6 July 2011
The annual House Quads match took place today. It started ahead of schedule and once crews were on the water the rain eased, although a strong cross/head wind made conditions challenging. Inexperienced scullers and coxes were banned and so some coxes were kept busy jumping in and out of other house crews.
After the first heat was cancelled due to a lack of a Crescent crew, the second heat saw Boyd’s take a conclusive lead over Franklin’s who in turn opened up over a length’s distance over O’Doherty’s. The third heat saw a much closer battle between the top two, with only three feet between Southwell-Sander’s and Davies’, leaving Christolodoulou’s trailing.
Boyd’s secured another victory in the first semi-final, showing off their neat blade work to the crowd, with Webb’s, who’d had a bye to get there, in their wake. Southwell-Sander’s started the next semi as favourites, and showed their superiority from the start. Franklin’s were disappointed but unsurprised by the result. In the third semi-final, School House beat Davies to make it through to the final, with confidence in their “All power, no technique” approach to racing!
The grand final proved to be very exciting for those spectators who had waited around to watch. All three crews showed neat and powerful sculling, and it was almost a photo finish between Boyd’s and Southwell-Sander’s. Southwell-Sander’s put in an enormous burst towards the finish, which was almost enough to close the gap. Unfortunately, the burst came too late and Boyd’s were victorious by a couple of feet, with School house in a respectable third place, one and a half lengths down.
