29 - 31 July 2011
Continuing Abingdon School’s run of rowing successes, two Abingdon pupils competed for GB in the 2011 Coupe de La Jeunesse, which was held at the picturesque Ottensheim regatta course in Austria. Will Davey was selected to row in the coxless four, and Neil McKenzie was selected to cox both the eight and a coxed four. Following an intensive two weeks of training, at Hampton school and at Caversham, the GB team flew out to a cool and showery Austria for the three day event.
The Coupe is an annual competition between 12 European countries, with competitors normally chosen from those rowers who have just missed out on selection for the World Championship (where Abingdon will be represented in strength). GB fielded a full team, entering all the events, sculling and sweep rowing, for both men’s and women’s competition.
The competition opened with the women’s eight racing on Friday evening, who were just beaten by a strong Italian crew, setting the pattern for a rivalry over the whole regatta, with Italy, Spain, and GB dominating the larger boats, and Ireland and Italy putting in a strong showing in the smaller boats. The first events for our rowers took place on Saturday, when Will Davey’s coxless four, having put down the faster time in heats, was overtaken in the later part of the final by a fast Spanish crew to win Silver. Neil McKenzie’s coxed four found themselves in the same position when the Spanish boat ‘came out of nowhere’ and claimed Gold, with GB collecting Silver. Determined not to be taken unaware a third time, the men’s eight upped their pace, and when the Spanish crew pulled slightly ahead in the last two hundred metres they powered to a ‘too close to call’ finish – the Spanish crew thought they had won – but the photo showed that GB’s effort had paid off, and Gold was theirs.
Each event in the Coupe, except for the Women’s eight, is raced twice, and on Sunday morning each team tried to second guess their opposition’s tactics based on Saturday’s results. Will Davey’s four knew something special was required to beat the Spanish crew, so pushed hard from the start, only to find themselves caught at the 1500 metre mark by the Irish four, and they finished in Bronze medal position. Neil McKenzie’s coxed four played to their strength at the finish and rowed through Spain in the second half of the race for a relatively comfortable Gold. Buoyed by this success the men’s eight, in the event’s last race, beat off an early push by the Netherlands and never looked like being challenged over the last kilometre.
Medals are awarded after each final in a formal ceremony with flags raised and national anthems played. When it came to the final ceremony of the day, the sound system failed, and as the organisers apologised, the men’s eight showed real bravery, grabbed a microphone and sang the anthem acapella, getting the biggest cheer of the day.
With strong performances in other events, including the quads, GB claimed the overall trophy for the Women’s event, but were just beaten to second place in the Men’s overall trophy by the Italian team, who also took the combined event trophy for the second year running.
An impressive haul of medals was just reward for the hard work put in by the team, and their coaches, but the lasting memories of the weekend will be the companionship of international rowing.
