Taking to the Road Sunday 11th March

This Sunday a few members of the squad went out to complete a training cycle to Windsor, 85 miles (approx) we were estimating we would be out for just over 2 hours.

Well an eventful day unfolded. Our first event was a puncture from Alice just outside Staines. A ‘quick’ inner tube change and we were on our way again.

Just as we got into Windsor the sound of another inner tube bursting pierced the air of the quaint town of cobbled roads.

Not moments after we had turned the bike over and had the wheel off, a peloton of Knights in shining lycra arrived and were fighting among themselves all so keen to help Alice the ‘damsel in distress’.  All patch up and advice doled out we were ready to go, and our Knights road off into the distance….Only for us to turn the bike over and realised the wheel would no longer turn.

Our next hero of the day arrived as the proverbial ‘wise old man’, yes with a long white beard and endearing smile. He road up on his vintage bike with only what could be describe as a giant bum bag attached to the front (luckily it seemed to be brimming with tools). Temporary fix in place we were sent off with directions to town’s bike shop.  Here we were welcomed, offered comfy seats to sit in, and supplied with cups of hot tea and boxes of biscuits whist we waited for Alice bike to be fitted with a new set of shiny tyres and have some much need essential maintenance completed……. We couldn’t believe our luck!  SIX hours later we arrived back in Molesey…  tired, slightly wind burnt but having enjoyed a day out in the nice weather. The moral of our story…………. Check your bike before you set off out on a long cycle…...(Well done to Lucy and Karen LOL).

Olympic Trials 10th and 11th March 2012

This weekend saw the crème de la crème of British athletes come together at Dorney Lake Eton (2012 Olympic Venue) to race for places in the Great British team for London 2012. Our very own Ruth Walczak gained herself an invitation to race from the fantastic performance she has produced so far this season.

In the heats on Saturday morning, Ruth had a strong performance, but was beaten by some of the current GB Rowing Squad members. This meant Ruth rowed in the reparcharge later in the day. After some tough, relentless racing from Ruth where she held her own among some of the top athletes in the world, she was beaten for a place in the final.  A MASSIVE congratulations to Ruth!

Women's Head of the River Race 2012

The day started with fairy calm waters in our pre-paddle, with the rain holding off for the duration of our early morning Tideway paddle on the 3rd of March. Which helped probably to calm nerves as its not often many of the crew get to row on the Tideway, as it can be a completely different ball game if the wind is up, as it means the wash is out.
So for the race we started off at 14th, which is the position the previous Molesey women's boat would have obtained last year, but this year we managed to race to finish a creditable 13th overall and 2nd in Intermediate 2 division, being 1 second of a top 10 position and also winning our division.
Having huge time improvements from the previous week at Reading Head, it show promising results for the summer of racing ahead.

Club Supper

The Senior Women had a successful and enjoyable time holding a club supper last Thursday. The theme of the evening's food was Mexican, so a tasty chilli was cooked by the ladies, which seemed to go down a treat with the men's squad (who seemed to be enjoying the portion size more than anything), veterans, junior squad and other Molesey memebers.
Interesting but rather quick thinking techniques were used throughout the preperation of the meal by, the pro Bingo caller Olivia Marshall, in the disection of an onion. We all know that feeling...

The evenings entertainment was a few rounds of Bingo with chocolate prizes as the incentive. The whole group felt like the meal turned out to be a great success and feedback since the night has been extremely positive. Thanks to everyone who came to the meal!

Women's Head of the River!

So tomorrow, 3rd of March is the 72nd ladies Head of the River. Its estimated that around 3000 athletes shall be competing in Eights on the 6.8km tideway course, from Mortlake to Putney. Our Molesey Women's boat shall be setting off number 14 and chasing down a tightly knitted Durham University Boat. All of us are looking forward to seeing what the race will throw at us tomorrow and after some constructive racing last weekend at Reading Head- where it was the first time racing as the official crew, it will be interesting to see how we go.
The race shall be kicking off at 11am and the weather is forecast rain, so if your planning to make a show don't forget your waterproofs!

Check it out

We are racing the eight in two divisions at this weekend’s Reading Head of the River before getting down to the Tideway for Women’s Eights Head of the River Race. We will be setting off number 14 and the race is at 11am.
Come down give us a shout if you’re around! Yeah Molesey!

TTT Testing

Some of the girls are involved in a “Tall, Talented and Trainability Study” run through UK Sport. It involves training in blocks with testing at the end of each (usually every four to six weeks) which includes a horrible ‘step’ test on the erg where blood lactate and glucose levels are measured after each step, as well as max weights.
This month also saw some of us being filmed throughout the day for research and promotional purposes. Unfortunately this included interviews! We were asked about how we find the study and what we would recommend new rowers coming into the sport. So, a few PBs, high lactate, lots of dancing round the gym and some excellent advice from Karen (“buy some pogies!”) and we’re all done for another month.

Kit Drop

We are very lucky indeed to be supported by Canterbury who dropped off a bunch of the Mercury compression wear this week! This will be an amazing help through the summer when we’ve got to recover quickly, thanks Canterbury!

What lies ahead...

The Trialists of the group have moved from the 5km long distance racing, which were held at Boston Rowing Club, Lincolnshire, to the shorter 2k course held at the currently snowed over Dorney Lake, Eton.
They will be linking in for some of the racing ahead like:

Reading Head of the River (25/02/12)- 4.6km race, used as more of a warm up to the Tideway.

Women's Head of the River (03/03/12)- 7km race with roughly 3000 athletes taking part, should be a good race!

Kingston HOR (10/03/12)

Wallingford Regatta (06/05/12)

Twickenham Regatta (19/05/12)

Poplar Rowing Regatta (20/05/12)

Metropolitan Regatta (02/06/12)

Henley Women's (15/06/12)

Henley Royal Regatta (25/06/12)

Hopefully these won't be the only races we'll be going to, but they're on the list to be ticked off this season.

Welcome!

To the Molesey Boat Club Senior Women's Squad blog.
     Just a little introduction. We're a variety of bright eyed bushy tailed people that happen to come from all areas of the country, literally we have women from Scotland, Sheffield and even the deep dark depths of Cornwall. Every one bringing a different dynamic.
     Some Ladies are fresh from the competitive university rowing scene, others bring years of national and international rowing experience to the table. There is also a collection of women on the World Class Start Programme that have joined some of the senior women at the club on the Olympic pathway to 2016 Rio.
     Halfway through the rowing season everyone is looking forward to getting stuck into some major racing. Up and coming events include, Reading Head (25th Feb) and in particular the Women's Head of the River (3rd March).