We did it!!!

And Sify 'takes home' the M & B Regatta championship once again, for a record-breaking 5th time, in the more-than-100-year-old history of the prestigious Madras Boat Club!! :)

Adding to the feathers in our cap is that we created another record by qualifying for the finals of seven events out of a total of eight in a single regatta. Out of 126 races, we participated in and won the most. What's more, our victory was so tremendous that our winning points were higher than both the second and third place winners put together!

We can all look back with pride at this special feat. It didn't come to us easily on a platter, though. This is the result of more than two months of concerted efforts, determined practice, crazy work routines, and a truly amazing team spirit! Our more-than-25-member team totally deserves a pat on the back for the support and togetherness offered to one another despite all odds and differences throughout the regatta. And am sure all of us, both the veterans and newcomers, would have a lot of memories to take back with us this time.

We have all come a long way together during this past few months and seen a lot. We have learnt quite a few things as well. About commitment, discipline, pushing all limits and giving your all to the team. Though we may not have won all the races, I believe there are valuable lessons to be learnt from losing as well. Lessons that we might have missed out on had we won them all. Lessons about team spirit, trust, and supporting and standing by your teammate/s no matter what!!

Think everyone is yet to recover from the post-rowing mood. We're all still discussing the races, the regatta night, paagal regatta and, not to mention, sending across snaps and video clippings. We have the traditional group photo session with Mr. Ramaraj tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

So I guess we'll all miss rowing, terribly, now.

Jus a coupla days more...

After all that practising and pushing ourselves towards the big day, finally we have the regatta approaching in a couple of days.

We held internal races during the last week between the different teams to get a grasp of our own strengths and weaknesses. And if you ask me, it did us a whole lot of good. We got to know where we stood and where there was room for improvement. Teams have also been practising race lengths on a daily basis and are fully sweating it out. We don't even spare ourselves on the weekend evenings.

The ergometer race which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday went great. 6 out of the top 10 men and 5 out of the top 10 women were from Sify. Ajay and Satish stood second and third respectively and, among the girls, Aditi did us proud by coming in third. Finally our efforts are beginning to pay off.

Well, it's just a matter of a few more days where we have to push ourselves and give our all to the team. And then, hopefully, we can all rest on the laurels which we intend to bring home :)