Up The Pond in record time: M5 women unofficially break Regatta record
m5 posts 4:55 time in Tuesday's practice run
There were no concession stands, no games of chance and nearly nobody watching but that didn't stop the M5 women's team from going for Regatta glory.
At Tuesday night's practice the defending Regatta champions pulled in an unofficial time of four minutes and 55 seconds, besting the 2003 record of 4:56:70.
"We've been training really hard every year," said rower Amanda Ryan, fighting back tears.
"It's really special tonight to get that time with this team who's just so close and worked so hard together."
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Amanda Hancock rowed in 2003 when the OZ-FM crew set the record.
"That was 15 years ago and it was my first championship," she said. "I was like, 'Well, I guess this just happens every year,' and it's been 15 years. This is a very special crew and we've really worked hard and I feel so proud."
With the 200th running of the Royal St. John's Regatta just a week away, the feat is a special one for the M5 team.
For the past three years, the crew has trained six days a week from January to August. Each rower has put in more than 1,000 kilometres on the rowing machines alone.
"I've never met six more hardworking individuals in my life," said cox Dean Hammond.
"They deserve it."
As the M5 crew celebrate their success, the Outer Cove men's team took their turn on the water and tried to make unofficial history themselves.
"The winds in Newfoundland went against, the rowing gods were against us tonight," cox Mark Hayward said.
"The last three-quarters of the pond were into the wind."
The team still, unofficially, rowed 8 minutes and 55 seconds, which Hayward said is one of the fastest times ever.
For the men the record is 8:51.29, which was set by Crosbie Industrial Services in 2007. Hayward was on that crew, along with Outer Cove's Brent Hickey and James Cadigan.
All three were disappointed to come up short on Tuesday night but for the crew from Outer Cove it's more than just one race.
"We are so close to this event, this sport," said Cadigan.
"It's kind of a loyalty to our community to come down here and put up a time that everybody can be proud of on the 200th Regatta."
What really matters now is what happens on race day when the times count.
All 12 rowers and both coxes will use what happened on Tuesday night as motivation for Regatta Day.