Predictions for 2007
It’s early enough for the silly season to start.
My predictions for 2007
1 - The Thames will flood - seriously. About time the flood relief channel at Maidenhead will get used in anger. Dorney Lake will be a desirable location to train on.
2 - Tideway Scullers will dominate sculling nationally. They’ve been building up for a while particularly in mens lightweight but did you see the Scullers Head Results I think they won more pennants than anyone else - 13 by my count.
3 - British Mens rowing will regret alienating Oxford and Cambridge and
the mens eights group will collapse in bitter acrimony without a coach
for a year and only make the B final at the World Championships before
being revived in the post-Olympic wash-up strategy meeting.
4 - Rowperfect will launch its new model machine (well I know that will
happen) BUT three daring coaches will replace C2 ergos and never use
them again. The three coaches will be Duncan Holland, Don McLachlan
and Andy Nelder.
5 - Dreher oars will become the scull of choice for the UK. So many
people are buying them from us and many more are trying them out (demo
pairs out at Runcorn, Maidenhead, Rob Roy, Lancaster John O’Gaunt as I
write). Drehers make you go faster. Somebody in GB rowing will cotton
on sometime soon.
6 - Coxing will be the new coaching. A drive to coach coxswains on
more than steering will hit clubs as they realise the valuable assets
they have in the driving seat.
7 - Rowing blogs will start to overtake message boards as focal points
for rowing and sculling discussions. I’ve only found about 3 blogs
that are worth reading so far.
Have I missed anything….?
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:26 pm
As a rowing blogger myself, I like prediction number 7! Very few (if any) blogs are exclusively about rowing, but I agree that more will come on line. In my case, I’ve even had a little MSM vs. blogger battle when I discovered a human error which caused seriously unfair conditions at last spring’s US collegiate national championships. The US mainstream rowing media (Rowing News and row2k) are just a bit too close to the rowing establishment and refused to retract their own stories denying the problem, even after the regatta organizer admitted it. It was an interesting episode, and one which I think supports and further extends your 7th prediction.