On Friday afternoon 36 men’s crews and 35 women’s crews lined up and prepared to compete for a place in  this year’s CUCBC’s Lent Bumps. This year, with the reduction in the number of divisions in Bumps, only W1 boats had their places guaranteed and every other boat had to fight for one of the remaining sixteen places in the Getting on Race. The crews had to race against the clock over the Bumps course, which spans a distance of just over 2 kilometres, and the fastest sixteen are awarded a position in the Bumps starting order, although the order in which these top sixteen come is not revealed so that no assumptions can be made about their performance in the Bumps races.

After the entertainment of some questionable coxing from some other boats while spinning to race back upstream during marshalling, it was time for Lucy/Hughes W2 to show that they deserved one of those coveted sixteen places. They had a powerful start and were settled into their race pace over the start line. Girton W2 had set off ahead of us with a large distance between us and them. However, by the time we were approaching Grassy corner we could see Girton up ahead and we began to rein them in even further. With some motivational calls from cox, Marjun Parcasio, and the demand for power 10s the girls kept the pressure on Girton and on the reach you could see that they had easily gained 5 or 6 boat lengths on them since the start. The girls gave it everything they had until the very end and although we don’t know the official time that they completed the course in, we do know that they did enough to win themselves a place in Bumps!

Congratulations to the entire crew, they’ll be starting in position 11 in division 3 on day one of Bumps next Wednesday afternoon!

The Lucy/Hughes team haven’t had a second boat in Lent Bumps since 2012, this shows how much the club has come on over the last couple of years and the enthusiasm of both the coaches and the rowers this year.

Bring on Bumps!

By Jessica Phillips

On Saturday 14th February both W1 and W3 competed in Pembroke Regatta. This was the first race W3 have competed in since becoming seniors at the beginning of the term and as it’s the only regatta race for seniors on the Cam, W1 wanted to race too!

It was an early start for W3, having to marshall at 7:50am but unlike previous  snowy, windy weeks, the weather was calm providing good racing conditions. The girls had been put up against Clare W3 in the first round, a tough opponent, but they knew that if the team kept their timing together and their power switched on they had the ability to do well. They lined up on the start line and waited for the start… “Attention, GO”. We had a strong start and began to gradually pull away from Clare. But they didn’t let us get away from them  and hung on close behind us. After a call from the cox, Elinor for a power 10 off the railway bridge the girls powered across the line half a boat length ahead of Clare.

After spinning and heading back up the reach to the start, we had to take on Jesus W4. Both teams were quick off the start but Jesus started to pull away slightly. Then disaster struck for Jesus; they caught a crab slowing them down. Then there was a brief clash of blades but Lucy/Hughes pulled away from Jesus and continued to power past the bridge and through the last 300m of the course ahead. They were through to the final to face Jesus W3. We knew it was going to be a incredibly tough race but the girls gave it everything they had all the way to the finish. But Jesus were a strong team and got ahead of us early on and maintained their power. Our girls put in a really good performance and didn’t give up, fighting until they crossed the line. Congratulations to all the girls for coming 2nd in the division, it was such a fantastic result and the team put in three great performances.

 

That afternoon, it was time for W1 to race. We got put up against Murray Edwards W1 in the draw; we knew it was going to be a difficult race as Murray Edwards are in the division above us in both Bumps competitions but we remained optimistic. “Attention…Go!” and we were off. We were neck and neck during the start sequence but then quickly they gained half a length on us. Our cox, Gemma Schofield, called for a power 10 and we began gaining on them gradually a little bit each stroke we took. With Gemma’s encouragement we continued gaining on them and we could see that we were next to them for the rest of the race, unable to tell who was ahead. Unfortunately Murray Edwards beat us by just a canvas but we were glad to have been able to give them such a tough race especially with a different crew line up to usual. Well done to everyone who raced in Pembroke Regatta, it was a fantastic performance from the Lucy/Hughes team.

This Friday Lucy/Hughes will begin their Lent Bumps campaign with W2 competing for a place in Bumps in the Getting on Race. Good luck girls!

By Jessica Phillips

It was the third Saturday of Lent term (31st January) which meant that it was time for the annual Newnham Short Course race; a 2km course from the Motorway bridge to the Railway bridge, the same as the Bumps course. This time it was W2’s turn to compete against the other college teams and demonstrate how good Lucy/Hughes are on the river in their first race as seniors.

The weather was not in anyone’s favour and, although the snow had finally stopped after the morning’s divisions, the girls would have to battle against strong gusty winds and the freezing temperatures. The stream was also extremely strong with boat after boat being swept into the bank during marshalling. But as the first crew pushed off at the lock, it was time to focus and attack the looming 2km course.

Churchill’s W2 set off in front of us and, after leaving alarger than usual time gap between us and them, our girls were given the command “Attention… GO!”. The first part of the course, consisting of testing corners, was steered brilliantly by cox Sally Mole in difficult conditions. By Grassy corner we, on the bank, caught sight of Churchill ahead and we knew the girls would be able to chase them down. The girls were powering down the course, catching on Churchill with every sharp catch and powerful stroke. As we got onto the reach Lucy/Hughes had closed the gap to only four boat lengths and the finish line was in sight. Sally called for a power 10 to carry them down the reach and then another to push them over the finish line.

The girls put in a really strong performance and completed the course in an impressive time of 9 minutes 20 seconds, coming 6th out of the W2 boats and beating Catz W2, First and Third W2 and Downing W2. Well done to the whole team and I’m sure we can look forward to many more sterling performances from them throughout the term.

By Jessica Phillips

On Saturday 24th January, City of Cambridge Rowing Club held their annual Winter Head to Head race. This race consists of a 2 kilometre course from the Railway bridge to the Motorway bridge that has to completed twice; a daunting prospect with it being the first race after a long Christmas break and being in a higher division than we competed in last year.

We set off on the first 2k chasing Jesus’ W2 with the stream in our favour. Through the first kilometre we were gaining on them and managed to close the gap between us to about four boat lengths with some encouraging calls from our coach, Hannah Spry, and cox, Gemma Schofield. However, Jesus managed a last minute surge and finished the first leg 4 seconds faster than our, still impressive, time of exactly 8 minutes.

After spinning, we were thinking about attacking the course for the second time. This time the stream and the wind would be against us but it was also the race homewards and we knew it was the last chance to give it everything we had. Again, we had JCBC in our sights; this time we wanted to catch them! We set off and quickly flowed through the corners, with Gemma keeping an excellent line we were powering the boat on towards the reach, losing sight of Trinity First and Third W2 behind us. On the reach the wind hit us and we had to sit up against it, keep our catches sharp and squaring early. We approached the finish with Gemma calling for powerful strokes to carry us across the finish line. We completed the second leg in 8 minutes 34, beating Jesus by 4 seconds, the same amount they had previously beaten us by. This meant that at the end of our division, we were joint first with an overall time of 16.34. We just had to wait for the results of 5 boats in division 4 to come in before we knew where we had come overall…

After a long afternoon waiting for the rest of the times to come in, we were finally delighted by the news that none of the 5 crews had beaten our time and we had won Pots. We had beaten Fitzwilliam W1 (who came second) by 12 seconds, and we’d also achieved a faster time than a number of crews in the division above ours such as Clare W1, Caius W1 and Lady Margaret W1. I hope to have more fantastic news over the rest of the term, with a few more races to go before the highly anticipated Lent Bumps we’ve had an encouraging start to the term.

By Jessica Phillips

Although most people have now gone home for the holidays, there were a few of us still kicking around, anxious to be back in a boat. On Saturday, City of Cambridge Rowing Club put on their annual Christmas Head – a 1.6km race. where crews row up towards the boathouses. After all the hard work at the Fairbairns races, for both seniors and novices, this was a fun race with which to end the term (complete with fancy dress).

The Seniors were able to compete in a four, kindly lent to us from Emmanuel Boathouse. With only 2 outings, along with a change from our usual bowsider to a strokesider stroke, it took some time for things to fall into place. Complete with our Christmas Jumpers, ranging from stockings to gingerbread men, we came up to the start line and commenced our rolling start. Along the course, the pair which set off behind us was slowly closing up and we managed to hold them off till the Elizabeth Way bridge (at about 500m still to go). They didn’t manage to overtake us though – despite our moving to the side, they crashed against the canal boats so we were still able to cross the line first. Our time was 8.28 and we were 8 seconds off the next fastest boat, as well as 28 seconds off the overall 4+ winnner. Although not as strong as our row at Fairbairns, for the limited time we had to prepare for the race, we were happy with the result – after all, can’t take anything in fancy dress too seriously!

The novices put in another strong performance and were catching up to the crew in front from the start. About halfway through the course they had overlap with the bow and the other boat’s stern but the other crew moved more closely into our boat, and our novices crashed. After a quick push off and reset, they went for another start sequence and were once again closing the gap between them and the other crew. Luckily there were no more incidents but the novices powered on up to the line and completed the course in a time of 9.17. Had it not been for the crash they could have gotten a much lower time, and could have been much closer to the Women’s Novice Winners (Anglia Ruskin University) who has a time of 8.23.

For both novices and senior crews, the results were not exactly what we had hoped for but  it was a fun race with which to end the term and will have given us more fire to come back at the start of next term to do even better.

Both NW1 and NW2 took to the water yesterday for their first race on the River Cam. After only being in the set crews for 2 weeks, the girls had worked hard to master race starts, timing and balance – now was the time to put it altogether at high rate.

Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely horrific – with icy cold winds and torrential rain, the crews had their work cut out during the racing and the waiting in between. One of the most important things though for the race is deciding on the costumes. NW2 had gone for characters from Winnie the Pooh, complete with the cox as a jar of honey. NW1 had opted for Noah’s Ark, with frog, elephant and zebra all making an appearance. There were, however, the compulsory additions of waterproofs, which were sopping after only an hour in the rain.

 

NW2 were up first starting of against Emmanuel NW2. Despite clashing blades early on, the crew managed to disentangle themselves from the mess and were powering down the course. It was a nail biting race but our bow ball just made it across the line first, meaning the girls were up to row again in the quarter-finals. Next up was Kings NW2 and after a strong start, Hughes/Lucy were gaining a comfortable lead to cross the finish line with 4 lengths to spare. Then it was on to the semi-finals, and after being out in the rain and the cold for nearly 3 hours,, the conditions were taking their toll – teeth were chattering, arms were shaking and hands were reddening. With only two more races left, the crew took up position for the 3rd time that day against Jesus NW1. Although NW2 gave it everything they had, Jesus powered away. For third place, it was us against Murray Edwards NW1. Again it was a tight race, but a combination of the terrible weather, and losing a footplate, meant that Murray Edwards won by a length. They came fourth out of 16 other boats in the division which was a great result!

NW1 division were next to race. They had a tough first opponent – Darwin NW1 had won the Women’s final at Queens’ Ergs last week. After a strong start the two crews were neck and neck, and it was only till Darwin caught a crab (where the blade goes behind the rower and is left dragging in the water) that Lucy/Hughes were able to finally pull ahead. Darwin tried to catch up with Power 10 after Power 10 but our boat just made it across the finish line and were awarded the win. After a little bit of a wait for the next round, NW1 were up against Emmanuel NW1. Unfortunately the River Gods had a sense of humour and there was another crab, this time in our boat, as well as another foot-plate issue. But the crew still kept close by Emma and only lost by a few metres.

Both crews won at least one race and were only knocked out by a crew that went onto the final – Jesus NW1 won the W2 division, whilst Emmanuel went onto the final of the W1 division. The girls rowed really well and with Clare Novices and Fairbairns left, there’s plenty of time for more racing glory!

 

So Tuesday 11th saw our novices taking to the ergs for their first competition. Hughes Sprints, our own miniature version of Queens Ergs, had helped us in the selected 2 crews of 8 women to compete.

NW1 were up first with their division at 18:00. After a delay of 15mins, and a spot of drizzling rain, we were going into the Hall to the Drum and Bass of the speaker system and making our way to erg 9. With our first rower ready at front-stops we waited for the ‘Attention…GO!’ The girls did really well, coming 5th in their division with an average time of 1.55. 4 which was only a second behind the crews in 3rd and 4th place. We had to wait for the last NW1 division to be won before we knew if they had made it through to the final…and they did!

Whilst NW1 recovered with chocolate and pasta, it was time for the NW2 to show their mettle. They too put in a good performance coming 8th out of 14 boats in their division with an average time of 2.05. One of our rowers got a time of 1.56.4 which was only 3 seconds off the fastest girl in the division.

After a long wait it was time for NW1 to line up once again; this time for the final. Even though they’d raced nearly 4 hours before, the adrenalin was still pumping, and they finished in 10th position with a time of 1.55.8 Between all of the bottom 6 crews, there was only 0.9 of a second in it, so it really was very tight! There were 30 women’s crews that competed in the NW1 division, so to beat 20 of those crews is a job well done indeed!

Bring on Emma Sprints!

After the success of Lent Bumps, the pressure was now on – with a few changes in line-ups for both W1 and W2, particularly the return of Stella Lempidaki, who had trailed for the Women’s Blue Boat, along with Izzy Vvyvyan who competed at the Boat Race, training was back to full steam, and the 5.30am alarms were set for the beautiful morning outings. We were also lucky enough to have Jonas Schwenck, a rower at St Edmunds College, agree to coach our W2 boat, and he really put them through their paces! Both crews entered the Champs Eights (1.4km) race and both won their division by quite some margin –prize tankards all around! W2 easily completed the Getting-On Race, securing themselves a place in the fourth division. With both crews ready to go out and grab some greenery, Bumps was shaping up to be an exciting week! W2 just missed Blades as they were given a technical rowover on the second day. Despite rowing over on the first day, W1 continued their winning streak with four bumps, making us eligible for College Blades, as well as securing a strong place in Division Two. It was fantastic to have such great support from the College and Alumni on the final day as we rode past with the Lucy and Hughes flags flying high once again. We were also winners of the Pegasus Cup for the most successful Club in May Bumps.

It has really been a fantastic term and year for the whole Club. Congratulations to everyone who competed, and a big thank to all those who came to cheer us on. We are sorry to have to lose so many wonderful rowers, particularly Kate Stevens, previous President, and Erin Townsend, previous Captain. We wish all those leaving the best in whatever walks of life they know decide to go into, and we hope to see you at the next Boat Club Dinner.