On Friday afternoon, 8th November, our excited crew had a leisurely drive up to Inverness as Lucy, our Cox, Captain & Coach very kindly took up the trailer with the boats & the rest of the kit (we won’t mention the Sweep blades that got left behind!).
After a good old scoff of carbs at an Italian Restaurant in town we got an early night, ready for an early morning start.
We ate our Tesco’s bought breakfast in the carpark at 6.45am, as the Premier Inn’s breakfast didn’t start as early as us!
A chilly morning saw us fumbling around in the semi-daylight to get ‘Old Slapper’ rigged up. The Porta loos not being unlocked very early caused an anxious, lengthy queue which made a very tight turnaround to get shifted & the boat on the water for 8.05am!
As the sun rose & the early morning mist lifted above the water, we had a lovely row up to the start. Given that my Crew Mates had never raced before, they all seemed fairly jovial & unphased by it all. In 2021 I had been in the same position as Morgan, with this being my first ever race after completing the Learn to Row course that year. She didn’t seem half as nervous as I felt that day but maybe she just hid it well!
The race seemed to go pretty much to plan with no hiccups encountered as the other two races of my rowing career have! I was chuffed to finish the race with no dramas! Given that we were the only non-Uni Crew in our event, we were delighted to have beaten one of them!!
Now we know what to expect, we’re all keen to work on improving our next performance.
Many thanks to Glasgow Uni for lending us the blades (It’s good to have connections – i.e. Heather’s Brother!).
A huge Thank You to Lucy for all her coaching, coxing, organising, time, trailering & support. Also to Heather, Paige & Thomas for their helping hands, photography & support.
It was a beautiful sunny day (bit different to 2021) & we all had a very enjoyable time, thank you Inverness Rowing Club.
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