As you are all aware James Foad has been training very hard with the national squad and was selected to represent his country in the Mens Eight event at all three World Cup regattas earlier this year. He and his crew finished the series as the overall winners of that class and helped the GB Team secure a third successive World Cup Team Trophy.
James has very kindly framed and donated his yellow jersey, which the crews leading their class during the World Cup regattas wear, to the club and has written a message of thanks to the club for the support we have given him over the years. It’s a very generous gesture on his part and one which the club should accept with pride. No doubt it will be given pride of place in the club lounge.
It has also been confirmed that James will retain his place in the Mens Eight crew representing GB at the World Championships being held in New Zealand in October. I’m sure we will all be watching foe his event on T.V. and wishing him the very best of luck.
Another good year for the club with a total of 32 wins and four aggregate trophies achieved through the year. Tom Foad and Mark Wardell are the H&D Mens Senior Pairs champions and Jess Bull the H&D Womens Junior Sculls champion. Mark has now won H&D Championship medals in fours, pairs and sculls, a notable achievement. The club had a very successful South Coast Championship Regatta at Wimbleball Lake where there were strong results for both the Senior and Junior squads. The Mens Senior A crew put in a storming finish to win the Open Senior event and Jess Bull and Kirsty McGregor-Ritchie clinched the J18 Double Sculls event.
The Club Annual general Meeting will be held in the club lounge on Saturday 23rd October. The meeting will start prompt at 7.00p.m. and will be followed by a Quiz in which everyone is invited to join. Teams can be formed on the evening or organise your team before the day.
The H&D Presentation Dinner and Dance will be held at the Novotel on Saturday 6th November. Tickets cost £25.50. We have two H&D Championship trophies to collect so every reason to attend. Please complete and hand to me the attached booking form by Monday 25th October. Ticket orders must be accompanied by your payment. Cheques payable to Itchen Imperial RC.
Thanks to a lot of hard work by Jackie you can now order your club rowing clothing and kit directly from Godfrey Rowsports. Log onto their website at www.godfrey.co.uk, select Club Kit Pages from the home page and then Itchen Imperial RC from the drop down. There are three pages of kit to chose from including All in Ones, Splash tops, Polos, leggings and hats to name a few. Add it to ‘your favourites’ web site list. Although you can order any item at any time, as usual, the bigger the order the supplier receives the cheaper the garments become. So a deadline for orders can be financially beneficial. With that in mind the first deadline for orders is the 30th November so get online and place your order by then.
A reminder to you all that we still have a supply of Club Tee Shirts for sale - £15 for two - an absolute bargain if there ever was one! See following as to why rowing members should have one and parents; show your support by buying and wearing one.
Congratulations to Jackie Wardell for successfully completing her Level 3 Rowing Coaching qualification and to Kerry Wardell, Paul Joyce and Jo Fuccio for obtaining their Level 2 coaching qualification. Coaching courses are held fairly regularly in the Wessex region so if you are interested in attending a course please let me know.
Despite training and racing throughout the summer, progress has continued on re-furbishing our clubhouse. Chris has completed covering the flat roof, the lounge has been painted although is still to be completed and the beer cooler has been covered. The shed is finished and is providing so much needed secure and weatherproof storage space. The project continues with the following still to be tackled:
It seems that you all found your 2010 club calendar useful this year as I have been asked to produce another for 2011. I hope to have them produced and ready for sale before Christmas.
Winter is fast approaching and with it the increased prospect of bad weather and rowing conditions. Please take extra care when using club equipment and look after it:
We are required to report any accident we have, or any potential accident, to British Rowing. It may be a capsize, it may be a collision or near collision with another boat or object, you may bang your head in the boathouse or stub your toe on an ergo. Whatever it is needs to be reported. You can do this yourself directly by using the British Rowing website www.britishrowing.org or you can write it in the Incident Log Book kept in the passage to the Men’s changing room or inform me, your coach or a committee member. If you are in any doubt about whether you think an incident or accident needs to be reported then please ask.
Please remember that I keep a database of membership details so if your details change please let me know or email me at gary.joyce4@ntlworld.com
Gary. October 2010