They were so inextricably linked leading up to the milestone Royal St. John’s Regatta Wednesday, two rowing teams on the same blueprint, training all winter and spring in the basement of the same town hall on the outskirts of St. John’s and who, most particularly, everybody knew would be the hands-down winners of the 200th running of the annual derby.
Yet on this glorious east end St. John’s morning, the range of emotions and general mood at dockside — all within a 60-minute stretch, the time thing fitting given the sport’s absolute link to the clock — could not have been any more contrasting.
The m5 women and Outer Cove men: two crews with two incredibly fast times, but two teams with two very different reactions.
You see, lost in the all the hubbub of this 2018 Regatta and its purported jubilee significance was the fact this was, in many, many ways, quite the anticlimactic Regatta.
In this field of 150-plus crews, the greatest number of rowers seen at Quidi Vidi in a long, long time — perhaps ever — there were m5 and Outer Cove, and then there was everyone else.
Imagine the old family station wagon lined up to race Ferraris.
Hence, the only question on this splendid Regatta Day was if the course records would fall.
If drama was what you had in mind heading down to the “pond” Wednesday, m5 certainly provided it, skittering across Quidi Vidi “Lake” in record fashion. Not by much, though, their 4:56.10 barely wiping OZ FM’s standard of 4:56.70 off the books, a record that stood for 15 years.
Snap your fingers. Blink your eyes. Flick the light switch. That’s what it came down to.
m5 sealed their trio of championships Wednesday evening, placing first in the championship race in a time of 5:03.58.
And then there was Outer Cove. The two-time defending champions. Among the fastest group of rowers to cover the Quidi Vidi course.
They, too, didn’t disappoint, rowing the third-fastest time ever recorded, an 8:55.90.
But no record.
They may as well have rowed an hour.
“Our goal was to break the record,” stroke Brent Hickey said of the men’s standard of 8:51.32, set in 2007 by Crosbie Industrial Services.
It’s a time James Cadigan, who sits two seats behind Hickey in the Outer Cove boat, has tattooed on his left arm. Both Hickey and Cadigan were part of the ’07 record-breakers.
“We didn’t really want to say that all year,” Hickey said of Outer Cove’s push for a new standard, “but it is. So this was a little bit disappointing.
“At the same time, hell of a row, so we can’t discount that.”
Hell of a row, indeed. Just as their practice spin – a “poke”, to use Regatta lingo – was a couple of weeks ago under very similar conditions when they rowed the exact same 8:55.
And, of course, what’s a Regatta conversation without mention of the weather conditions, and the elusive quest for the “perfect pond.”
Truth is, it only happens every now and again. And this being Newfoundland, now and again may as well be next to never.
“Our goal was to break the record. We didn’t really want to say that all year, but it is. So this was a little bit disappointing. At the same time, a hell of a row, so we can’t discount that.”
Brent Hickey, Outer Cove stroke oar
Which makes the Regatta somewhat of a quizzical sport — these athletes invest an immense amount of time into a sport that has five games, if you will — Discovery Day races, Time Trials, Placentia, Harbour Grace and St. John’s Regattas.
And hardly anybody goes to Placentia, and certainly not Harbour Grace.
“It can definitely be frustrating,” said Cadigan of the weather which can all too often determine the Regatta’s outcome. Cadigan joined his brother, Dan, Brent Payne, Mark Perry and Colin Stapleton in the boat steered by Mark Hayward.
“I think a lot of the gratification we get is in the work itself, and completing the program that we set out to do, getting in the physical condition that we are in, and knowing the capability that we have.”
“No doubt,” said Stapleton, who won his seventh championship Wednesday, “that you want a flat pond, but that happens very rarely. So we basically have to deal with those conditions we had today, train as hard as we possibly can for seven months of the year, and hope for a good pond.
“I mean, we can’t be disappointed with that (8:55 showing in the morning). Of course we wanted to break the record. But there’s absolutely nothing you can do about the weather conditions.
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“And that pond,” he said after the first race, “is probably as good as you’re going to get.”
Outer Cove made it official with three straight championships Wednesday evening, clocking in at 9:06.34 in the last race of the day.
For James Cadigan, it was win No. 10 of an illustrious career.
While the boys in the blue Outer Cove shirts were somewhat melancholy, the girls in the yellow and black m5 uniforms were positively giddy with their record performance that, in the spirit of excitement, left everyone waiting minutes after the race to see if it was indeed a record performance.
“We were waiting for what felt like an eternity at the finish line for the Regatta Committee to call out from the timing tower to let us know if we got it (the record) or not,” said No. 1 oar Amanda Hancock.
“When they called out the time, everybody just went nuts.”
It’s been quite a run for m5 which, like Outer Cove, won a third straight Regatta championship and just over a week ago, set the unofficial course with a 4:55.
“We were waiting for what felt like an eternity at the finish line for the Regatta Committee to call out from the timing tower to let us know if we got it (the record) or not. When they called out the time, everybody just went nuts.”
Amanda Hancock, m5 women’s crew
Of course, nobody would have remembered had m5 not done it for real, when it mattered on Wednesday.
“We really worked on our mental game this year,” said Katie Wadden, who stroked the team which included Alyssa Devereaux, Jane Brodie, Nancy Beaton, Amanda Ryan and Hancock, with cox Dean Hammond and coach Bert Hickey, the same Bert Hickey who was the architect behind the Outer Cove team.
“We started in February because we knew this was going to be a big year for everyone. We visualized this race over and over and over. We just went out and did what we do best.”
Just as the men’s race was a one-boat derby, m5 raced against the clock as well, zipping down the course in very quick fashion. Coming back up the pond, though, was a different story.
“The wind slowed us down a bit on the way back,” Hancock said. “We knew we had a bit of wiggle room because we got down the course really fast.”
“That poke,” said Wadden, “was the best thing that we ever did
“There was a little bit of wind. Alyssa Devereaux is the positive force on our team, and she kept reminding us that we can do it no matter what comes our way. That little bit of wind was just another challenge that we knew we could push through.”
The day started bright and early for m5 and Outer Cove, who both warmed up in the basement of the Town Hall in Outer Cove, their home away from home since January.
The Outer Cove rowers were the first to leave for Quidi Vidi.
“We kind of wished them good luck,” said Devereaux, a Logy Bay native and daughter of Owen Devereaux, who was part of the Outer Cove crew that wrestled the course record back from Smith Stockley and Quidi Vidi Village way back in 1982.
“Coming down to the pond, we didn’t listen to radio, didn’t ask anyone what time the boys had rowed. I still do not know what they rowed.
“We let nothing distract us. Instead, we focused on our own race. That’s what we could control. We were so ready for this.”
It’s all but a certainty that it’s the end of the line for these m5 and Outer Cove teams. They’ve been at it three years now, and the bodies and minds are due a break.
Some or all may return some day, or maybe Wednesday’s championship races were the last of their careers.
Whatever the case, these two teams will go down as among the best to crisscross Quidi Vidi Lake.
Records or no records.
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by email at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
