ROWERS PIPPED AT THE POST

March 3, 2022

This year’s Head of the River saw a mighty performance from Hale’s 1st VIII who came runners-up by the narrowest of margins.

The start of the race didn’t go entirely to plan as Christ Church Grammar jumped all other crews to establish half a boat length lead over the first 300 metres. This extended to almost a boat length at the halfway mark. It would take a mighty effort for Hale to recover from there but that was exactly what the crew produced in the next 500 metres, storming to within half a metre of Christ Church with a few hundred metres to go, but just couldn’t overtake them.

While it was a gut-wrenching loss, the determination and resilience shown by the boys set an example for the younger members of the boat shed to learn from and aspire to.

The rest of the Hale boat shed also put in some brave performances in what was a Head of the River regatta to remember. Given the event was cancelled in 2020, all schools were very keen to make sure they had the opportunity to compete in the pinnacle of the rowing season.

The January rowing camp had laid the platform for an excellent set of performances in Term 1. This culminated in the 1st VIII winning the last two lead-up regattas at Champion Lakes to enter the Head of the River as the top seed and slight favourite in what was a very close field.

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