Scotch College

Gallant row at the Head of the River

The First VIII rowed superbly in this year's Head of the River, to come third just behind Geelong College and the winners, pre-race favourites Xavier.

The crew capped off the season with three weeks of solid improvement into the regatta. On Friday their heat row was most pleasing and Wal Oakley in 'The Age' reported that Scotch scored a gutsy one-metre victory over Melbourne Grammar.

In the semi-final Scotch was second to Xavier by half a length. In the final Scotch matched Xavier and Geelong College for the first 500 metres before Xavier charged out with Scotch and Geelong College stroke for stroke down the course. At the finish it was Geelong College in front by half a length.

Coaches Andrew Muller and Nick Green again prepared the crew to achieve their best performances for the season at the Head of the River.

Six senior VIII's

For the 1999 Head of the River there were a number of changes to the format of the regatta. Senior VIIIs were made up of four open VIIIs and two VIIIs racing as Year 10 Division One and Year 10 Division Two respectively. The Year Ten crews offered 'weight for age' competition and times in racing were similar to Third VIII races.

Four of the six crews were successful in making the A finals. The second VIII coached by Myles Baird was second in the Division B final. The third VIII was first in the Division C final, the fourth VIII was fourth in the Division A final, as was the Year 10 Division One VIII, fourth in the final.

The Year 10 Division Two VIII, was coached by Luke Stanistreet, became the Head of the River Champions. The Year 10 Division Two crew had been the crew in front of the division for the entire season and won their division in the Head of the Yarra in February. Racing in the newly christened VIII, the 'David Douglas', the crew won their heat by 3 1/2 lengths, their semi-final by 4 lengths and the final by 4 lengths. The crew was awarded the 'Team of the Year' trophy for 1999.

Saturday events and quad sculls

On Saturday there was a Year 10 Division Three event, Year 9 Division One and Two Quad Sculls and Division One and Two VIII's.

The new events enhanced the regatta, allowing more students to compete and introduced new categories of boat, namely the quad scull. Over 90 rowers represented Scotch at the Regatta this year. The quad scull is generally accepted as an excellent boat category for junior crews, in particular, to enhance their rowing technique and physical development.

The Year 9 Division One Quad Scull was won by Scotch and this event will continue to be a feature event in years to come.

Year 2000 and onwards

The Year 2000 regatta will continue with the expanded format incorporating Year 9 and Year 10 crews and could be the first in a series of steps in creating a regatta with a variety of boat classes and events.