Turning you over to SPC's President for this Race Report :-)
Hi all,
I think Dick is still knackered from the weekend, so I'll throw a few words together, plus a few choice quotes from the squad....
Firstly a MASSIVE thankyou to Jacq for organising the weekend. It was flawless and we were all very well taken care of by Machiko and Susan who kept us fed, watered and in the right place at the right time.
Day 1 Saturday 19th June
After a very long journey (kept entertained by Andre singing and beer from Brewerkz) with most people getting almost no sleep we were out of our hotel at about 7am, having arrived at about 3am.
The first day was packed with heats, we were very lucky in our draws as we faced very little opposition and were comfortably winning the heats by a boat or two. Performance of the day came from the ladies 12 crew who gave the crowd and competitors an education by winning by almost 4 boat lengths.
The only hiccup was on the mens 22. The heat was tough as were up against Navy Paddlers, Singapore Polytechnic and PDRM. We failed to clinch an automatic top 2 qualifying but managed to get through to the semi along with SP through the repecharge. At this point we didn't have enough guys so we raced with 9 pairs, of which there were 3 girls to fill out the numbers.
Having managed to get all the boats through to the semis on Sunday, we were all accutely aware that the racing hadn't begun yet. We were never really challenged in the heats, so we were not firing on all cylinders, plus the fatigue from the long coach journey meant there was a lot to do if we were to get into the Finals. We had managed to avoid PNP (Philippine National Police) Patriots and Pacific West who were looking very impressive with hitting sub 2mins in their heat times. Fastest time of the day went to Republic Poly who clocked an impressive 1:55 in the Mens U23 category.
The evening was spent watching the Holland Vs Japan match in the pub. Andre opened up an illegal betting den and made a handsome profit...although he's still trying to chase his debtors.
Day 2 Sunday 20th June
Everyone feeling 200% better than yesterday with most people in bed by about 10.30pm, we were well setup for a full day of racing. The day started off well with a wheely bin being 'borrowed' to fill up with beer for after, and news that the SPC B Mixed boat had qualified for the semis through default. Due to all the racing....and dwindling numbers (Petra had to fly off home) we regretabbly withdrew this boat.
The men were kept busy in the morning with back-to-back races in the mens 12, mixed 22 and mens 22 semi. We came up against PNP in our mens 12. They hurt us off the line, but we walked them in our chug. We held on to win the semi over PNP, but as the drummer and most of their boat were happily chatting to us and themselves throughout the race, something told us that they weren't exactly putting in 100%.
The mens 22 crew semi looked more like a final, the competition was very stong and with our 4 ladies (a fact we were showing off to the competition in some pre-race banter) filling in the spaces, we were very pleased to qualify for the final coming in 3rd with a very gutsy and gritty performance.
The women put in another strong performance in their races, again coming up against PNP, and the ladies were in blistering form and they staked their claim and definite medal potential for the final.
As the afternoon went on and the "1st Malaysian Dive Bombing Competition" came to a close (Euan won the heavy weight, and Brooke took gold in the light weight division) it was time to get stuck into the finals. At this point we had all 6 boats through to the final ("To get to the final, we need to win every race"). First final of the day was the Mixed 12 Crew. Our start was w*nk, but the chug was impressive - Pronky put in a great performance as stand-in pacer for Nick. PNP were off the mark and we just ran out of road to catch them. Our final burst made 3-4 seats on them, but PNP did well to hang on, despite some last minute caterpillaring. So first medal of the day and it was silver.
Next up was the ladies 12 crew. After the performance from the heats, they were full of confidence. However, it wasn't meant to be as the ladies made the last charge and they came in second. Another silver. It was the mens 12 crew to step up and we were once again lined up with PNP. We knew that if we could stay within 2 seats of them at the start, our chug would win it for SPC. As expected, PNP were off, SPC was pushing and pushing from behind. With 250m to go we were only in 3rd. Now our fitness and strength started to go to work. We started walking PNP, it was 3 seats behind, then 2 seats, level, 1 seat ahead and we were still walking, 2 then 3 seats ahead. Our last charge put it out of contention and we collected our first gold medal and a cheque for 1,000 ringgit. Derek helped to put things in focus with: "beating them in the 12 crew has just pissed them off, to be honest, it's probably made things worse."
Our mixed 22 was the first big boat final. It was probably the cleanest performance of the day. We led from halfway with the chug making a devastating affect on the field as we pulled ahead, made some daylight and won our 2nd gold of the day.
The womens 22 was up next, and having just raced in the mixed the ladies had to pull something out, find a bit more and drive for the line. Petra and Martha had to leave so we drafted in Steph Kerr (who is in the Macau squad, but racing with the Brits) and Jane to drum. We were still going in with only 9 pairs up against full boats. It was another education for the people of Malaysia as the ladies led from start to finish, with a fantastic burst and the 3rd gold of the day.
The last race was the mens (with the ladies who having just raced in their final, and the previous mixed were being asked a lot). We were greatful just to be there as the competition was incredibly strong. There was also a debatable 7th boat in the line up who were free floating and not held back on the pontoon. That gave them an additional advantage with being able to drift forward on the start. The boys put everything they had into the race. It was, clean, controlled and very aggressive. Technically very impressive. It went down to the wire as all the boats crossed the line within split seconds. We were thinking we were 4th, but were very pleased to win the bronze (and another cheque).
So an impressive medal haul of 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze. As well as prize money of over 7,000 ringgit.
The bus ride home took the setting of the SPC Court of Justice with plenty of beer fines (including my all time favourite).. .but what goes on tour, stays on tour.....
I'll let Dick do the talk on what needs to happen, but I can just feel this team improving exponentially over the last few weeks and I'm excited about what we are going to achieve in the last 30 days....keep pushing yourselves and your team mates. This is our last chance.
Great job guys and I'll see you on Tuesday night!
Euan Beer
Hi all,
I think Dick is still knackered from the weekend, so I'll throw a few words together, plus a few choice quotes from the squad....
Firstly a MASSIVE thankyou to Jacq for organising the weekend. It was flawless and we were all very well taken care of by Machiko and Susan who kept us fed, watered and in the right place at the right time.
Day 1 Saturday 19th June
After a very long journey (kept entertained by Andre singing and beer from Brewerkz) with most people getting almost no sleep we were out of our hotel at about 7am, having arrived at about 3am.
The first day was packed with heats, we were very lucky in our draws as we faced very little opposition and were comfortably winning the heats by a boat or two. Performance of the day came from the ladies 12 crew who gave the crowd and competitors an education by winning by almost 4 boat lengths.
The only hiccup was on the mens 22. The heat was tough as were up against Navy Paddlers, Singapore Polytechnic and PDRM. We failed to clinch an automatic top 2 qualifying but managed to get through to the semi along with SP through the repecharge. At this point we didn't have enough guys so we raced with 9 pairs, of which there were 3 girls to fill out the numbers.
Having managed to get all the boats through to the semis on Sunday, we were all accutely aware that the racing hadn't begun yet. We were never really challenged in the heats, so we were not firing on all cylinders, plus the fatigue from the long coach journey meant there was a lot to do if we were to get into the Finals. We had managed to avoid PNP (Philippine National Police) Patriots and Pacific West who were looking very impressive with hitting sub 2mins in their heat times. Fastest time of the day went to Republic Poly who clocked an impressive 1:55 in the Mens U23 category.
The evening was spent watching the Holland Vs Japan match in the pub. Andre opened up an illegal betting den and made a handsome profit...although he's still trying to chase his debtors.
Day 2 Sunday 20th June
Everyone feeling 200% better than yesterday with most people in bed by about 10.30pm, we were well setup for a full day of racing. The day started off well with a wheely bin being 'borrowed' to fill up with beer for after, and news that the SPC B Mixed boat had qualified for the semis through default. Due to all the racing....and dwindling numbers (Petra had to fly off home) we regretabbly withdrew this boat.
The men were kept busy in the morning with back-to-back races in the mens 12, mixed 22 and mens 22 semi. We came up against PNP in our mens 12. They hurt us off the line, but we walked them in our chug. We held on to win the semi over PNP, but as the drummer and most of their boat were happily chatting to us and themselves throughout the race, something told us that they weren't exactly putting in 100%.
The mens 22 crew semi looked more like a final, the competition was very stong and with our 4 ladies (a fact we were showing off to the competition in some pre-race banter) filling in the spaces, we were very pleased to qualify for the final coming in 3rd with a very gutsy and gritty performance.
The women put in another strong performance in their races, again coming up against PNP, and the ladies were in blistering form and they staked their claim and definite medal potential for the final.
As the afternoon went on and the "1st Malaysian Dive Bombing Competition" came to a close (Euan won the heavy weight, and Brooke took gold in the light weight division) it was time to get stuck into the finals. At this point we had all 6 boats through to the final ("To get to the final, we need to win every race"). First final of the day was the Mixed 12 Crew. Our start was w*nk, but the chug was impressive - Pronky put in a great performance as stand-in pacer for Nick. PNP were off the mark and we just ran out of road to catch them. Our final burst made 3-4 seats on them, but PNP did well to hang on, despite some last minute caterpillaring. So first medal of the day and it was silver.
Next up was the ladies 12 crew. After the performance from the heats, they were full of confidence. However, it wasn't meant to be as the ladies made the last charge and they came in second. Another silver. It was the mens 12 crew to step up and we were once again lined up with PNP. We knew that if we could stay within 2 seats of them at the start, our chug would win it for SPC. As expected, PNP were off, SPC was pushing and pushing from behind. With 250m to go we were only in 3rd. Now our fitness and strength started to go to work. We started walking PNP, it was 3 seats behind, then 2 seats, level, 1 seat ahead and we were still walking, 2 then 3 seats ahead. Our last charge put it out of contention and we collected our first gold medal and a cheque for 1,000 ringgit. Derek helped to put things in focus with: "beating them in the 12 crew has just pissed them off, to be honest, it's probably made things worse."
Our mixed 22 was the first big boat final. It was probably the cleanest performance of the day. We led from halfway with the chug making a devastating affect on the field as we pulled ahead, made some daylight and won our 2nd gold of the day.
The womens 22 was up next, and having just raced in the mixed the ladies had to pull something out, find a bit more and drive for the line. Petra and Martha had to leave so we drafted in Steph Kerr (who is in the Macau squad, but racing with the Brits) and Jane to drum. We were still going in with only 9 pairs up against full boats. It was another education for the people of Malaysia as the ladies led from start to finish, with a fantastic burst and the 3rd gold of the day.
The last race was the mens (with the ladies who having just raced in their final, and the previous mixed were being asked a lot). We were greatful just to be there as the competition was incredibly strong. There was also a debatable 7th boat in the line up who were free floating and not held back on the pontoon. That gave them an additional advantage with being able to drift forward on the start. The boys put everything they had into the race. It was, clean, controlled and very aggressive. Technically very impressive. It went down to the wire as all the boats crossed the line within split seconds. We were thinking we were 4th, but were very pleased to win the bronze (and another cheque).
So an impressive medal haul of 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze. As well as prize money of over 7,000 ringgit.
The bus ride home took the setting of the SPC Court of Justice with plenty of beer fines (including my all time favourite).. .but what goes on tour, stays on tour.....
I'll let Dick do the talk on what needs to happen, but I can just feel this team improving exponentially over the last few weeks and I'm excited about what we are going to achieve in the last 30 days....keep pushing yourselves and your team mates. This is our last chance.
Great job guys and I'll see you on Tuesday night!
Euan Beer
No comments:
Post a Comment