The Club's Results

That was the plan. 

What actually happened: in the stress of the first day, Keval forgot to grab the bung when pushing off, and ended up pretending to have it in his hand while Sam was conspiculously throwing him the handle. We were all a bit unsettled when the canon went, but the first few stroke decent. We struggled to hit a rhythm, and some dodgy strokes before FP corner made us become a bit frantic. But Pembroke was having an even harder time, and Girton didn't seem to be moving much, so we just ... continued. Until we heard a whistle. We stayed for a while at two whistles, and then started moving on Pembroke again, faster, until we got continuous whistle just at the entrance of Grassy. I started to be able to see their canvas from the corner of my eyes, until I had to miss a stroke lest the loom of my blade pass through their stern, or their cox. 

Keval had been steering for the bump, and ended up quite close to the inside of the corner, so it would seem that some people in the stern didn't know we had bumped, and thought we had hit a tree on the inside of Grassy. (We waited for Pembroke to get away, and had to clear, until we could celebrate properly).
Luckily, the bump happened just in front of a FaT contingent, with Imogen taking some video footage of our bump, and the confusion caused by Girton failing to clear the corner and parking on the outside of Grassy.

Overall, a very promising result, and a great start for Queen Elizabeth I: first race, first bump! What's even better is that there is more speed to come!

On Saturday, I joined the racing at Ditton: a headwind, and under a length (I guess) to Christ's. It was on. As on Friday, there was a good rhythm to the boat, bringing a deserved three whistles around the kink. Each move was emphatic; Christ's lost ground with every push, their responses only partially stymieing Lizzie's advance.

In the end, it looked easy: Christ's broke, and the women came into them strongly, forcing a clash of blades and an umpire's judgement of the bump under the Railway Bridge.

At this point, as an occasional coach of a successful crew, it is traditional to eulogise. That seems out of place here. This crew is just getting started, and I refuse to put a work in progress on a pedestal. Their virtue is to approach rowing with smiles on their faces and steel in their legs. As a result, with the guidance of Will McDermott and the leadership of the senior crew members, they are now one of the faster crews in the women's division. However, there's still plenty of physical and technical progress to be had, and I hope the crew is excited about that! Have a great time at WEHoRR - you'll be up against a lot more than 130 boats, but at least history's on your side.