I woke up early Friday morning to drive down to Henley for
my first race at 2:25pm. I raced to the scales to check my weight and when I saw
that they said 59.3kg I could have cried and ran away from the weekend
happening! I had been safely under 59kg all week so how that happened is a mystery!
Luckily for me my parents reassured me that by 12pm (weigh-in time) that weight
would have disappeared and I would be okay to race. Yes I was fine weighing in
at 58.8kg (phew). My first competitor was a local Upper Thames woman who was a
previous lightweight world champion in 1998 in a pair so my nerves were beyond
sky high, she clearly had a very good ability with rowing. I was suddenly on
the start line and in my zone to push, push and push against her. The trick at
this regatta is to dominant the race by getting ahead first and staying ahead. The
first 400m was very competitive and I am sure she wanted to break through the start;
I was not going to let that happen. With it being an instant knock event with
each race you had to win! I started to get past her and just kept pulling away
with the final verdict easy; I was through to the quarter finals J YES!
Rest and light food Friday night was the plan for me. I
was camping with my family at a nearby campsite so we headed back and I was
asleep by 10pm (even with kids yelling and the light sky coming through). I
woke up bright and early Saturday morning ready to get weighed in again at
8:30am and get racing! I was an eager beaver and just wanted to get out on the
water again. I passed weigh-in and before I knew it I was positioned on the
starting blocks and ready to fire my legs down and get ahead once again. I was
on fire and came out with another easy verdict; I was still yet to be pushed
for the entire 1500m race. That was the end of racing on Saturday for me so I rested,
ate light food (again) and watched some racing.
Sunday morning arrived and so far my weekend had gone to
plan; I had made the final days racing experience. I started stressing over my
weight again and just managed to scrape into the weight barrier…58.95kg. My
heart was beating so hard as being slightly over would be the end of the road
for me; I just managed it to my relief. Now I could eat and not worry about the
weight of the food, it was so much FUN J
my semi-final race was at 10:55am and I had another local Upper Thames woman to
race. This was a harder start but I got through and managed to stay ahead…I could
see the final race for sure happening when I had 500m left. Verdict 3 and a
half lengths, I had made the final! Rest and food for the following three hours
and then I was up and raring to race for the last time. I was against a Tideway
Sculler’s woman and took the same approach that I had done for my previous
three races…push hard from the start and do not let her catch me up! This was
the fastest and hardest start of the event for me and once I broke her (as I knew
if I was feeling pain she had to be too) I continued firing down the course until
I had a good enough lead. With 750m to go and in front of the crowd I got
caught by a gust of wind and caught a crab! Panic stressed all over me but I got
it back and fired away until I was happy again, she nearly passed me but I was
so determined not to let that happen. I couldn’t let myself lose due to the
wind catching me out. Before I knew it I was over the finish line and could declare
myself a Henley Women’s winner. I had just won the Fiona Denis trophy for the
Senior Lightweight Single Scull event, I was over the moon. I could not tear
the smile of my face J
I got changed into a dress and went down to the ceremony
for the winners. Here we were lucky enough to be presented our award from the legendary
female rower champion Katherine Grainger. This felt such a privilege and makes
you realise how big an event it was. We
drove home that evening and I went to bed smiling. I have had a great season
racing and loved every minute. It is now time for a little break and then back
into training for next season.
