After the somewhat accidental success of the first day of bumps, the Medwards W1 crew was eager to show off our skills properly. While fending off death-stares from the angry Girton crew during marshalling, and some heat from a none-too-happy Churchill crew behind them, W1 pondered their race tactic. We were chasing Pembroke; they were catchable, but could we do it without first getting caught by Girton bent on revenge? The answer was clear: trust ourselves! Propelled by the success the previous day, our paddle home had been one of the strongest of the term. We had found a rhythm and a confidence that had been at times elusive to the crew, but that everyone could feel now. So the tactic for the race was simple: ignore Girton, focus on chasing Pembroke. The gun went, we were off, and soon found a steady rhythm for the race. Girton, fuelled by anger, went hard off the start and appeared to be gaining on us. We followed our tactic and ignored them. Instead, every single stroke we focused on grinding it down in pursuit of Pembroke. At the first whistle Christina called for a power ten and the crew responded amazingly; we could really do this! After no more than 20 strokes we had gained another half a length, and Girton was nowhere to be seen. We caught up with them at grassy corner – it was a proper and well deserved bump! We were very excited, for some of us it was our first proper bump. Maybe a bit too excited in fact, as we for a few seconds forgot that we had to swiftly clear the river… Some carnage was caused, mistakes were made and we went away happy that no one got hurt but with a hefty fine, and maybe even fewer friends in the boats behind us than we had before… But all the while pleased with a job well done.
Amanda Sjödahl, 5