St Patrick’s College has enjoyed a stellar preparation to Sunday’s Head of the Lake following a host of impressive results in lead-up regattas.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The boys’ firsts rowing crew has delivered a number of top two finishes across 1500m and 2000m at the Ballarat, Barwon and Head of the Schoolboys regattas. Undoubtedly confidence is high within the boatshed, but rowing director Brendan Scott is simply making sure his charges stick to the process.
“We have faith in our process and we are confident we are going to have a good day,” Scott said.
“Preparation’s been pretty good. We’re going along pretty well, happy with our progress.”
St Patrick’s College has not won the Head of the Lake since 2010 and Scott was eager to change that.
Fitness and technique has been high on the training agenda, with Scott believing anything the group may lack in strength, it will make up for with supreme technique.
“We’re trying to rectify that (lack of ultimate success).
“We’ve done a lot of fitness work this year. We’ve also put a lot of emphasis on technique because physically we lack a bit of strength. But we’re trying to get an advantage through technique.”
St Patrick’s College captain of boats Xavier Schuurs said the boys’ firsts crew were “something special” and was keen to see how they fared on Lake Wendouree this weekend.
Schuurs, a member of the seconds crew, said the whole shed had been working well together in order to achieve the success it desires.
“It’s been a great year for the boatshed, this year especially, I think all the boys are excited for the boat race, especially the ones crew given how strong they are,” Schuurs said.
“Just perfecting what his vision is for the boatshed and making that happen in the boat – that’s been the main priority. I think the whole shed is excited to see what they can do on boat race day.”
The St Pat’s boys and are widely-regarded as the crew to beat come Sunday morning, but all schools know that anything can happen on race day and any minor distraction could spell the end to St Patrick’s College’s return to the top.