Club Kit

Will Harris is kindly organising an order of club kit (shorts, tranining tops and all-in-ones). Please contact him (or me) for more details and let him know what you'd like and what size you need by 5/7/07. I'm sure fellow club members will be happy to let you try on their kit if you're not sure what size and gear to go for.

As you know, people might be disqualified and prevented from racing if they do not wear club colours to race in, particularly at ARA regattas. It would also be nice to see more people wearing club colours generally to make us feel more like a club and less like a ragged bunch of scullers who just happen to be rowing on the same stretch of surf!! We should make the most of our cheery red and yellow kit to make the DRC presence felt around the region.

We will also be doing another order of social t-shirts soon, so watch this space for more info on that.

Isle of Ely Regatta

Congratulations to John Churcher, who picked up a pot at the Isle of Ely Regatta on Saturday!! Great to see our Chairman leading from the front :-)

Alex & Clio Collect Pots at Peterborough

Well done to Clio who collected the WJ14 Single Sculls pot at Peterborough Regatta last Saturday. Drawn in Lane 1 for her straight final over the full 1000 metre course, Clio got the better of her big rival from Norwich RC, next to her in Lane 2, just before the end.

A solid start from both girls saw them slowly draw away from the other competition and engage in a private battle along the road side of the course. The Norwich sculler inched in front of Clio in the middle section of the race with a long, smooth and efficient stroke action. With 150m to go the Norwich Junior was sitting one length up on Clio but was wandering over into Clio's lane.

One brief loss of concentration was enough to make the Norwich girl whack a lane marker, catch a giant crab and slew right over onto Clio's side. Miraculously Clio's blade passed over the front section of the other boat and a collision was narrowly avoided, but Clio seized her opportunity and, with a quick burst, put herself one length in the lead with 100m to go. A big sprint from the recovering opponent was not enough and Clio took the race by half a length.

Down-to-earth again on Sunday, there was no Junior event for Clio, so she joined the seniors and rowed in the Novices for the 500m sprint event, while Alex got her turn to shine in the WS3 Quad

In her heat, superior tactics, and a blistering start saw Clio lead the fleet by one length at the 250m mark but her lack of size and power eventually told and two of the bigger ladies overhauled her before the end. Still - a superb performance and invaluable experience for future races.

A doubly impressive result also for Alex who won her Novice sculling pot and took a senior point too, as part of the awesome Sudbury WS3 Quad who annihilated their opposition. In the straight 4-boat final on Saturday, the big powerful crew lead from the first stroke, being half a length up in the first ten strokes and extending their lead to two lengths before half way. Here they rather took their feet off the gas (to the admonishment of their coach!!) but were still efficient enough to romp home with nearly two lengths of clear water. Well done Alex - from Novice to S3 in three and a half minutes!

CHRIS JILLINGS

Coaching, Mid-Summer, Peterborough Regatta

Plans for Mid-summer
As next Wednesday (20th) is nearly mid-summer, it's been suggested that we should do something to celebrate...perhaps a club row to the Maybush or sailing club for a lemonade or two (other refreshments may be available!!!!!)?

Coaching
We had perfect weather and lovely calm water for Sunday's coaching session with Michael and, as ever, those who came out on the water got some expert advice...Nicola discovered that she had stomach muscles (!) and Terry found out that there was a technical cure for stopping his thumbs hurting (don't go letting him get away with complaining about them in the future!).
Don't forget that everyone is welcome to come along to the coaching - keep an eye on your email inbox and the calendar at the foot of the blog for dates and times of forthcoming sessions.

Peterborough Regatta
Alex L., Clio and Chris J. went along to compete last weekend...watch this space for a full report and hopefully some photos too, but in the meantime particular congratulations to Alex and Clio for wins in their events. Alex sped to victory in a quad (with other scullers from the club we won't mention!) and Clio was first in the J14 1x category and also gave the other women a good run for their money by coming 3rd in the novice semi-final.

Hurray :-) a great set of results - well done!!!!!!!!

Tickets for Henley Royal Regatta

Nick Redman has tickets for the Stewards Enclosure at Henley Royal Regatta and DRC members have first refusal. See below and contact Nick for more details on how you can get tickets to the most prestigious event of the rowing year (excluding the DRC regatta, of course!)...

Guest badges to the Stewards Enclosure - two for each of Wed 4th July, Thur 5th July and Fri 6th July and one each Sat 7th and Sun 8th, but more can be obtained (subject to availability).

Note that dress restrictions apply, details will be given later, but silly blazers are OK, of course!

• I would like DRC members to have first refusal - on the basis that juniors, unwaged, pensioners, etc go as my guest and others pay the face value into DRC funds.
• The face values are: Wed - £22; Thurs £26; Fri - £40; Sat - £40; and Sun - £30.
• First come, first served.
• Applications to Nick by Monday 18th June at 18:00hrs.

Hopefully, all those interested will see some first class rowing!

Nick Redman

Summer Training Camp

This is a great opportunity and also a real bargain for anyone wishing to get some expert sculling training over the summer.
If you want to know more about the course, I'm sure Tim E. will be happy to oblige!

Tideway Scullers are running The Alec Hodges Summer Sculling Course from 30th July - 3rd August 2007. There are places for approximately 40 students and the course is aimed at anyone who wants to improve their sculling ability – from new beginners to confident scullers. The students will be a mixture of juniors (age 11 – 17) and adults who will work together with their coaches in singles and crew boats 2x, 4x and 8x.
The fee of £175 includes lunches and refreshments for the 5 days. To apply, please download and print the attached application form, complete it and send it with a cheque to the address on the bottom of the application form.
Please provide an email address on the form as this will make further communication with you more convenient.
If you have any queries please contact: Carl Brighty, carl@deltaonline.co.uk; 01932 252849