ITV film crew to arrive at MBC by boat

The ITV film crew is ditching the car for the Olympic week and jumping into a boat to get to Molesey Boat Club.

On Wednesday 1st August the ITV film crew with local reporter Phil Bayles will be reporting from the Club on the men's eight final. To get round the Time Trial road closures that day, Phil is borrowing a friend’s boat and using that great highway outside our front door-The River Thames.

So if you have a boat or know someone with one, paddle down to the club when the roads are closed!

Have a look at the Olympics page to find out more about the many events at the club over the Olympic week.

See how how London 2012 Olympic Games affect Elmbridge.

Team Building Day for Standard Chartered

Following on the heels of a successful day with Dataquest, the MBC team welcomed Standard Chartered Bank on Friday 6 July. Boats were prepared and the MBC crews were ready bright and early, including several athletes from the GBR Start Programme and High Performance Men’s Squad who had already completed their early morning training sessions.

Twenty two guests arrived at 9.30 am with a sense of expectation and willingness to get stuck in. Bacon and sausage rolls along with coffee and tea were consumed and it was straight into the briefing. Groups were formed into their selected crews with more MBC crew this time to strengthen our capability to steer and assist throughout the training programme which followed.

Each crew were put through a variety of land-based sessions to prepare them for an outing in the eight. It became apparent that a few of these guys had rowed before and they had somehow ended up in the same team. We therefore decided to remove Matt Tatloch from this team and put him in one of the others just to even up the odds of a fair race. No prizes for who won just the same.

The eights (four in all), were out on the water and the crews were off to a good start. The plan was to get an hour or two of training on the water, followed by a timed run down past the island. The weather took a distinct turn for the worse and rain set in for the rest of the day. Conditions on the river resembled an October morning rather than a summer’s day and some of the crews were getting cold.

The racing was fun, with two crews lining up and going flat out for a 600 m sprint down past Thorneycroft Island. Times were taken but all were quite sure that no one was going to beat one boat, those with the experienced crew and Charles Bowman training them! The second pair of eights was eventually lined up (after Ted’s crew were found down the back of the Island) and off we went again. Steering problems this time and a re-start was arranged. It is interesting to see the change in attitude of some of the crew (mostly male), when they realised that they were in a race! Gut busting effort, the abandonment of any vestige of technique they might have picked up along the way and disbelief that another crew could have overtaken them. All just like the crowd I row with!

Following the racing, it was back to the club. We packed away the boats and retired upstairs to a well-earned hog roast. It is surprising that despite all that the weather could throw at them and the difficulty of coming to terms with rowing an eight – the Standard Chartered crews loved it! Getting out of their comfort zone in this way proved to be quite an exhilarating and euphoric experience for many! The MBC crews were impressed how much progress everyone had made.

Bill Raspin, who was riding shotgun on Ian Knight’s launch, filmed the races, together with still shots of all of the crews in action. These were re-played on the big screen during lunch and were much enjoyed by all.

Olympian, Jonny Searle, spoke to the group about what it takes to win at the very top of your sport and his journey to Olympic Gold. We all watched his race on the big screen and you could feel the excitement in the room as everyone watched. Our guests were able to share this experience having been part of their own racing team and had a flavour of what it takes to be at the top of your game.

There were a lot of questions afterwards and the answers provided an insight into Jonny’s perspective and why he is so successful. Jonny brought along his Olympic gold medal for all to see which proved to be a star attraction.

The bar was then open and everyone had a relaxing drink or two.

I was impressed by the Standard Chartered guests in the way they took onboard (excuse the pun) what they were taught and how they applied it in the short space of time we had together. It was a real pleasure to have them at the club.

My thanks to all the team from MBC who made this happen.

Thank You!
JP

If you work for or know of a company that might enjoy a corporate team building day at MBC please get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For further information please have a look at Team Building Days.

Molesey rower runs with the Olympic Torch

On Saturday 14th July, Molesey rower Ben Pugh ran with the Olympic Torch in Brockenhurst in the New Forest.

Ben had been nominated by fellow members, Jon Higgs and Jon Moon through Coca-Cola's future flames. The nomination stated:

'Passion: Rowing and supporting junior rowing in the local community and Molesey Boat Club. He brings fun to the sport of rowing and introduces young people to the sport. His passion for passing on his knowledge and experience gained over his successful competitive career is an inspiration to his athletes and his peers.'

Henley Royal Regatta - 2012