Scotch College

Close 2nd in Head of River

1996-97 rowing season concluded with the 130th Head of the River on Saturday 5 April. Victory in this year's boat race went to Melbourne Grammar who narrowly defeated Scotch in a magnificent finish to a great race.

Brighton Grammar were a somewhat disappointing third, having started the final as favourites, and Geelong Grammar fourth over the line. The winning time was 4:16.2 and it meant the Fairbairn Cup returned to Melbourne Grammar for the first time since 1982.

The achievement of the Scotch 1st VIII was outstanding and clearly represented the crew's best performance of the season. It was a fitting conclusion to a very successful rowing season which saw Scotch as the only APS school achieve the feat of having all five Barwon crews in their respective Division A finals. This was the first time Scotch had achieved the feat in six years, and the season's results were the most successful at the Head of the River in twelve years. It continued the much improved performances of the Scotch 1st VIIIs over recent seasons, securing a place in the HoR final for the second successive year.

Of the other Barwon crews, the 2nd VIII finished fourth in its final behind Brighton Grammar; the 3rd VIII rowed third also behind Brighton Grammar; the 4th VIII was placed third beind Xavier; and the 5th crew were magnficent winners of their division, beating Xavier, Geelong College and Haileybury in a time of 4:39.5. The 5th VIII re-wrote the record books in their Friday heat by rowing a new division record of 4:37 and winning by four lengths.

The 1st VIII came into the HoR with a succession of consistent performances under its belt. In the Friday heat, the crew rowed steadily to finish a one length second to Geelong Grammar, resulting in the crew going straight through to the semi final on the Saturday morning. In the semi final, the 1st VIII rowed a very competitive race to finish half a length behind favourites Brighton and deservedly qualify for the final. Both races had demonstrated the growing confidence of the crew to match both Brighton and Melbourne in race planning and finishing speed.

Knowing a competitive start was crucial in the final, Scotch began strongly, but without the boat speed of Brighton. After 500 metres, Brighton led, Melbourne had rowed themselves into an improving second place, and Scotch was just off the pace in third. At this point, Geelong Grammar was out of contention. In the middle 500m of the race, Melbourne had begun to edge up to Brighton and Scotch looked destined to finish third. With only 100 metres to row, Melbourne had rowed through Brighton who looked vulnerable, just as Scotch began its surge. Within a few strokes, Brighton had faded and was passed by Scotch who set out to row Melbourne down.

In an exciting finish, Scotch was not able to catch Melbourne, whose lead in the middle section of the final proved to be decisive. The finish line saw Melbourne hang on to win by a third of a length in a memorable race.

Scotch had an outstanding regatta overall and on the aggregate points system, finished as the best competing school ahead of Melbourne Grammar, Brighton and Xavier. The final results also meant the Scotch Barwon crews completed the season with a winning ratio of nearly 50%, the best in years.

The work of all coaches, in particular the Director of Coaching Steve Spurling in conjunction with 1st VIII coaches Andrew Muller and Olympic gold medalist Nick Green, contributed to a highly successful season for Scotch rowing and helped the oarsmen to enhance their collective performance.

Mr Peter Fowler, TIC Rowing