Head of the Lake: High confident of success

AN EVEN build-up has Ballarat High School confident that if it performs on the day it can give the Head of the Lake a real crack."Every regatta we go to there seems to be a different result each week," said director of rowing Dean Collishaw."It all comes down to who steps up on the day."It has been a decade since the boys' crew last won the big race and you have to look back to 1991 for when the girls last tasted glory.That year they not only won the Head of the Lake, but the premiership as well.The boys have not had a premiership since 1987.But girls coach Peter Jeffery said the evenness in preparation could see the drought broken, especially for his own team."The girls should be interesting because everyone's beaten everyone during the season," he said."I'm looking forward to the outcome because it's probably as open as it's been." He added it was the first year that none of the crews had rowed on Lake Wendouree.THE FIRSTSTHE girls crew has two remaining members from last year, while the boys have only one.Girls Captain of Boats Sarah Pollard moves from bow to stroke, while both coxes - Tessa Fraumano in the boys and Annie Bentley in the girls - also return.Both Pollard and Boys Co-captain of Boats Darcy Brown said the firsts were gelling nicely. "The new crew's going well. It will be nice to have a crack with a new crew and see if we can go better than last year's third," Pollard said.While a lack of experience may count against High School, it also means it is an unknown quantity.Three seat Sarah Robinson makes her Head of the Lake debut in just her second season of rowing. Brown said the season had allowed new friendships to form."We're rowing pretty well together," Brown said."We all get along well. We just all love it. We're all good mates. "I hardly knew (James) Lukich at the start of the season and I'm rowing with him now." He said Fraumano, with her experience from last year, was a key member of the crew. "It also helps she's a girl, she's a bit more switched on than the boys," Brown said.And while the four boys were all debuting in the big race, Brown and co-captain Zac Moore raced together last season, as did Joe Clements and Lukich."It's been pretty close all year. Different crews have won different races," Brown said."On the day it will be the best crew that wins. It will be right down to the line."THE TRAININGHIGH SCHOOL has been working hard towards Boat Race, travelling to Nagambie, Geelong and Melbourne. It also had two rowing camps over the holidays."Everyone's just been working really, really hard and they all know what they want to achieve come Boat Race, so we've just been working towards that," Collishaw said."We've been trying to keep a fairly steady routine. "We're not doing anything different and we will continue to do that right up to the race.''Brown said a lot of work had also been put in on "ergos", as well as plenty of weight sessions.THE RIVALSAS THE only public school at Boat Race, High School's rival is simple. Everyone else.THE FLEETHIGH SCHOOL'S chances in the premierships will be affected by a depleted number of crews.Coach Jeffery said not only had the constant travel reduced numbers but the number of students getting part-time work after school had also taken its toll.But he said the crews they did have had the potential to bring home some silverware."(We're) pretty consistent across all crews. If we perform on the day we will be up there on the day," Jeffery said.He also said the main races might not provide the best finish, suggesting the boys seconds could prove to be the "closest race of the day".THE SUPPORTERSqlWITH the races predicted to be tight, High School will be hoping its supporters can prove to be the "fifth oar" for all its crews.Pollard was confident "most of the school" was getting behind them.And Brown agreed."Since (the start of) this year, everyone's started talking it up a bit," he said."Everyone's asked me how we're going to go and I say, `Come along and find out'." You might just be surprised.