St Catharine's College Boat Club

Rowed over

We came back fighting after yesterday's anti-climax, and again today the start was calm and speedy, despite forgetting the pre-race sweets! Queens ahead of us bumped Clare Hall within 30 strokes, causing some carnage up ahead. Some confusion meant we briefly held it up, however it became evident we were still racing, so we pulled it back together, pushed off Darwin behind us and quickly reduced the lengths on Sidney, our overbump target.

All of a sudden, stroke’s seat came off.  Everyone kept their heads in the game, and bow six powered on while stroke pair tried to fix the seat.  Darwin still didn’t get close, despite us rowing in sixes. Stroke’s seat was in essence, unfixable, meaning that the majority of the race was rowed without stern pair. Bow six pushed through to the finish line, grinding Sidney down to 2 boat lengths ahead. This was such a formidable performance: to row-over, let alone gain on the boat ahead, when rowing in sixes really highlights the tenacity of W2 this lent. Massive credit to the entire boat today for staying calm and getting a great result, despite a major seat malfunction.

On Friday we will be chasing the infamous Clare Hall boat, where we’re aiming for a long overdue bump!