30 July 2012

Team GB London 2012 Men's Eight

Team GB's Rowing quest for Olympic medals has started successfully with Sir Steve Redgrave stating optimistically that there is a strong possibility of all 13 crews having a podium position by the end of the week.

Team GB Men's coxed Eight had a steady race on the opening day of competition on Saturday 28 July with USA & Germany winning their respective heats going straight to the final. Team GB finished roughly 2 seconds behind a strong German crew in the second heat going to the Repechage on Monday 30 July.

The Rep gave the crew a chance to test their skills with a second race. This time the boat had a flying start leading comfortably by the 1000 m mark. They dominated the race winning in 5:26.85. They join Netherlands, USA, Germany, Canada & Australia in the final on Wed 1 Aug at 10:30.
The anticipation is building and the butterflies going crazy with every hour that approaches. Nothing is being taken for granted but the Men's Eight demonstrated their worth this morning in front of 30,000 spectators creating a spectacular atmosphere for athletes and spectators alike.
Matt Langridge, Honorary NRC member, in the seven seat, is reported to be in a relaxed mood and looking forward to the biggest, most important race of his life. He is genuinely moved by the overwhelming support he has received from everyone; family, friends and members of NRC where he learnt to row as a young teenager. A large entourage of club members will be attending the Final while others will be there in spirit, watching via the media, at home or work with bated breath and fingers crossed.

This Final is set to be an exciting, tough race..........
GOOD LUCK!

Warrington Regatta 28July 2012

There was another rowing event taking place further north of the Olympic Rowing lake at Eaton Dorney. Namely Warrington Regatta!


Northwich RC entered 11 crews at Warrington Regatta on the River Mersey on Sat 28 July all very keen to race having been deprived of competition over several months with many Regattas being cancelled by the adverse summer weather.

The club was pleased to return 4 wins, encouragingly with all crews reaching the finals.
Women’s Intermediate 3 “Invitation” coxed Eight, Open Intermediate 3 coxed Four, Junior 15 Single scull and Junior 13 Double sculls. (see crew names below)

The weather provided perfect conditions in the morning turning volatile in the afternoon; brilliant sunshine one minute followed by monsoon downpours the next.

Sunshine encouraged the early competitors namely Harry Blake in the J15 Single scull starting racing at 9:30 in the largest entry of 16 scullers. Harry had a total of four races over the 700 m course within an hour to win overall. He won his first three races comfortably, meeting Runcorn RC in the final. Harry had a fast start, pulling away over the first 20 strokes, settling into his rhythm and dominating the race. The Runcorn sculler pushed for the finish but Harry went over the line ¾ of a length up.

The junior girls entered the Women’s IM3 Invitation coxed Eight racing against older competitors in this category. The crew had a hard fought race against Athlunkard BC, visitors from Ireland, winning by a canvas. Victory was sweet for the girls when they raced Agecroft RC in a thrilling final, winning by one and a half lengths.

The Mens Intermediate 3 coxed Four were pushed all the way to victory in their heats meeting Mersey RC in the opening race. Mersey RC lead the race having a better start with the Northwich crew gaining on them as they approached the finish pushing hard for the last five strokes to win by a canvas. They were determined to stamp their authority in the next heat, which they did by having a flying start against Warrington RC maintaining their lead, winning by a length and a half. Their confidence now boosted it was all or nothing with a winning pot in their sights. They were not daunted by the opposition, Agecoft RC in the final race, having a quick start and pulling away. They maintained their lead to the halfway marker when Northwich lifted the rating to cross the finish by a length. Paul Parish, the coxswain, in his first Regatta season being a graduate of the NRC Learn to Row initiative, was thrilled to steer and encourage his crew to victory!  

 The winning combination of Greg Murphy and Lawrence Williams continues with their success in J13 Double sculls. The boys raced confidently during the afternoon meeting Runcorn RC in the final. It was a hard fought race with Northwich powering over the finish line with such enthusiasm they crashed into the bank! No damage to crew or boat, thankfully.

Women’s Intermediate 3 Invitation coxed Eight
Sam Over, Libby Welman, Poppy Burgess, Daisy Dell, Olivia Oakes, Kate Meehan,
Becky Jones, Alex Walton (stroke), cox Craig Milne
Open Intermediate 3 coxed Four
Sam Coverley, Phil Hewett, David Zimmer, Liam Bromley (stroke),cox Paul Parish
J15 single scull
Harry Blake
J13 double scull
Greg Murphy, Lawrence Williams

Winners Open IM3 coxed Four
(l-r) Liam Bromley, David Zimmer, Paul Parish (cox), Phil Hewett, Sam Coverley

27 July 2012

Good Luck Team GB 2012!


The eyes of the world will be watching in awe, at the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony launching the London 2012 Olympic Games on Friday 27 July 2012.

There is great excitement mixed with anticipation here at Northwich RC as we focus our attention to the start of the Rowing events with the Heats at Dorney Lake, Eaton on Saturday. In particular the Men’s coxed Eight with our hopes and best wishes going to Matt Langridge in the seven seat. This crew is an unknown quantity having been dogged by injury for several months, depriving the final crew formation, a race. Despite that, the crew has been successful this summer in the 2012 World Cup Regattas winning two Silver medals. However, their sights are set on winning an Olympic Gold on Wednesday 1 Aug.

This will be Matt’s third Olympic Games having won Silver at Beijing 2008 Olympics in the Men’s Eight.

Matt has explained “Working hard to win rowing races is what we are trained to do so that is what we have to keep in mind. If we allow ourselves to think that London is something special, something extra, then there is a risk of being distracted. We train to be ready to put together a perfect race, it’s so important not to forget that because of the occasion. I’ve learned from my experiences at the past two Olympic Games that it’s important to see it for what it is; it is a great spectacle but what we need to do remains the same. We can only worry about being faster than the other five crews alongside us on the water on any given day. It is as simple as that. That said I think we are ahead in terms of our development as a crew compared to Beijing.”

Good Luck Team GB we are with you, all the way!

17 July 2012

British Rowing Championships 2012, NWSC, Nottingham. 13-15 July 2012,


A group of Northwich RC’s top junior scullers represented the club at the British Rowing Championships 2012, at the National Water Sports Centre, Nottingham over the weekend resulting in 2 medals; a Silver and a Bronze from 3 entries.

Success for two; Ed Grisedale, returning with a Silver medal in Open Junior Single scull and Harry Blake a Bronze medal, having jumped into a composite boat with Grange School RC in the Open Junior 15 coxed quad sculls.

Disappointment for one; Fynn Lawton in the Open Junior 16 single scull.

Friday was a very wet miserable day for the competitors. Ed Grisedale raced in the time trial finishing in the top 12.
This set him up for the Semi Final on Sunday morning which he won completing the 2000 m course in 7:58, seven seconds ahead of Evesham RC. With the weather improving and a few hours recovery time he was back on the water for the Final (A). Ed has been training long and hard and he was hungry for a Gold medal however he was beaten by Tideway Sculler RC who had won at the National Schools Regatta in June. Ed was disappointed but Jed Barlow, coach, explained it was a good race for most of the course but the winner proved too strong and pulled out to a couple of lengths clear water at the finish.
However, on the strength of this performance, Ed has been invited to represent England in the Home Countries match at Cardiff, Saturday 21 July.  He will be in the double scull with his Henley partner, Joe Guppy, and they will both be in the quad with others yet to be announced.

Harry Blake was delighted to win a Bronze medal in Junior 15 coxed quad sculls when he was invited to join the Grange School boat.

Fynn Lawton entered the Open Junior 16 single scull. Despite missing the “start” instruction in his heat he powered his way to finish first in 7:44 ending up with the fastest overall time in his heats. Unfortunately, a recurring injury took hold of him during his semi final heat. Having raced well for 400m, severe cramp forced him to stop. He was bitterly disappointed but we are all very proud of his achievement, racing at National level, having only started in the sport a year ago! What will 2013 bring?!

14 July 2012

Runcorn RC Junior Regatta, 30 June 2012


Regatta racing has been scarce this summer. Runcorn RC Junior Regatta was one of the few Regattas in this Region to run with many Regattas up and down the country sadly having to cancel due the awful weather conditions. So the club was delighted to enter a large number of younger juniors in this increasingly popular event which was held on Sat 30 June at Runcorn Rowing Club on the River Weaver. The racing was conducted in a Round Robin format over a straight 300m course guaranteeing each crews 2 or more races. The organizers were pleased with over 200 entries giving racing opportunities to 12 – 15 yr girls and boys in singles, doubles and quad sculls.
The weather continued to dominate the day with wet, windy conditions for many of the crews however some were blessed with a rare glimpse of sunshine.
Northwich RC romped home with 9 wins overall coming third in the Victor Ludorum with Trentham RC winning decisively as the most successful club.
The proud junior girls and boys returned with 5 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.
Winning Crews:
GOLD
J15 single scull
Harry Blake
J13 coxed quad scull
Sam Platt, George Crouchley, Greg Murphy, Lawrence Williams Cox Jack Hudson
J13 double scull
Greg Murphy, Lawrence Williams
WJ14 coxed quad scull
Sophie Bury, Libby Chaplin, Emma Roberts, Victoria Gardner Cox Joe Coppock
WJ14 double scull (A)
Sophie Bury, Libby Chaplin
SILVER
J13 single scull (A)
Greg Murphy
BRONZE
J15 double scull (B)
Harry Blake, Jack Dolton
J14 coxed quad scull (A)
Matthew Roberts, Lewis Mode, Chris Malley, Mike Lundy Cox Jack Hudson
J14 coxed quad scull (B)  
Josh Almond, Jack Kolch, Lawrence Williams, George Crouchley, Cox Sam Platt


Some photos of the winning crews:


J13 double scull GOLD
J14 coxed quad BRONZE
J13 coxed quad GOLD
     



WJ14 coxed quad GOLD
WJ14 double scull GOLD