Ballarat Grammar’s firsts rowers may be younger than many of its opponents, but it is prepared to be “uncomfortable” in its pursuit of Head of the Lake success.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Rowing director Sam Pullin said the group had spoken about the need to push through the pain in order to match it with some of the experienced boat sheds.
“You’ve got to prepared to put yourself in a fair bit of pain and be fairly uncomfortable to put your best result forward, we’ve talked about that (with the group) and they’re prepared to put themselves in an uncomfortable position and put their best race forward,” Pullin said.
Ballarat Grammar has not raced in as many regattas as it would’ve liked in the lead-up to Sunday’s event, but Pullin said the development through training had been promising.
As is the case with all schools, technique had been put at a premium. Pullin felt the signs of improvement had been evident in the most recent regatta.
“It’s always better to race more, but through circumstances we haven’t had the chance to attend as many regattas.
“I feel really confident with the group, especially over the last couple of weeks where we’ve done a bit more racing I think we’re in a pretty good spot.
“We’ve had a big focus on our technique, trying to improve our efficiency with the stroke, some of those things they’ve taken on, some of those things will take a bit more time.
“You could definitely see the technical things had stuck and improved and there’s more to go with it but they’re definitely heading in the right track.”
Pullin said a competitive display was a must from both crews, but he was realistic in the fact that this group’s best results will most likely come next year as they work towards the boat sheds peak.
“You always want to go out there and be as competitive as possible, it’s one of those days where it can throw anything at you and you’ve go to be prepared for that.
“With a young group, maybe we’re not as far through the group as we’d like to be but we’ve got two years with them so there’s an opportunity to really make a stand in the second season.”