St Catharine's College Boat Club

It was always going to be a challenging bumps campaign for St Catharine’s as the squad is heavily dominated with very promising novices. Both M1 and W1 were starting in strong positions going into Lents of which the crews last year earned. This did not phase any of the remaining seniors, the six 'new' rowers or any member of each crew as they all committed to having the best campaign possible.

SCCBC ready for BCD -photo credit: Jonathan McCree-Grey

 W2 Report: (-1, -1, +1, -1)

Due to Ciara and Dennis W2 did not get much water time this term, which has been difficult. This boat was predominantly novices (7 out of 9). Even with minimal water time, these girls had a fantastic attitude, both the original rowers of each day and every sub that was willing to jump in to help with outings and during bumps – thank you. Knowing they had a challenging fight on their hands they attacked hard coming off the start each day so much so that with a poorly angled push off went charging into the opposite bank on day two! However, on Day three were able to bump back Cauis, ok so it was a technical bump due to Cauis not pushing off correctly, but a bump is a bump and it was St Catharine’s first bit of foliage! Suffice it to say W2 set the tone and proudly brought some greenery back to the boathouse. I am excited to see what these girls are able achieve next term with more water time under their belts and a bit more fitness. Well done W2!

M2 Report: (0, -1, 0, +1)

These lads (inc Maya) rowed with great commitment everyday of bumps. The comradery of the crew was palpable and with an unforgettable start to Lent bumps (of which insiders know it will always been too soon to joke about) M2 performed excellently, holding their place on the river from last year. This was no easy task with some fast crews behind them piling on some dangerous bumping pressure. These lads were tough enough to pull away inches from being bumped to have a well-deserved row over on Day 3, after fighting hard with Eli only rowing arms and body due to an unexpected seat malfunction on Day 2. What better way to end a campaign with a bump, and these lads did it in style bumping Christ’s right by grassy corner! A very big well done to you all, I hope you bring the same passion into Mays!

M1 Report: (0, -1, -1, -1)

Lent term has been an interesting term for the members of M1. A lot was learnt and many changes were made. To the lads credit they did a phenomenal job at showing true guts and grit during bumps. This boat had three novices, one new rower, two returners from M1 last year and two rowers from M2 so it is fair to say the experience in this crew was low coming into bumps. I was extremely impressed with the determination of this crew when put under severe pressure; they respectably and amazingly held boats off when just inches from having to concede. The most rewarding part of bumps was the lads coming off the water being proud of their performance and being ready to fight another day, confidently knowing that long term this crew will be something to be reckoned with! They are unfortunately the only crew that didn’t bump however the performance they gave each day was something to be proud of!

W1 Report:  (-1, -1, -1, +2)

Well, what a week it was for the Women’s 1^st boat! Wow! Again another young boat, in a near on brand new shell made for some teething issues but nothing the women weren’t willing to knuckle down on to improve. It would have been very easy for these girls to be passive and accept defeat when being bumped out of Division 1 on Day 3, hooooooowever (there is a Catz theme starting) they were so tough and showed so much courage to achieve two bumps on Day 4. This accomplishment meant they solidly moved back up and held a spot in Division 1.  At no point did anyone show any doubt in any other member of the crew, they knew they were a unit and when fuelled on digestives and skittles went off like a rocket and ended their week on a brilliant high! I am beyond proud of these girls and am very excited to see what they are able to achieve in Mays! 

-Carmen Failla