St Catharine's College Boat Club

Bumps races come in many forms. There are the all-too-quick bumps between crews who start at different speeds, there are the rows-over in glorious isolation, and there are the hard-fought, ground-out bumps which are perhaps the most nail-biting to watch. W2's race today was none of these. It was, quite simply, a ridiculously close row-over of epic proportions which will, I'm sure, never be forgotten by those who were there.

Catz had a strong, clean start, quickly pushing Clare Hall W1 away from them. After negotiating some carnage, they found themselves being hunted down by a resurgent Clare Hall, who had so far rowed over every day this week. The gap kept closing, and W2 kept pushing off them, and still the gap closed. We were the last crew to go to top finish, and were pushed every stroke to the line, the margin at the finish being a matter of feet. Huge credit is due to the crew for keeping their heads under such pressure in their first set of bumps. Tomorrow Clare Hall will be back to do battle once more, but the Catz spirit has been set ablaze. I know who I'm backing.