Scotch College

It’s five in a row! Scotch triumphs again at Nagambie

The Scotch 1st VIII equalled Wesley’s feat of 1909–13 in winning its fifth successive Head of the River.

Words: GREG BAKER • CHAIRMAN OF ROWING Photography: Photoplay and Kathryn Cairney

As the temperature soared into the mid 30s on a hot Nagambie afternoon, so did the excitement among the Scotch crowd, as the 1st VIII raced away from Melbourne Grammar to win the 141st Head of the River.

This win made it five in a row at the Head of the River – the first time this has been achieved by Scotch and the first time by any APS school since Wesley College won five in a row from 1909 to 1913.

The win capped off another memorable day at Nagambie for Scotch, with wins in five out of the seven eight-oared events as well as all the divisions of the Year 9 quad sculls.

Great season by 1st VIII

The format for this year’s Head of the River changed, with heats for the 1st and 2nd VIIIs conducted late on Friday afternoon. Heat winners went directly to the A final, with the other nine crews going to repêchages on Saturday morning.

The Scotch 1st VIII went into the regatta seeded first, and was untroubled to win its heat on Friday afternoon from Geelong Grammar and St Kevin’s College. The other heat was won by Melbourne Grammar, who loomed as the toughest challenger for the Fairbairn Cup.

Saturday’s final saw Scotch and Melbourne Grammar drawn next to each other in the middle lanes. As had happened throughout the season, Scotch jumped out to an early lead from Geelong Grammar and Melbourne Grammar. Melbourne challenged at about the 800-metre mark, but shortly after that Scotch pulled away from Melbourne to win in convincing fashion by a margin of 4.86 seconds, or about one and a half lengths, with Melbourne in second place and a further two lengths back to Geelong Grammar, third.

The 1st VIII went through the season unbeaten by any Victorian school crew, having lowered its colours only to the Shore School in Sydney when they were narrowly beaten at the NSW State championships.

Their performance at the Head of the River stamped the crew as one of Scotch’s best, and ‘long will we remember’ their outstanding season.

Congratulations to the crew of Will Bernard (bow), James Sparkman (2), Tom Simpson (3), Michael Haines (4), Josh Booth (5), Tom Sutterby (6), Karl Buchhorn (7), Simon Brown (stroke), Tom Browne (cox) and their coach, Jeff Watt.

2nd VIII dominant

The 2nd VIII also proved to be the dominant crew in its division over the season. It was unbeaten by any other Victorian 2nd VIII, and beat a number of 1st VIIIs. Like the 1st VIII, it scored a comfortable victory in its heat on Friday afternoon and went straight into the A final, as did Melbourne Grammar, the other heat winner.

In the final, Scotch took an early lead from Melbourne Grammar and was never seriously challenged, winning by over a length from Melbourne Grammar with St Kevin’s in third place. This was the third consecutive year that the 2nd VIII has won at the Head of the River, a feat possibly unequalled in Scotch rowing history. Full credit must go to each crew member and their coach, Tom Woodruff.

Other eights perform well

All the other eights performed well. The 3rd VIII led through the halfway mark but was unable to hold off the fast-finishing Melbourne Grammar crew, and finished in second place with Geelong Grammar third.

The two 4th VIIIs finished first and third in the final, split by Melbourne Grammar. The winning margin was over 12 seconds or about four lengths – a fine performance. The Year 10A VIII scored the most exciting win of the day, coming from half a length behind with 500 metres to go, to win by over a length from Carey and Brighton Grammar. The Year 10B VIII finished runner-up to Melbourne Grammar with Carey third and the two 10C VIIIs won the A Final and B Final respectively of the Year 10C event.

Quad sculls

Fourteen quad sculls competed in five divisions of the Year 9 quad scull event. Although not many other sculls compete in this event, it provides an excellent developmental stage for our students. Scotch crews won each of the divisions. The most exciting race was the division one event, with our number one crew winning by only 0.66 seconds from our number two crew.

A memorable day

Saturday 15 March will be long remembered as a great day in Scotch rowing history. There were outstanding performances by many Scotch boys and their crews. The boys, their parents, coaches and all those who contributed to the results can be rightly pleased with a job well done. GS