Day 2 of Bumps dawned warm and not too bright. While the rest of W1 gathered at the boathouse, I was coxing W2 in their race, and drama there (an accidental siren causing half the division, including us, to be rerowed) meant that we got back to the boathouse very late, having passed W1 at the Green Dragon. I therefore left W2 in the hands of a very obliging Peterhouse rower who’d turned up early at the boathouse, wished them well, jumped on my bike and sprinted to the P&E.
Sadly, one of our crew, Giulia, had fallen ill and was incapable of rowing. Our perpetual sub, Amanda, had very kindly stepped in and saved the day, but this required a shake-up to the crew order and I found myself on strokeside for the first time in several months, with only a ten-minute row down and one practice start to get used to my new role. When I first took my seat it felt very foreign, but the start helped settle me down and by the time we were parked at our starting station under the bridge I had hope that I might be able to get through the course without crabbing.
I remember practically nothing of the start, the race, or the row home (I’m told we’d had a strong practice start and our rowing in the race itself was magic), but I do know we were bumped by Lucy Cav W1 coming round Ditton Corner. To be bumped for the second day in a row – the fourth time in two days for me – could be quite disappointing, but crew and club morale remained high. Some of W2 cheered for us on the bank and came to commiserate with us after we’d bumped out, which was very touching and very much appreciated by the tired W1ers. In the face of such strong support and boatie love within the club, who cares about winning?
Felicity Parker, 2