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Rowers catch the fever in Berwick
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By Neil Lewis
Berwick Regatta, 12 August 2000
If you have been watching 'Gold Fever' on BBC1 about Britain's men's four preparing for the Olympics, you will have seen the commitment and sacrifice, training to collapse, perpetual analysis, but also the success this all brings. To lesser mortals, the nation's club rowers like Hexham RC, they are heroes. To some of us just winning a heat against twelve-year-olds would feel sublime. So here we are trying again.
Hexham have arrived early to find the river, the famous Tweed, wadeable, the safety dinghy unable to use its outboard motor, and more time for nerves to set in, especially in the first-up pairing of Higgins and Lewis fresh from their starring paragraph's in Talkin Tarn RC's regatta website:
'Possibly the most amusing race of the day….' A crew whose training emulates the Olympians (out early before work, they read books and tinker with boat and technique), do not want to read this. They lose, today's excuse, no water.
With the great Jaconelli and Mulholland not appearing (JM on a tour of holiday duty in Northern Ireland), the other men's double for the day was Brown and Christer, set to race in only their second regatta. Ten minutes before the original start time, Christer, Mr Laidback, Old Horizontal himself had not arrived. But of course, having set nerves aflutter to build up his entrance, he did, immaculate, languid, groomed - two women in tow, as cool as you like. 'Just watch this girls'. Off no training of any sort they won for their first time. Not quite the ethos shown in Gold Fever, but it was truly a pleasure for us all to share in their joy, particularly David Brown's as he is over fifty. For those of you who would like to hear the full account of how they won with maps, slides and full orchestral accompaniment join us at the clubhouse on any Tuesday evening this year.
The ladies' double of Alex Berry and Lindsay King, this quality pairing actually trains, raced in two category finals, losing the easy one and winning the harder, but that's women for you. In Ladies Senior 3 a relatively new crew of Lucy Siddle and Chloe Bragg raced out of their skins, showed enormous potential, but just lost out to Cambois RC, the ultimate finalists. Junior, James Steele, as competitive as ever, also lost, but is gaining in experience rapidly for the day when his strength and technique come together to make him unbeatable.
As ever the rowers owe a debt of thanks to Emma Thorpe for transporting the boats. Probably our best lady single sculler she did not race at Berwick. 'Are you rowing today Emma?' 'No I've scratched'. Boy, like the Olympians, does she take care of her body?! One simple scratch and she's out.
Previously published by Hexham Courant
18 Aug 2000
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