Feedback from Weekend 30th/31st January

Apologies to all crews whose training was affected by the swimming event held at Germiston Lake over the past weekend.

Despite our best efforts to schdule sessions around this - the information given was incorrect which impacted on the late morning sessions.

We can only apologise to everyone for the inconvenience caused but if its any consolation, we were not the only ones affected.

The good news is that the weekend off provided us with the opportunity to assist with some much needed maintenance of boats and equipment and special thanks to those who were able to help.

The work party was able to tackle most of the tasks on the list of things to do, and the plan is to finish off over the weekend prior to SA Champs.

A small group of parents also assisted with the clearing of weed and maintenance of lanes at Roodeplaat.

The news is that the amount of weed is significantly less than that experienced at the last regatta, however there is still enough of it around to cause problems.

Rowsa will be working on the course over the weeks leading up to SA Champs to clear the remaining weed and make sure the course is rowable. Many thanks to those parents who have contributed either time or money (or both) to make sure the regatta can go ahead and we have fair racing conditions. Please do remember that we have a number of our rowers who will be competing for the last time at this event and it would be great if our contribution has gone someway to ensuring safe and fair conditions.

Results Summary from VLC/UJ Regatta

In wet but otherwise calm conditions, Team Bishop Bavin maintained their current run of form by winning medal positions in 15 of the 22 "A" events entered and 11 of the 17 "B" events.

The medal tally in the "A" events included 7 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze.

Crews in the "B" events secured 3 Firsts, 5 Seconds and 5 Thirds.

Importantly, the coaching team used the opportunity to test some new crew combinations and entered a number of events for the first time.

Apart from U16 & Open pairs, U16 girls & boys quads competed for the first time this season and showed signs that they can compete for positions in the A finals at SA Champs.

Our Open Boys 1st V111, also took part in their first ever regatta, coming a credible 4th ahead of established crews from St. Johns & Parktown. The closeness of the times between the crews suggests that medal positions at SA Champs are still up for grabs.

For more details on the individual events click on the link to the regatta website (www.regatta.co.za)

VLC/UJ Regatta - Pictures

Team Bishop Bavin - Winners of the Co-Ed trophy

Bonita in the drive.

Darren & Zander await the start of their doubles race

Kaylee & Jamie on their way to winning their heat

Alex & Ashton - take 3rd place in U16 pairs at the first attempt

Jacinta lines up at the start of the U16 singles

Darren thinks its a long way to the finish.......

Kirsty at the catch

The Open Boys Quad show their mettle

Robyn forgets the boat comes with rear view mirror as standard

Jacinta

Scott & Devon line up at the start of their U19 Pairs heat

Shannon repeats the customer's order - 2 Big Macs plus Fries to go........

The Open Girls Quad lining up at the start

The 1st V111 makes its way to down to the jetty

On their way to the start

And away they go......

Near the finish and well ahead of Bennies 2nd crew

and the KES 2nd crew.....

Nothing in it between between the front boats - seconds separate the medals

The traditional lane recovery after the regatta

Ryan, Darren, Devon & Dominique

Scott lends a hand - abley assisted by Ashley

So how many blondes does it take to reel the lanes in ?

The Open Boys crew helping manfully

Ben catches up on some fielding practice

Gray Wilson twins Alex and Mathew plus John

Alexia, Tyler and Shannon supervise the proceedings

Prize Giving

Scott & Dominique show off the silver wear. Coach Ben looks on.

Congratulations to all crews for a great regatta !!

Parktown Regatta Results - 16th January

In extremely hot and increasingly difficult racing conditions (arising from the dreaded water hyacinth), Team Bishop Bavin performed extremely well at Saturday's Parktown regatta which was held at Roodeplaat.

Our crews participated in a total of 20 "A" events and 3 "B" events, winning medal positions in 17 of the "A" events, and achieving a credible 2nd & 3rd place in one of the "B" events.

The medal tally included 6 Golds, 9 Silvers and 4 Bronze. It's also worth pointing out that a number of our crews missed out on higher positions by mere hundreths of a second.

Congratulations to all of the crews who participated and we look forward to seeing you go from strength to strength in the weeks ahead.

Access to Bishop Bavin School

We are aware that parents of rowers from Assumption & Leeuwenhof have to sign the visitors register each time they enter the school which although necessary is time-consuming and rather tedious.

From Monday 18th January we will set up a "Rowing Register" at the entrance point to the school which will have a list of rowers' names. On arrival, you simply need to identify your child as a rower and sign against their name. This should make the process a bit quicker however we will monitor the situation and try to make further improvements.