Kasia takes an early lead in her first ever single race
by Mette Rodgers
Six Tradesmen crews took part in the annual regatta at Twickenham on 25 May – and there were plenty of positive takeaways after an exciting day of racing. Not least an impressive quarter final win by Kasia Wroblewska in her first ever single race against Kingston RC in the Masters C/D 1x event.
It was also the first time Kasia had to get her boat onto a stake boat at the start, and due to a strong current pulling the boats towards the bank, lining up took a while for many participants.
For Kasia, however, that stress was turned into positive energy.
“Because it took me a while – it felt like eternity – I got rather stressed, so when we started off, I found myself unable to slow down the rate. I rowed like a Duracell bunny trying to get to the end as quickly as possible. When I got to the finish, I was grateful, relieved, moved, and utterly spent,” Kasia explained after the race.
However, there was no time to rest on her laurels – after the row back to the boating area, she found her Mortlake Anglian & Alpha semi-final opponent ready to get onto the water.
“I realised that I had to repeat the ordeal pretty much straight away. There was no time to get out of the boat and rest.”
Nevertheless, Kasia went on to give her semifinal opponent a close race, but in the end just lost out on a place in the final.
At this point, Kasia had already been down the 850 meter race course twice, as she was also part of a women’s quad, while her opponent was given a bye to the semifinal so benefitted from having fresh legs.
(L-R) Kasia Wroblewska, Mette Rodgers, Barabara Kielim and Jacqui Sutherland after their race
It was indeed a day of firsts for Kasia, as she also had her debut bow-steering the women’s quad in the Masters D/F 4x category – although nobody would have known it was her first race in that seat, as she skillfully steered clear of the hanging branches along the banks of the course.
The TTRC women’s quad – which also consisted of Mette Rodgers in the stroke seat, Barabara Kielim and Jacqui Sutherland – was off to a good start and kept a consistently high rate against the stream but Mortlake’s experienced squad proved too strong. They went on to win the final.
“Saturday’s races, both in the quad and the single, were challenging but exhilarating at the same time,” Kasia said after a tough but fun day racing.
“Rowing a single is a very different experience as you have nobody else to rely on once you are in the boat on the water; you are up against the elements, the course and yourself – you feel very exposed.”
A strong debut in the Men’s Pair race by Men’s Captain Nathan Goodman and Jonathan Geitner
In the afternoon, TTRC saw another debut when Men’s Captain Nathan Goodman and Jonathan Geitner competed for the very first time in a Men’s Pair race. They were off to a strong start and showed good promise by giving their Auriol Kensington opponent a close race. Auriol later won the final of the Open 2- category.
The two TTRC rowers had already been down the course once, when they competed in the Masters C/D/E 4- category along with Jay Sitaraman and Zak Henshaw-Keene in the morning. Another competent TTRC performance.
The TTRC ‘Vets’ looked strong but their opponent’s head start proved too hard to catch up.
Tim Primmer and Anthony McManus kept a good pace throughout the race
The TTRC ‘Vets’ – (L-R) Chris Tidmarsh, Paul Arnold, Kim Williams and Philip Hindley – took on Reading RC in the Masters F/G 4- category in a very close race. And Tim Primmer and Anthony McManus gave a strong Bentham BC double good competition in the Masters F/G/H 2x event.
Jonathan somehow managed to get the enormous trailer with all the boats down the footpath by Ham House
However, it was not to be for TTRC at Twickenham. It was nonetheless a great ‘away day’ for the 15 Tradesmen – including coach Woody – who met at 6.30am at the UL Clubhouse to help connect the enormous trailer to the truck, before Jonathan took on the daunting task of driving it to Twickenham and down the narrow footpath by Ham House, where vegetation had to be flattened to make space for it.
Getting race ready
(L-R) Jacqui, Jay, Kasia and Barbara studying the opposition
It was a bit of a squeeze – to say the least – but it was also an extremely idyllic spot with a beautiful view of Richmond Hill. The sun was shining brightly, making it a pleasure to spend the day on the river bank, cheering each other on.
Barbequed meat, ice creams and cold drinks may have been consumed.
Coach Woody came for the day to show support for the TTRC crews
Barbara and Nathan were ready to help Kasia out of the boat after her races
The crews also displayed great team spirit by helping each other out getting boats and blades to and from the boating area, as well as de-rigging and loading the trailer before heading back to the club.
“It was very comforting to have my TTRC friends helping. At some point I felt like a Formula 1 driver at a pitstop: one person was taking my wellies off, someone else was putting my blades in, another person was making sure I stayed hydrated – I’m grateful for their support,” Kasia said about the help from her teammates.
“We all had a great day rowing and co-operating, cheering each other on and mingling with people from other clubs. Rowing really is the ultimate team sport, as Woody would say.”
A sentiment echoed by Anthony afterwards: “No pots today but great representation from our club and good bantz during the day.”
