This was W2’s first race of term, and for two of its rowers, their first race ever! We were keen to see how much we had learnt so far this term and to get some much needed race practice before Fairbairns. It had been a difficult week leading up to the race, with one rower injured, a change in crew and Christina stepping in to cox for us. However, thanks to Reana we had 8 rowers and were ready to race.
By the time our division was marshalling, it became clear that the event was running quite behind leading to a very congested river. However, this gave us lots of time to check out the crews that had come from around the country to race on the Cam, especially some rather good looking men from the University of London! After the men had set off, we had just enough time to get our focus together and pull out towards the start line. The racing conditions were ideal, with very little wind and no rain. We got off to a good start, settling into a steady rhythm. Christina’s calls for power seemed to be working as she told us we were keeping pace with Robinson’s W1 boat in front of us. However, by the time we reached The Plough, it became clear that we were struggling to find the power required to keep up the same pace and we started to lose our togetherness. As we were overtaken by the University of London’s women on The Reach we pushed harder trying to make it difficult for them, but we didn’t have the stamina to keep going. We crossed the finish line a respectable 6th in our event out of 14 boats, showing that we have potential but still have lots to work on both technically in the boat and in fitness training before Fairbairns.
Katharine, 6