Hunter Valley Grammar School Regatta: 27th November 2018

 We were off to Newcastle for the second time this year, though this time we had a much larger squad with twenty rowers travelling for the regatta.
The mixed doubles were first up and it was Miles and Jacqui to claim the first win of the day followed by Jason and Aimee who took out the next division. After a short break Aimee and Jacqui teamed up for the open double. They had a tussle with the Newcastle/Newcastle Uni crew early on in the race but they pushed away for a good win. The women’s seeded singles saw Tallara, Letisha and Sarah go away with wins. The Campion squad had six singles in the same event and went away with some good results with Dominica taking the best placing, with a second. The commentator did mention on a few occasions the good technique of a few Nepean scullers but some would say otherwise.
Aimee took out another win in the C single and Jason in the seeded single. Aimee combined with Dianne from Brisbane Waters, Will and Miles to take out the first division in the mixed quad and Jason raced with Daniel, Sarah and Libby from Brisbane Waters to take out the second division. While the two races had close winning times rumours were that the second division crew would have been the crew to beat if the two crews had to face off.
The women’s seeded double saw Tallara and Jacqui win the first division and Letisha and Sarah claim second in the second division. The final event before lunch break saw the Nepean composite crew of Sarah (BWRC), Eleanor, Jacqui and Tallara with cox Hugh face off against Dominica, Cecilia, Bonnie and Kate with Sarah as cox. The composite crew took out a convincing win but it was great to be able to boat two fours in one event.
After the lunch break the much anticipated mixed eight race was upon us. Hunter Valley Grammar was going to be our key competition for the race. As always, we went out at our own pace without concern of what other crews were doing. Hunter Valley pushed out to an early lead but this did not bother the crew. As we approached the final 250 meters we climbed the rate and pressure up with some calls made from the power seat rowers and we began pushing through Hunter Valley. We went on to take away the win with a two second margin. We found out later that at the start of the race a fish landed in the boat and remained in the boat until the end when a rower (who will not be named) threw the fish out accompanied by what was later remarked by another rower as a very high pitch squeal.
The women’s D grade doubles saw the first win for the Campion squad with Dominica and Bonnie taking out a well-earned victory. Head Coach Jason was happy for his crew though he had to go out one last time to race in the men’s seeded four with Daniel, Miles and Will with cox Hugh. In the early stages of the race the Hunter Valley composite crew held on but the Nepean crew proved to quick and pushed away for a clear water win.
Thank you to everyone for chipping in, from loading and unloading the trailer, helping setup and pack up on the day and for helping each other when needed. As always the support Nepean rowers give to each other is a pleasure to witness.