Upper Thames Small Boats Head (28 October 2007)

The whole OUWLRC squad headed to Henley on a damp Sunday for what was for many of the girls their first opportunity to race for the club, and to have a taster of the Boat Race stretch.  We took a quad, two coxed fours and a double down the Upper Thames Head course twice.

The morning division gave one of the coxed fours (Caris, Linda, Rose and Georgie, coxed by Becky Donaldson) a chance to race some truly worthy opponents in Men’s Senior 3.  After a heroic 13:21.34 minutes, the crew crossed the line faster than three men’s crews!  The other coxed four (Ruth, Becky Hunt, Suki and Sophie Knight, coxed by Matt) showed real grit and determination which paid off with a win in the Novice category with a time of 14:37.85 minutes.  The quad (Cornick, Debs, Emma and Emily) came a very very close second in Women’s Senior 2, being three hundreths of a second slower than the winners.  The double, consisting of two members of the legendary 2007 Lightweight Blue Boat (Tracy and Millest) came 5^th in Women’s Senior 3.

The afternoon saw more of the same.  The quad came in second again, this time by a second.  Not content with beating men, the coxed four went on to beat lots of women, coming third in Women’s Senior 3, with the other coxed four not far behind.  And the double won their category!

So with tired legs and medals, we retreated to Caris’ house for some good food and to reflect on a good days racing and preparation for the Fours Head the following weekend.

Caris Marsh reports on Wallingford Long Distance Sculls (Sat 29 September)

Four scullers from the squad (Sarah Cornick, Caris Marsh, Emily Piggott and Katie Taylor) competed in this early-season head race on our new home stretch in Wallingford.

In the first division all four competed in very competitive singles events. In WS3 Sarah came 2^nd, clocking an impressive time of 17:43 with Emily (only 4 seconds behind at 17.47) in 4^th place. Caris (also S3) was placed 7^th in a time of 18.27. Katie, competing in women’s novice sculls, came 2^nd in a time of 17.57 (a time that also would have placed her 5^th in the S3 event).

In the second division the four teamed up and raced WS2 Quads. They dominated the event; winning by nearly 2 minutes and upsetting a fair number of school boys along the way! Their time of 14.32 placed them 16^th overall, making them the fastest women’s crew of the day.

Jen Goldsack (OUWLRC 2003) has won the US trials in the LW 1x by a convincing clear water margin this week, earning a place on the 2007 US national team. Congratulations Jen! The reports from Row2k are below:

2007 US Senior Trials, Day One
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Ed Hewitt, row2k.com

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features.cfm?ID=1446

Another surprise came from "unknown" lightweight women's sculler Jen Goldsack, who lives in Henley-on-Thames, was born in the UK, and trains at Wallingford RC, but holds dual citizenship. She and her mom traveled to the US to participate in the trial, and Goldsack ran away with the fourth heat of the light women's single in a time that was a full five seconds faster than any of the other heats. Of course it is a completely different story when all the top contenders line up across, but Goldsack definitely made an impression this morning. Goldsack and Julie Nichols, who was pushed a bit for most of her heat by Melissa Rice, both beat the time standard, the only competitors to do so this morning.

2007 US Rowing World Championship Trials, Day Two
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Ed Hewitt, row2k.com

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features.cfm?ID=1448

In the LW1x, Jen Goldsack's second day of racing on US waters was no less convincing than the first, as she won her semi by clear water over Renee Hykel, who also advanced to tomorrow's final.

2007 US Rowing World Championship Trials, Day Three
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Ed Hewitt, row2k.com

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features.cfm?ID=1454

The remaining trials events raced the Final One of the best of three format today. In the light women's single, Jen Goldsack eliminated any suspicion that the field would tighten up come finals day, winning by a couple lengths open water again today.

And a photo of Jen racing is here:

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/photo.cfm?action=pf&dir=2007Summer/SrTrials/Tuesday/&start=103&offset=96&label=US%20Senior%20Trials%20Heats,%20July%2031,%202007&hi=yes