Dear all,
Measuring ‘success’ and what makes a great club is difficult to judge for me. You could say that looking at the amount of winning crews we had the biggest regatta of the season for the second year in a row could be deemed a ‘success’ or the fact that we had crews at the Masters Championships and won a medal for the fourth successive year. That’s all well and good but I think it is more to do with what happens after that. Seeing so many smiling faces of athletes who are now rowing at University and competing at the highest level and racing at the regatta over the weekend is more of a gauge of how ‘successful’ we are as a club. Being able to successfully organise an event the day before Durham Regatta where children and adults of all ages can get together and have fun is also a gauge of how we operate as a club.
We may have the ‘Coaching Team of the Year,’ but for me we have the club, parents, supporters, rowers, trailer drivers and admin team, of the Year. To do all of this, with more to come from a season, with the most modest of budgets, kit and facilities is amazing. In teaching we judge success on something called Value Added, when a child comes to a school and is predicted a ‘C’ grade and achieves a ‘B’, that place has added value. As a club, we no only add value on the water through hard work and technique, we also make sure each child learns the value of sportsmanship and how to appreciate those who help you; I witnessed this in abundance over the weekend.
The highlight of the weekend for me was not simply the never give up attitude of the rowers on the water but also, (not on the same scale, but close) the golden ten minutes or half hour at London 2012, where there were three gold medals on the track and in the field; CLS had four finals in a row, race after race with four wins, the commentator didn’t have enough superlatives.
The medallists were:
Saturday
- Roman Bowery mj144x+ and 2x Composite
- Natasha Wearmouth and Leyah Teagle wj152x
- Caitlin Warren, Amy Hall, Emma Thornton, Holly Hardy, Amy Snook wj14x
- Dean Slater and Thomas Dowson mj162x
- Joseph Adamson mj161x
- Molly Dowson, Liberty Palmer, Lottie Craven, Ellie Hall, Amy Snook wj154x
- Joseph Adamson and Dan Middleton mj182x
- Tyler O’Donnell, Max Wilson, Aidan Roberts, Samuel Graham Alexander Farley mj154x
Sunday
- Molly Dowson, Leyah Teagle, Lottie Craven, Ellie Hall, Emma Thornton wj154x
- Roman Bowery mj144x+ and 1x Composite
- Tyler O’Donnell, Max Wilson, Aidan Roberts, Samuel Graham Alexander Farley mj154x
- Joseph Adamson mj161x
Master Champs
- Wayne Curry 1x Gold
- Adrian Farley 1x second place
- Rachel Lombard 1x third place
- m4+ Third place
14 wins, last year we got 13. Again we have won the Victor Lodorum (most wins at the regatta) for the second year in a row.
The Nithsdale regatta entries are in and we are just waiting to see which have opposition. Sessions will operate as normal this weekend and the session at the Hermitage is 6k rate 22.
Thanks
Steven
