Update: March 2017
It's been a while since the last update. That's not because we forgot about you. (You know that would never happen). It's just because we've been so busy! Here are a few highlights, interspersed with random pictures from WeHoRR 2017...
This is the big one: we now have planning permission for a new boathouse on the site of the existing boathouse. It will of course be in keeping with the area. We love Damflask and probably spend more time there than anyone but the dam keeper, so the look and feel of the new building has been carefully considered. This project has been in the works for the last 2 years and we're now at the stage where we need to raise around £200,000 from various sources to fund the work. These are incredibly exciting times for us, and despite all the hard work the committee have put in so far much remains.
This year we've raced at Doncaster (the South Yorkshire Head), Nottingham and most recently the Women's Head of the River Race in London. We've had many wins at local regattas and heads in the last 12 months. At WeHoRR our women's crews placed 115th and 178th out of around 300 crews, with less than a minute between them.
In around 2 weeks time 2 men's crews will be racing at the men's Head of the River Race. Let's hope they can do us proud. No pressure.
The rec squad are still doing their thing. Last year they rowed to Leeds at a leisurely pace! Many locks were traversed. Much beer was drunk.
We're now at the stage where we could field 4 or 5 eights in a single head division, so it's time for us to look to expand our fleet. We've been borrowing boats from the universities and are incredibly thankful for their generosity. For the first time, both senior squads are big enough and active enough to put out two eights side by side. We are actively looking at buying a second eight and the committee has committed to a budget for a new boat.
We've discussed races, but what about training?
Strength and conditioning classes are going from strength to strength, with regular attendees now going to a new Wednesday morning class as well as the Monday evening class. Lee Rickards continues to invest his time in us.
Crew class has been a vast success with many of this year's novices attending. We thank Vicky McD for all of her hard work! Janet Vickers has worked tirelessly to make Thursday evening circuits a success.
We've attended various yoga classes over the last few months to improve our core strength and flexibility. Big thanks to Instinctive Health and Hot Yoga Sheffield for their wonderful workshops!
We held the AGM at the end of September 2016 and elected a new committee consisting of: Donald McDougall (Chairman), Stuart Mashford (Captain), Cat McDougall (Vice Captain), Kate Davies (Vice Captain), Claire Hinchliffe (Treasurer), Gareth Morris (Secretary), Liz Brown (Entries Secretary), Rosie Cowen (Membership), Meri Middleton and Georgie McCormick.
We also very recently welcomed onto the committee Alice Kearse as Welfare Officer and Mike Luckham as Safety Officer.
We've now opened an Instagram account and you should have noticed that our Twitter feed is still on the go. Keep an eye on those for daily updates!
I can't think of anything else to put just now. Hopefully updates will happen more regularly, and when they do they'll be better planned. See you at the dam!
All the best,
Gareth :)
