Rowing Sport
T
echnically, physically and mentally rowers need to be at their peak for only one race, the one race that counts. Rowing is always a challenge, one that many find too difficult. There are no pit stops, no time out or ‘end of overs’. As in life – those that work hard, get the rewards. Going into the Head of the River Race this year, all crews had a reason to feel confident of a strong performance. Training had been long and hard but all crews responded in the manner expected and indeed demanded of a Trinity Rower.
The first challenge of the season was actually turning up. The running of the club transferred from Mr Ray Kosovich and Mr George Xouris to the rowers that they had themselves trained. This was a chance for some people to cut their losses and run and some did, but they were soon replaced by others looking for an honest test. Two weeks into training, the Wesley Ergo Challenge pitted our boys against Hale, Guildford (who had both trained through winter) and Aquinas: a daunting challenge to race flat out after only two weeks training. Scotch and Christ Church declined the challenge. The difficulty increased with the added interest from the other schools keen to see how Trinity would cope without ‘Kos’ and ‘George’. The efforts of James Lelati, and Steve Rimmer left them with little doubt that Trinity was still a force as they set impressive personal bests. In Term Four, Joe Tamigi and Daniel Privilege worked to make sure everything was in place and although Ray Kosovich and George Xouris were no longer here, these two young Old Boys stepped up with great passion to make it a productive and successful term – thank you both. Term Four also saw the addition of Mark James, a highly experienced rower and coach. The efforts of Ray Kosovich and George Xouris were celebrated at the Trinity Regatta with the presentation of the inaugural Ray Kosovich Cup for the 1st VIII and the George Xouris Trophy for Sculling. In the scull, of the seven Trinity rowers Shaun Dee finished 2 seconds behind Adam Flynn from John XXIII, but our Captain of Boats and Best VIII Oarsman, Gerard Caporn, led from the start to win clearly on the line by 3 seconds. In doing so, he ensured that the first name to adorn the George Xouris Trophy was a Trinity name placing a big smile on the great mans face. The 1st VIII used their own strategic plan to come first across the finishing line, closely followed by favourites Hale. Ray Kosovich and George Xouris were thrilled by the final result placing Trinity names on the two trophies that we hope to keep in our shed forever. Well done boys! We went into the Head of the River Regatta having won 4 of the lead up regattas and the 1st VIII winning the trophies at the Trinity and Wesley Regattas, all looked very promising. The final Hamer cup result left us third, 12 points off winning the Hamer Cup behind Christ Church and Scotch All Year 9 crews were at the ‘pointy’ end of the field: 9A’s finished fourth, the 9B’s third, the 9C’s second, the
9D’s second and the 9E’s first. A great end to the season for these boys, Stuart Love registered his name on the Senior list of the George Xouris Board for doing 1000 Januseks. Mark James, Joe Tamigi, Pat Riley, Kris Kaminskis and Adam Cherubino did a great job with a bunch of young men that have a big future in rowing. Josh Hicks claimed the title of Year Nine Ergo Champion and the best since Gerard Caporn at that age. The Year 10 group started with fourteen boys but by the end of the season made up two Eights and two Quads. The 104X, patiently coached by Nam Nguyen, finished second within inches of the Scotch crew. Jamie Hewlett coached the 10BVIII to a creditable 5th. The 10AVIII continually raced to win and must be commended on a very brave season; this crew would meet together and run the stairs together. Coach Daniel Privilege and the crew set high standards and improved the most throughout the season, ending with some of the best skills in the shed. Luke McKenzie deserves a special mention for pulling an ergo of 6.56 not unlike Stefan Szczurowski at the same age. The 1st 4X was always in the top four coached by Nicole Denney and Jonathan Hutchinson and raced honestly to come 3rd . Rob Mueller from the 2nd 4X, was a great leader and the first at the shed every day of the season and always ready to take on more work. The 2nd 4X won every regatta except the Head of the River and raced well beyond their size. Coach James O’Regan did a great job with these boys. The 2nd and 3rd VIIIs were consistent performers and were resilient all season against strong Christ Church crews that they attacked to the line, the 2nd VIII finished 2nd and was the best performing senior crew. The 3rd VIII finished 4th. Claire Woolfitt coaching the 2nd VIII and Colin Webster coaching the 3rds, showed great loyalty to remain at Trinity when approached by other schools to coach their 1st VIIIs. The extent to which this loyalty was felt and appreciated was demonstrated time and again by the boy’s commitment and effort. Paul Abrahams was recognised for his service to the club and the school with the addition of the ‘Paul Abrahams’ 1st 4X to the fleet. This season Paul coached the first VIII with myself and did an amazing job. On the morning of the race, we both agreed the boys couldn’t have given any more throughout the season and we were both happy with their efforts. In what was recognized as one of the closest fields for many years – all crews within 3 lengths - a strong and skilful Christ Church crew pushed ahead at the 1000m mark and never lost the lead. The boys were understandably disappointed but I can guarantee they did everything we asked and we are proud of them and their efforts. Thanks to Guy Grant, Peter Bothe, Steve Leahy, all staff and parents that combined to make this such a smooth but passionate season and especially to the boys that trained and raced with a spirit that we are all proud of. Phillip Jurjevich Rowing Coordinator
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