THERE’S an aura of confidence around the St Pat’s boat shed. 

That confidence could be all St Pat’s needs to return to its 2010 glory.

Tom Mooney, in stroke seat, has envisaged the victory  several times.

“It would be pretty surreal (to win). Everyone is roaring. It’s a pretty special moment and no one could take it away from you,” the 17-year-old said.

Mooney was in three seat for the 2013 firsts crew and can remember crossing the line third after High School and Grammar.

This year, he said, the crew had bonded through training, mutual trust and camaraderie.

Head of rowing John Cumper said tough decisions had to be made for the selection of the division one crew due to a talented pool of rowers to choose from.

THE RIVALS

HEAD of sport Chris Gleeson said there were no serious rivalries between schools, however Grammar was the crew to beat.

“Grammar has had the stand-out boats for the last few years, so everyone is chasing them,” he said. 

“The boys have continued to improve and develop and we are really happy with that.”

THE TRAINING 

IN the lead-up to the first week of the school year, the St Pat’s fleet embarked on its annual training camp to Sale.

Gleeson said the training regime had been fine-tuned and built upon from previous years.

“We’ve been going to Sale for a number of years and our program has been similar each time,” Gleeson said. 

“Although, they did have to cut it short due to the heat this year. We’ve been really happy with the way the boys have applied themselves. It’s fantastic.” 

THE FLEET

Gleeson said it wasn’t just the division one crew that would put on a show this year.

“We are really happy with our year 10 crews. They’ve been training really hard and the future looks pretty good for St Pat’s rowing,” he said.

St Pat’s has entered 15 crews this year, including four senior crews. 

Cumper chimed in on Gleeson’s view of the future of St Pat’s rowing.

“We’ve made some good progress this year, we’ve refined our recruiting and bettered processes,” Cumper said. 

“We’ve seen improvement right through each category and more targets have been achieved.

“We think we’ll be very competitive in the year 9, 10 and seniors crews. I guess it would be a good reflection on the hard work we’ve put in.”

THE SUPPORTERS

GLEESON said the school would love to see the boys make their mark in the history books, but it was all in the name of fun.

“You just want the boys to enjoy their row and, if they win, they win,” he said.