“The organising committee anticipates conditions to be rowable and fair although not necessarily pleasant”, that is what the organizing committee of the Nat Champs posted on the race website on Friday. Boy, were they right about that!
Another early morning for Poplar´s sculling squad last Saturday, this time represented by Dan, Ben and Bernarda. The National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham welcomed us with a bright and blustery morning and the sight of many trailers and competitors getting ready to race. When you come from a country where rowing is not a popular at all finding yourself surrounded by so many people who don’t seem to get tired of it and share the same passion you feel for this beautiful sport feels like a wonderful surprise.
The wind was blowing head on at 17 mph with gusts of 25mph. An Op C1x competitor capsized on the heat prior to Dan´s and that plus the difficulties of many competitors getting attached to the stake boats resulted in delays in the schedule which by the time of our finals had us waiting over an hour on the water. All fun and games and things could always be worse, this time thankfully it wasn´t raining!
Dan and Bernarda progressed to the finals of our single races without a problem. An hour later Dan fought hard and came 3rd on his race. Bernarda was next and in for a surprise : as it turns out, other Clubs can also handle wash and choppy conditions extremely well! Oh well, Bernarda tried her best and came 4th. A humbling experience and an opportunity to learn to never, ever underestimate your opponents.
The last race of the day was Dan and Ben on the A/B 2x. After a wait of over an hour sitting on the water with gusting they raced as best as they could and came 4th.
Gary, our coach, was right, Masters are tough warriors. We heard stories of people finding time in their busy lives to train nine times a week. We saw passion, drive and intense competitiveness. This race was an inspiration to continue training harder and better. Thank you Dan and Ben for making it happen. Next stop, the European Masters Championships in Bled, Slovenia. Here we go!