2nd Men's IV - Winter Head

Take One

We entered the first division of the day so were up on time to catch the frost. Despite the chaos around us, we were nice and relaxed on the way down and before the start line. Just as we were about to set off we were informed that there was a fast ladies’ quad that needed to go ahead of us. This seemed to be the motivation we needed as it made us determined to prove that we also knew how to row. We got off to a good start and found our planned cruising rhythm by the end of the first minute. Whilst the plan of rate 32.5 – 33 had seemed ambitious, this was where we settled and it felt like we could keep going. Good calls from Emma gave us a constant focus and took our minds off the remaining minutes. We were up on the women’s quad after a few minutes and were side by side with them as we came into the Railway Bridge – Emma had a tricky time ensuring that the bumps season didn’t start too early a we jostled for the racing line. Before too long we were approaching the finish and every stroke took us one step further. We were all jolly tired by the time we’d finished but knew we’d put in a good row as we’d met all the targets Bomber asked of us. We were given great support from Andy on the bank and were really pleased later on in the day to find that we’d won our division so well done to all!

Take Two

The second time round we entered a slightly different crew, with the bowsiders afforded the privilege of racing again with some fresh-faced strokesiders. The conditions had deteriorated throughout the day and there was now a strong headwind. Once again, marshalling was chaotic – Hannah was having to be very diplomatic with a sculler who thought we were encroaching on his space. Just as we were about to start, the wind got up so we decided to put clams on. We got off to a good start and quickly moved up on a Cantabs crew with a certain member of the college chapel’s staff! A St. Catherine’s 4+ that followed us quite quickly off the start was moving up on us. We managed to hold them off for a while but they managed to get past us as the legs started to get tired. It was a spirited row and we had a strong push as e came towards the finish. Coming 5th in the division was a decent result considering the conditions we had and I think everyone can be pleased with their performance.