Saturday – Chasing Jesus M3, being chased by LMBC M3

Today would be where we could prove whether we were a good boat or a great one, for on Saturdays – legends are made. A tad melodramatic perhaps but that was certainly how a lot of us felt, I didn’t get much sleep the night before (and not just due to college Medic’s dinner!) – no one was allowed to mention the ‘b’(lades) word.

Friday – Chasing LMBC3, Being chased by Trinity Hall M2

A rest day in the middle of our bumps campaign was perfect, not, as was pointed out later by our Men’s captain, that we’d actually had to race very far as yet. Today we chased LMBC M3 and we were determined that we would not come unstuck against any 3rd boat on the river. Although we were confident, our coaches Frank and Andy and the more experienced heads in the boat Paul, Winnie and Chris, would not let us get arrogant or complacent. We hadn’t rowed our best against Trinity Hall and it was crucial that we focussed on our own boat speed, working together as a team, and to just keep pushing on with the whistles.

Wednesday – chasing Trinity Hall M2, being chased (!) by Girton M2

Now that everyone in the boat had tasted their first success of 2010 bumps racing we wanted more. We knew that we’d certainly have to row longer distances but still, as long as we concentrated on moving Sir John Meurig as fast as we had been doing this term, we were confident.

Tuesday – chasing Girton M2, being chased by Clare M2

All of the early mornings, outings, gym and ergo sessions this term had all been leading up to this, the first day of Lent Bumps. With a relatively inexperienced crew, 5 of us never having raced bumps before and having just rowed for a term, we had no idea what to expect from the next 5 days. Nevertheless, we were all confident of our own boat speed and had been encouraged with strong showings at Robinson Head and Pembroke regatta earlier this term.

Our first day of bumps started in the form of somewhat crappy race, nowhere as clean as we had been doing in training. This let Girton catch Churchill before we gained more than a length on Girton, leaving us a mere three lengths to cover to catch Christ’s by the Plough, as Churchill was about to catch them. We then regained our confidence and looseness past Ditton corner, to constantly grind Christ’s advance down and eventually overbumping them by the pink house.