The first of the long distance crew time trials took place almost a fortnight ago with the Head of the Nepean. Results have just come to hand for the two Balmain crews who contested the 5km event from the Narrows to the end of the old Championship course.

Mosman claimed Headship by more than 24 seconds with their Men’s Open Eight, with the regatta being open to Eights as well as Fours and Quad Sculls. Mosman fielded a star-studded lineup with the majority of the crew having represented their country at underage level including 2011 Australian Junior Team members Aaron Wright, Jake Grave and Jay Ditmarsch as well as former Senior representative, Dave Matthews who is on the comeback trail.

Further success was had by Mosman as their Women’s Quad Scull was the fastest women’s crew home by more almost half a minute. This crew featured Beijing Olympian Zoe Lynam (nee Uphill), who jets out to Boston next month for the Head of the Charles, the most prestigious time-trial event in the world.

Balmain was represented by Katrina Macgregor, Hamina Cameron, Simone Broadfield and Lucy Blakemore in the Women’s Quad Scull, while Peter Waldersee, Chris Nelson, Owen Nix and James Waldersee contested the corresponding Men’s event.

The Women’s Quad Scull managed a 6th place in their category in a tailwind that picked up all the way down the Nepean River course. Feeling a touch downbeat post-race at the pace at which the Mosman crew passed them, the Balmain crew took plenty of consolation from finding out afterwards that Lynam was part of the crew in red and white.

The Men’s Quad Scull faced off with Sydney Rowing Club as the two Open Quadruple Scull crews entered. The Sydney crew were the first away and claimed divisional honours by just over a minute. Vice-Captain, James Waldersee was relatively happy with the performance. “I think the tail wind suited our guys' crew in particular. We managed to stay consistent and clean. It was also good having the quick Sydney RC Junior quad come close to us at the end. They really provided some encouragement to keep working hard.”

Nelson was delighted with the start, but acknowledged that the form faded a shade as the effect of the wind became more prominent on the water. “"We settled into a good rhythm early but lost our way a little bit in the second half of the course when we encountered some tricky tail-wind conditions. All in all, a solid start to the season and good to be back racing again,” he said.

Waldersee took some positives out of the race for the upcoming side-by-side racing regattas. “I'd be keen to race this crew or variations on it either in upcoming grade races or Open/Lightweight events. There would certainly be more speed to find if we were to get a few more races under our belts.”