Results and reports by Event

We know we can't paddle. But apparently we can do race pace. On this spring-feel afternoon, W1 (- Olivia, + Phil) went down to prove that we can smash out a strong start. After a strong paddle (it was actually quite good this time), we were ready to take on Christ's. We managed to pull away straight from the start, Ben was soon shouting "I'm on their 2 seat, give me the bow", suddenly Gripper was shouting "bow ball, bow ball" which had the effect of confusing some in the crew but we still maintained a great rate 37. For the second time, Ben had to call a "guys, you're at 37, you REALLY need to lengthen NOW" and the rate dropped to 35. We beat Christs by around 3 lengths I would say but at that point, we were all a bit too happy and in pain to realise.

After some interesting parking involving Ben clasping on to a houseboat buoy, we were back down again, facing Catz in the quarter-finals. We didn't pull off the start as quickly as previously but we were soon in clear water. Pretty much the same race as before, we did lengthen a lot better that time and the race felt really chunky. We beat Catz by an unremembered number of lengths.

Our last practice start going back down for the semi-finals felt really good. We gave Newnham a good shot, they did manage to pull away after about a minute and a half, and we were struggling to keep the distance. But a great call from Ben off the railway bridge made us close up on them and according to Phil we finished the race 4 strokes after them, still maintaining a solid rate 34 1/2.

It's in high spirits that we had our usual cake and oreo post-race snack. I am interested to see what we can do in bumps...

Uploaded Saturday 17th February, 22:26

Unlike W1, we are very good at paddling. If a prize existed for the most-sat-W2-early-in-term, we would be strong contenders. However, historically we are less good at transferring this most incredible of skills into our pieces, and so it was with slight trepidation, a very ill sub (Paola, we are forever grateful <3) and a cox who had already raced twice as an emergency member of W3, that we set off in the spring-like sunshine to marshal. It was very cold but mercifully short, and soon we were on the start line facing down Kings. Our start was not the best, but we pulled away strongly, settling well after the terrifying revelation from Enlli that we had reached the lofty heights of r38, only for them to make a misguided attempt at trying to beat us after all under the railway bridge. Although they pulled back maybe two seats on us, it was not to be, and we crossed the finish line triumphant (and coughing, spluttering and in pain). After a few short minutes, we were back at the start, this time facing down Downing. Although we hoped that 'down' would be the operative word in the sense of 'we took them down', it turned out to be more the opposite. Our start was much better, our race pace much longer and stronger...but they were just faster. Having said that, we crossed the finish only a boat length after them. Not bad, we gave Chrysa the two races she wanted - and now bring on bumps!

Uploaded Sunday 18th February, 14:25

The misty cold early morning seemed to have frozen us a little. Seeing Homerton W2 moving next to us, we started the race a bit confused. But we picked up the pace in a few strokes and kept the rate at 34, which is a new high for us. Only to find out that W1 and W2 are trying to test their limit as well with even higher rates of 37 and 38! Half of the race, they stopped and we slowed down for a few strokes but quickly realised the race was still going. We then picked up the rate once again to give everything we've got and became half of boat length ahead of them. Despite good effort, Homerton eventually caught up and won the race several strokes ahead of us.

Being a lucky loser, we got a second chance, but only to find out that we're racing against ourselves! This time, cox Tom realised the right motivation for the race wasn't winning but the CAKE that's waiting for us at the boat house! There he shouted, "Give it all you've got! We're aiming for the the cake!" That worked! We raced at a more steady rate and were able to put more power into the boat. We even managed to close the gap between the boat that was racing before us (according to Tom)! We did a much better job racing for the cake. I guess seeing men's boats chasing after us gave us a push as well!

Shout out to Enlli, cox of W2, for subbing for us! For bumps, we need a bigger cake!

Uploaded Sunday 18th February, 21:58