| Cygnet Rowing Club |
| News from the Captain's Cabin |
01 April 2003
Just a quick run down on Saturday's events [the Men's HoRR - ed].
Thankfully the weather held out well even though the forecast was for rain. Cygnet entered two crews for the event with the 1st crew starting at 255 and the second crew going off almost at the end of the race at 400. Unfortunately this meant that the second crew ended up sitting around for almost 3 hours before they got the chance to even start the race.
Crew 1 set off at a cracking pace and had a good race up until they caught up with Clare College by Chiswick Eyot. At this point Clare College decided to make it difficult for them to get past and ended up cutting across their bows, forcing Esme to put full rudder on and steer out of the stream to overtake them. Crew 1 came in at a respectable position of 169 and a time of 19:24.09.
Crew 2 had a good race, overtaking 6 crews. They were held up slightly at the end of the race when a number of boats they caught up with didn't get out of the way and they were wedged in between two crews. From a start of 400 they made up an excellent 107 places to come in at 293 in a time of 20:05.22.
Considering that both crews were at the very bottom of their status, with careful crew planning, it looks like there will be plenty of pots to be won this forthcoming season. It also means that we'll be starting much higher next year so not so much waiting around.
Well done everyone that rowed and thank you to everyone that helped out and supported on the day. I'm saying nothing about what went on in the evening for a good reason.
Steve Keating, Cygnet RC Captain.
09 October 2002
An excellent start to the winter season with three crews entering the Pair's Head on Saturday 5th October.
The double, Gavin Estcourt and Gavin Bottomley, came 24th out of 35 crews in the senior 3 2x event, in a time of 12.51. A good result for a novice crew.
Ian Stephenson and Simon Blackburn came 6th out of 23 senior 2 coxless pairs in a time of 12.47. They were just 6 seconds from 3rd place, beating crews such as Lea and an Oxford Brookes/Reading composite. A fantastic result for Cygnet.
Although Simon Keogh and Dave Wright had injury problems and a lack of time to train together, they still pulled off 18th place out of 23 senior 2 coxless pairs beating crews such as Kingston and Magdelen College.
Thanks to everyone that helped out on the day and I hope all those that attended the after race Mexican party (photos on website soon) didn't feel as rough as me the next day.
The next major race (apart from the Rhine Marathon) will be the 4's Head on Saturday 2nd November with 5 crews entering from Cygnet. With everyone training hard and coaching starting from this week, we should see good some good results.
Steve Keating, Cygnet RC Captain.
29 July 2002
I am very pleased to announce that Cygnet was successful at last weekend's St Neots Regatta. On Sunday, the Novice Coxed Fours won a qualifying pot. The crew racing was from bow: Eric Irvine, Chris Davidson, Marco Calzone and Dave Humber, coxed by Ruth Wilson. They beat Peterborough by a length and a half in the semi final, and Northampton by a length in the final over 500m.
The Senior 3 Coxed Four won a very satisfying race, beating crews from Twickenham, De Montfort University Leicester, Boston, and York. The Senior 3 crew racing was from bow: Mark Wilson, Nathan Wallace, Gavin Bottomley and Ian Stephenson, coxed by Marjorie Israel.
The Senior 3 VIII and the Senior 4 coxed four were unfortunately unable to get through the heat.
20 May 2002
A long time since your last update, as the squad has been training on the river to improve their performance after the VIIIs Head. The club's novice squad is thriving following the taster days, and they are all being coached and trained by Alan Cox and Kate Thomas. It is expected that these chaps will be ready for regattas later in the season. All rowers have done a 2k erg test on 27 April (see Erg on this website), and are looking forward to the next test on 25 May.
Borne International - 4 May 2002:
Steve Keating and Mike Collier entered this regatta as a senior 2 pair.
After an heroic performance, they lost to a Bentham/HSBC composite in the
final.
Putney Town Regatta - 18 May 2002:
An experienced novice IV was entered, with Nathan Wallace, Mike Collier,
David Gavaghan and Eric Irvine as the crew. Unfortunately, Mike had to work
at the weekend, your captain made a mistake in advising Nathan as a New
Zealand rower on his application to the ARA, so it was decided not to race
as the remainder of our novices were too inexperienced as yet. At this time
in the season, it is only experienced novices who have a chance at winning
pots, and the disappointment of not racing at all would be less than the
disillusion of losing by 5 or 6 lengths.
Our illustrious Veteran C IV (Paul Rawkins, Andy Rawkins, Noel and Nick
Wylie) was entered as well, but personal commitments and ailments made this
crew scratch too.
Up to date information can be found on the new "Results" page on this website, with thanks to Mike Collier.
Social Events:
As you are all aware Kate Thomas, our social secretary, has joined
organisational forces with Helen Sanderson at BBLRC to arrange an Arabian
Nights party this Saturday 25th May, starting at 4pm. We still have tickets
left, so plan to be there, and take your friends with you...
Marjorie Israel, Captain Cygnet RC.
17 December 2001
Dear all,
My first month in office, and it's time to give you all an update on what's happening at the Club.
Squad:
The winter training season is in full swing, with land training during the
week, and rowing at the weekends. Thanks to our illustrious chairman's
efforts, the squad (some 20 rowers) has been receiving regular coaching,
which is indeed a great sacrifice to the coaches in the current weather
conditions. We regularly have 2 eights going out at the weekends, which
bodes well for the future.
Social:
Cygnet would not be Cygnet without its social occasions. The past weekend
has seen a great number of active rowers at the BBLRC Christmas ball on
Saturday, followed by an even more extensive presence of Cygnet
afficionados old and new, at our traditional Christmas lunch on Sunday. My
thanks to all of you who graced us with your company. I would also like to
express my thanks to Kate Thomas and Kevin Keogh for organising the lunch
at short notice. The fact that we did not have lots of food to throw away
proves that it was appreciated.
I would like to finish with wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Regards, Marjorie Israel (Cygnet Captain)
01 August 2001
St Neots Regatta again proved itself a happy hunting ground for Cygnet with two wins. On Saturday a Cygnet-Barnes Bridge composite won the Mixed Senior 1 fours (Lorna Norris, Helen Sanderson, Dominic Lindley, Steve Keating, cox Ruth Wilson). On the Sunday Gavin Estcourt and Steve Morgan won the Elite coxless pairs.
However, these good wins were rather overshadowed by the storming success of the BBLRC crews who won the following events: Saturday: Novice 4+, S4 4+, S3 8+, Mixed 4+, Vet B 1X (Ali Elliott), Sunday: S4 4+, S2 1X and Vet B 1X (both Ali). Total wins for the weekend: Cygnet 1 1/2, BBLRC 7 1/2. I'm surprised the trailer could get back laden with 32 tankards! Congratulations to all winners.
The next racing will be at Peterborough (11-12 August), where we have a S2 4- and a S4 4+ entered.
03 July 2001
Cygnet had another win at Richmond Regatta on Saturday in the Senior 2 coxless pairs. Dominic Lindley and Steve Keating had the long end of the draw and successively beat crews from Poplar Blackwell and District, Kingston and London RCs.
On Sunday the Special General Meeting to decide whether Cygnet should merge with Barnes Bridge Ladies RC took place. After some impassioned debate, a vote was held on the principle of merger. The result was 25 votes for the motion, 3 against and one abstention, giving a majority of 89% of the votes cast. The turnout of 29 voters was 67% of the total eligible (43). A further six members had written to say that they were unable to attend in person, but supported the merger. Thus the merger had positive support from 72% of the active membership. The task of making it happen will now begin.
17 June 2001
The club has another win to its tally, this time at our favourite old haunt of Barnes and Mortlake International Regatta. Our coxless four of Iain Golder, Rob Neaverson, Marc Baldwin and Ian Stephenson won the Senior 2 event in conditions of torrential rain. The BBLRC double scull (Lorna and Leah) also claimed another pot. Congrats to all.
Do note that Friday 6 July is Club Day at Henley Royal Regatta. I hope to see many old crewmates there.
24 July 2000
Cygnet came away from a busy weekend of racing at St Neots with two pots. Both were won by the Senior 2 coxless pair of Simon Keogh and Steve Keating. On Saturday they beat Peterborough City and City of Sheffield over the 1,000m course. In Sunday's 500m sprint, they successively beat Stratford, Sheffield and Peterborogh. They also competed in the Senior 1 pairs on Sunday, and tantalizingly lost to the winners of the event by two feet!
Our Senior 4 and Novice fours both won their heats on Saturday before going out in close races (final and semi respectively). These two crews also combined to make a Senior 4 eight, which lost to Twickenham (the event winner) by one length. On the Sunday the Senior 4 four beat Lea (1/2 L) before losing to Peterborough. The Novice crew lost to Parr's Priory by just two feet, and the eight went out by 1/2 L to City of Cambridge.
A BBLRC crew won through to the final of Senior 3 fours on the Saturday, but were squeezed out on the line by two feet. On Sunday, the Novice double won through two rounds but lost the final by 1/2 L.
Upcoming racing:
Saturday 29 July - Henley Town and Visitors (Senior 2 four)
Sunday 30 July - Joint Club Regatta with barbeque. Turn up and race!
Sat 12 - Sun 13 Aug - Peterborough
Sat 19 Aug - Bungalow Barbeque at Shepperton.
13 July 2000
Apologies if you've received this before, but the original did not reach
some people.
1) Kingston Regatta:
The Sunday event at Kingston was thinly attended. Our Senior 2 and Senior 4 fours
both had straight three-boat finals. The Senior 2s were narrowly beaten into third
place behind Twickenham and Walbrook. The Senior 4s had a gutsy thrash (the lowest rating
recorded was 39 1/2!) to come second, one length behind Ardingly and a length ahead of the
Infantry. Sadly, there was no competition for the Novice 4. In the women's
events Rachel Twentyman beat Jo Mansell-Bentley in Novice sculls for her fourth pot
of the year. In the W Senior 2 doubles, the two of them came second behind Kingston
and ahead of Twickenham. A very creditable performance for a crew racing up three
classes.
2) National Rowing League:
Those interested in how Cygnet ranks against other clubs may care to follow the National
Rowing League. www.nrl.org.uk Points are
given for wins and good placings in regattas and head races. On 20 June we stood
20th (1157 points) in the Mens South League, out of 73 clubs with over 100 points.
This is just above Putney Town (21st, 1125 points) and MAA (23rd with 1086),
who I would consider our closest peers. Interestingly, it would only take a Senior 3
eight win to push us ahead of Queen's Tower (17th on 1496)!
3) The Big Money - Big Mouth Ergo Challenge:
A £100 wager has been agreed on a 10,000m ergo contest between Nick Wylie and Kevin Keogh
(Cygnet's two gobbiest competitors). This will take place sometime before the end of
August.
4) Saturday 7 October is the Dusseldorf Marathonrudern.
It is three years since Cygnet participated in this 26 mile head race, and I would dearly
love to take a crew over this year. Fitness and skill are not essential, but a
stomach for Altbier is!
Interested competitors or supporters please contact me.
04 July 2000
Owing to logistical difficulties, Cygnet crews will not be racing at Bedford on Sunday 9 July. Instead we shall be at Kingston on that day with three fours (Senior 2, Senior 4 and Novice). We still plan a two-day outing to St Neots on the weekend 22-23 July. I think a good day was had by all at Henley last Friday. Embarrasing stories and pictures to me asap!
29 June 2000
Three Cygnet crews braved Wallingford's long bendy course (1500m against stream) last Sunday. The Senior 2 4+ had a dramatic straight final against Eton Excelsior. Eton took an early lead of a length, which Cygnet squeezed slowly down until they reached the enclosure. Cygnet's final push got them ahead five strokes before the line, whereupon Eton crabbed and stopped (verdict: NRO). The winning crew was: Damian Cooke, Iain Golder, Mark Baldwin, Dave Grimshaw, c. Marjorie Israel.
Our Senior 4 4+'s race against Monmouth School went similarly, but without the favourable finish. (verdict 1/3 L to Monmouth. A Novice 4+ also raced well, but lost to Hampton School.
Next racing: Bedford Quarts Sprint, Sunday 9 July, then St Neots (Sat 22 and Sun 23 July).
Belated news of Barnes and Mortlake Regatta (Saturday 10 June):
Our Novice four (in their debut race) got off to a dodgy start in their heat, but pulled back past Mortlake "A" to take second place behind Putney Town "B" (by 1.5 L). The Senior 4 four rowed a very competitive final against Quintin and Mortlake in which all three took turns to lead. Unfortunately, our turn was the one before last , and we came second to Quintin by 1 L. The new experimental Senior 2 pair combination (Iain and Balders) were defeated by the Met Police. BBLRC had success in the Women's Novice doubles (well done Rachel and Jo), and Lorna Norris got to the final of Novice singles.
Our next racing will be at Wallingford on Sunday 25 June (rather than Richmond), where we have entered Novice and Senior 4 fours.
Yesterday (Sunday 18 June) was the 25 London - Brighton Bike Ride. This year we fielded a 15 strong team under the name of "Barnes Bravehearts". Conditions were a little warm for comfort for the 58 mile ride, and we were glad to have elected for 06:00 start time. The riders were: Robin, Damian, Steve D, Marjorie, Andrew B, Peter, Richard du P, Nigel, Rachel, Arabella, T, Barbara, Eleanor, her dad and myself. Afterwards, Andrew hosted a fine fry-up at his house in Brighton. Well done all!
05/06/2000
Last weekend's Peterborough Regatta provided us with it's usual highly competitive racing, but sadly no pots. The Senior 2 4+ (the Senior 3 winners from Twickenham) put in a solid performance on Saturday, winning their heat to reach the final, but could not do as well on Sunday. The Senior 4 4+ and Senior 3 8+ could not get beyond the first rounds, although the eight (which comprises the two fours, and had not trained as such) had improving rows.
The best performances came from the coxless pair (Simon Keogh and Steve Keating), who raced in Senior 2 and Elite classes on both days. On Saturday they won their Senior 2 heat to reach the final, but could not deliver there. In the Elite heat, they came third (out of four), missing a place in the final by 3 feet. On Sunday they came narrowly fourth in the Elite final, and in the Senior 2 event they won their heat and came second in the final. Their time for this row equalled the course record (1:39) with the winners setting a new record time of 1:38. An outstanding effort! There was the usual bacchanalia of beer, barbeque and bop on Saturday night, but don't mention the spatulors!
Next racing will be at Barnes and Mortlake (Sat 10 June), with a Senior 4 4+ and racing debuts for a new Novice 4+ and Senior 2 2- (Iain and Balders). Simon Keogh is also entered in Vet C sculls.
30/05/2000
A busy day of racing at Twickenham Regatta produced another win for the Club in Senior 3 coxed fours. Our crew (Damian Cooke, Iain Golder, Mark Baldwin, Dave Grimshaw, c. Marjorie Israel) first beat Guildford RC and then took Vesta in the final by 1 length. Well done!
The Senior 1 4- beat Twickenham (for the third time this year!) to reach the final against Eton Vikings. This race ended in a disputed clash, whereupon the Cygnet crew declined to rerow and withdrew. Sadly our Senior 4 four and eight both went out in their first rounds against Pembroke College and Kingston University respectively. BBLRC also put in a strong entry of six boats. Two of these (a Senior 4 4+ and Rachel in the singles) won through two rounds before losing in the finals.
The coming weekend takes us to Peterborough for two days of multi-lane racing. We have entered the following: Senior 3 eight, Senior 2 four, Senior 4 four, Elite pair, Senior 2 pair.
23/05/2000
Last weekend Cygnet's Senior 1 4- competed at Metropolitan Regatta on the new 2000m docklands course. On Saturday they came 6th in a straight final behind Queens Tower A, Wallingford, Lea, QT B, and AK. On Sunday they were eliminated in their semi-final against Wallingford, London and Birmingham, but put in better times (and closer margins against the other crews) than AK, Vesta and Orion who were in the other semi-final.
I can report a shared win for the Club in the premiere Committee Senior 4 Clinker Coxed Pairs event at Bradford Regatta. Steve Dargan rowed and won with Ian Hazel of York City. Well done guys!
Next racing: Twickenham, 27 May: Senior 1 4-, Senior 4 8+, Senior 3 4+, Senior 4 4+
Peterborough 3-4 June: Senior 4 8+, Senior 3 4+, Senior 4 4+, Elite 2- Senior 2 2-
13/05/2000
Last week I didn't get round to reporting on Chiswick Regatta. As you will probably have guessed we didn't win anything! However, I am pleased to report that our Novice 4+ was successful today at Putney Town Regatta. They won a heat easily against the American School (appalling water, rubbish rowing) and faced Sons of the Thames in the final. This was very tight and well rowed race: Sons took an lead of half a length which they maintained until almost the last twenty strokes. Then Cygnet squeezed through them on the very last stroke for a 3 feet verdict! The winning crew was: Andrew Bowmer, Richard Rivlin, Peter Leffler, Steve Dargan, cox Alan Cox. Four crews raced, so this was a qualifying win. Well done chaps! Neil Jackson was also involved in an exciting 3 boat final (Vet C/D/E handicapped sculls, where he came second by 6 feet. Congrats too to Rachel Twentyman of BBLRC for her win in Novice single sculls.
Next racing will be at the Met (20/5): Senior 1 4- both days, then Twickenham (27/5) and Peterborough (3-4/5).
03/05/2000
Last weekend had the most widespread set of Cygnet regatta entries I have ever known, spanning Chiswick, Wallingford, Marlow Spring and Dublin Trinity regattas. Disappointingly, both Wallingford and Marlow were cancelled because of dangerous water conditions. However, the Club was provided with two wins at Chiswick by the Senior 1 coxless four (Gavin, Mark D, Mark W, Steve M), beating Twickenham again, and Simon Keogh in Vet C singles (habit forming or what?). A hastily arranged Senior 2 four (a regrouping of those whose planned races were cancelled) was not so successful. Congratulations are due too to BBLRC's novice four on their qualifying win at Chiswick Regatta (Jacqui, Jane M, Tanith and Gill, cox unknown to me).
In Dublin, Cygnet fielded a Novice 8 in our first overseas regatta in my memory (anyone know if we have done this before?). We had a lovely practice outing on the Liffey on Friday evening, but were soundly defeated by Dublin University in the regatta on Saturday. Rachel Twentyman of BBLRC also had a bash at the women's Senior 1 single sculls (the only class available to her), but this predictably proved too tough for a Novice. It poured with rain that day, so we huddled in the beer tent and quaffed Guinness. The Sunday was a glorious day for sightseeing and bar-crawling. Thanks to all who supported this trip. Our international crew was:
Andrew Bowmer, Alan Cox, Peter Leffler, Colin Sinclair, Mark Baldwin, Steve Dargan, Damian Cooke, Solomon Peters and Marjorie Israel. Dave Gavaghan (unable to row due to injury) acted as a native guide.
Next racing will be on Saturday 6 May at Borne Regatta (Nov 8, Sen3 4+ etc).
17/04/2000
Cygnet made a concerted effort for the first regatta of the season (Hammersmith Amateur) with six entries: Senior 1 4-, Senior 1 2-, Senior 3 4+, Novice 8+, Novice 4+ and Veteran C 1X. Conditions at the start were as atrocious as ever with a vicious wind against the flooding tide. Nevertheless, we were rewarded with two pots. The Senior 1 4- beat Twickenham, and the Senior 1 2- beat AKRC "A" and AKRC "B" in what Mike A-G called "the hairiest race of the day". Both were straight finals. Well done both crews!
The Senior 3 and Novice squads were unsuccessful, which is largely due to the difficulty they have had in getting crews together for training in the last couple of weeks, but I am very pleased that they were able to compete. Congrats are due to Steve Dargan for pulling the Novice crew together at the last minute, and to new recruit Marco Bussadori who happened to be walking past the boathouse last Sunday. Let this be a lesson to all! The winning crews were:
Senior 1 4-: Gavin Estcourt, Mark Davies, Mark Wilson, Steve Morgan.
Senior 1 2-: Simon Keogh, Steve Keating.
Next racing will be at Chiswick and at Trinity Dublin (both 29 April).
20/03/2000
Cygnet fielded two eights in Saturday's Head of the River Race. The Senior 1 crew came 136th in 19:28, which made it 32nd out of 55 in that class. The Novice crew was 358th in 21:33. It was 29th out of the 52 Novice entries, and 7th out of the 15 club (non-academic) competitors. An early Novice regatta win is to be hoped for! Our old friends from Benrath (Duesseldorf) also sent two crews this year: one junior eight, and one mainly consisting of veterans, but containing two father-and-son pairs! Their results were 309 in 20:45 (Vets I think) and 329 in 20:58 (Juniors).
Also last week I had the honour to receive the Overseas Pennant from the Women's Head of the River Race (held two weeks ago) from Prince Michael of Kent on behalf of R G Benrath . This is a great achievement for the girls of Benrath and their coach Marc, and is just reward for years of hard training and competition in the WHoRR. Well done!