Scotch College

A strong performance at Nagambie

Scotch won nine of the 12 Head of the River divisions at the 2009 regatta.

Words: Mr Tom Woodruff – Chairman of Rowing Photography: Mr Stephen Kong

The Scotch College Boat Club has once again turned in a strong performance over the 2008–09 season, winning nine of the 12 divisions at the Head of the River. Scotch fielded six senior eights, five Year 10 eights and 13 Year 9 quad sculls.

In the senior eights, Scotch won the fourth eight by 20 seconds, and was placed second in both the third and second divisions. The first eight continued to improve and was placed fourth in the Head of the River final. The senior 5th VIII, with a combination of Year 10 and senior rowers was placed third in the 4th VIII final, while the 6th VIII gained valuable experience competing in this division.

The Year 10 crews performed very strongly, and the talent and enthusiasm of this group is very encouraging. The 10A crew added the Head of the River title to their national under 17 title, and the 10B crew rowed strongly to win the division 2 final by three lengths. The 10D crew performed to an exceptional standard to win the Year 10 division 3 final from the 10C crew. The 10C crew rowed with great intensity in the second thousand of the final, to row through the MGS 10C crew and into second place. The 10E crew’s performance was outstanding, in that they qualified for the A final for division 3. This was a difficult prospect and required some very good racing.

The Year 9 quadruple sculls were very impressive, with all crews performing strongly while winning all five quad sculling divisions. The 1st, 5th, 7th, 10th and 13th quads won divisions A to E respectively. The skills and boatmanship these boys have developed over their brief time in the sport was a credit to the program and its coaches. In particular, our crew of new boarders who formed the 13th quad, having rowed only during Term 1, won the E division by 0.1 of a second in a very close race with Geelong College.

The competing crews were well supported by a sea of cardinal, gold and blue on the bank. The rowers were very appreciative of this support from the school, the Cardinal Club and in particular from their families who have done so much to make the club run smoothly this season. GS