On a cloudy and chilly Valentine’s Day morning, the mash-up boat of W2 and W3 gave a calm and strong row-down to the start of Pembroke Regatta. Parking at our marshalling station was humorous and we all learnt that boats do not parallel park easily but luckily a helpful marshal managed to save us and land us neatly in our niche to begin our wait to race.
We saw crews start and disappear into the distance with great splashes and shouting, eagerly and nervous anticipating our own race.
We were up against the ladies of Pembroke W2, and as we lined up next to each other we knew we were in for a tough one. As the race started we pushed off hard but the Pembroke gals pushed ahead harder and within minutes had a commanding lead. The Murray Edward’s W2.5 gave it their all and put up a fight before the beasts *ahem* beauts of Pembroke pushed away into the distance. Moral decreased as they pushed away but we rowed it through like pros and cheered the Pembroke champions on their well earned success.
I think we learnt that not all battles have to be won and we were all glad to have been able to make a crew to compete. No-one regretted signing up for the race and it was a wonderful experience as a first regatta. Such bonding and teamwork within a crew which had only ever had 2 outings together is highly indicative of MECBC spirit and determination. You win some, you lose some. But you always come back fighting. MECBC #wellhard
Heather Dudley, 6