On Saturday 16th February 2019 (and with just over two weeks to go until the start of Lent Bumps) M1, W1 and M2 took part in regatta on the Cam. All the races were 1.1km from the long reach to the the P&E and were between two crews at a time, in a knockout style.
M1: Ross Tooley (Men’s Captain)
M1’s bumps preparations hit a bit of a wobble as they lost in the first round of Pembroke Regatta against St Catherine’s. Both crews set off nicely and Catz used the first bend in their favour to gain a half a length lead. At the second bend (just after halfway through the 1.1km race) Churchill looked like they might edge back, but a strong move by Catz and a very unfortunate collision with a swan put an end to Churchill’s day of racing.
The crew learnt a lot from the race and are working hard to come back stronger for bumps in 2 weeks’ time.
W1: Angela Harper (Cox)
For their second senior race together, Churchill W1 had a solid performance this Saturday. In the first round, against Kings, we pulled ahead straight away, and finished with a decisive lead. This put us in line to race against Trinity Hall in the second round. We put up a strong fight till the end, but Trinity Hall managed to get us. Despite getting out in the second round, we kept our cool throughout the race and so I am feeling very confident about the outlook towards bumps, and think we are looking good against our competition.
M2: Max Campman (Men’s Vice Captain)
The Torpedo put in a good start to edge into the lead against Christ’s and continued to pull away throughout the course. The crew was able to hold a comfortable rate 36 with long strokes for the entire race.
After this, it was on to Jesus, who had yet to race and so were rowing with fresh legs. Despite this advantage, Churchill set off in the lead from the start and maintained a neck and neck position for the first 600 metres. Here, the energy in the boat started to wane and Jesus was able to pull away, winning the race by a few seconds.
Going ahead, it is clear that the boat has sufficient power and is capable of rowing cleanly, but we need to work on maintaining form whilst energy is waning. A key aspect of this will be to keep the rate down and maintain composure even when the competing crew has a slight lead.
Whilst the defeat against Jesus was disheartening, the crew is proud to have put in such a strong performance, allowing them to be competitive against a crew an entire division ahead for bumps, and are feeling confident for Lents.