Kingston Small Boats Head: Four outright wins and 3 second place positions were secured by ICBC at the Kingston Small Boat’s Head on November 22nd. The 4800 m head race takes place from Hampton Court to Steven’s Eyot and cold weather conditions made racing difficult. Coach James Blackley was in charge of the crews and unusually submissive as a result of a late night out. Taking advantage of such a rarity, Blacklers was set to work and spent the day loading, unloading, rigging and derigging boats while athletes huddled for warmth.

In the first division Ole Tietz and Elias "The" Hammer were racing in the senior 1 coxless pairs (S1. 2-). They were the fastest pair of the day (17:26.8) beating off Athens Olympian Simon Cottle who had to settle for second place. The win was devastating for Will Todd who had been dumped from the winning combination that was Tietz ‘N Todd. The former pair, who operated under the pseudonym TNT (for being explosive both on and off the water) were separated after a series of spats about who was better were overheard between outings. Todd was last seen stumbling out of the Duke’s Head waving his pair’s head lidded pot and rambling about a supposed Henley win.

George Whittaker was dominant in his single winning the senior 1 category in 18:14.7. He was the only one in his category, but we are confident he would have won had there been any competition. In the VA single sculls category Adam Gray finished second in 19:09.6 to Korbei of Crabtree BC.

Julien Lamoureux competed in the senior 3 single sculls (S3.1x) and found himself entangled with another sculler mid-race. The incident is rumoured to have occurred when Lamoureux experienced a flashback and thought he saw a large beam jutting out of the water before the bridge. Evasive steering resulted in the clash. No swimming occurred and no cries for help were reported. Lamoureux finished in second place just over 3 seconds behind the winner RC Smith from Leicester. This was Julien’s last race for ICBC before he returns to Canada where he’ll most likely reminisce in his igloo while chewing on some whale blubber.

Later in the afternoon division 2 got underway with wins in the single sculls events from Adam Freeman-Pask in the elite category (E.1x) and Simon Hislop in the senior 2 sculls (S2.1x). Rob Manton and Adam Gray also took part in the senior 2 single sculls finishing 8th and 10th respectively. Following ICBC’s recent alternative football training sessions Freeman-Pask needed to redeem himself as a capable athlete. Being outplayed by several more uncoordinated club members led to many sleepless nights and hours spent pouring over the fantasy league tables. Tickets were acquired for the Newcastle and Chelsea match and there was little time was to spare before the kick-off. Pasklop dropped boats and blades and hit the road while James pottered about and happily derigged for the pair.

The token ICBC Bradbury was Will Bradbury competing in the S4.1x. He came second in 19:18.4 to Redman of  Thames RC who finished 8 seconds ahead.

ICBC has truly established itself as a dominant force in both sculling and sweep rowing and continues to push athletes to a high level of proficiency in both disciplines.

By Christina Duffy