What a fantastic day to finish our first season with. The last few months have been a rollercoaster of hard work, racing and training. There have been high points and very low points but on Saturday, 19 July, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Molesey Amateur Regatta was an enormous success and if you were rowing for Molesey Boat Club then it was doubtless more successful. Every few minutes on the tannoy there was another announcement exclaiming yet another Molesey win.
For the Giants there were wins in Novice Sculls (Teddy Groves), Novice Eights (Thomas Westcott, Lee Turner & Neil Wands) and also S2 Eights (Myself, Simon Jones, Tom Colyer, Jonnie Miller, Teddy Groves, Frazer AJ, Frazer Brent & Nick Fitzgerald).
The organisation of the day was smooth and the only hitches seemed to come from the rowers themselves. The first time racing in smaller boats for the Giants didn’t come off too well with the lead pair being disqualified after crashing into their opponents in under 10 strokes and then the 4 only rowing, it seemed, for the last 20 strokes and losing by 1 foot!
The outcomes of last weekend would have been very difficult to predict over a year ago when plans had just begun to start a national selection programme for new rowers.
Sitting on the bank of the river Thames over 12 months ago, quietly drinking and watching the Henley Royal Regatta, I thought to myself 'I’d like to row there.' It took a national campaign, support from my family, and many months of hard work before that goal was achieved.
Joining Molesey was daunting. It’s a well known club with prestigious members and this intimidated me. I was apprehensive about training but excited to take on a new challenge. Meeting the squad was worrying; would I be the smallest, would I be the most unfit and the least competitive? It was a new experience and I was terrified that there was no way I would be able to keep up with anyone. Thankfully everyone seemed to have these worries and it was exactly these worries that bonded our squad. When a new group of people meet there is competitiveness, but the levels of testosterone around these people was ridiculous. This carried the Giants and when I joined in March I was lucky enough to sneak in. No one backed down for a second during those early months, not at 6 am 4 times a week, not half way through a 2km erg and not even at competitive eating on training camp in Italy.
We raced at 5 regattas and won at 3 of them. An incredible feat for any crew but for a crew that’s only rowed for 9 months it is sublime. I think we all realised that we had a lot to learn about this sport. The quality we lack most is depth in experience. I don’t think any of us knew exactly how much we would acquire at, what was without doubt, the pinnacle of our season, racing at Henley. A staggering amount was learnt that day:
Ed Green (referring to our first ever race at Henley): "So Jake, what did the race feel like?
Jake: Well, the first half of the race was the best we’ve ever rowed, without a shadow of a doubt. The second half I couldn’t tell you, I can’t remember anything."
Working a dead-end job, living like a student, treading water financially, moving hours away from the safety of home, leading a lifestyle which is brand new and busy, practically giving up my social and family life. Has the last 6 months of my life been worth it? These were the worries that filled my head previous to that race.
Sailing over that line I had felt a rush of emotion which I have never experienced. Everything I’d felt over the last 6 months came to me again at once. Upset that we’d squandered our lead in that race, glad that we’d given the crowd something to watch, gutted that we had been knocked out, but mostly proud. Proud to row with some of the most determined athletes I have ever met. Proud to be coached by such talent. But mainly proud to be a part of a club that has supported us from day one. All my questions had been answered. I will never doubt this sport again.
Finally a thank you to everyone who has helped us. Everyone who has generously given their time and their effort in supporting us this season. For them we promise that we shall not stop, we have plenty more to learn and plenty more to give. I look forward to seeing you on the water.
