Now we were officially in a senior crew, there was a lot of pressure to do well in this race and as we got the boat ready there were nerves tingling everywhere. Having practiced those 2k sprints and pieces, we were determined to give it our best and make the rest of MECBC proud.
As we headed up the river, we were a bit shaky and our strokes weren’t quite in time, however we put our best smiles on and focused on our target: “Come on guys, we can’t come last”. As we nibbled on our Haribo, (we got an extra packet because they forgot to print out our number) with the determination of coming at least second to last, we watched all the boats ahead of us start their race with anticipation.
We started with a steady rolling start and increased speed once we were past Newnham bridge. Our initial aim was to row at a steady rate 27 to avoid getting too out of time, however with effective calls, adrenaline, skill developed after all that training, and maybe a bit of a sugar rush from that extra packet of Haribo we rowed in time at rate 32 most of the way. Exhilarating! Päivi cheered us on as we powered along and we ended the race on a high.
We found out later in the day that we had come second place and were beaten by just a second, ONE second!!! We were all over the moon considering our initial target. Päivi has been a great coach and we have all improved significantly with her coaching. W1 and W2, watch out!
Emily Larcombe, cox