Scotch shines in strong all-round rowing effort - Scotch College

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Scotch shines in strong all-round rowing effort

Scotch’s rowers again distinguished themselves in a strong all-round effort on Head of the River day.

MR TOM WOODRUFF – DIRECTOR OF ROWING, PHOTOGRAPHY - PHOTOPLAY

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‘Those boats go racing along ...’ From the bow: Michael Goodey (Year 12), Charlie Lockwood (Year 12), Ben Strathmore (Year 11), Ben Stops (Year 12), Jack Tivey (Year 12), Tom Havea (Year 12), Harry Fox (Year 11), Charlie Dixon (Year 12 – stroke), and Will Bartley (Year 11 – cox).

In the 145th year of the event, the Scotch College 1st VIII this year won the Fairbairn Cup for the Head of the River for the third consecutive year and 40th time overall, with St Kevin’s second and Melbourne Grammar third. This is the eighth win in the past nine years for the Scotch College crew – a great achievement for the Boat Club.

The crew rowed in their boat christened after Don Werner, a man who contributed greatly to Scotch rowing. Don died recently and is sorely missed.

The 1st VIII also distinguished itself by winning the ‘triple crown’ of the New South Wales, Victorian and Australian schoolboy eight titles. This feat has been achieved by only one other crew the 2010 Scotch 1st VIII. This success was in part due to the strength of the Boat Club. This year there were five senior eights and six Year 10 eights, along with 15 Year 9 quads and an eight. Clearly, Scotch rowing is in a healthy state.

In the Head of the River final, raced into a cross headwind, the Scotch eight rowed cleanly from the start to hold a half to three-quarters of a boat length lead over the field at the 500m mark. Through the middle 1,000m of the race, Scotch extended this to around a length and a quarter. The crew crossed the line a length and a half clear of St Kevin’s, winning Scotch’s 40th Head of the River title. The crew was: cox Will Bartley (Year 11), stroke Charlie Dixon (Year 12), 7 Harry Fox (Year 11), 6 Tom Havea (Year 12), 5 Jack Tivey (Year 12), 4 Ben Stops (Year 12), 3 Ben Strathmore (Year 11), 2 Charlie Lockwood (Year 12), bow: Michael Goodey (Year 12).

In the final wash-up of the senior eights, Scotch won two of the four divisions. The 2nd VIII raced strongly in the B final to win by more than 10 seconds from Geelong College and Caulfield Grammar, in a time that would have placed them fourth in the A final. The 3rd VIII started well in their A final and had a very close tussle with MGS over the first 1,000m of the race. MGS then managed to push away and win by a length, with Scotch second, eight seconds ahead of St Kevin’s. Although the crew was not quite good enough on the day to win, it was Victorian champion.

The 4th VIII had experienced some very close racing against the Geelong Grammar crew, with recent margins of around one second, or one third of a boat length. On Head of the River day it was to be another story, with the Scotch crew moving decisively out to a one length lead at the halfway mark, and finishing more than a length ahead of the Geelong Grammar crew. Also racing strongly was the Scotch 5thVIII, which performed brilliantly to claim third place in the 4th VIII eight final behind Geelong Grammar and ahead of Geelong College.

The Year 10 crews rowed with intensity and achieved some great results. The 10A crew powered ahead at the start and was never headed, rowing strongly to win the A final of Year 10 division 1, ahead of Carey and MGS. The crew added the Head of the River title to their under 17 national championship.

The 10B eight served it up early, racing side by side with Melbourne Grammar. In the end MGS was one length ahead, with Scotch second and Carey a further three to four lengths behind in third place. In the A final of the Year 10 division 3, Carey stormed clear of the field, leading until the 1,500m mark. The Scotch 10C crew raced with great composure, sticking with the powerful Carey eight. Soon after the 1,500m mark of the race the Scotch crew pushed up to be level with Carey, before Scotch got its bow ahead, pushing out to a length lead over the final 200m.

Racing in the same division 3 final, the Scotch Year 10D eight rowed a powerful second thousand to have overlap with the second placed Carey crew. This was a wonderful achievement by a crew rowing against crews a division higher. The MGS 10C eight was fourth, with the Scotch 10E eight just over a length behind in fifth, several lengths ahead of the Wesley 10C crew. In the B final of the Year 10 division 3 the Scotch 10F crew came sixth; The crew had rowed only a handful of sessions together before racing. Luke Carey has coordinated the Year 10 crews and has once again done a great job.

The Year 9 quad sculls were very impressive, with all crews performing strongly while claiming eight of the nine quad sculling divisions. Scotch was victorious in the B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I divisions, while the first quad came second in the A division. The eight came fifth in division D.

Well done to these boys and their coaches! There was great improvement across all crews. The skills these boys have developed over their short time in the sport are a great reflection on the program and its coaches. John Croxford has coordinated the Year 9 crews and has done a stellar job in the face of huge numbers of boys wanting to row.

Once again the Cardinal Club, led by President Stephen Webster (’73) and the committee, has done a great job of supporting the boys as they pursue their rowing. Week after week an enthusiastic group of individuals helps to keep the Boat Club running smoothly by completing tasks that while often unspectacular, are nonetheless extremely important. The Cardinal Club takes responsibility for presenting medals to crews who win at the Head of the River – or who are only beaten by another Scotch crew.

In particular, a huge vote of thanks goes to all the breakfast volunteers, in particular the daily organisers, led by Helen Bartley. There is no question the boys love the breakfasts... My thanks also go to all parents who support their sons through the ups and downs of rowing at Scotch. Secretary Cathy Emmett has also continued to provide administrative support to me and I offer my thanks for this.

I thank all members of the Boat Club staff who worked throughout this season to make it an enjoyable and successful one. Thank you to the boatmen, Josh Frichot and Bob Lachal, who repair and transport our equipment. Thank you also to the Teacher-in-Charge, Mr Tom Bowen, who is an integral part of the administration and organisation of the Boat Club, completing significant tasks such as entries and arranging buses, without which we could not function.

The Boat Club is also thankful for the work of the Coordinator of Year 10, Mr Luke Carey, the Coordinator of Year 9, Mr John Croxford, and the Head of Strength and Conditioning, Mr Kemble Edelsten (’90). In addition, a huge vote of gratitude must go to all the coaches who make the Boat Club a great party Scotch College.

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Charlie Dixon, Captain of Boats and stroke of the crew, triumphantly raises the Fairbairn Cup.