Matt Smith reports on Tethys Boat Club's Inaugural Racing at Reading Small Boats Head 2008:
On Sunday 5th October, OUWLRC competed for the first time as Tethys Boat Club at the Reading Small Boats Head.
Three Tethys coxed fours (one shell kindly lent by Lincoln College, and another by Exeter College) entered the Women’s Senior 3 class, and in doing so were thrust into competition with many clubs and schools in the region, including three Osiris boats.
The weather showed a vulgar persistence in imitating that so favoured in these Isles this summer. Thankfully, long-lived cloud cover had ensured that the day, though uncomfortably wet, was not uncomfortably cold, and so was not miserable.
Nine crews raced for the WS3 4+ prize: Tethys I won the event, Tethys II came 4th and Tethys III came 6th. The event’s absolute finish order was unconfirmed until all boats had raced. The later-racing crews had the advantage of a swelling and slightly faster flowing course, but failed to surpass the effort of Tethys I.
Experience was scattered between the three boats, and for at least two people in each, this was their first race for Oxford. Though the race did not turn into the hoped display of total Tethys domination, important lessons of racing were learned or re-learned by all.
The crews were:
Tethys I (cox to bow): Smith, Baines, Higham, Ferber, Hall
Tethys II: Dobbin, Campbell, Hawksley, Seddon, Linthwaite
Tethys III: Leadbetter, Knight, Milligan, Houlgrave, Crewe
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