As the Christmas
holidays approached, the Shiplake College Boat Club hosted an end of term event
to commemorate the festive season. In a Saturday spectacle, five boats took to
the water; four eights and one quad. All of which were mixed crews named after
a famous reindeer; Prancer, Dancer, Rudolph, Donner and Blitzen. Mr
Mackworth-Praed showed admirable commitment to festivity here, in adorning each
boat with antlers, a red nose and eyes, to make them into real festive mascots.
The crew members were
also wearing festive items of their own; with antler hats, colourful
all-in-ones and tinsel in abundance. The Shiplake river stretch was brightened
by the colourful reindeer setting out onto it, and each crew was in high
spirits as the session started out.
Mr Mackworth-Praed
and Mr Currie however were not just planning a Christmas themed day, but also
took the pleasure of organising a series of races for students to undertake to
find the fastest reindeer of them all. The racing started with a gruelling head
race from Sonning to the Shiplake boat house, around 4km of rowing, rate-capped
at 24. The racing was competitive and spirited, with the crews starting close
to each other and little room for manoeuvre on the river resulting in a heated
race. The competitive spirit shone through in the results, with the mixed quad
placing second, beating three of the eights, and proving that the title could
go to anyone.
A quick turnaround
then led to three lane sprint racing, with each crew having a few minutes
between the end of the head race and reaching the start line of their
semi-final. Each crew was fraught with nerves as the boats lined up, as there
would be the elimination of at least one crew from each semi-final race, while
the winners would secure themselves a spot in the esteemed final, and a shot at
the title.
The racing kicked
off with umpire Mr Moffatt precisely lining up crews and calling the start
within seconds of arrival, leaving little time for error. A slip up now could
cost everything. The first race ended with Dancer taking a convincing win. The
second then followed, with Blitzen trailed by the quad Rudolph.
The disappointed
crews were left to land and watch in anticipation as the grand final took
place. The crews lined up, and the tension was high, as Mr Moffatt called
attention for the last time. The crews shot off the line, with the quad taking
an early lead, Dancer in second, and Blitzen lagging behind due to a slow
start. As the race progressed, Blitzen found their rhythm, powering through
Dancer, although with difficulty, and yet the quad remained ahead, elusively
escaping the desperate efforts of the eights to catch them.
The final part of
the race came into play, and the coxes could be heard screaming through their microphones.
With a final, despairing push, Blitzen pushed its nose ahead of the others,
edging out for a win over the line, with great confusion as to the verdict
between crews. An analysis of the photo finish, matched with an on-the-line
report from the expertly trained umpires, led to a verdict that Blitzen had
just edged out over Rudolph to win the title of fastest reindeer. This
concluded an exciting series of races, and started what could be a new
tradition for the SCBC.
Once all crews had
landed and packed away, Mr Mackworth-Praed, aptly dressed all in red, called
together the assembly of festively dressed rowers, and distributed copious
amounts of mince pies as the awards ceremony was taking place. The winning
rowers claimed the highly sought after prize, a box of celebrations, which was emptied
within minutes.
The first, very
successful, term of rowing was then called to an end with festive wishes, and
an underlying anticipation of the racing season to come with the start of the Spring
Term in January. And with that, the SCBC would like to wish you a very Merry
Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Henry Cawthorne
Year 13, Captain of Boats