Captain's Log
Latest news, requests, moans and cajoling from the skipper
Captain's update, 28th April
28th April 2025
Morning team!
And the summer racing season begins!
It’s been a very good month for us, building on the back of HORR. We’ve followed it up with some very strong 2k tests with PBs for the vast majority of the squad. We’ve established strong racing crews and done our first regatta.
We had two entries into Hammersmith this Saturday. The 4+ of Clara, Jim, Jordan, Dom and Tom C lost to the eventual winners of the event (UCL), and the 4x- of Benjy, Ollie, Theo and Mustafa gave a very respectable performance in the final, losing narrowly to London RC . We will build on this and be back stronger!
Thanks also to everyone who helped at the club day on Saturday. The boathouse and surrounding area are looking much better!
Looking ahead, we have a couple of crews entered into Chiswick regatta this Saturday- good luck! There is then a bit of a gap because a couple of events were cancelled. Please could you all detail your availability on the squad WhatsApp group poll with the regattas you can do so that I can plan crews again in advance.
I’m also really looking forward to s’camp in a few weeks time at the start of June. This is a great weekend and more detail is on Tom’s email or on the website here. The downside is organisation is required so please do help us by signing up asap, and do just ask if you have any questions!
Onwards,
DomCaptain's Update, 31st March
31st March 2025
Morning team
What a month! Apologies firstly - I hadn’t realised it had been so long since I last sent an update but it’s been a very busy March!
Head of the River – well done to the racing crew. There was great commitment from the whole crew which saw us overtake several crews and come 4/10 in our category. I’m pretty confident in saying this is the best Cygnet result for over ten years. I told you all that pesky work in the shed would pay off!
I’d also like to say thank you to all who volunteered over the weekend. These things don’t just happen, from launch drivers to directing 60+crews – it was a phenomenal effort. Particular thanks to those who were on hand to help during the awful events on the Sunday where one racer unfortunately passed away.
Racing season
We now get to the ‘proper’ racing- side by side regattas. We are very lucky to have several right on our doorstep, starting in late April. The provisional list that I want to send crews to is below - please sign up where you can before, ideally by cop Monday. I want to plan ahead with the captaincy and coaching team this week.In terms of crews, we are aiming for an intermediate 4, a development 4 and then a masters crew. I can only go so far in organising these - so I ask that once we set provisional crews, that you work together on organising outings etc. I don’t want to repeat the precedent from previous years of scratch crews at regattas!
Finally, please note scamp 6–8 June. We will be in touch with more details – although there is quite a bit of background on the website. Needless to say it’s a great opportunity for all to get some great water time, particularly in small boats for our newer members (the Thames is a nice swimming pool up there…)
Cheers,
Dom- 26 April, Hammersmith
- 3 May, Chiswick Amateur
- 10 May, Borne at Chiswick
- 31 May, Peterborough
- 7 June, Walton and Weybridge (as part of scamp)
- 14 June, Barnes and Mortlake
- 28 June, Richmond Regatta
- 12/13 July, Kingston Amateur
- 2 August,Henley Town & Visitors
Captain's update, 27th February
27th February 2025
Morning all,
A few key notices now that our racing season for 2025 has begun!Hammersmith Head
Well done to all those in our VIII on Sunday. The conditions were challenging but we put in a really strong performance - and given it was the first race for half the crew, it gives us a really strong base to build upon. I hope those of you new to racing enjoyed it - if not the 2 hour wait beforehand!!HORR
Which leads us now on to the big one next month (22 March) with the Head of the River Race. This is a chance to race against c 400 of the best eights in the country and we have the potential to get the best Cygnet performance for many years. Most importantly it also symbolises the end of the winter season - so can I ask all who are available for the race to sign up today on Fitclub, as well as to commit (as much as possible) to the remaining 3 weeks of training - both on the water and in the gym. We have worked too hard this winter to fall at this stage!Training times
As part of our drive to make sure we maintain strong numbers, we are making a few changes to training times:- We will do 2 water session on Saturday. The first - at 8am is going to be a long paddle (c.12–14K, eg to Pink Lodge and back); the second at 10am will see us do some racing pieces.
- We are going to do just one session on Sunday 9–11. This follows feedback and relative success of trialling this over the past few weeks.
- Shed times will remain weights on Monday, and ergs on Wednesday. Numbers have dropped considerably for these session – I cannot stress enough how important they are!
- We are looking at putting in possible sessions before work on at least one day per week. Simon will provide comms on this. But certainly after HORR, and with the slightly longer days, we will also look to do evening water sessions.
Finally, we are keen to up the social aspects of the club, so please do sign up on the form Charles sent around the Whatsapp group re dinners!
Any questions on any of the above, do just let me know!
Dom
