Free Spirits Rowing

Yes good luck all of you !!!

Very best of luck to you all!

I need a sit down ...

You must be over the moon - well done Guy.

Congratulations!!!! Well done Guy!!

Altogether a pretty good showing for Free Spirits today I reckon. Great performances by Max and Felton, it was great watching their race.

Just back home after attending the Scottish champs. Firstly, it was great to meet up with Guy and Max, it made the day infinitely better to be a member of a team and it was nice to speak face to face with people you have only known 'virtually' before.
The venue was a kind of multipurpose sports facility with various halls for football, badminton etc, with the hall we were in set up with two rows of 15 ergs with a large screen behind and bleachers on 3 sides. It was very intimate, with the competitors much closer to the audience than most indoor races apparently.
I got there around 9am and almost immediately bumped into Guy who was able to ease my nerves a little with some of his words of wisdom. I then settled into the stands to take in some of the early action. The first races were all the youngsters from about age 13 up. It was hugely impressive to see their ability at such young ages with some really nice technique on show.
After the juniors I got to see Guy in action in the 1k and what a performance! He was very controlled throughout and didn't go out too hard being in about 2nd or 3rd at halfway but after that he blew everybody away and finished with a 3:07, a new pb
It was now getting close to my race and I got to meet Max as well who would be racing at the same time. It definitely helped to have someone to talk to before the race to ease the nerves a little.
The race itself is a much different experience than sitting in the gym and dialling up a 2k. On the monitor you have information showing your current pace and SPM in the top half and the bottom half shows your position in the race. I have to say I found it much harder today in the race than I have recently in the gym. I finished with a season's best of 6:48.5 so all in all pretty happy with that for a first go. Max managed a pb with 6:50.3 and sneaked into the bronze medal position by 0.1s - a great effort and well deserved.
Finally, just before I had to get home managed to catch Guy's second race, the 500m. Another hugely impressive performance leading from start to finish for his second gold of the championships
I think I will definitely come back next year and may also have a go at the British or Welsh champs as well if I'm feeling keen!

~-*Congratulations*-~

to all of you, great rows and i guess great experiences earned which wont get out of your memory for a long time !

Respect, Brave, Hats off !

Well done gentlemen!!
Congrats!

After reading these reports I feel even a bigger urge to participate in an indoor racing event.

Would love to try BRIC as many from Norway are going and it would be nice to meet them. But the date really does not fit for me.

Now I am wondering whether I should sign up for the European Championship in Copenhagen. Not that I would have a chance, but for the experience

Or maybe I should try the event in Germany to meet Peter and hopefully other FreeSpirits.

Looking forward to hear reports from other race event!

Bravo! Bonny lads!

Not confirmed yet Tako (but really needs to be asap):
Accommodation is free is required...

Tako, we went last year in order to cheer on Plummy - I think that Guy was there as well, although we didn't realise it at the time.

Next year, weather permitting, we would certainly try our best to come along and support any competing Free Spirits.

sounds like a good idea! Will consider it!!

Congratulations, fantastic racing from three of you. I hope I will see all of you at BRIC in a few weeks time.

I am planning to attend the European Championships in Copenhagen Tako. I know there are a few other Norwegians planning to go as well.

All three of you are an inspiration for the team

Hi - I just signed up with Free Spirits after attending the Scottish Rowing Indoor Champs yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot (despite the inevitable nerves), partly because of the friendliness of the competitors. It was great to chat with other indoor rowers, including Guy (amazing performances btw), who recommended Free Spirits to me. I'm hoping I can use this club to motivate my (previously solitary) training.

Welcome! I thought I spied a new LWT on the ctc.

Great to have you on board Paul and congratulations for your medal at the championships

Congratulations to you all for your great performances and thank you for the write up!

Paul, great to have you in the team!

Does anyone know if the results will be uploaded to the rankings and if so are they linked to your logbook or should I manually enter my 2k time?

What a fantastic day and it was great to meet Felton and Guy who were both great company. My wife and in-laws were also there to cheer me on and it was good to have lots of support. We had visited the venue on Friday when the Schools event was on which meant I knew the journey and venue layout and that certainly helped in reducing nerves on race day.

I arrived just in time for Guy's first race and he must have wondered who was shouting support right in front of his erg. At one point I was actually worried I might be putting him off! For a while it seemed like a close race but then Guy just upped his pace and he made it look ridiculously easy. Fantastic rowing and racing and it was clear he was always in control. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for his second race but I'm not surprised he led from start to finish. Well done Guy.

Felton and I were rowing at the same time. He posted a great time which would have been good enough for bronze last year but the competition in his category was really tough. In terms of my race it was an absolute blur. My plan was clear... 1.40.6 after 200m, settle at 1.44.0 for the race then wind it up to 1.43.0 with 600m to go, 1.42.0 with 400m to go and sprint the last 200m at 1.40.0 or better. This would give a PB of 6:52.0. Hopefully the splits will be published but with adrenaline pumping I think I went out faster than planned and never looked back. I didn't look at the bottom half of the monitor but I knew it was close because I could hear the commentator saying my name and how close the race was. That was a new and rather strange experience. Apparently, for most of the race there were 5 of us within 6 meters! The last few hundred meters seemed to just disappear in no time at all. From the average pace I knew I was quick but I was so knackered I don't think I managed much of a sprint and forgot to look at my actual time at the end. All I heard was the commentator saying "silver for MacLaren" and something about 0.1 of a second. So initially I thought I was second and it was only talking to Guy and Felton later that I realised it was bronze by 0.1 of a second. Not that it made any difference because I was absolutely delighted. I smashed my PB by 2.4s with a time of 6:50.3 and won a medal which was one of my goals for the year.

Actually it's the first medal I've won in my life and I'd like to say a huge thank you for your inspiration, motivation and support because I couldn't have done it without you

Caratacus wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:54 am Does anyone know if the results will be uploaded to the rankings and if so are they linked to your logbook or should I manually enter my 2k time?

Last year I'm pretty sure that they were not automatically loaded which is odd as they are for BRIC. Anyway I've added mine manually for now as it's easy enough to delete if needed.

Welcome Paul, I'm guessing this is you. Great result!