Scotch College

Outstanding Performances

Gallant effort in the Head of the River

Nine wins and two second placings from eleven events by Scotch crews at this year’s Head of the River stamped Scotch as the leading rowing school in the APS. For the second time, the Head of the River was conducted at Nagambie Lakes using the 2,000 metre course with six crews in the final.

First Crew Runners Up

The First crew of Rod Gerstman (bow), Nick Mitchell (2), Rob Buchanan (3), Tom McColl (4), Ed Hope (5), Charles Emmett (6), Hamish Buchanan (7) Gary Fitzpatrick (stroke) and Cameron Sim (cox), coached by Drew Ginn, finished a gallant second to Melbourne Grammar.

The crew performed consistently well throughout the season, scoring a win at the Barwon Regatta and winning the Australian River Course Championship at the Henley Regatta on the Yarra River.

The crew went into the Head of the River seeded third with Melbourne Grammar as favourites. They qualified for the final with a second place to Geelong College.

The final was a great race with the Scotch crew rating 48 strokes per minute out of the start, but Melbourne Grammar moved out to a narrow lead after 250 metres. At the 500 metre mark, Melbourne was three quarters of a length in front of Geelong College, with Scotch third. After 1500 metres, Melbourne Grammar led by one length from Geelong College with Scotch third. The crew lifted their rating and moved past Geelong College but could not quite catch Melbourne Grammar, going down by three quarters of a length.

The crew can be well satisfied with their fine performance – they rated it as their best row for the season. Those returning are looking forward to turning the tables in 2003.

Second Crew Scores Great Win

The Second VIII scored Scotch’s first win in this division for some twenty years. The crew set a high standard throughout the season, winning at almost every regatta. At the national titles they finished thirteenth out of twenty-three crews, beating several APS First VIIIs in the process.

At the Head of the River, the crew won the heat in fine fashion and went on to score an outstanding win by one and a half lengths. This was the first win for some twenty years by Scotch in this division and our congratulations go to the coach, Anthony Johnston, and the crew.

Other Crews Successful

The Third VIII, Fourth VIII, 10B VIII and 10C VIII also scored fine wins in their A finals. A second Fourth VIII finished third in the Fourth VIII event and the 10D VIII also finished third in the 10C VIII event. The Year 10A VIII finished runners up to Carey in the A final. Carey had been the form crew all season. Scotch had scored an upset win at the Australian Championships, but could not repeat the performance at the Head of the River.

Outstanding Year 9 Quad Sculls

The Year 9 quad scull crews had an outstanding season. Unfortunately the windy conditions made starting difficult at the 1000 metre mark and a number of the Year 9 events were cancelled. The first crew was unbeaten all season and won their event in fine fashion.

In the division B event, Scotch crews took the first three places. In the other divisions, Scotch crews won their heats but no finals were rowed.

Congratulations

Our congratulations go to the crews and coaches for a series of wonderful performances over the season. In particular, Head Coach Steven Whittington, and TIC Rowing Tom Bowen, both did an outstanding job in ensuring a large number of students had a most successful season.

We now turn our attention to 2003 and the one hundred and thirty sixth Head of the River!

Results summary
Event Placing(s)

First VIII	2nd
Second VIII	1st
Third VIII	1st
Fourth VIII	1st and 3rd
10A VIII	2nd
10B VIII	1st
10C VIII	1st and 3rd
9 Quad Div A	1st
9 Quad Div B	1st, 2nd and 3rd
9 Quad Div C	1st in heat, no final
9 Quad Div D	1st in heat, no final