HEAD OF THE LAKE: Rivalry honed to fever pitch

BE TRUE to your school and let your colours fly is the message Ballarat rowers have been spruiking to their student bodies ahead of the annual regatta showdown -the Head of the Lake.Rowers are demanding vocal support to line the banks for what is expected to be tight racing on Geelong's Barwon River tomorrow .Limited access to water training means schools have seen little of each other leading into Ballarat Associated Schools' 96th Boat Race.In an added twist, The Hamilton and Alexandra College has been invited to field four crews among the year nine and 10 ranks. St Patrick's College will be hunting a four-peat for the Dowling Challenge Cup after edging Ballarat Grammar out by a canvas over the 1500-metre course in the firsts last summer.Grammar's Clive Fairbairn-Calvert and Jock Lawrence return to the boat stronger, more experienced and more determined to go faster. Both will again race from an outside lane.Ballarat Clarendon College firsts rowers Daniel Nielsen and captain Samuel Willersdorf will want to avenge a narrow loss to St Pats in their open division three race.An almost all-new Ballarat High School crew has kept a low profile.Coxswain Tessa Framauno is the only returning member to guide High's firsts and her experience will be crucial.St Patrick's College rowers traditionally dominate boys' events and will be vying to extend their hold on the premiership Harold Deveson Cup to a sixth year, a feat they last achieved through the 1990s.Grammar is a long established force in the girls' events.Crews, headlined by the defending Head of the Lake firsts, are seeking a 19th consecutive JH Netherway Cup for the girls' rowing premiership.Reigning girls champions Annie Armstrong, Alana Heinz and coxswain Paige Mackay are back in the Grammar boat, with added height in Norah Finn and Maddie Fry to loom as a threatening force on the water.College, second by 1 1/2 lengths last year, is hungry to take Grammar's crown with a near-new crew.Ballarat High School 's Sarah Pollard and Annie Bentley have been in the premier race before.They will lead High School's charge for its first girls' Head of the Lake title since 1991.Loreto College also sports experience in returning firsts Teagan Boadle and Laura Kavanagh for their school's third year back in the Patterson Shield stakes.All crews have cited inconsistent performances leading into the event, but say the Boat Race is where it counts.