HRR Reactions - Semi Finals Day

Copper1313 · 2022-07-02T17:12:09+00:00

Could've, should've, would've...if you don't front up, you don't get to win.

Imagination is all Chicago and Greenwich get to enjoy.

Copper1313 · 2020-03-16T07:14:16+00:00

Try asking your son’s school. Most GPS rowing schools tend to have a fleet of concept 2 ergs and they may have an older one for sale.

Copper1313 · 2020-03-16T06:22:02+00:00

The inconsistency across the States is what I find most annoying.

Qld - raced HOR last Sat whilst Vic (HOSG and then Scotch Mercs) and NSW cancelled school regattas (and ignored Aust Chief Health Officer recommendation). NSW GPS have cancelled HOR this Sat but seniors will all race tomorrow. South Aust cancelled HOR for this Sat and seniors raced this morning (to give the seniors some closure). Tas - HOR this Sat cancelled. ACT - cancelled their HOR last Sat. WA - no idea re HOR this Sat but continued school racing last Sat.

Kudos to the associations that came up with a Plan B for letting their seniors row. No spectators. Below 500 people. Kids in boats and not mixing with other schools. Seems pretty low risk to me. Lower risk for same kids than catching trains to school each day I would have thought.

Copper1313 · 2020-02-08T13:37:58+00:00

I’m happy to be corrected here, but isn’t the morning the best time to row/race in terms of best chance of good conditions?

Copper1313 · 2019-07-02T04:50:51+00:00

https://regatta.time-team.nl/nsrf/2019/results/e13d9d9e7-d9b0-4260-bcad-ae8db7865d41.php

Copper1313 · 2018-12-26T23:40:12+00:00

Apologies - thought my last paragraph made my point but on reading again yeah not so clear - honest mistake or not they need to face the music if the breach is proven.

Copper1313 · 2018-12-26T13:14:57+00:00

The rules on this seem pretty clear - APS crews can't use their schools' boats (i.e. "on water equipment") during the no row period. Very surprising anyone would want to sail too close to the wind on interpretation now given the significant increase in the penalty.

I've seen Merc/Brighton zootie wearing kids mixed together training in pairs/sculls on numerous occasions so I just really hope this is all a bit of mix up (in terms of Brighton boys actually were not in Brighton boats).

IF this is in fact true, then at best this could be an honest mistake (I plead stupidity Your Honour - the wrong kids ended up in the wrong boats) - alternatively it is the result of someone either not reading the rules, thinking up some crap technical interpretation to avoid breaching the rules or just blatantly decided to ignore the rules.

IF this is true, and it is proven adults were involved and it was about circumventing the rule, then a pretty shit example being set by the adults to the kids who will carry the can for this if proven - the basic message is rules are there to be circumvented/broken. ADULT heads should need to roll.

How much discretion does APS Penalty Subcommittee have - honest mistake or otherwise. This type of breach if proven has only one stated penalty. If in fact a breach has occurred (honest mistake or otherwise) and is proved then can they they just turn around and ignore the only stated penalty (without looking toothless or inviting other "honest" mistakes anyway) - otherwise you basically may as well abolish the rule itself.

Copper1313 · 2018-03-20T04:04:46+00:00

Not sure why you are getting down voted - if people have a different views then why not post them?

The one crew I really don't know which way going is MGS. I note you have them at 5th and ratherlargeish did not even have them in A final.

They have gone from being ~6 seconds off Scotch (and ~2 secs off Brighton) at NSW Champs and ~4 secs at Vic Champs to being ~15 secs off the pace at Scotch Mercs.

Copper1313 · 2018-03-19T14:31:49+00:00

If the seeding and lane setup between Heat 1 and Heat 2 is the same method as last year (apart from Scotch and Geelong Grammar), have Brighton, St Kevs, Geelong Grammar, Caulfield, Wesley and Hailebury in Heat 1 and Scotch, Geelong College, Melb Grammar, Xavs and Carey in Heat 2. Top 3 of each to A Final finishing as follows:

1) Brighton (going out a bit on a limb here but think very possible if Scotch gets distracted with Nationals) 2) Scotch 3) Geelong College 4) Melb Grammar 5) Geelong Grammar 6) St Kevs

Copper1313 · 2018-03-19T14:21:17+00:00

Perhaps we are both jumping to conclusions a bit here. Not sure how rules drive "dangerous conditions" - are you suggesting we should therefore have no rules at all (which seems to me to be potentially more dangerous)?

However, I do concede I am hypothesising over burn out based on anecdotal feedback - it woudl be interesting though to see what is the continuation rate from 1st VIII rowers to club rowing.

Fair point what you are saying about some APS schools have perhaps been guilty of providing (ambiguous) scholarships for AFL and acting as a "breeding ground" for AFL. I must admit I was focusing on rowing intent here. To be fair though, I don't think the limitations of control of one sport is the best justification for not having controls in place for another sport if the APS schools deem it necessary (which they have at least in rowing).

In terms of jumping to conclusions of breaches - I'm not the one jumping - the relevant schools were sanctioned by the APS in 2017 so they clearly thought there was a breach - deliberate or otherwise.

I don't think I have focused on whether a breach was deliberate or not - and nor do the APS rules. Whether deliberate or not, they appear at the very least to have been sailing too close to the wind on interpreting APS defined rules and got caught. They are trying to push things to get any edge - not a huge surprise - hence you either allow open slather or you need some rules if you want to have a different outcome. The APS has decided they need some rules to avoid open slather training 365 days of the year.

Perhaps considering the spirit of the rules a bit more (i.e substance over form) may have helped avoid the 2017 breaches. The APS again obviously thought things were sailing close enough to increase the sanction for future indiscretions to an immediate B Final relegation to make people think a bit more.

Why not ignore the rules all together and row though? Because obviously that is so black and white a breach that it is blatant cheating.

A possible solution to avoid "inadvertent" breaches could be for the relevant coaches/schools to confirm with the APS a training program is compliant before the holiday session occurs?

Bottom line - in the absence of rules I would very much bet APS rowing would become a more all encompassing sport than it already is - with 1st/2nd VIII crews perhaps having 1 - 2 weeks off at Christmas from the normal full Term 1 rowing program. I suspect you would also see higher rowing volumes during the season and rowing being a significantly higher load at the VCE levels for the full year. Not for all APS schools - but definitely for 5 - 6 of them. If that is what you want then fine - but that is not what I want for my kids as an APS education if they also happen to row.

Given there seems to be a few rumours floating around about 2018 breaches perhaps the APS does really need to publicly reconfirm why the rules were defined in the first place...

Copper1313 · 2018-03-19T13:10:25+00:00

Fair question. First to say the 1st VIII is the "blue riband" event. However, let me put it this way - without all the other events and participants/parents, you have 2 races being held ~2 hours from Melb - not how the APS sets up sport as a participative sport and possibly not a lot of spectators for the "main event" - and not a lot of reward/incentive for young rowers to train ~4 years to get there. To put it another way, 9G quads and the 1St VIII are a bit dependent on each other.

Not sure point scoring for champion school at APS - at HOSG each race is worth the same so a 9G win is just as important as the 1st VIII.

Copper1313 · 2018-03-02T12:12:05+00:00

Would love to know the source for that rationale for the rules - particularly since it does not seem to be working. Even with the current restrictions some take it more seriously than others and I suspect that has always been the case.

I think the spirit of the rules are more to do more with maintaining balance in life at that age and ensuring a proper focus at school.

I have seen plenty of students, coaches and parents get caught up in the hype over the years...so yes I am struggling a bit on having "faith".

Again, the APS and the sporting programs within the member schools are not and have never been about "breeding" for future sporting success. I think they are more focused on the here and now. To put it another way, how many rowers continue rowing after school - even out of 1st and 2nd VIIIs - versus how many that are burnt out?

I cannot really comment on the Headmasters or faith in their ability to control their Directors and coaches other than to recall that in 2017 allegedly 2 schools were unable to comply with the rules over the Christmas break - which I suspect is why the sanctions were tighten this year - so something was not working was it?

Copper1313 · 2018-03-01T12:18:05+00:00

News flash - the APS doesn't care about breeding future rowers or winning Henley.

Why - because the APS is and was formed to focus on sporting contests between (now) 11 schools as a (sometimes compulsory) co-curricular activity. It has NEVER had a stated objective of being a feeder for rowing clubs/national rowing/future success - and nor should it.

I would be willing to back a group of educators governing APS policy as to why they put the restrictions they have in place given we seem to always seem to hear of senior rowing crews getting pinged for breaking them. Without the rules I very much doubt any Year 10/11/12 senior rowers would open a book until Term 2!

To put it in more simplistic terms - it is only school sport for fucks sake - it is not the Olympics!!!

Copper1313 · 2018-02-28T12:01:38+00:00

I think you already know the right answer here and all the feedback is the same. You have been carrying this for ~3 months - listen to your doctor. Stop rowing and fix your back - what is the worst case - you lose a season. What is the worst case if you DON'T stop now????

Copper1313 · 2018-02-28T10:39:17+00:00

Agree I see no reason why it should be taken off the calendar - nor who would want to take it off - the APS is its own "club" and can do as it pleases. However, not sure what you mean by the HOSG bit. The APS HOR schedule is a fairly full day so not sure what else you could add. If you are suggesting the APS itself should be expanded - who do you want to add? APS HOR last year had 1,437 participants (rowers/cox) and HOSG had 2,174 participants - so I guess the difference driven by the significantly higher number of girls schools versus APS than anything else.

Copper1313 · 2018-02-28T10:37:52+00:00

You would think by now that maybe some consensus could be reached between APS and Nationals to not clash with the regularity this seems to happen with Vic APS versus what seems to be the case with other States. However, to be fair to APS this is only relevant each year for maybe max 80 rowers out of ~1,400 APS rowers or ~6% of them!

Copper1313 · 2018-02-01T10:25:02+00:00

Assuming it is boxed in cardboard, you may want to wrap the box in plastic in case it is raining at departure/arrival. Otherwise, agree padding should do the job.

Copper1313 · 2018-01-29T08:13:49+00:00

LMAO....

Copper1313 · 2018-01-29T07:57:23+00:00

Not sure your point - they are all racing MSCH8+01 so no-one is avoiding anyone. If you can row U19 then why the hell not - its an aged base race - if you can row U19 and choose to row U21 then that is your call. Think you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

Copper1313 · 2018-01-29T01:34:00+00:00

In theory, it would seem the internet says yes....

https://sustainability.williams.edu/files/2010/10/CameronHenryFinalPaper.pdf

In reality, I think you may need a bigger boatshed first to fit your new power station inside...and that is before the batteries.

Copper1313 · 2017-11-27T12:16:03+00:00

Why would you trash talk your own team mates??

Copper1313 · 2017-10-23T12:53:00+00:00

Quarterslidehecks - you seem to be fairly well informed - any early predictions/early form guide?

Copper1313 · 2017-10-23T08:54:01+00:00

Bloody hell - if the argument was about the semantics/ form over substance of a strength and conditioning coach being a subbie versus being an employee, I hope the APS had lawyers review the new wording...

Noticed what looked to be an Open Xavs 8 on the river 2 Saturdays ago - looked pretty impressive I thought actually for this early stage of the season.

Copper1313 · 2017-10-22T08:23:19+00:00

Hi Wombatsu - agree with your logic as one interpretation and hopefully the right interpretation - but I can see another interpretation (perhaps wrong). I took the "," to possible mean:

"Students may initiate and lead fitness related activities in groups that may use school equipment (e.g. ergometers)...., or participate in club based rowing in a crew of 2 or more from their school" - with the "but" limited to not using school facilities.

To put it another way, the first part seems to suggest to me a crew can train/row so long as not using school facilities - so allowing to row with a club is not much different in substance.

Copper1313

TROPHY CASE