Ladies aim to be head of the river
Watch out Presbyterian Ladies' College.
That's the message from Methodist Ladies' College head of rowing Marshall Varley ahead of tomorrow's annual head of the river rowing regatta at Champion Lakes in Armadale.
PLC go into the Independent Girls' Schools' Sports Association first eight event as the favourites to retain the title they won for the first time last year.
The college won the first three lead-up regattas this year before the fourth was cancelled because of poor weather.
Mr Varley believes his young crew, who are mostly Year 11s, have timed their run perfectly.
Mr Varley said PLC had dominated the first two regattas but MLC had bridged the gap in the third.
"I think the last regatta being cancelled is an advantage to us because PLC don't know how much we have improved," he said.
"We have been doing a lot of training over the holidays and I reckon, just quietly, we are flying along. I am very confident we should go all the way with this one." PLC head of rowing David Milne named MLC and Perth College as the most likely schools to cause an upset.
"I think it is going to be a tough race," he said.
"Anyone could come out of the woodwork.
"Perth College and MLC have both been pretty successful over the past four or five seasons so it will be a tough race and I am expecting the other schools to be quick."
History will be on the side of MLC, with the college claiming seven first eight races in the past 11 years.
A challenging cross breeze has been predicted for the event, but the weather is not expected to prevent it from going ahead.
Barring disaster, PLC should also claim their second straight overall season trophy.
They go into tomorrow 100 points clear in the overall standings.
