Races on day one of Henley are often mismatched affairs between chuffed qualifiers and realistic contenders for silverware, margins are regularly large, the word ‘Easily’ being the most odious of terms used when a crew is well and truly smashed by it’s opposition.
At 2pm on day one (Wednesday) Molesey B (the Giants, or strictly speaking, Molesey’s High Performance Pathway Athletes supported by Siemens and in association with the National Lottery) were to race the selected (similar to being a seed at Wimbledon) crew Ghent in a heat of the Thames Cup. To the casual observer this was clearly going to be another boring procession, how could it be anything else? These guys started rowing in October!
At this point I struggle to explain what happened next. The result is there for all to see, Ghent won by a length. A closer look shows that Molesey B lead to the Barrier and Fawley, look again and one will notice that the time was 6.48, one of the fastest times of the day. The time to the barrier the same as Leander, eventual winners of the event.
These are cold statistics, what they do not illustrate is the determination and will that this crew showed, from the moment the Umpire’s flag dropped Molesey set off at a furious intensity and never let up. The extent to which Ghent were pushed was demonstrated by the delight of their coach and the revisiting of lunch by one of his crew immediately post race.
The excellent attitude and determination to succeed demonstrated by this crew was given no clearer proof than by the immediate post race desolation. I am convinced they believed they could win it, and by ‘it’ I mean the Thames Cup, not just one solitary race.
This attitude was in no way a one off. All season this squad has set about rising to every challenge put in their path and as further proof of their total immersion in the sport and the club it was excellent to see the whole crew present at the landing stage when the Brit boys won, I can think of no better fuel for future success than the inspiration of this victory. Molesey now has a winning squad complete with hungry athletes determined to return victorious. I cannot possibly begin to imagine what the equivalent report will be commenting on in 12 months time. As reported after Henley qualifiers, the future is very definitely Black.
