The Club's Results

Victory tastes sweet and champagne at 2pm tastes sweeter. 

Even as the resident pessimist of the crew, I have to say that went incredibly well and the only words that come to mind are ‘yeah FaT’. Winning our division of Emma Sprints will continue to feel very, very good for quite some time. The crew has come together incredibly well- especially since Winter Head last week and it’s safe to say that all the effort we have been putting in paid off today.

Race One:

Row through because Christ’s NW1 failed to show up. Thank you guys for giving us some extra practice time and the ability to practice another race start before we had to face actual opposition. It was much appreciated, even if the Marshals did not look best pleased. 

Race Two:

Facing Fitzwilliam in our second race initially felt quite daunting, and kudos to Fitz for their costumes fitting with their college logo, and an extra thank you for providing some opposition. Our race started well and we managed to stay in a straight line, which was our biggest concern (other than our coach remaining dry, more on that later). Following on from there our rowing only got better and we stayed in time, pulling comfortably ahead to the point where we were able to start winding down the rate before the race was over and conserve some energy for the next one. 

Slight negative was forgetting that we did need to keep rowing in time after we passed under the railway bridge, but no harm done. 

Race Three:

Facing off against King’s, we were prepared for the fact that this was only going to get harder. The splashiness factor increased in this race but it didn’t seem to matter, the strokes were strong and we pulled ahead of King’s remarkably quickly; helped by the fact that they caught an early crab and appear to have stopped rowing to sort it out. Unfortunate for them, but a major positive for us as we stayed calm and kept rowing. Some crabs were caught (I think? The races are a bit blurred together), but as a crew we always recovered well and stayed positive. The fact that our cox has become increasingly more assertive and willing to shout at us helped massively. 

Crossing the line it suddenly dawned on us that we were in the division final, and that there was a very real chance we could actually win our division. 

Race Four:

There was very little time between the semi-final and the final, which at least prevented us from getting too cold or the adrenaline from wearing off. When spinning we had a repeat of last week and our coach ended up in the Cam to protect our bow. Sorry Neil. We will get better at spinning we promise, and as I type this I notice your heroics are already on Rowbridge. As a crew, we also hope you are now warmer and drier (and will not make this a habit).

We knew Corpus would be a challenge and the fact that their costume was so well coordinated hinted at their cohesion as a crew. Still, we stayed calm and focused, trusting in our own abilities and being willing to just. Keep. rowing. Which we did, and whilst it was (obviously) the hardest race of the day, by halfway through we were a length ahead and did not let up or get complacent, we stayed strong until the last and ignored the fact that our oars were pushing half the Cam into our boat and onto us. 

The feeling of winning cannot truly be described and it is safe to say that the entire crew is strongly looking forward to Clare Novices next Saturday, and is very enthusiastic to get back out on the water. An overwhelmingly positive day for us, and proof that we do listen to coaching (except when spinning) and can improve day to day.

Other Notes:

Some of our rowing on the way home was described as ‘terrible’ which felt harsh but was probably fair. At least it showed that we gave our all? Unfortunately it was not quite the lap of honour of a winning crew, and more a limp back to the boathouse rowing in sixes most of the way… 

Brunch after the race was made particularly fantastic by the announcement to the entire hall that we had won and the fact we were given a bottle of champagne. The entire crews’ hearts have been won and I have never seen so much smiling, which says a lot as it is rare that we are not smiling when together as a crew. 

Special shout-out to the weather for being good and the forecast for changing. I did not want to row in three layers and I’m glad I did not need to. I also did not need gloves when waiting around which for those who know me, is quite a feat. 

All in all, fantastic day and we eagerly await next week.