Months of twilight training on the water, erg sessions in the gym and bus travel to competitions are reaching their climax for The Armidale School's rowing crews as they set their bows to the final finish line of the season in the next fortnight.
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After the NSW Schoolgirl Head of the River on Saturday where the maiden TAS girls' Four finished with a season personal best, this Saturday will be the turn of three boys' Fours who will compete at the Athletic Association of Great Public Schools (AAGPS) Head of the River at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.
Racing against boats from the other eight GPS schools over 2000m, each TAS crew is determined to finish in a personal best time, says boys rowing captain and First IV stroke Joseph Sewell.
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"It's just gone off the scales how much everyone has improved since our first regatta in Grafton in December. Technically we're where we should be, it's now about honing our fitness, working on our race strategy and getting into the right headspace for such a massive regatta," he said.
At their last regatta a fortnight ago, his own crew finished their first race in a personal best time and vowed to shave a further two seconds off every 500m split, in their second race, achieving a new crew best of 7:07.
Joseph said the atmosphere of the GPS Head of the River, with bagpipes, drums and thousands of cheering schoolboys, will only add to the motivation for the crews.
"With every improvement there is further motivation to keep improving, and I think all our crews are as prepared as we can be," Joseph said.
Training commenced at Malpas Dam near Black Mountain in November, with the rowers also attending camps and regattas at Grafton and Taree during the school holidays, and the NSW Rowing Championships and Sydney Rowing Club regattas at SIRC this term.
It will be the eighth time TAS has competed at the AAGPS Head of the River since rowing was reintroduced as a sport in late 2011.
The crews are:
Boys First IV: Joseph Sewell (Armidale), Joshua Jones (Gunnedah), Oscar Rogers (Lawrence), Sebastian Etheridge (Cobbadah), coxswain: Henry Pitman (Moree).
Boys Second IV: Remy Taylor (Kentucky), James O'Brien (Gunnedah), Jack Sewell (Armidale), John Moore (Bourke), coxswain: Lily Etheridge (Cobbadah).
Boys Third IV: Lachlan Oates (Tamworth), Oliver Kearney (Coonabarabran), Joe Baker (Narrabri), Lucas Cotterill (Armidale) coxswain: Bronte Garcia (Armidale).
