Category: Training

Bumps was finally here! Slightly later than it should have been, due to carnage in the M5 division resulting in a re-row of the bottom eleven boats. After a confident paddle down we marshalled at the P&E in beautiful warm sunshine and started munching Haribo. Because of the delay there were no practice standing starts, but we had a couple of rolling starts on the Reach and at the Plough. We spun and parked without incident at our station on the Outflow, and then we waited. And waited. A barge was coming down the course. Hfff.

Finally, the one minute gun! Mark started pushing us off and suddenly everything felt scarily real. This was happening, we were actually racing Bumps, we had less than fifteen seconds before the start. No time to panic. I came forward, squared, checked my posture, looked up, listened.

GUN!

Draaawww 1! The boat crashed down on the recovery and my blade hit the water. Draaawww 2! Next stroke was better. One more draw and now wind! Quick hands! Stride it out, find the rhythm – 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 – blade in, lever through, big finishes, don’t slam forwards. Newnham weren’t gaining but the boat felt very heavy and the strokes were taking forever. “What’s the rate?” I asked. “36.” Oh. I’d stop worrying then. But where were our whistles?

We finally got our first whistle – about five strokes after we should have, since Mark was being mean – and gave a push for ten. Two whistles followed shortly after – this was progress! Starting to round First Post Corner, we’d barely heard our triple whistle before Emily started shouting, “OVERLAP! OVERLAP!” A few strokes more and Christina called to hold it up. We’d done it!

Felicity Parker, stroke

This was it: it was the first day of Bumps after a long term of training! The sun was shining and the wind was blowing, and it was time to get out Owen, our boat. As we rowed up we were told that, due to carnage in the earlier divisions, our starting time would be delayed by at least 40 minutes, so we waited to marshal just before the Green Dragon Bridge and rested in the shade. Our hopes were high – we were chasing Lady Margaret’s W2, whom we had beaten in Champs Head just a couple of weeks previously.

Even though our coach, Robert, studied at John’s, he supported us completely, and we waited for the cannon with trepidation.

“Draw 1! Draw 2! Draw 3!” The Mays had begun for us! We started off strongly and gained a whistle on Maggie just as we were approaching First Post Corner. Then things got a bit hectic, and a branch in the water caused a mini-crab. Trinity Hall W2 started to look worryingly close. As we reached Grassy Corner, we took the corner too wide and the wind pushed us even further into the bank, so we had to stop rowing and wait for the other crew to come past us.

After the initial disappointment, we resumed our optimism: tomorrow is a new day, and we’re not going to be intimidated by the crew that we’re chasing. We’ve got rid of all the “first day nerves” today, and we’re ready to take our revenge tomorrow. Well hard!

Olimpia Onelli, 3

With the weather on our side, it was set to be an enjoyable and successful race. However, with eight minutes until marshalling time, Murray Edwards W1 were still at the boathouse. Not only were they still at the boathouse, but they had no stroke. In fact, our stroke was still coxing the ME W2 boat to success in the previous division. With the return of W2, Felicity (stroke) hastily leaped from one boat into another, immediately pushing the boat out to begin our firm (and indeed swift) paddle down to the marshalling zone. Short of time, we span ahead of the motorway bridge, arriving at our station (just) in time for the start of the race.

The start of our race was strong, courtesy of our start sequence training over the past few outings. Whilst the marshal left little differentiation between our ‘go’ and the instruction for Newnham to approach the start line, we refused to be distracted. Instead, we stormed into Ditton corner with a tight line as we approached the Reach. With the first minute behind us it was time to storm through the pain and maintain high pressure.

As we headed under the railway bridge we moved into our final few strokes. It was time to give it all that we had left. With our increase in power and determination, we surged towards the finish line, only to hear a premature klaxon moments before we were to complete the race. Though this bewilderment threatened to derail both cox and rowers, we retained strength to end the race as powerfully as it had begun!

Joanne Skinner, 2

It was W3’s first race of the term, and as we warmed up on the ergs and practised our start sequence, we were feeling confident and ready to go. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed a leisurely row up to Baits Bite Lock before marshalling just upstream of First Post Corner. Having arrived with plenty of time to spare and being one of the last crews in the division to race meant we and could sit back enjoy the sun. As the division started, we made our way up to the starting buoy (following a heated discussion with coach Gen about the pronunciation of the word buoy). After coming to frontstops, we stormed out of the blocks with the best start we’ve ever managed as a crew, and this gave us the confidence to put the power down and keep the rating up. We approached the finish line with a strong power ten and finished in 4th place in our division, a result we were extremely pleased to have achieved, and which puts us in a fantastic position for Bumps at the end of term.

Issy Pearce-Mason, stroke

Today was the first race of the term for W2. After all the rain this week, it was very exciting to see that the sun was out and the weather was very nice. Once everybody was there, we quickly got the boat out and were soon ready to set off. Unfortunately, there was some trouble with the cox box and our cox, Felicity, suspected that the cox box at the boathouse would run out of battery quickly. Luckily, W3 was in the division before us, so we hoped to get their cox box for the race.

We set off, rowed along the boathouses and finally arrived at the lock. We span at the lock and then it was time for marshalling. The time passed very quickly, Izzy came to bring us the cox box, and soon we were about to start our first race of the term. After our first few draw and wind strokes we settled into a very good rhythm and could maintain it over the entire course.

In the late afternoon, the race results came out, and we were very happy to see that we were faster than LMBC, whom we are chasing in Bumps. We have already improved a lot since the beginning of term, and we still have a few more weeks of training before Bumps. I can see us going from strength to strength and making our performance at May Bumps something to be proud of.

Lisa Kreusser, 2

After a very long and tough row-over the day before, W1 were determined to end our bumps campaign on a high. We knew what it felt like to get a hard-earned bump from Day 2 with Pembroke and we knew that Bumps luck was on our side from our Day 1 bump on Girton. However, we also knew that Emma were tough; a crew to be reckoned with. It was all or nothing. So we gave it our all!

After a smooth start we began the long grind, gaining distance little by little. As we approached Grassy Corner we really started moving on them, the whistles started increasing and we began to get excited! The crowd on grassy started cheering as we brought it to three whistles and this was where we decided as a crew to not let the exhaustion take over but to push through together and finish this off in style. We dug deep and had overlap by the Plough, really racing for the crowd and Neeraja at Bow won us the Bump with her blade hitting Emma’s stern at the perfect moment. What a fantastic end to W1’s 2017 Lent Bumps campaign in front of all our family and friends supporting from the bank. We celebrated and donned our greenery for the victory row home. Well Hard Ladies.

Heather Dudley, 4

It was the last day of Bumps and, actually, the first time during the campaign we rowed as a complete crew. The race results table showed our record as a straight line which meant that we were not bumped but also that we did not bump either. This time we definitely wanted to catch the boat in front of us and all the augurs were in our favour.

Rowing to the starting point, the boat was sat and moved so smoothly that we were all much encouraged. I thought that being with the crew with which you spent so many hours on the river and off it really makes a difference. While waiting for the starting canon, we went out of the boat, ate lots of sweets, made photos…and felt a bit nervous when the shots rung out marking the start of the men’s crews race.

Our starting sequence was effective and very soon our cox, “the queen of the corners”, begun to tell us that we are very close to our rivals. The only thought I had was “How close is this very close?”. Before the start we decided that our coach, Paivi, will shout “Tequilla” to call upon all our power to push the boat harder and bump. Even if I did not hear this call, I pushed with all my might, hearing the whistles, people shouting from the bank, but I did not understand what was happening and where we were, I was just pushing hard. Everything happened very quickly and we bumped Lucy Cavendish/Hugh Hall W3 just after the Newnham bridge. “That is it?” was my first thought after Paivi called us to hold it up. After some minutes of confusion, we moored to the bank, made photos and felt very happy and proud.

Lisa Al-Faradzh, 5

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

It was the final day of bumps, the weather was glorious compared to yesterday’s grey rain, and therefore so were our moods! We felt optimistic as we gathered in the boat house and, in anticipation of success, took our crew photo. We set off in high spirits, Robert stylishly sporting my rucksack so that I could make a quick swap out of the boat post race. Having been bumped the previous three days, we agreed that we would not give up and this would be the day we rowed over. With Jesus behind us and Catz behind them, we hoped that we could hold off Jesus long enough for Catz to bump them, and we were relatively confident that with a strong start we could manage this. We marshalled rather closer to the starting canon than the day before, in what was described as a rather difficult starting spot due to strong currents. The race started well and there was a good amount of distance between us and Jesus, and it looked like Catz might be gaining on them. However, soon disaster struck – Catz fell behind and Jesus began to get closer. We kept pushing on but were bumped at grassy, however this was the furthest point we had managed to row to all week! We were all disappointed with the outcome, but despite winning our spoons, we can be happy with the small success that every day we came in with a renewed attitude, and every day we rowed just that little bit further before being bumped. For a crew of mostly novices, I can only see us going up in strength next term, and making May bumps something to be proud of.

Tilly Farmery, 6

After the somewhat accidental success of the first day of bumps, the Medwards W1 crew was eager to show off our skills properly. While fending off death-stares from the angry Girton crew during marshalling, and some heat from a none-too-happy Churchill crew behind them, W1 pondered their race tactic. We were chasing Pembroke; they were catchable, but could we do it without first getting caught by Girton bent on revenge? The answer was clear: trust ourselves! Propelled by the success the previous day, our paddle home had been one of the strongest of the term. We had found a rhythm and a confidence that had been at times elusive to the crew, but that everyone could feel now. So the tactic for the race was simple: ignore Girton, focus on chasing Pembroke. The gun went, we were off, and soon found a steady rhythm for the race. Girton, fuelled by anger, went hard off the start and appeared to be gaining on us. We followed our tactic and ignored them. Instead, every single stroke we focused on grinding it down in pursuit of Pembroke. At the first whistle Christina called for a power ten and the crew responded amazingly; we could really do this! After no more than 20 strokes we had gained another half a length, and Girton was nowhere to be seen. We caught up with them at grassy corner – it was a proper and well deserved bump! We were very excited, for some of us it was our first proper bump. Maybe a bit too excited in fact, as we for a few seconds forgot that we had to swiftly clear the river… Some carnage was caused, mistakes were made and we went away happy that no one got hurt but with a hefty fine, and maybe even fewer friends in the boats behind us than we had before… But all the while pleased with a job well done.

Amanda Sjödahl, 5