Issue 111 - August/September 1998

Searle singing in the rain

Greg Searle, together with some 1700 other competitors, survived wind on Friday and Saturday and rain ‚ and I mean rain ‚ on Sunday at the National Championships in Strathclyde. Searle successfully defended his men's sculls title but kept himself busy by also being in the winning men's eight and quad, two crews of scullers put together by Harry Mahon, Searle's coach.

The Nottinghamshire County coxed four, who missed out on their bid for selection this year, consoled themselves by becoming national champions in both the coxed and coxless fours and Kath Grainger, who finished second to Guin Batten in the women's sculls selection pecking order, added the British title to the Scottish title she won a month before. Grainger, who turned down a chance to return to rowing in order to continue in a single, won her final by some 70 metres.

Kevin Plank, Scotland's heavyweight and lightweight sculls champion, failed to retain his British lightweight title and also missed out on the chance to take on fellow Scot, Peter Haining. Haining was instructed to withdraw from the lightweight sculls on his home water after achieving GB selection, but still ended up with a title as a last-minute substitute in the winning Leander lightweight quad. Plank reached the lightweight championships final but was beaten into second place by Ned Kittoe, stroke of the British lightweight quad. In a championships where Scottish crews won more medals than ever before, two other Scots scullers, Mark Dodds and Kevin Watson, won the Under 23 and Junior titles.

Roger Silk, coach to Cambridge University's women, was not a happy man when a postal mix-up left his five women's eights out of the championships, the first time since 1983 that Cambridge had been out of the frame. He still took his four development crews to Scotland for a private race on the Sunday morning. Thames R.C. excelled amongst the crews who did get into the women's championship eights proper, winning gold and bronze with the silver going to Upper Thames. This final, and its subsequent medal ceremony in the prevailing cold downpour, caused the organisers to abandon subsequent ceremonial when two women were treated for hypothermia.

Prospective GB junior team members were entered into the senior section of the event and made a strong point. James Di Luzio reached the final of the men's sculls but was then withdrawn by coach Mark Banks. Di Luzio had a slight chest infection, and, in the prevailing soaking conditions, Banks considered discretion the better part of valour with the junior worlds approaching.

Britain's four top women experienced a hiccup when one of them, Rebecca Ramero, was injured and she and Kathryn Stewart were withdrawn from the coxless pairs. Debbie Flood and Frances Houghton won the double sculls, however, and with Steward and substitute Debbie Gibb took the women's quad title. Gibb's last minute substitution made her a double champion since she also won the under 23 title.

Chris Morrell, coach to the successful Windsor Boys, continued to suffer bad luck with his boats. His top quad scull, which crashed into an official's launch at last March's Schools Head, suffered another collision in training on the Friday of the championships, and speedy repairs were necessary before the crew took gold, majestically, in the junior quads. It added to a remarkable run of success for the stroke, Mark Wilkinson, who also won the double sculls and was in the winning Fawley Cup quad at Henley both in 1997 and this year.

© Copyright Mike Rosewell, 1998.