Rhubarb

St Edward’s

V a l e t e

Henley was without a shadow of a doubt

the best week of my school years, and

one of the best weeks of my life. I thought

I knew what to expect when arriving in

the town; it was bustling with activity and

my fellow crewmembers and I were glued

to the van windows. I was lucky enough

to be in a crew with very experienced

oarsmen, some of whom had taken part

in the event before, and who instilled a

certain amount of confidence in the lesser-

experienced oarsmen such as myself. My

Captain,

Oli Knight

(B, 2012-2014) had

told me countless times that Henley was

the highlight of a rower’s year, and he was

right. However, no amount of description

and chatting could have prepared me for

the memorable experiences I was about

to have. The first day was (in my eyes) the

longest - rowing down to the start line blew

my mind. Every direction I looked, people

swarmed the banks. I had never attended

a regatta with such a large gathering of

spectators. Our first race was against St

Paul’s School, known to be a tough crew to

beat, so we went into the race determined

to make a big start. We lined up on the start

and my hands began to shake uncontrollably;

all I wanted was to start pulling my blade. I

had never experienced such a powerful rush

of adrenaline. The Umpire’s flag dropped

signalling the start of the race, and we were

more than ready to go. After the first stroke

all the adrenaline seemed to disappear

and my mind cleared, all I thought about

was pulling as hard as humanly possible

and keeping our bows in front. We leaped

out of the blocks and before long we had

secured a safe boat length. Six minutes

later we crossed the line victorious, and

very out of breath! It had been one hell of

a first day and a serious eye-opener. We

were lucky enough to be lodged by the very

generous Innes family, who cooked very

large delicious meals and made us feel quite

at home. The next three races against KCS,

Radley and Hampton, seemed to follow this

trend of rushing adrenaline on the start line

and clear-headedness in the race.

Somehow as the days went on we

became closer as a crew. Our racing also

improved, and we each pulled harder and

did everything we could to support one

another. We seemed to pay more and

more attention to our cox, Hugo Marsh,

relying on his every command to secure

victory. We trusted one another entirely

and knew that none of us would hold back,

and each one of us would give it their all on

the water. This mentality formed a strong

bond in the crew, an

esprit de corps

that has

remained with me.

The Final on the Sunday was

unforgettable. Our coach Jonny Singfield

gave us a talk that has stuck with me to this

day. Whilst boating we didn’t talk much as

we were already in racing mode, we all had

stern faces on and were pumped to go and

take down Eton College. Being finalists, we

were honoured to row down the racing

course to the start line. We received so

many cheers and cries of support from

our families, friends and strangers that

seemed to increase our will to crush the

opposition. On the start line I was calmer,

probably because I had already been in

that position four times prior, patiently

waiting for the Umpire’s launch to arrive.

Our eyes were entirely in our boat and

we were focused. The Umpire arrived, the

flag came down and the race began. At this

point the adrenaline kicked in and it was

overwhelming, it made me feel vicious and

fierce toward our adversary. We came out

of the blocks shifting masses of water and

began to pull ahead; eventually we secured

a little bit of clear water. However, half

way down the course they started to come

back at us. I was hoping that we would be

able to hold them off until the line, but

sadly this was not to be. In the last 500m

they pushed through, I can safely say that

I had never experienced as much pain

as I did in that last quarter of the race. I

had the impression that all my joints were

about to rip apart. All I wanted was the

race to end, but the

esprit de corps

was

what kept me going. I buckled down and

kept pulling as hard as I could so as to not

let my crew members down. Sadly, we

crossed the line exhausted and defeated;

it was however a great race. Demoralised

after the Final I think we came together

the most as a crew, hugging and supporting

one another and of course heavily relying

on emotional support from our families,

friends and coach.

The St Edward’s crew arrived in Henley

as a band of good friends who shared a

passion for a sport they loved, but left

Henley a band of brothers who shared an

experience that will stick with them forever.

Finally, even knowing the outcome of

the Final, I for one would race in that crew

all over again, any day of the week.

My Experience at Henley Royal Regatta

Tristan Mackie

(C, 2012-2014)

Tristan Mackie, second from the left with the crew at Henley Regatta

m a r t y r s