When W2 gathered at the boathouse for the last day of bumps, everybody’s nerves were palpable: We had bumped every day so far, and blades were in our reach. We would be chasing Tit Hall II, and we were sure that we had it in us to bump them. The question was, would we catch Tit Hall before they would catch up with Caius II? Coach Alex reminded us that we had to make this race count, to stay calm and collected, if we wanted greenery. We thus put the “B” word out of our minds for the time being and concentrated on the row-up. We had a good practice start at the plough, pulled in at our station, and waited for the guns.
When the final gun released us into this last bumps race, I felt determined to give it my all, and I knew every single girl in the boat felt the same. However, Bekah’s seat came off half-way through the start sequence. We may have been slowed down by this, but Magdalen W2 behind us failed to gain on us considerably. What followed was a seriously impressive display of determination, as Bekah raced THE ENTIRE COURSE off her seat, managing to keep up as we took the rate up to 41 around Grassy Corner. Unfortunately, our bucket-rig meant that her and my blade frequently clashed; as a result, I caught more crabs during this race than in all the three years of rowing I did for MECBC together.
Were W2 in pain? Yes! Did this matter? No! We, a crew who hadn’t done much more than 50 strokes worth of racing in each of the days before, tried to grind down Tit Hall. And we did gain on them, sometimes getting as much as three whistles. Whenever cox Christina called for a “jump” sequence, somehow we managed to take the rating up – special mention must be given to stroke Emma for making us go faster even on the third jump. Whenever Christina called for pressure, we found more pressure, and we put it on the footplates.
We persevered, but it wasn’t enough. We rowed over, and needless to say, were heartbroken. To be so close to blades, especially for those of us for whom this was their last bumps campaign, and miss out, is simply sad. But what is more important, and what will, I hope, make a more lasting impression on all of us, is that we didn’t give up. This crew was a fantastic crew, and this term was a fantastic term for us. “Lucky crews get blades, good crews go up three” – W2, we rocked!
Henny Schulte to Buehne