Rowing Camp

The annual January rowing camp looked different this year—not because of COVID-19, but because of the significant flooding in the Riverland region. All schools were forced to look for alternatives with limited options when in search of accessible lakes and rivers.

It was essential for our Senior group to keep the residential camp component, allowing for off-water review and meeting (which we do not always have time for during term). After considering options, and with the help of several Wilderness staff, we planned our camp to be based at the Wilderness School Boarding House. The catering was handled by our wonderful school staff and it was by far the best camp food we have ever had! A highlight was walking into the Dining Room after every training session. A big thank you goes to all the parents who signed up and volunteered their time on the BBQ, cooking breakfast down at West Lakes. This was crucial in aiding the girls’ recovery and giving them more time on the water. By having our camp in Adelaide, we had more activities at our fingertips to keep the girls entertained, with varying activities and experiences lined up throughout the week such as Project Break smash rooms and axe throwing, hearing from a sports psychologist and sports nutritionist, Laser Tag, Sprout cooking school and Plunger Recovery centre.

On the Saturday evening, our Rowing Parent Committee hosted a Weber Night that created a wonderful summer evening. Thank you to Jock Gosse, Vit Rinaldi, Nic Cox, Jack Dowling and Darren Lainge for their superb skills on the Weber, and to Sascha Detmold and Nic Cox for organising and running the quiz! It was also a special evening as our Principal Belinda Arnfield unveiled the name of the two new boats joining our fleet. The new Sykes pair/double scull was named after Jen Guest and the Sykes bow coxed racing four/quadruple scull after Ben Manifold. Having a boat named after you is an honour and a way for us to show our appreciation for those who support the rowing program and girls.

A big thank you must go to our Director of Boarding, Renee Coventry; Chef Manager, Davide Carapella; Property and Facilities Manager, Ian Wilson; Head of Senior School, Ben Manifold; our Wilderness Rowing coaches and Head Coach and Head of Fleet Logistics Jon Trovas for their assistance in making the camp an overwhelming success. The girls are well prepared and ready to take on racing in Term 1.

Schools Premiership Series 2

At the end of Term 4, our girls raced in the Schools Premiership Series Regatta (SPS) for the 2022/23 Season. These regattas are important as they seed crews into A or B finals for Head of the River, and also earn us premiership points towards the overall winning school. Wilderness had an excellent start in SPS 1, finishing at the top of the table for points and for the first time ever, our Second VIII placed second in the final! The First VIII had an impressive start, with a 8.9 second margin on the rest of the field.

Two months on, the second SPS regatta was held last weekend and was a highly anticipated event following each school’s January camp and selection trials. It is always exciting to see where crews start back after the long ‘break’.

Our Learn To Row (LTR) squad had a cracker of a regatta, with wins across A, C and D races and a tight second place in the B race. This was a huge improvement on where they finished up after SPS 1, and with very limited chances to race in the lead up, we were very proud of our LTR squad.

Our Junior squads all raced their heats exceptionally well, and are still working towards fine tuning the start and finish of the race. Our Intermediates also had a visible improvement across the board, with each Inter crew finishing in third place, except the D crew who won their race. I firmly believe that we have more up our sleeve to claw our way up later in the season.

Our Second VIII have battled through injuries, illness and inconsistent training, with only one row as a crew since camp before competing in the regatta. The girls fought bravely and finished in fourth place, only a canvas behind Scotch College, who were still in contact with the rest of the field. With some consistency in training, we are looking forward to seeing the girls improve quickly before SPS 3.

The First VIII were feeling the expectation following an undefeated run in the Term 4 races. Despite the nerves, our girls executed their race plan well and delivered a high-quality performance, improving their time in slower conditions than when they raced at SPS 1.

Our Senior group must be congratulated on their maturity in managing their performances and still enjoying their Formal the night before racing. These girls have worked incredibly hard and are excited to continue to work hard and compete for the final five weeks leading into the Head of the River Regatta. We are so proud of their achievements and grateful to our community for supporting them every step of the way.