The Club's Results

My spirits are always buoyed up by the impression I get from Thornton that W1 are M1's greatest rivals, considering how often we are reminded that they beat us in a race. One day boys, we'll reach our full potential and become worthy sparring partners.

Until then, we must be satisfied with the rest of the women on the Cam.

A good performance for early in term, but perhaps not a brilliant indicator of Bumps speed as it conflicted with BUCS, meaning that many crews were missing their Uni rowers.

As ever in Mays, the wind played a significant part in this race. A swift tailwind made the first leg feel light, though still somewhat restrictive in length. We wound to 34 and settled at about 32, feeling fairly racy if a bit strained. Coming around Ditton fatigue hit and we lost some rhythm and technique. We rolled around and hammered the boat through the corners before getting a grip on the straight again. We had a push for the finish, but mindful of the second leg, didn't go for a wind.

The rain which marked the break in between races brought many strong comments about British weather, and we scrambled back into the boat as the clouds broke and the sun returned.

We strode to a strong, stable 32 which Fletch thought was 28, but didn't manage to hold it for the whole course. Regular updates from Yining about Clare in front of us spurred us on to push through the burning in our legs, but sadly mid-race injuries and loss of effective work and catches in the headwind meant we rowed a fairly contained second leg. On the reach our rate dropped to about 30, and though pressure briefly brought it back up to 32 for the finish, we need to be looking to higher rates for the adrenaline and madness of Mays. (Julia A.)