Rhubarb

St Edward’S r h u b a r b

45

Rowing Memories

V a l e t e M a r t y r s

My brother duncan (D, 1974- 1979), one of the beneficiaries of these appointments, captained the VIII in 1979 that won the QMC at the National Schools and lost narrowly to St Paul’s in the final of the Special Race for Schools at Henley. The standout junior crew in 1974 was a Wallingford School IV that contained a certain John Wiggins... David Hughes (D, 1971-1974) Please congratulate the Henley crew from one who was in school rowing in 1945- 1946. It is remotely possible the edge was in the finish of the stroke. When I was rowing in school we never achieved anywhere near what the boys have shown they are capable of; we were told the finish of the stroke can provide the edge that won and lost races. Three years ago I was invited to Cambridge (NZ) to watch my grandson rowing. It was very exciting and a wonderful experience, but I did not know what my daughter was up to at the time. When grandson George got out of the boat she said, “Dad, it’s all arranged you were number three, get in the eight!” I did what I was told despite being 83 at the time! Well, we rowed across the

Our VIII in 1974 was not a great vintage, and we were the first Teddies crew to row at Henley after an absence of a few years. In the 1974 Henley crew there was a notable absentee, Mark Lees (G, 1970-1974). Mark was very competitive and had been an ever-present member of the VIII up until a week or so before Henley. He then had a major falling out with coach Richard Simmonds, questioning his coaching methods and our preparation for Henley. Not very diplomatic! As a result, he withdrew from the crew. As if to prove a point, Mark then went on to be a very successful rowing coach, coaching the Cambridge Blue boat and National Squad crews before dying at the relatively young age of 38 in 1994. Teddies rowing had reached a relative low point at that time and was run down with few experienced coaches available to coach crews through the full age range. Our coach, Richard Simmonds, was trying to change this with the enthusiastic support of Henry Christie, the Warden. After I left, coaches such as John Lever and Mike Rosewell were to arrive transforming the fortunes of Teddies rowing.

Lake Karapiro where we later watched the World Rowing Championships. My daughter said I really looked as if I knew what I was doing! Well maybe, but I did not put quite so much effort into the oar work! The advance in design really impressed me. The design of the blade is so much nearer what I used to say to the coaches would be more effective. The comments were always, “Maybe you are in the right direction.” It was wartime in 1945 and there were more important issues. My grandson (now at Otago University) attended St Peter’s College, Cambridge, NZ, which could not be more like an English public school. Even the buildings looked the part. They have a huge velodrome which is leased out frequently for elite level racing. This country is really still quite a bit like England down under, although the climate is wonderful here. Midday temperatures seldom drop under 14°C in Auckland, although it is colder down south. Thank you so much for sending the final report. I know Teddies have won the Princess Elizabeth Cup in the past. I always follow rowing. John Disbrowe (c, 1942-1946)