Mortlake to Putney, Friday 28th February 2003, UK
Courtesy of Pete Somerville, ULWBC chief coach.
This year's women's UL trial eights were slightly postponed, due to ARA selection trials interrupting the schedule for several members of the squad. Instead of taking place on the same day as the men's races, the women's trials pieces were therefore held a week later, on an ebb tide with strong wind which created very harsh conditions.
Two crews, "Crash" and "Bash", were allocated the Middlesex and Surrey stations respectively by coach Pete Somerville.
Crew Crash Crew Bash s Kathryn Stewart s Helen Austin 7 Katie Greves 7 Helen Ferrier 6 Ester Klaeijsen 6 Elizabeth Crichton 5 Frances Houghton 5 Alison Trickey 4 Rosie Gray 4 Sarah Ledwidge 3 Felicity Bertram 3 Ida Tuck 2 Laura Ralston 2 Kelly Cummins b Lucy Baker b Victoria McNair c Melanie Stewart c Monique Metcalf
Crash, including the formidable power of senior international Frances Houghton, won both pieces, although Bash did not let them run away with either. The first, from Mortlake down to the Chiswick Steps, went to Crash by a length and a quarter, while the second, from the Steps to Putney, was a little easier at just under 2 lengths.
Umpire Stuart Whitelaw had a better berth this week than last, when he had been obliged to step in to stroke one of the men's trial eights when students fell ill. This time, he was busy for a few moments at the start of the first piece, separating the two over-enthusiastically competitive crews before they clashed. Put ahead relatively early by her strong crew, Melanie Stewart was able to dictate the steering to the less experienced Monique Metcalf, but both coxes wisely chose to seek shelter near the bank when they hit the worst of the water.
Coach Pete Somerville was pleased with the racing, in very difficult conditions,especially around Harrods. "It was rough, but we battled on - the crews lived up to their name in the conditions", he commented afterwards. "They were pretty clean runs, and the coxes did a good job. We're a world ahead of where we were last year."
ULWBC's next outing is at the Women's Head, where the first crew starts second on the river, and has an excellent chance of defending the position.