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Captain's update: 15th September
Author: Neil Pickford |
15th September 2024
Hi team,
Very solid weekend of rowing in some glorious sunshine, albeit on some wild water of west London!

Parish notices this week:

Final call for scamp, with the link in the previous email below. We will make a decision as to whether this goes ahead on Wednesday as we need enough numbers to make it viable. If we don’t go ahead, fear not- we have a back up plan of sticking to the tideway but putting in some extra miles and possible bbq

Charles sent an update to the social events for the next few months. Please do get in touch with him if you have any comments/questions, but particularly keen to get the Monday night dinners post weights going!

Very well done to all with this weeks training- a very strong start. I strongly encourage all to attend the Monday shed sessions – if nothing else you get to see Mustafa bend the bars, and the bars bend me…

Thanks,
Dom
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Captain's update 8th September
Author: Neil Pickford |
8th September 2024
And we are back!

Great commitment from all those who did the start of the season 2K yesterday. I was really impressed by a number of the scores, and also by the desire by all to push themselves. This start of the season test is critical to provide a good benchmark for the season ahead, so well done all! For those who couldn't come down - you will have another chance either on Wednesday or for the second session next Saturday – no hiding!

We had a really good squad meeting yesterday - which I've summarised and circulated by email. Any questions, please let me know.

Training times. The times for training until Christmas are now confirmed as follows:
Monday 7pm - Coached weights and HIIT sessions with Wes
Wednesday 7pm - Squad ergs
Saturday 0800 Long row (uncoached)
Saturday 1000 - Cross training (erg/run/cycle/HIIT)
Sunday 0800 and 1000- Coached sessions with Wes

The Sunday sessions will be key for progressing technically. I found this morning's training hugely beneficial as I try to remember how to single scull. They will be two relatively short sessions with a strong technical focus - with West alongside in the launch. I'm even going to break the habit of a lifetime and try weights as my new season's resolution - so please come down on Monday if you want to see me almost certainly fail at squats....

S'camp is taking place 27–29 September, please do sign-up if you are free. It is a great chance to get people in smaller boats, and to escape the Tideway for a weekend. Tom C is the man if you have any questions, but sign ups are here.

Races. The races for this year are both in the attached doc and also on FitClub. Please do sign up as early as possible so that we can organise crews with as much prep as possible.

Finally, we had a great End of Season Dinner last week, so huge thanks to Charles for doing such a great job organising! And a belated well done to all who showed up to training the next morning!

Thanks team - let's go!
Dom
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Len Hoskins
Author: Neil Pickford |
31st August 2024
Len Hoskins 1931 – 2024

It is with sadness that we report the death of Len Hoskins on the 28th July.

Born on 18th November 1931, Len was a post office engineer when he joined Cygnet RC on 13th September 1953, the same day as Peter Roche. Both Len and Peter had previous rowing experience and they were part of a significant influx of new members. Indeed, the club would enter four crews for that year’s HoRR.

In retrospect, 1953 would prove to be a turning point in Cygnet’s post-war fortunes on the water and Len Hoskins would be an important part of that story. Len rowed at seven in a Junior/Junior Senior Vlll that made its debut in 1954 winning at Richmond & Twickenham, Horseferry, Willesden and Kingston regattas. By all accounts, they were a very fast crew, putting in times comparable to some Thames Cup crews that had competed at Henley Regatta a few weeks previously, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the Daily Telegraph’s rowing correspondent. Hoskins was to enjoy one more Vllls win at Maidenhead in 1955. Thereafter, his name disappears from the regatta roll call. Nonetheless, he was one of a number of highly proficient oarsmen who put Cygnet back on the map in the post-war era.

An amusing tale is told of the crew’s win at Richmond and Twickenham in 1954. As winners, the club took possession of the Twickenham Cup, a magnificent piece of silverware housed in a wooden crate of some dimensions. During the course of the evening’s celebrations, John Bull, the coach of the successful crew, thought it prudent to remove the cup to a member’s house overnight for safekeeping. Another members’ ancient Riley was called into service and three of them staggered up several flights of stairs to a flat in Fulham with the crate, blissfully unaware that the pot was still doing the rounds at closing time in a pub at Richmond.

It was at Cygnet that Len also met his wife-to-be, Eve Bailey, who was then a member of St Georges Ladies RC. They recalled very happy memories of their time rowing to their children, who remember accompanying their parents to Henley regatta. Eve passed away in 2021

Len's family have requested that, rather than flowers, donations should be made to Cygnet Rowing Club in his memory. Donations can be made online here or please contact the Treasurer for details of donations by cheque or Bank Transfer.

Len: top row, third from left

Len: front row, far right

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