Heineken Roeivierkamp 2009 - ICBC AMSTERDAM: The email seemed improbable, unlikely at best: rowing in Amsterdam, in a race with Heineken in the title without the wavering finger of duty-bound Head Coach Steve Trapmore. Yet somehow it was true and at 6:30 am last Friday thirty-two excited rowers departed London with boats in tow. Crews from across the world arrived in Tinsel Town to compete in four races (2500m, 250m, 750m, 5000m) over two days. The winner of each category was determined by a points system which takes into account the average 250 metre split over all races. Three men's 8+s and one women’s 8+ showed great determination when racing against tough international competition.
Little compromise between comfortable seats and quality of banter could be made when choosing which mini-bus to take for the long drive to Amsterdam. Bus 1 was manned by coach Ross Smitheman and ensured comfort and reliability. Bus 2 didn’t ensure anything and arrived four hours behind the others. Driver Iain Palmer refutes claims from navigator Adam Seward that the detour was his fault. Somehow Amsterdam was confused with Bruges and it was decided that the quickest way out would be straight through the centre of Brussels. At rush hour. On a Friday.
While the Party Bus was canoodling around EU Headquarters Bus 1 had rigged all of the boats. Dutch rowing club Nereus hosted the slick event on the Amstel River and provided a free welcome dinner for arriving crews. With pasta and spinach settling nicely and the prospect of a nice glass of Heineken imminent it was with complete horror that Press Officer Duffy was called to duty for a live interview on Dutch radio station; HK4. “You speak the English? You come”. Shuttled out of the mess-hall into the “recording studio” she awaited her fate in a room full of Dutch men, electronics and Heineken. A near-utopia you might say. Suddenly Imperial was mentioned, a microphone was thrust before her, and thankfully English was reverted to. Much blagging ensued, the name Imperial was repeatedly dropped and the appeal of the event (Heineken) was discussed in-depth. As the interview wrapped she was reminded of the infamous after-party of the Heineken Roeivierkamp: “Vilt you party vith us Sunday night?”. “Sure, whatever.” P.O. Duffy was happy with free Heineken for her efforts.
Racing on Saturday was not until late afternoon for all crews so there was no choice on Friday night but to take a leisurely stroll through the red-light district; sampling the best of what Amsterdam has on offer. Will Todd later confessed to being truly shocked at the intelligence levels of the locals when coming across what appeared to be women who had accidentally locked themselves naked behind (as luck would have it) a glass door. It was amazing how many Dutch ladies found themselves in this unlikely predicament. However there seemed to be a lot of men willing to help out the unfortunate damsels in distress. There was just time for a spot of shopping and some pre-race carbs were located in the form of pasta boobs. Steve would be so proud.
Saturday afternoon heralded ICBC’s opening race with the women’s crew in action. The crew (Selina Graham, Ro Smith, Nicky Smith, Erica Thompson, Christina Matteotti, Chung-Duffy, Louise Hart, Chloe Symmonds) were met by battering rain as they prepared to boat. The squad were entered in the top division which included the Dutch national squad and a composite crew of U23 nationals. Despite the calibre IC managed to keep within a few seconds of the other crews and stay positive throughout the weekend. Cox Tom ‘AND RELAHX’ Fieldman was sharing accommodation with brother Henry resulting in some domestic altercations. The fieldcoxes scurried around complaining of supposed crumb-trails in their living quarters. Misfortune struck again for the women’s squad when the cox-box failed at the start of the 5000 metre race; an unneeded reminder of the fate which befell the crew at WeHORR a week earlier.
IC I (Adam Freeman-Pask, Josh Yerrell (Day 2: to seat 3), Ole Tietz, Simon Hislop, Henry Goodier, Adam Mayall (Day 2: to ICII), Adam Seward, Danny Bellion (& Day 2: Leopold Carrington from IC II to seat 7)) were coxed by Henry Fieldman and finished 7th/10 in the top division beating London RC and Isis Old Boys who finished 9th and 10th respectively. In the first boat’s room it was serious business and banter topics involved tactical anaylsis and strategical warfare. The whereabouts of all crew members was monitored closely and when a few bow members got carried away and the hour struck (i.e. angry text message was received) it was straight back to bed for positive pre-race visualisation. Strokeman Adam Freeman-Pask kept a tight lease on the crew, half of whom are IC freshers. How Pask maintains his throbbing masculinity while pulling a wheely bag along with the AFP roller in tow is truly incredible.
The showdown of the weekend was an internal affair between IC II and IC III, both of which were seating many disgruntled rowers. IC II (James Wedlake, Will Todd, John Dick, Richard Winchester, Dom Meyrick-Cole, Leopold Carrington (Day 2: to Seat 7 IC I), John Davey, Alex Gillies (& Day 2: Adam Mayall from IC I to seat 3)) were coxed by Connie Pidoux. IC III (Tom Bell, Tom Arnott, Kieron Docherty, Gareth Brown, Iain Palmer, Mike Zammitt, Ben Anstiss, Matt Lunt) were coxed by Libby Richards. The battle between the second and third boats raged and by Sunday crews had completely refused to socialize together. IC II’s chilled attitude and self-dubbed “Banter Crew” added fuel to the already flaming fire of IC III who made it their sole purpose not to win the race, but to beat IC II. Results of times and splits were dissected post-race despite the crews racing in separate divisions. IC II managed to hold their lead over IC III throughout all races with the closest encounter coming in the 750m (IC II: 02:13.7, IC III: 02:13.8). In their divisions IC II finished 5th/6 and IC II 7th/11. The second crew had bonded to such an extent over the weekend that at least five crew members managed to shower together, in a single shower cubicle. At one point Alex Gillies is reported to have heard the commotion and dropped his trousers in a sprint for the shower in fear of missing out on quality crew time.
With racing complete there was no time to waste and after a hasty derigging of boats it was straight onto the bus. Ross the Boss, suddenly making eye contact with the keg of Heineken and several cans piled up in the back of the bus made it clear to passengers that “WE WILL NOT BE STOPPING”. We didn’t stop, but windows are very useful things… almost as useful as window wipers. There was intense discussion in the ferry lounge as to who is more stylish; James Wedlake or John Dick. It was agreed that Wedlake puts the effort into his style whereas John just exudes class naturally. Winny made his decision upon seeing John Davey clinging to the Dizzle’s every word as his jet-black Canadian locks fell across his face and were casually flicked back. “I just want to be John Dick”. Dom Meyrick-Cole was attempting to make his own break into the cut-throat world of fashion by sporting a faux-fur waistcoat and white rimmed sunnies over the weekend. Unfortunately it all came apart mid-race when the shades fell forward onto the slide of seat 3 Richard Winchester who repeatedly crunched over the glasses making smithereens of the fashion accessory. Sadly this didn’t stop Meyrick-Cole wearing the rims without glass inserts for the rest of the trip.
And so we returned in the wee hours of Sunday night, tired but elated after a terrific weekend. Thanks are due to coaches Ross, Brian and Stuart for entertaining us all weekend (even if Stu did throw Selina’s pasta pesto in the bin). There were some seat changes over the weekend in the men's squad with a view to finalising the 8's head crews for this Saturday’s Head of the River Race. With crews now set we wish them the very best in their final preparations.
Christina Duffy