As a crew it is fair to say we were all fairly apprehensive as we rowed up to the start on day four- knowing we were facing the possibility of spoons. We were hoping that for once the bumps luck would work in our favour. We had a wonderful bank party made of our coaches Robert and Sarah as well as Mark and Emilie Cousin all of whom seemed positive that we would row over. All we needed to do was row solidly for 3 minutes as within that time it was assumed that the strong st catz w2 would bump Jesus w3 leaving us clear to aim to grind down FaT ahead of us. As we set off from the gun we settled into a far better rhythm than that of day 3 and were paying good attention to our cox. Jesus were gaining on us but as predicted st catz were approaching them faster than they were catching us. As the first whistles began to be blown as we came into the first corner we headed for a stride five and pulled away but then disaster stuck and a crab was caught. Jesus kept gaining and so did catz it looked like Jesus were about to be bumped but the st catz cox took the first corner far too wide and clashed blades with a bumped out crew on the far bank. This was the last straw for us unfortunately as the Jesus crew were spurred on by their sudden luck and as we came into grassy the overlap became continuous. This was accompanied by a very abrasive bell being constantly wrung by the Jesus coach and as we pulled out of grassy we had to concede. Getting spoons is a fear of all Cambridge rowers and it definitely wasn’t what any of us were hoping for (it was the first bumps campaign for 7/9 of us) and the mood in the boat was definitely one of dejection and sadness. However when faced with Robert’s tales of his own experiences of being in this position we were reminded that though bumps may be a cruel mistress she is one who will continue to call us back for many years to come. We took out our frustrations with the outcome by forcefully scrubbing and sponging Owen to within an inch of his life in the hope that next time we row in him his gleaming hull will glide faster through the Camb. As we left the boat house our minds were quickly turning to the quickly approaching lent bumps dinner and stories it was destined to produce.
Barley Collier, 7