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12.15pm: By our calculations, Loreto and St Pat's took out the most races of the day, while Grammar and Clarendon scored the big ones.
Here's the rundown:
The big winners
- Clarendon: Girls Head of the Lake
- Grammar: Boys Head of the Lake
Number of races
- Loreto: 8
- St Pat's: 8
- Grammar: 6
- Clarendon: 3
- Ballarat High: 2
- Damascus: 1
12.08pm: Here's the full report for the Girls Open Division 1. Results: BCC, LC, BG, BHS. Time: 8 minutes, 29 seconds. The winning margin was 5.42 seconds.
12.07pm: Clarendon has taken out the Girls Head of the Lake!
12pm: Now it's time for the Girls race, and they're off!
11.58am: A massive roar from the Grammar cheer squad!
11.57am: Grammar won the Boys Open Division 1 race by 13.09 seconds on defending champions Ballarat High. Results: BG, BHS, SPC. Time: 7 minutes, 16 seconds.
11.54am: Grammar's Boys team have won the Head of the Lake!
11.53am: The Clarendon cheer squad have ditched a formal theme this year to dress up in Mexican outfits instead. Very colourful! Gav McGrath went to find out why:
Ballarat Clarendon College was positioned at the northern end of the spit, but the theme was very much "South of the Border".
Some schools have dispensed with a formal theme. College, however, adopted a Mexican vibe, complete with panchos and sombreros.
Year 12 student Jamilah said it was a popular choice.
"I'm not sure who had the original idea, but we voted it in," she said as a breeze threatened to send her broad brimmed hat into the drink.
So the traditional ring-a-roo chant had a fiesta feel about it.
Ole!
11.45am: OK, this is it! It's time for the big two events of the day, the Girls and then Boys Open Division 1 races! Stay tuned for results and pictures...
11.44am: The Girls Open Division 2 race was won by Loreto. Results: LC, BCC, DC, BG, BHS. Time: 8 minutes, 14 seconds.
11.37am: And it looks like the Spit Crew are doing their work! The Boys Open Division 2 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC, BG, BCC. Time: 7 minutes, 30.09 seconds.
11.35am: Our reporter Gav McGrath has spent some time with the cheer squads this morning to find out who's the loudest. No surprise, it's the St Pat's "Spit Crew":
To paraphrase a certain pop singer, it's all about the bass.
In the battle of the cheer squads, numbers help but a bit of depth of tone makes the real difference.
The three Catholic schools were based on the east bank of the course and while some of the chants were directed across to the three other schools, most of the banter went to and fro between Loreto College on the left, Damascus to the right, and St Patrick's College anchoring the middle.
The smallest contingent belonged to the relative newcomers in Damascus and they were frequently drowned out by their better established rivals.
Loreto certainly had the volume – helped in no small way by a megaphone and a score of whistles – and during the girls races they found their voice.
But absence of a baritone section meant it was all treble.
So the honours belonged to the Paddy boys, led by year 12 student Clay Raine.
Calling themselves the Spit Crew (it's not as gross as it sounds – they are named for the fact they are landed on a spit by the lake), they proudly declared they would never surrender, offered chant advice to their rivals from Damascus, and encouraged the Loreto girls to speak up.
"WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!" they declared.
It was a better year on the lake for St Pat's and that may have been reflected on the shoreline. But one suspects the Spit Crew would have been vocal regardless of the outcome.
Because, as they insist, "we are mental and we are mad".
11.32am: Our live results today are being provided by reporter Melanie Whelan who is by the finish line. You can also follow her updates on Twitter at @sportcourier.
11.30am: The Girls Open Division 3 race was won by Clarendon. Results: BCC, BG, LC, BHS. We don't have a time yet.
11.22am: There was a delay to the start of the 2000m races, but now they're under way. The Boys Open Division 3 race was won by Grammar. Results: BG, SPC, BCC (BHS ineligible). Time: 7 minutes, 56 seconds.
11.16am: And here are the St Pat's boys cheering on their teams!
11.12am: The Loreto cheer squad have plenty to celebrate this morning. Their school has taken out three of the four open division races so far and they're currently leading the way, along with St Pat's, with seven races overall.
11.01am: It's time for the top three open divisions. The races will now be over 2000m.
10.59am: The Girls Open Division 4 race was won by Loreto. Results: LC, BCC, DC, BG, BHS. TIme: 4 minutes, 16.18 seconds.
10.54am: The Boys Open Division 4 & 5 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC, BG (stroke, William Hillgrove), BG (stroke, Will Tol), BHS. Time: 3 minutes, 38.1 seconds.
10.53am: The Girls Open Division 5 race was won by Loreto. Results: LC, DC, BHS, BCC. Time: 4 minutes, 11.98 seconds.
10.45am: The open division races are under way. The Girls Open Division 6 & 7 race was won by Loreto. Results: LC(6), BCC(6), LC(7), BCC(7). Time: 4 minutes, 29.17 seconds.
10.37am: Phew! Time for a breather. We're 18 races down, with 10 left to go.
10.35am: And now the Boys Year 10 Division 1, which was taken out by St Pat's. Results: SPC, BCC, BHS, BG. Time: 3 minutes, 43 seconds.
10.32am: It's time for the big two Year 10 races! First up it's the Girls Year 10 Division 1 race, which was won by Ballarat High. Results: BHS, BG, LC, BCC. Time: 4 minutes, 17.03 seconds.
10.30am: Our reporter Gav McGrath just caught up with Kirk Baine, the piper at the head of the Damascus College cheer squad:
SCOTLAND the Brave was the anthem as the Damascus College cheer squad arrived at Lake Wendouree for the Head of the Lake regatta on Sunday.
And the lone piper Kirk Baine at the head of the column needed to be brave because he was immediately greeted by an entire St Patrick's College brass band.
But Kirk, in year 10 but originally from Glasgow, was not daunted even if he was heavily outnumbered.
"It was eight versus one but it takes eight of them to make the same noise," the 15-year old said.
"It's definitely a rush. I did it last year and (Damascus College head of sport) Mr Rea asked me to do it again."
Kirk has been in Australia for five years but has only been playing the bagpipes for three and a half. He's also part of the FedUni pipe band.
And as difficult as playing pipes is, he reckons rowing would be harder still.
"I couldn't row. I couldn't get up at 5am for the training," he said.
"Having said that, bagpipes is one of the hardest musical disciplines."
10.28am: The Boys Year 10 Division 2 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC, DC, BHS, BG, BCC. Time: 3 minutes, 50.17 seconds.
10.24am: The Girls Year 10 Division 2 race was won by Loreto. Results: LC, BHS, BCC, BG. Time: 4 minutes, 17 seconds.
10.20am: Well, we're exactly half-way through the 28 races of the day. Who's in front so far? Grammar and St Pat's have four wins each, Loreto has three, and Clarendon, Damascus and BHS have one each.
10.16am: The Boys Year 10 Division 3 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC, BCC, BG, BHS. Time: 3 minutes, 58.96 seconds.
10.13am: Phoenix P-12 came in fourth in the Girls Year 10 Division 3 race, which was won by Loreto. Results: LC, DC, BG, PCC, BCC, BHS. We don't have a time yet.
10.11am: Phoenix P-12 are about to make their Head of the Lake debut in the next race! Scroll down the blog to learn more about their team, or click here for the full story.
10.10am: The Boys Year 10 Division 4 & 5 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC(4), BCC(5), BCC(4), SPC(5), BG(4). Time: 4 minutes, 4 seconds.
10.09am: The Girls Year 10 Division 4 race was won by Grammar. Results: BG, BCC, LC, DC, BHS. Time: 4 minutes, 33.5 seconds.
10.06am: The Year 10 race results are coming in. Ballarat High has won the first race, the Girls Year 10 Division 5 & 6. Results: BHS(5), LC(5), LC (6), BCC(5). Time: 4 minutes, 33.59 seconds.
9.55am: Next up are the Year 10 races. During the break, our reporter Patrick Byrne got a look at the Ballarat High School chant sheet!
9.48am: Grammar has taken out the Boys Year 9 Division 1 race. Results: BG, SPC, BCC, BHS. Time: 3 minutes, 54 seconds.
9.43am: And now for the big two Year 9 races of the morning! Loreto has taken out the Girls Year 9 Division 1 race. Results: LC, BG, BHS, BCC. Time: 4 minutes, 15 seconds.
9.40am: The Boys Year 9 Division 2 race was won by Grammar. Results: BG, SPC, BCC, BHS. Time: 3 minutes, 55.79 seconds.
9.35am: The Girls Year 9 Division 2 race was won by Clarendon. Results: BCC, BG, BHS, LC. Time: 4 minutes, 41 seconds.
9.34am: The Boys Year 9 Division 3 race was won by St Pat's. Results: SPC, BG, BCC, BHS. Time: 4 minutes, 7.5 seconds.
9.32am: The Girls Year 9 Division 3 race was won by Damascus. Results: DC, BCC, LC, BG, BHS. Time: 4 minutes, 30.4 seconds.
9.29am: Danielle Gingell might look relaxed now, but she's starting to get "very nervous" ahead of her race with the Clarendon Girls Open Division 3 team later this morning at 11.15am. Good luck Danielle!
9.18am: First boys' race of the day with the Boys Year 9 Division 4 & 5, which goes to St Pat's. Results: SPC(4), BG(4), SPC(5), DC, BHS. Time: 4 minutes, 5 seconds.
9.14am: Next up it's the Girls Year 9 Division 4 race, which goes to Grammar. Results: BG, LC, DC, BHS, BCC.
9.10am: The first race of the day is over and won! Loreto take out the Girls Year 9 Division 5 & 6. Full order: LC(5), BCC(5), BCC(6), BHS(5), LC(6).
8.58am: Only minutes until the first race. Crowds are building, chants are loud and the atmosphere is electric. Clarendon, Grammar and Ballarat High School line the banks of the spit, while Loreto, St Pat's and Damascus are opposite.
8.55am: Phoenix P-12 Community College will be competing in the Head of the Lake for the first time this year with a team in the Girls Year 10 Division 3 race.
We caught up with Ally Dennis, Caitlin Ritchie, Abby Simpson, Holly Dawson and Mary Greed on Friday. You can read the story here. Their race starts at 10.05am.
8.45am: Crowds are gathering at Lake Wendouree for the Head of the Lake 2015. We'll be posting the result of each race, as well as photos and videos from the event, to this page throughout the day. Stay tuned!