It was the first day of the first Bumps of my life. The only 3rd boat in the division, having beaten several 2nd boats, we felt pretty awesome. With nothing behind us to be bumped by and the bright sunshine in our eyes during the row-up, it seemed that nothing could stop us from bumping.
The four minutes, then one minute cannons went off; the butterflies in our stomachs were released. Sitting at bow, I felt the additional anxiety of what would happen if I missed an order and crashed our boat. The start: Our slightly make-shift crew set out beautifully, we closed in ‘half a length on Darwin W2’ that was in front of us. The wind pushing against us, our legs and wills were pushing harder, much harder.
What seemed like just a couple seconds into the race, though, some carnage seemed to be occurring in stern pair. Why aren’t the ores moving? Two crabs and a seat that came off. But we got it back together, powered on – and then held up. Darwin W2 stopped in the middle of the river – but then they started to move up again. Our second start and power ten was, however, definitively quashed by a signal from the umpire. We were awarded a technical row-over.
One of the shortest races, although the first day of Lent Bumps did not exactly hold up to W3’s hopes, it was a great preparation for what’s to come – the next three days of Bumps.
Simona Sulikova, Bow