9th July 2008

On Wednesday 9th July Kate smith (bow) and Colette Abel (stroke) raced their pair (nicknamed Lionel) at the GB France Trials in Nottingham. The conditions were surprisingly good, with a slight head wind and, luckily, no rain.

Having been waiting at the start for a rather long time, due to some dodgy steering from the boys’ pairs, Kate and Colette lined themselves up on the start. Initially the other crews pulled ahead on the start, but the Twickenham pair held their nerve and remained calm. The steering was very tricky and all crews were zigzagging down the 1500m course. The pair rowed hard and managed to pass Maidenhead and with 500m to go they had pulled away from Maidenhead, but were still a few lengths behind the leaders, Headington. An increase in rating and a very determined push from the girls resulted in them gradually gaining on the leaders, spurred on by the girlish screams of the Headington supporters. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough and the pair finished a respectable second.

Many thanks go to Scott for coming to Nottingham and Jonno, Rob and Ethan for their coaching guidance and everyone’s support.