CCBC - News - Admirals Regatta

Victory for CCBC in Admirals Regatta

18th-19th June 2001

Following the victories of Durham Regatta and the social excess which followed at the CCBC BBQ, the Collingwood crews had to apply themselves once again to the business of racing for the inaugural Admirals Regatta. Could this inter-collegiate event (split into Champs, Senior, Junior, Novice (fine) and Novice (restricted)) finally show who rules the roost in Durham?

Starting on Monday with the men's fours and the women's eights CCBC turned out in force. The men entered all categories with the exception of Champs - a group of Woodsmen from DUBC were due to enter, but had to pull out due to Henley training commitments. Men's Captain Neil Baldwin set the targets high for his squad; telling them all to win. The Senior 4+ won their category in convincing style brushing aside Trevelyan and Hatfield. The Junior 4+ who at Durham Regatta were runners-up on Saturday and winners on Sunday in Senior 3 showed that they were more than a match for anyone beating Castle to claim victory. The Novice (fine) crew beat two Van Mildert boats and Hatfield on their way to the final against Grey's 1st VI, in a replay of their first round at Durham Regatta. Whereas at Durham Regatta Collingwood won going on to win overall, this time Grey took the spoils in a revenge victory. The two restricted novice fours did not fair quite so well. Following their double celebrations at Durham City, Andy "Hairbrush" Benson's crew came up against a well drilled Hatfield crew in the quarterfinals and failed to progress any further after an exceedingly tight race. The second restricted 4+ lost to Van Mildert in the quarter-finals. The women's senior 8+ had to re-row their semi-final against St Johns after a controversial collision, but eventually took their place in the final where they avenged a previous defeat by St Aidans to collect more points for Collingwood. By this stage Collingwood held a large lead over Castle in the race to be crowed the premier college.

Tuesday brought the men's eights and the women's fours. The women's Senior 4+ showed they that just can't stop winning ending the CCBC career of Lucy Bamford with yet another victory. The other women's Senior 4+ reached the semi-finals losing out to St Aidans. The fine Novice VI finished as runners-up after dispatching Grad Soc and St Aidans, whilst the 2nd fine novice four lost out to Chad's in the quarter-finals. The men had decided to use the eights races as a way to wind down after a stressful year so the preparations began early - in the New Inn at about 11 am! The dress code for the day was hawaiian, with even Curly donning a hastily made grass skirt. So as not to let on to their opposition their race plan the crews rowed to the start in splash jackets, concealing the fashion tragedies beneath. Both crews were awarded false starts for "appalling dress sense" by Chief Regatta Official (and CCBC Captain) Rob Collings. The Novice eight (coxed by Neil Baldwin) took a leisurely pace probably setting the slowest time ever for the short course; needless to say they lost by a bit more than a canvas! The Senior eight took things slightly more seriously, beating Johns to set-up a final with arch rivals Castle, which after a hard-fought race they came out of as runners-up.

At the end of two days competition the medals and pots were handed out, and even though it looked as though there was a man yawning on one medal and a crew of eight dead people on another; the men and women of CCBC proved they were alive and kicking picking up the overall trophy - the Admirals Cup. So it is now official - with the Pennant Series and the Admirals Cup locked away in the trophy cabinet; CCBC - rulers of the Wear!

Rob Wilson

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