Abbottsford produced a stellar performance at the State Sprint Championships and of the 19 clubs to enter Masters events we finished third on the Masters medal table with 2 gold, 2 silver and a bronze. Only Nepean and Mosman outdid us. Abbottsford only had four men participating but they well and truly made their presence felt by firstly completing the quinella in the 2x with Doug and Andrew taking gold and Steve and Richard silver. All four then combined to successfully defend their State sprint quad title. Bravo! Rowena tested the blood pressure of our supporters in the 1x but she surged in the last 20m to pip Mosman’s Anne Taylor on the line to snare silver. To round off a memorable day, Colleen and Marcela (2x) were controlled and composed as they claimed bronze. Overall we had 15 rowers competing. As always, because of the strong opposition, a number of our impressive performances weren’t rewarded with medals but were nevertheless efforts to be proud of.
Unfortunately all was not rosie during boat unloading. Marcela managed to slice her foot on the Abbotsford trailer sign requiring 10 stitches. A devastating outcome for her. Having to find a hospital instead of a bar was especially cruel as Marcela had rowed a magical 1x that was worth a champagne cheers. |
Over 900 regatta-starved athletes donned their mandatory fluro yellow, disco-house wristbands and gathered at SIRC for the big weekend. Many were a bit jittery with the prospect of racing for the first time since the pandemic and uncertain if their fitness, and that of their opponents, had changed much in the time of COVID. With so much energy and so many quality rowers surrounding us, top-three finishes were hard to come by. Indeed victories eluded us although Doug and Andrew came close with a strong second (MM2x). We also notched a swag of thirds: Jodie and Cecile (WM2x) in a speedy 4:09; both Andrew and Richard (MM1x); and Steve, Richard, Doug and Andrew (MM4x). For many of us, the Reindeer was a regatta to start the season in a new crew combo, and a day of firsts. Rosemary made her debut single at SIRC and rowed a very tidy race. Cecile went 4:29 and set a new pb in her single. Kim, Rowena, Jodie and Marcela (WM4x) clocked a slick 3:52. Although warm, the weather was kind with light winds and the predicted late afternoon thunderstorms passed us by. We headed home, satisfied with our efforts although many had to refocus on being well hydrated and getting a good night’s sleep for the challenging next day – the NSW Sprint Championships.
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Wow! What a good event for Abbotsford this year. Andrew and Steve (F) rowed a steady strong race and succeeded in keeping off the much younger Glebe (A) double to take out the MM2x. Richard was fast out of the blocks and maintained the pace for the whole 4.5km, overtaking 5 men's singles to be the winner of the MM1x. Cecile and Ken (Glebe) easily won their mixed doubles in a cracking 18:27min. The women's masters doubles were not so successful and fell short of the placings. And through luck, due to the new handicapping system, Rosemary and Rowena just pipped out Marcela and Colleen for 4th. Had last year's system been in place the roles would have been reversed. We are yet to work out what's going on with this new system. Suzie had the bad luck of being swamped in her single by a large wake from a cruiser heading up-stream, but still managed to get home in good time despite the extra sloshing. Boat washing was definitely required. The dirty water at Burns Bay Reserve was eye-popping! Support from Terry was once again outstanding. (RS)
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#1 26/07/2020. The first of the 2020 JB Sharp Series was hosted by Glebe RC with the 500m course on Black Wattle Bay. While the day was wet enough to deter the female club members from
competing Richard and Steve did row and filled the first 2 places of the MH 1x event. Conditions for the race were pretty good but it did rain for most of the day and loading the singles onto the car after the race was not pleasant. #2 02/08/2020. The second event was hosted by UTS RC with the 900m course on Iron Cove. The conditions were benign enough for Iron Cove. Because of the dominant display in #1 Richard and Steve both attracted severe handicaps which saw them at the rear of the field. Enquiries revealed that this is the “norm” for JB Sharp where the place getters of the previous event are handicapped to ensure others gain points with the intention of keeping the series alive until the final event. |