Time trials at Northwich
The autumn is full of small boats time trials around the country. Taking part is good fun and necessary in order to keep up and ‘run with the pack’, gaining fitness and boat speed over the winter months. The latest Head race took place at Northwich and attracted a large number of entries.
Peter Jago and Luke Hodgson took to the road at 5.30am to get to Northwich for the single scullers Division, with the rest of the J17 squad following on with parents. The weather was good for November and the water was flat, with ideal conditions for sculling. A host of scullers from the North West and the Midlands entered. Luke came 6th in the J17 1x category behind scullers from St John Deane’s College, Pengwern RC and a number from RGS Worcester. Peter Jago managed a reasonable performance in Vet C sculls, together with a familiar group of dedicated scullers from the North West.
In the 2nd Division, two LRGSBC J17 2x crews took on RGS Worcester. In the early stages of the race, it looked as though V Kammath and O Uttley would catch and overtake the RGS Worcester crew, but they then had some steering issues and found the bank, losing vital seconds. RGS Worcester won with R Whitley and L Hodgson second and Kammath and Uttley third.
By this stage, Divisions were running up to 30 minutes late due to the huge number of entries (over 300) which caused congestion on the landing stages. In Division 3, LRGS put out a J17 4+ and a J17 4x. The J17 coxed four of T Gray, H Baxter, K Wong, W Gray and N Andrews (cox) had the closest race of the day (09:36.98), losing by one second to Grange School (09:35.04) over the 2300 metre course. This shows how races are won or lost by the smallest of margins which, although frustrating, excited the crew with the medal possibilities against a small but reputable rowing school and is a good learning experience for the future.
The coxless quad of V Kammath, R Whitley, O Uttley and L Hodgson had its first race, and Hodgson’s third of the day. It is a competitive event for juniors. LRGS put up a good performance coming second behind RGS Worcester.
