Autumn/Winter Captain Update - December 2021
It has been a fantastically busy Autumn for TSS.
The gym and erg room have been well used and water training has been in full swing. There has also been lots of racing for many of the athletes with some first ever races for our younger Athletes and some standout results – see later.
We have also held two successful club tidy up days which included re-siting a boat rack and installing a new doubles rack as well as the usual “gardening” and sweeping – thanks to the many volunteers who came down. We will plan a next tidy up phase soon to smarten up the clubroom and “tame” the trestles with a new trestle rack system.
On the social front there has been a well-attended barbecue, a club quiz and looking ahead we are planning the Annual Club Dinner for 19th February, the invite is out! (Tickets can be purchased here)
On the water we ran our first All Club Rowing Event last weekend with the Christmas Pudding Races. Masterminded by Kieran and overseen by all our coaches there was a time trial from Brentford to TSS, followed by matched crews racing side by side from the white crane back to TSS. The side-by-side racing was very entertaining and full marks to Jonny Williams for “managing” the variety of crews. Over seventy athletes took part in all types of boats from singles to eights (and an oct) and the event was followed by festive food in the clubroom and awards for the time trial and fancy dress!
The TT results featured 4 squads in the top 5 crews and the pudding was won by the Claire Mc group’s mixed eight – congratulations!
Wishing everyone a calm and happy festive season,
Fiona Betts, TSS captain
“Thankyous…”
The club is run by volunteers and so many do bits and pieces behind the scenes. Thanks to everyone for supporting the club.
Particular thanks this year to Wendy Primmer. As kit secretary the process has been very difficult this year with suppliers closing for months due to Covid, challenges in kit distribution due to Covid led to Wendy offering a home delivery service. Amazing!
Also, to CL on her umpteenth iteration of organizing Capsize practice for the juniors.
Plus, Tatjana Mitevska for helping with junior race entries/payments.
And to Ash Brown and Anna Smart for helping Kirstyn run a very successful secondhand kit sale after the Christmas puddings.
Racing Summary
As well as several of our younger members racing for the first time the following results have meant a great start to the year…
Seniors
Basel Head - The SW achieved 3rd and 13th in the main head event and 6th and 17th in the sprint event against some top European Clubs.
Fours Head – SM placed 2nd in Ch 4x- and 3rd in Op Club 4x- SW placed 2nd in Ch 4x-
The seniors have also been well represented at GB trials five athletes trialing at Caversham this weekend.
The Junior Women had their best results at Fours Head with a 3rd place for the Junior 4+ and at Hampton Head with a 2nd place in the J17 1x and a 3rd in the J18 1x.
The Junior Men had their best result at Hampton Head with the J16 4x- placing second to a strong Windsor boys quad and a win for the J16 double. (see end for event report). This was supported by a great Teddington Head with wins for the J18 and J16 quads and a win for the J15 4x+.
Claire Mc group had great results at Fours Head with 2nd in Club 4- and at Vets Fours with 2nd in Op A 4x-
The Masters Men had wins at Weybridge Silver Sculls, Kingston Head, Teddington Head and Walton Small Boats Head
The Masters Women had wins at Scullers Head, Fours Head, Weybridge Silver Sculls, Kingston Head and Teddington Head.
Congratulations to all and good luck for the coming year!
If you have any photos of racing that you want to be featured in the updates, please send them to website@tidewayscullers.com and include the race, squad and result if applicable.
What have the exec committee been up to this Autumn….
1. Following a review of various admin systems in use in rowing clubs the exec has been looking to streamline some of the clubs admin by moving to Love Admin. This should make all club comms easier and streamline membership payments etc – more in the New Year.
2. Recruiting new volunteers for various roles in the club. We have welcomed Master’s Men Lasse and Mike as our new Boathouse Operations Leads. They will be planning future tidy ups and keeping an eye on external aspects of the club.
We have also welcomed Hamish as Clubroom Operations Lead, he is getting the bar running again (welcome back to the cheese and ham toastie!) and has plans to improve the clubroom and hopefully organize a redecorating team in the New Year. Hamish also oversees the cleaning supplies.
3. Reviewing and starting to update the website.
4. Updating our calendar system, moving to Asana.
5. Reviewing and updating membership procedures and junior fee structure to bring it in line with other successful junior programmes.
6. Getting a noticeboard for club events and timetables active downstairs. This will flag up race timetables for the club, upcoming socials, race events and results and the latest Club 30’R20 results.
7. Photos and job descriptions of our exec and coaches. During one of the tidy-up days, we were lucky to gain the services of a professional photographer and we now have new photos for the website and to put up at the club so everyone can start to recognize who is who and what they can help with. The photos should go up in the New Year.
Plus all the usual aspects of running a very busy and successful Tideway club (new memberships, fobs, calendar planning, insurances, social events planning, oversight of maintenance especially with our challenging roof/ difficulties of insurance managed by Hounslow council, leaking showers and taps)
Volunteers Wanted!
We plan to also post occasional volunteer requests on the notice board – do keep an eye out and if you have a bit of free time and would be happy to take on a project do let me know. Captain@tidewayscullers.com
The 100 Club – How it works and how to join
The TSS 100 Club is a monthly lottery that has been set up to raise funds for rowing equipment that will benefit all members of Tideway Scullers School.
Members purchase numbers at a cost of £5 which are entered into a monthly draw. Prizes are awarded as a percentage of the overall income, 10% of that month's income as first prize and 5% as second prize. So, the more members the bigger the prizes - and the more equipment we can buy for our squads!
The 100 Club has funded a Wintech quad, a set of Concept2 Skinny Sweep Smoothies, and two Wintech singles and most recently contributed towards the purchase of a much-needed lighter weight Hudson quad for our junior and masters’ women.
Joining the 100 Club is easy! Membership is open to anyone over the age of 16.
Currently, the 100 club has circa 30 regular contributors (less than 10% of the membership) so if you are not already contributing doing please join today, see the link here.
Many thanks for your future support.
Security and Fobs from Kirstyn
If you don’t have a security fob yet, please fill out the request form via the link below and pay the £15 deposit. Fob’s are only available for members so please make sure your membership is up to date before you submit your request. Any queries, please contact security@tidewayscullers.com
Click here for the Security Fob Request form
Report on JM at Hampton Head by Chris Williams
Hampton is almost a national event in its standard and a good first indication of who will do what next summer, especially in sculling events. The two J18 quads were 6th and 12th out of 22, both acceptable but not their best rows in either boat and this confirms where we are currently after our similar results in fours head.
The J16 quad was 2nd to a very strong Windsor Boys crew who have been the pace crew in this age group for the last year, a great result after only a short time together.
The J16 2x won beating a crew that beat them last time they raced at Weybridge.
The J16s are looking strong and with improvement to come.
Have a lovely Festive Season
& Happy Holidays from Red x