Hola! (an appropriately Spanish greeting this time).
It’s been a while since I sent through a proper group email, I’m working on it. But for now, I thought I’d let everyone know how my rowing’s going over here. Bloody well in fact. Right in the middle of summer racing now, but the big events for the year are already over – namely Head of the River (on the Thames) and the Henley Royal Regatta.
If you don’t know about the Henley Royal Regatta, basically to race at this event is the highest level of amatuer rowing you can achieve in the world. There are numerous events for various boat configurations (e.g. single scull, pairs, quads, eights, coxed/coxless). I’m talking about the sweep here Gaz, not whether or not it’s a male/female division!
Anyway, our particular event we aimed for was the Thames Challenge Cup, which is the event for 8+ crews (8 rowers and a cox). There are only 32 positions available in each event and every year most of them are well over-subscribed. Which means, unless you have performed outstandingly throughout the year and are chosen for pre-qualification, then you need to race down the course the week before and do a time trial with everyone else.
So this is what we did. We had to beat at least 8 other club crews home, and we did it! The feeling was unbelievable when they called out our name – never felt so on top of the world! To put this in perspective, this achievement is definitely up there with probably making it through to the Sunday at the Aussies. Interestingly enough – 3 weeks before the event, they moved me to stroke seat – basically our coach, Olympian Andy Holmes needed to shake the crew up and get the rating higher. And basically he said “Aussie Matt, you have by far the fastest catch in the boat, it’s like lightning. I’m moving you to stroke – so get it moving!”. So here I am, in my first year of stillwater rowing, stroking the Putney Town RC Senior Men’s VIII down the course at Henley, and qualifying. It’s friggin’ fantastic!
Just qualifying is enough to get the crew’s photo on the bar wall – so something I have tried to achieve for 14 years at Cronulla SLSC, I managed to do in the first year over here! The club just made the hat trick qualifying, and before that, no crew had qualified for Henley since the 1950’s or something. A story much like Cronulla’s successes in the boats –
been 40 years since our last gold medal.
The event itself is very proper and old school. Everyone dresses up like it’s the races, all the rowers wear their club blazers, the ladies frock up. Even the Steward’s Enclosure sticks to its traditions of no entry unless you are wearing your jacket and tie, women’s dresses below the knee, and if you’re caught using a mobile phone, they boot you out! Going into here is like watching an upper-class car crash. Everyone gets absolutely hammered on Pimms and Champagne while watching the match racing from the shoreline, literally 3-4 metres from the action on the river. It
was an awesome day, especially when we got knocked out, we camped there overnight and had our first good drinking session in nearly a month.
Anyway, I’m super fit. Weighing in at about 85kg at the moment. Funniest thing – somebody stole a look at my driver’s license and passport photos the other day and told me they couldn’t believe it was me. They were right – I haven’t really been overweight for years, but the difference in the face is still astounding. Still can’t quite manage that washboard stomach, but I’m well on track, especially since I can usually never afford to eat by the end of the month so I starve myself for an entire week until the next pay cheque comes in. Maybe if I stopped blowing all my cash in expensive Shoreditch nightclubs… (But that would be no fun – and it’s amazing how far a £1 loaf of bread will actually go!)
I’ve uploaded a new photo album to show you my crew rowing down the Henley course, etc, and all the shennanigans we got up to.
Been keeping up with the goss back home. Thanks to all my ‘sources’ – I can only continue to spread the good word of Cronulla SLSC across Europe, if I am kept in the know. Let me know how things are shaping up for your season – love to hear these things!
My next update will be something to behold – been to Pamplona and the running of the Bulls, followed by lazy days on Spanish beaches and pub crawls every night. My GOD, just wait until I get those photos sorted!
Cheers,
MATTHEW BRUCE
Foreign Correspondent | Cronulla SLSC
