. So, with manly smelling unis, the eight set the boat in the Thames River and launched off on a 21 mile row back to Henley. It was roughly 4:45. We quickly reached our first loch, and experienced the somewhat surreal feeling of all of a sudden rowing out on a river that was previously six feet higher than your boat. We continued like this until our second loch. Rowing continuously at a 21/22 stroke rate. Here we saw Mr. Smith and a truly courageous Chris Truini, who followed our path the entire time we were there either on a bike, in the van or on foot. And it was also here we began to realize the size of our task. After a great conversation with a couple from Washington State who were living and traveling throughout England on a "long boat", we were informed that it was 18 miles to our destination. Mr. Smith had given us the impression it was 12 miles, downstream, and we would be done in 2 hours. Clearly none of this was true. The next stretch saw us rowing for roughly 35 minutes before we reached another loch. By now stomach's began to growl. We attempted to put the iPod next to the coxswain's speakers, but unfortunately we were to be treated to only a few minutes of Grant's beats before we realized, Bryan could not possibly handle both the rudder and DJ responsibilities at the same time. So back went the iPod in Grant's Uni, and on went his massive headphones on his equally massive head. On we went through hours 1,2 and a half. Tired though we were, we did manage to notice the extremely beautiful country side. We passed through many quaint and idyllic towns, repleat with the hallmark pubs. It was an uplifting moment indeed when well two hours out of our launching point we entered a small riverside town to hear a band blasting out Queen's We Are the Champions. I think our catch's were a little bit quicker, our drive's a little bit stronger and our finishes a little bit cleaner, as we rowed on. Well at least until we saw our fifth, or was it sixth, maybe it was the seventh loch. In the meantime, we passed countless country walkers, and other english folk. At each lock, there was someone to have a conversation with, or at least mine some ambiguous information on how much farther to Henley. Mr. Smith met us at each lock and by this time the whole boat knew none of us, including him, had any sort of accurate guess as to how much longer we had. Nonetheless we rowed on, maintaing our composure and from what I could tell from my vantage point in the bow, rowing quite well. Mr. Curtis had told us a story before we left about how some of his fellow rowers, had gotten into a pair for the first time together eight weeks before the Olympics and would just row 20+ miles a day, each just learning how to match up and row with the other. They ended up taking silver that year. Hopefully our row is one step towards achieving such results. Anyways, after that seventh loch or whatever it was, we were still pushing hard for home. Four hours had come and gone. Mr. Smith was keeping us going at each loch by interspersing his commentary with gustatory references whenever he could manage. The only actual food we ever saw was a few cereal bars and bananas, discovered at a pub around eight thirty. In Britain the only things open past seven tend to only serve beer. It must have been going on to 4 and half hours when Chris met us at a loch sans Mr. Smith. And we heard incredibly welcome news. It was the last one and best of all Mr. Smith had gone ahead to order pizza. We went through the lock, and arrived at the Henley Course itself. 9:30 at night by this time we popped the boat along, before closing with a strong final power 10. The finish was greeted with a round of woops an shouts. Heartily answered by a number of girls sitting on the dock. I think they would have been a little less jovial if they had been near enough to comprehend the state our unis were in. Nevertheless, we pulled up to the dock, and enjoyed a great greeting by the four's members. All incredibly tired, and minus about 3000 calories we stumbled into the van and headed home. Personal pizzas and garlic bread was Mr. Smith's gift to us. This was topped off by the ever present bowls of cereal. Most everyone is in bed by now, as we are all extremely tired. Today was a true test of character and willpower, but I think the general consensus was 'it was a row worth remembering, though something that should not be done under any circumstances more than once a year, or as one rower said, maybe once every twenty". Entered 6/20/10 by William Solberg '11
Sat, June 19th: MARLOW REGATTA, LAKE DORNEY, ETON ENGLAND. Salisbury's First Eight, attacking the base down the 2012 Olympic course, finishes first in its heat of the Intermediate 2 event, advancing directly to the finals this afternoon. We led from the first stroke, moving out to a one-length lead by the halfway mark. Margin of victory was a bit of open water. In the afternoon finals, the crew overcame equipment issues on our rented boat just prior to the start, then put forth a solid race, taking the silver medal with a fantastic sprint in the last 500. Both the eight and the four look forward to our 1000m raceson Sunday back on Lake Dorney, before bringing our boats back to the Thames for training.
Link to Marlow: http://www.themarlowregatta.com/
Thursday, June 17th: TRAINING DAY. Among other adventures, we brushed with the straight four from Tigre, Argentina, who will represent their country at Lucerne later in the summer. The video clip above, taken by Nate Smith from his bicycle alongside Lake Dorney, captures one of the pieces.
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