1st VIII – Bumped Downing W1 to claim HEADSHIP!
Fuelled by yesterday’s bump, the row up to marshalling was chonky (like a Labrador), strong and intimidating. After arriving at marshalling (and being pulled into the bank by a member of Downing’s Bank Party), we settled into our usual Queen sing-along and dance routine. After kissing the lucky rock, we set off to station. Our hydroplaning was strong, but our practice starts even stronger.
The cannon went and Vicky’s inspirational cheering from the bank spurred us on through our start sequence. Soon after, we were soon on one whistle, and we settled into a lower rate than yesterday, and started to hunt down Downing.
After what seemed like forever, we finally pulled back some water and got two whistles on Downing, just outside of Ditton. With a tactical call and a fabulous line around Ditton by Cat, we got three whistles. We pushed on and soon bumped Downing in the spinning zone at the top of the reach.
The row home was strong and filled with many “YEAH NEWNHAM” calls from the bank. Tonight, we are eating lots of pasta to recover for what the rest of Bumps has in store. YEAH NEWNHAM!
-Flo Bradshaw, Seat 3
2nd VIII – Row-over
After a rest day, the 2nd VIII were as ready as ever to take on the chaos of Bumps. Marshalling up saw us get a practice start outside the Plough (which felt chonky!!) and we took our starting position in between Corpus and Hughes – both of which are W1 crews.
The 4-minute cannon goes, then the 1-minute cannon, and before we knew it, we were off. After a strong start sequence, we lengthened out and settled into our race pace. As we made our way to the reach, we pushed Hughes Hall W1 away from us with every stroke – we had done it on Day 1, we could do it again!
As always, Grace masterfully coxed us through all of the bumps occurring around us and we were on Corpus’ tail. Other crews were screaming “YEAH NEWNHAM” as we sped by. However, we were unable to catch up to Corpus before the finish line. Guess it’s just made us hungrier for that bump tomorrow… watch this space!
-Emily Cooper, Seat 2