It’s the beginning of Lent term, and with it comes the joining of our novices with the senior squad. Michaelmas was a fantastic term for our novices: a strong showing across all crews at Queen’s Ergs set the tone for the rest of the term, with NM2 winning their category and NW2, NW1 and NM1 coming 2nd in theirs. On the water, NM1 dominated every competition they entered, winning Emma Sprints, Clare Novices and Fairbairns! NM2 were hot on their heels however, with a strong race in Clare Novices and also a win in their category in Fairbairns. NW1 lost out in the elimination-style racing of Emma Sprints and Clare Novices, but finished 6th of around 30 boats in Fairbairns!
The seniors were not hanging around last term either, with a win in Uni IVs for M1, followed by 3rd in the Winter Head and 2nd in Fairbairns (among college crews). W1 had some good races and set a good time at the Winter Head, and will hopefully gain a lot of power with the novice women joining the squad. 2k tests have now taken place for both the women and the men, and it seems like the existing seniors are going to have a fight on their hands to keep their seats!
Just before Christmas, we took 26 rowers and coxes to Chester for our annual training camp. We were joined by W1 coach Jamie Brown, along with guest coach Cyril Cornet from Imperial/Westminster. The week was full of intense training and mentality gains, but also a fair measure of fun with the rest of the squad! Our novices in particular stepped on a lot, and I’d like to thank our coaches again for the effort they put in, which will directly affect our performance in Bumps.
So, Lent Bumps. It is of course difficult to predict what will happen, but I am confident that with so many strong novices competing with seniors for seats, and the resulting determination that entails, we are set up to do very well.
GTM
Robin McCorkell