Issue 99 - June 1997

Hallmark of quality in the golden glut

The usual large British contingent at the Belgian International Championships and Ghent Regatta carried off another major haul of medals, including 23 senior golds, during a generally wet and windy weekend, during which Peter Haining showed that he is clearly a glutton for punishment. Though not yet fully recovered from a lingering virus, he attempted to defend the Wingfield Sculls on the Friday before Ghent only to drop out at Hammersmith (see Page 13). The next day he was in Ghent, losing in the Tideway Scullers' quad. However, in the absence of Saturday's winners, the Scullers won the next day, to bring some compensation after an uneven few days for the former world lightweight champion.

Veteran Olympic and world silver medallist Richard Stanhope recorded three wins, stroking Molesey to take the coxless fours on both days, and for good measure taking the coxless pairs on Sunday, while lightweight gold medallist Alison Brownless and silver medallist Claire Davies were far too good for their opposition in the women's open weight coxless pairs, winning easily on both days. Brownless's lightweight silver medal coxless pair partner in the world championships at Strathclyde last year, Jane Hall (also a former gold medallist) had a busy weekend. After finishing third in the championship open women's single sculls, she turned round and paddled straight back to the start of the lightweight event, which she then won in a time ten seconds faster than her earlier time. On the Sunday, the lightweight sculls took place before the openweight event, Hall again winning the former and then finishing third once more in the latter.

In the men's openweight sculls, Simon Goodbrand produced an excellent fighting performance on Sunday to finish less than a second behind the Belgian Luc Goiris, who is better known for his pair with Jaak van Driessche but is now sculling seriously, winning on both days at Ghent.

Oxford Brookes were easy winners of the eights on both days, although they had to take part in a re-row of Saturday's final the following day after a protest by Club Gent in which Brookes were not involved. On Sunday, both Molesey and Thames Tradesmen's, who were not ready at the start in the difficult wind, were the victims of some poor umpiring. The umpire raised a red flag but a subsequent appeal by the British clubs was inexplicably turned down by the jury.

© Copyright Geoffrey Page, 1997.