Kayaking Record of the Year Report Spring 2006

Spring Term

A strong start to the term brought high hopes for DW Team success in 2006. The racing squad trained hard in extremely cold and adverse conditions. Unfortunately the three crew team was reduced to a two crew entry shortly before half term. Undeterred, advertisements were placed, and a third crew was created from two members of the cross country squad, in the form of Benjy and William. Benjy and William then embarked upon a rigorous four-week training programme, as neither had been in a kayak before. The determination and grit shown by these two young men was nothing short of spectacular. With the temperature hovering around zero, they would paddle, capsize, swim around for a bit, empty their boat and then paddle a bit further – starting the cycle of paddling and capsizing once again. Sometimes they paddled and capsized with other, more experienced, members of the team who gainfully and willingly joined them in the learning experience.

James Silcock, Edward Brimfield and Thomas Kelley were instrumental in the development of this third crew – providing them with encouragement and congratulation for their every success – in addition to the completion of their own exhaustive training regime. Unfortunately Nicholas Fisher Dodd was injured in the second half of term and was unable to train on the water. This situation was very frustrating for all concerned and Nicholas had to focus on cardiovascular land-based training at this important time.

Benjy and William competed at Waterside C with more experienced members of the team. This was a very steep learning curve with both crews doing very well considering the fact that this was only the fifth time that two of the paddlers had been in a racing kayak.

At Waterside D it was decided that James would race with Thomas, Edward with Mr Perkins (as Nicholas was still unable to paddle) and Benjy and William were to paddle together for the first time under race conditions. All crews did very well, with Benjy and William finishing in seven hours and five minutes – roughly an hour faster than they had expected.

Unfortunately unexpected illness prevented Benjy and William from competing at DW two weeks later, but their presence in the team and the contribution they made to team morale and cohesion will be remembered by the other team members and their coaches as symbolic of this year’s campaign.

 

The placings of crews in the Waterside and Thameside races are listed below:

Crew	Waterside Series				Thameside Series
	A	B	C	D	1	2
Thomas Kelley & James Silcock	5th			3rd
Nicholas Fisher Dodd & Edward Brimfield	7th
Thomas Kelley & Edward Brimfield		3rd			3rd	4th
Nicholas Fisher Dodd & James Silcock			5th			5th
Edward Brimfield & William Spratt			16th
Thomas Kelley & Benjy			32nd
William & Benjy				15th
James Lancaster & Scott Egelhoefer					10th

Devizes to Westminster

One hundred and twenty five miles in four days, racing for up to seven hours each day. The Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race is - almost without exception – the greatest challenge faced to date for every junior competitor. Bryanston competitors take two days to prepare boats and equipment before travelling to Devizes for the start of the race, early on Good Friday morning.

An excellent first day saw the Bryanston crews lying in 3rd and 7th places. These placings were retained for the next two days, although the time gap between crews remained extremely small. Low water levels on the Thames made the second and third days long and arduous, although light tail winds provided some respite on the long stretches.

The fourth day – a 17 mile sprint from Teddington down to Westminster – finally got underway at six o’clock in the morning with a mass start at Teddington. Bryanston crews initially took the lead, only to drop behind the leading wash group as they paddled through Richmond.

The Bryanston crews paddled under Westminster Bridge together, placed 4th and 7th.

Once again, a relatively young squad looks forward towards next Easter, with plans for Junior Team success.

Final results

4th place: Thomas Kelley and Edward Brimfield

7th  place: Nicholas Fisher Dodd and James Silcock

           

As always, the competitors were very actively supported by their parents and a number of Old Bryanstonians. I am extremely grateful for all of their help over the last term.

Simon Jones