W2 Lent Bumps Getting on Race 2015

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.

W2 in action!
W2 in action!

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!

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W2 Crew: Marjun Parcasio (cox), April Bowman (stroke), Abbey Child (7), Tracey Hurrell (6), Polytimi Frangou (5), Karen Lebe (4), Lara Gibson (3), Maria Schacker (2), Carron Blom (bow)

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

Pembroke Regatta 2015

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!

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Lucy/Hughes W3 vs Clare W3

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.

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W3 crew: Elinor George (cox), Lizzie Moore (stroke), Larissa Wehning (7), Ellen Kendall (6), Polytimi Frangou (5), Svenja Bolten (4), Carron Blom (3), Sufia Rahman (2), Sandrine Mueller (bow)

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.

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Lucy/Hughes W3 vs Jesus W4

 

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

Newnham Short Course 2015

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W2 Crew: Sally Mole (cox), Tracey Hurrell (stroke), Abbey Child (7), Karen Lebe (6), Polytimi Frangou (5), Maria Schacker (4), Lara Gibson (3), Lizzie Moore (2), Teresa Knudsen (bow)

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.

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W2 in action!

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