Lent Bumps kicked off today with M2, W2 and M3 in action for Churchill. Here’s how they got on:
M3:
Tales from the Foot of the River:
Truth be told, the best place to be on the river is the foot because you’re bump-vincible. Whatever people may say about headship, all you can do from that position is lose, and besides, surely it’s better to come away with a prize in the form of a spoon rather than a ‘close to headship but not quite’? To that end we have so far achieved our goal of retaining footship today whilst nevertheless providing excitement for the bank party and instilling fear in the Darwin M2.
After a good start, we found ourselves gaining on them as we made our way up the river, passing all the other boats in our division who had either bumped or been bumped. It was our job to provide entertainment for the loyal spectators on the shore so we left it until Ditton corner before getting to the point of overlapping with their stern. Unfortunately, in our quest to provide entertainment, we managed to run out of steam as soon as we hit the reach – it seems as though M3 and wind don’t mix very well.
We thus finished with Darwin M2 as the only two boats in our division to row through, gaining the most from an outing with miraculously little traffic for this time of year; boats that bumped missed out on a good opportunity to maximise their exercise. Fortunately, we now have the insider knowledge that we are indeed faster than Darwin and can push them all the way if we want. After all, we have three more chances to get it right, and even if we don’t at least we’ll have spoons as a useful material gain from Bumps!
George Colville, Bow Seat
W2:
It was a strong start for a W2 crew (mostly) new to the world of bumps. Like greyhounds in the slips we waited… and waited… and GUN! Oscar called draw and we drew like our lives depended on it (well, Oscar’s possibly did). We were ready for the kill. Unfortunately, powerful performances from both Homerton W2 and Caius W3 left our sandwich of bumping opportunity pitta-fully breadless before we had a chance to impale a cox.
No matter; we took this chance to test our stamina and strive for the Emmanuel overbump required to top the division! We were gaining on them! Sadly, their seven-and-a-half boat length head-start was somewhat advantageous, and they held on to their sandwich boat crown.
Now we face the challenge of a whole other kind of sandwich: with an alarmingly rapid Caius W2 hot on our tails, we must go for the kill and take Queens’ W3 before we can be taken ourselves. And we will.
This sandwich is going to be tighter than a toastie, but we WILL BE VICTORIOUS.
Katie-Lou White, Bow seat
M2:
The Torpedo put in another huge performance today. From the sound of the start cannon, the crew were able to throw their legs down and put it all in the water.
By the time the crew was off the mark and had completed their three draws, they had already gained half a boat length on Clare III. However, Clare was also gaining on Jesus ahead and Fitz was not far behind. The crew then wound the rate up to the low 40s and began to reel in Clare and push away from Fitz. The crew began to lengthen their strokes and hunt down the boat in front, maintaining rates in the high 30s. Over the next 10 strokes, Clare were within half a boat length and almost immediately after the completion of the start sequence Danny called for a power ten. From here the half boat length quickly went down to a canvas, overlap and then a concession.
Clare themselves were within half a length of bumping Jesus, but were unfortunately unable to outrun the almighty Torpedo.
The race was over before the first station, just past the Motorway Bridge (about 300m total).
All in all, a superb start to Lents but with Fitz in front the crew expect a significantly longer row tomorrow.
Max Campman, 7 seat and Men’s Vice Captain
All five Churchill crews are in action tomorrow, which is set to be filled with some exciting racing all round!
#Forward #PainttheRiverPink