Great Scot 168 May 2023 Great Scot 168 May_2023_ONLINE V2 | Page 56

SPORT
SCOTCH ROWERS RACE WELL AT HEAD OF THE RIVER AND AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

ROWING SUCCESS AT NAGAMBIE AND IN PERTH

TOP : THE 1ST VIII FOLLOWING THEIR SUCCESS AT THE HEAD OF THE RIVER . LEFT TO RIGHT : SAM SPEED ( BOW ), CAMPBELL FINDLAY , JOSH MITCHELL , JAMES SIMPSON , ALEX MARRO , BEN MARCHANT , HARRISON CAMERON , WILL COWAN , MAXWELL FINDLAY ( COXSWAIN ). PHOTO : MICHAEL SIM (’ 78 ). ABOVE : THE 1ST VIII RACING IN THE HEAD OF THE RIVER FINAL . RIGHT TO LEFT : SAM SPEED ( BOW ), CAMPBELL FINDLAY , JOSH MITCHELL , JAMES SIMPSON , ALEX MARRO , BEN MARCHANT , HARRISON CAMERON , WILL COWAN , MAXWELL FINDLAY ( COXSWAIN ). PHOTO : MICHAEL SIM (’ 78 ).
In the Head of the River , held for the 155th time on Saturday 25 March , the Scotch 1st VIII controlled the final from start to finish , winning in a time of 6.12.89 in crosswind conditions . Wesley College was second , 1.60 seconds behind Scotch , with St Kevin ’ s College a further 5.71 seconds from second place . The Wesley eight put in a gallant performance after being fifth through the first 500 metres , briefly taking the lead around the 1500m mark , before the Scotch crew countered with a burst to the line .
With the 2023 victory , Scotch has now won the Head of the River 16 times since 2004 ; 16 titles in the past 19 attempts , with the 2020 crew undefeated when the regatta was not held .
The 1st VIII rowed in the boat christened Tom Bowen . Over the season the crew was rarely bested in this boat . Mr Tom Bowen served on the Scotch teaching staff for 29 years , from 1991 until his retirement in 2019 . From 2001 until his retirement he was Teacher-in-Charge of Rowing . Tom brought strong organisational skills and a calm demeanour to the Boat Club , and in many ways he was the foundation of the outstanding success which saw the
Scotch 1st Crew win the Head of the River 14 times in the 20 years in which he was TIC . Tom died on 5 June 2022 .
The 2023 crew was Maxwell Findlay ( coxswain ), Will Cowan ( Stroke ), Harrison Cameron , Ben Marchant , Alex Marro , James Simpson ( Captain of Boats ), Josh Mitchell , Campbell Findlay ( Vice Captain of Boats ) and Sam Speed ( Bow ). The crew was coached by Archie Gill (’ 20 ) and Kemble Edelsten (’ 90 ), with assistance from Tom Woodruff .
The crew contained brothers Maxwell ( Year 10 ) and Campbell Findlay ( Year 12 ). While the Strang brothers Ben (’ 21 ) and Henry (’ 22 ) rowed in the 2021 first crew and the Emmett brothers Angus (’ 17 ) and Marcus (’ 19 ) in the 2017 first crew , this was the first time in recent years that one brother held the position of coxswain and one rowed .
The 2nd VIII finished their season with their best performance , rowing the second half of the race strongly to finish their A final in second place behind a very good Xavier College crew , who also beat their own Xavier 1st VIII on time . The 3rd VIII was fourth in the
54 Great Scot Issue 168 – May 2023