Unfortunately, there was little race practice to be had over the term, as with heavy rain and strong winds, two races were cancelled. With work going onto the Green Dragon Bridge, training was also impinged by the ‘one college boat’ rule which meant that only one boat from each college was allowed on the river in the morning between lighting down and the start of lectures.
W2 competed in the Getting-On race, but after having so few outings, were unable to qualify. W1 started off at position 11 in Division Two.
Day One: The sun came out just before we left the Boathouse, with a rainbow for a spot more good luck. Stella and Hannah (our awesome Bank party-ers) were there with words of encouragement, talking us through the start and what to do in whatever situation we may find ourselves, whether that be bumping or getting bumped…but whatever happened we were to keep calm and composed. The cannons all gave us a bit of a jolt; time to get our heads in the game, focus on that spot in the person in front of us, and be IN the boat. Slowly we were pushed out and Michelle was taking taps with bow and 2 right down to the 4…3…2… AND WE WERE OFF! Our flying start made us close down on Jesus W2 and before we’d even finished the sequence, we started hearing whistles from the bank…were they for us, were they for Jesus, were they for Newnham who were chasing? Michelle called for a Power 10 and we got contact within the first 500m of the race!
Day Two: The stream was really strong and we did not have the greatest start…but luckily it was stronger than Jesus II, who ended up crashing into the bank. With no one chasing us, we could just concentrate on pushing on for the bump. We were gaining straight off the start, but so were Sidney on Emma. Michelle called for a power 10 and we were giving it everything we could…whistles were going off everywhere but who were they for? Then we were coming around First Post Corner, and their cox took a poor line…in Michelle’s words ‘We were going to catch them in the corner’ which we duly did! Sidney Sussex I had fallen – now it was on for Emmanuel II
Day Three: This was out toughest day so far – Emmanuel were a strong crew and they would be out to get the bump on Lady Margaret as soon as they could and all due credit to them the almost did. We had a nice clean start and were powering up on Emmanuel before too long but so were they on Lady Margaret. Whistles and shouts from our Bank party told us that we were all so close to getting that bump in. Michelle took an amazingly tight corner…it was make or break time…with yet another Power 10 our efforts were rewarded with a sudden halt! We had just managed to bump Emmanuel whilst they had an overlap on Lady Margaret. It was a very close run thing!
Day Four: Despite the original grey skies, it was a glorious day and the spectators were a huge boost to our confidence. The calls for ‘GO LUCY-HUGHES’ gave encouragement but did not distract us from the task in hand – Blades were at hand but the flag could not be flown until the whistles were blown. Lining up, this time in position 8, we did our final check throughs, our little fist bumps and had our final team chat from Hannah. The nervous excitement of what we could potentially achieve, that had been there every single day, still came and then it was the final countdown…5,4,3…GUN! Emma gained quite quickly in the first length but with Lauren’s expert steering we were dead centre and going for LMBC II. We desperately listened out for whistles, hoping against hope that each stroke we took brought us closer to that final bump…one whistle…two…then continous…but no instruction to ‘Hold it up”; then there it was!
It was fantastic to hear ‘Well done Lucy/Hughes’ reminding us all that, although we may be two of the smaller, lesser well-known colleges, on the river, we can hold our own with the likes of Lady Margaret, Emmanuel, Sidney Sussex and Jesus.
Not only were we awarded Blades, but we were the only women’s crew, apart from First and Third as Head of the River, to achieve them. We also reached the top of the Marconi Table, with a score of 48 (http://bumps.camfm.co.uk/?summary. However, we were not eligible to be awarded the Cup as we didn’t have two boats in the Bumps. It was a fantastic achievement, particularly as half our boat consisted of novices who had begun rowing only a few months previously. Congratulations to the whole crew:
Coach: Hannah Spry
Cox: Michelle Low (and Lauren Magilton for the final day)
Stroke: Sarah Roe
7: Elinor George (President)
6: Catherine Quinn (Captain)
5: Sally Mole
4: Ces O’Hanlon
3: Prue Hay
2: Christina Woolner
Bow: Jessie Ingle
