The Commonwealth Rowing Regatta 1999

The Rowing Service

During the week of the Commonwealth Regatta, August 2nd-8th 1999, the English women's lightweight quad crew sent back reports to the Rowing Service. We thought you might like to read them...

Index of stories

Thanks to Victoria(the main typist), Becky, Naomi and Helen.

Update 8.

And so it begins....

Dear All

I can say nothing of interest about breakfast, apart from the fact that I hadtwo bowls of cereal. Becks, on the other hand, had waffles, Pancakes, syrup,eggs and bacon, and still weighed no more than a mid sized sub-atomic particle.

We all toddled off to the course for our final bits of work before racingtomorrow. The brown adrenalin is beginning to flow thick and fast - for someit is faster than others, as a few lucky people will have raced today.Needless to say, the Portaloos stand proud and ready for the inevitableonslaught - thus far they are still with paper, but methinks this is but atemporary luxury. They are beginning to throb. The signs are not good for us- as we are not racing until tomorrow night......

Anyway - we had a very good outing - the Unclean in the boat seem to begetting better and are enjoying splattering their sliderails with snot wheneverwe turn. We did a few bits of work, which did not fragment horribly after 10strokes, so that was encouraging for tomorrow's 2,000m marathon. Thecourse is now officially banana shaped due to the cross wind in the midsection. Miss Ascroft will be putting on her best steering foot tomorrow....

And thence it was back for some lunch (I lapped a spoonful of soup whilethe tubbie tuckers among us rammed pecan pie down their necks), a catch up onthe e:mails (which are most welcome - (the abusive ones from the miserable Jocksare particularly well received) - and a charge into town for a fewessentials from the Mall. Becks and I were not at our best - we bought a bagfor the excess panties we have acquired and an enormous bottle of champagne. Nomatter what the outcome of tomorrow - we plan to be identifiable by dentalrecords only and the champagne will but whet the evening...... We were shopping very sloppily, and Becks almost bought a bike. Ourunderstanding of bikes is only fractionally beyond the need for stabilisers -the salesman spotted this and began to blind us with all sorts oftechno-babble. We tested him to the full with incisive questioning about thecolour ofthe bike and how comfy the saddle is. We were not strong - and had tocall Rob back home to ask him if Becks really should part with $799 when weweren't sure about it being blue or if we should go for the red. Rob wasmarvellous - had a man to man with the chap in the shop, asked some properquestions and concluded for us that we should just spend the money onbras and nice fluffy things that we understand better - and leave the bikepurchases to when we are safely home and back under his guidance. Never one toput a warm credit card away when it has seen daylight, Becks consoledherself with a pair of Oakleys and left the shop v pleased indeed.

We returned for a bit of messing around here - a lot of exfoliation isunderway in preparation for our race. It is important to remove any unwantedbody hair, as it may increase our drag factor in the last 250m. And hairybacks are far from becoming on a woman. After this girlie session, it wasoff to the course - we understood there was a spot of racing going on, andthis meant that kit would be for sale near the grandstand. So off we went, tobe told that the racing was delayed by the windy conditions - and boy oh boy,was the course banana shaped. But you care not about that - youwant to hear the results - so here they are (all entries are listed - mostevents did not have a full quota of 6 entries):

LW2X: 1st Canada, 2nd Northern Ireland, 3rd Wales, 4th Zimbabwe 1, 5thZimbabwe 2
LM2-: 1st Australia, 2nd England, 3rd Canada, 4th South Africa, 5th Scotland,6th Wales
HW2-: 1st Canada, 2nd Australia, 3rd South Africa, 4th New Zealand, 5thNorthern Ireland, 6th Wales
HM2X: 1st Australia, 2nd Scotland (two entries only)
HM4-: 1st Australia, 2nd New Zealand, 3rd England, 4th Canda, 5th Wales, 6thScotland
HM2-: 1st Australia, 2nd South Africa, 3rd New Zealand, 4th Scotland
HW2X: 1st Australia, 2nd England, 3rd South Africa, 4th Canada
LM2X: 1st Australia, 2nd Northern Ireland, 3rd Scotland
HM1X: 1st Australia, 2nd South Africa, 3rd Wales, 4th England, 5th Scotland
HW1X: 1st Australia, 2nd Canada, 3rd New Zealand, 4th England, 5th Scotland
LM8+: 1st Australia, 2nd Canada, 3rd England, 4th Scotland

So we have heard quite a bit of the Australian national anthem, and enjoyedseeing that the South African flag, when raised, is a beachtowel. So heavy isit that it is close the breaking the flag pole in the high wind. We all wantit to happen - just a light shower should tip the scales in its favour.

And so to bed - we have a bit of a race tomorrow, along with the 8+,lightweight singles, quads, coxed fours etc etc. A feast of events - and asNaomi left the room, she casually lit the blue touch paper by reminding us thattomorrow will bring the biggest race of our lives. Needless to say therewas a charge for the toilets - making weight will be a doddle.

I must get some sleep - we must look ravishing for the big day

The Chickadees