Cygnet Weekly Update

All,

The weather for Hammersmith Head before the start could not have been much worse, wind and rain whipping up big waves at the start crashing over riggers and into boats. Then the miracle happened. As we were spinning in turn for our start, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared and my friend the sun came out. It was still extremely rough rowing through to the start but by the time we had cleared Barnes Bridge the wind was now a tail wind, the river got calmer giving great conditions to the finish. Anyway the crew with Big Dave and Big Edward son of Tom subbing in to the original line-up providing a beefed-up engine room we had a good row being overtaken by two crews but rowing past Cantabrigian in the last third of the race. We were 78th out of 251 overall and 16 out of 21 in IM3. It felt a more powerful row and we held our rate and power to the finish so I think it was a significant improvement on Quintin Head. Many thanks to Dave, Edward and Marj who hopefully remember the sunshine at the end of the race rather than the rain when marshalling.

So less than three weeks to Head of the River, we have two crews entered in IM3 and Novice. We've had a couple of injuries so I'll be chasing everyone who can row to commit to the race this week, we need everyone we can get otherwise the second boat wont get onto the river. And we need as many people as possible on the water this weekend to prepare for the race.

This week:

Tuesday 7:15pm Circuits with Maxi -
Wednesday 7pm Club run 30' easy/ 30' hard. Non runners 7 x 5' squats/1' rest Rate 30
Thursday 7pm 5 x 1500m @5k pace split

Saturday Main squad meet at 7:05 for briefing, 7:30 OTW
1st outing Water UT2 20k 8x 3 ' Rate 26-34
2nd outing Water tech 4-8k
Novices meet at 9 for warm up ergo, 9:30 OTW

Sunday Main squad meet at 7:05 for briefing, 7:30 OTW
1st outing Water tech 16k
2nd outing Water 12k 2 x 20' Bungee work r 22'
Novices meet at 9 for warm up ergo, 9:30 OTW

I've been asked to give a plug to the Cygnet Twitter account which can be found as CygnetRC and gives updates about what is happening at the club and which celebrities have been snapped walking by the club at the weekend, so become followers and spread the word.

More stuff coming up, next LTR course starts on the 1st April, please help publicise it and then get ready to help out with the sessions when it starts.

And put a date in your diary for Sculling Camp on the 22nd/ 23rd of April at Cygnets Bungalow at Shepperton Lock. For novices this is an unparalleled opportunity to get out in a single scull and learn new boat handling skills that will improve your rowing no end, as well as enjoying a lovely stretch of the river and food and drink with your Cygnet and Barnes Bridge buddies.

That's all for now, have a good week,

Jez