The day is hot, muggy and wet. My nerves are doing cartwheels in my stomach. After the disappointments of Lent Bumps 2011 for W2, the pressure is especially on. Due to delays to the men’s division, we have a lengthy marshalling at Chesterton before arriving at the starting post with quite literally four minutes to spare. We observe our target, Darwin II, and then we are pushed into the middle for those few awful seconds awaiting that awful cannon blast. KABOOM! “Build one, build two!” screams our cox Chloe as we power through our carefully prepared start. Another 8 builds later and I force myself to look at the boat chasing us, Sidney II, is being pushed into the distance. Then during out power for ten I hear BEEEP BEEEP and then about a second later BEEEP BEEEP BEEEEEP!! We’re gaining on Darwin fast until the continuous whistles sound seemingly forever in our ears (as it turns our Darwin’s cox did not concede until she was reprimanded by an umpire). We bumped! And after a mad, fumbling scramble to park, the elation hits and for the first time I finally get to wear some greenery! Day one is over in just over a minute and now I am more than rearing to go for the next.
Eleanor Dickinson