Perfect day…
“Come on, MineRRRRRRRVAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The blood-curdling cry made the whole balcony rattle. Yup, it was Monmouth RC’s Autumn Head, and yup, the visiting Dutch crew was winning the cheering by a country mile.
By far the best bit when we host events – better than being allowed to press the klaxon at the finish; better even than being brought cake and drinks from the uh-mazing catering team – is catching up with rowing pals from other clubs… and making new ones. In between squinting at the finish line, synchronising watches and acquiring stopwatch blisters, I got the chance to do lots of chatting. I’ve been at this long enough now to recognize friendly faces from other events and it makes the whole thing more fun.
Minerva Bath had, once again, brought their visiting friends from Dutch club, ARZV Roei, who appeared to be rowing in a boat made entirely from Edam, and who cheerfully set about draining the bar and raising the decibel levels – TOTALLY my kind of club. Guys, we’re counting on you to come back next year.
ARZV crew in their Edam boat
This year, he banter had gone up a notch as the Head took place the morning after the Wales-England match (whaddya mean, what match?). England supporters grunted wearily as Welsh fans made the most of a rare moment basking in the glow of victory. And an additional layer of competition was put in place, with an MRC parallel World Cup contest between Welsh and English clubs (we assigned ARZV to England because, frankly, England need all the help they can get (*ouch*).
Anyway, it all went swimmingly. The sun shone. The beer was drunk. Wales won (again… sorry…). And the consensus was that we definitely need to twin with a club from overseas. The Netherlands would do nicely, but we’re open to suggestion. See you next year.