Queens' Rowing Success

A variety of return dates to Cambridge and other commitments over the last few weeks meant W1 had been training as a small squad since the 29^th March when we were allowed to return to rowing. We were really looking forward to the opportunity to race twice in one weekend after missing out on so much water time this year!

Our first race was Spring Head to Head on Saturday, which involved 2 races of 1.9km, one downstream and one upstream. During our previous outing we had lost the Canard fin on our boat, which helps us corner smoothly, so we were a bit worried how we would get on in two races with lots of corners, however we had a nice row up to the start and were feeling reasonably confident.

We executed our rolling start under the railway bridge as planned, bringing the rate up to 36 and then lengthening. The row down the reach felt relaxed and powerful, and we were soon getting calls from our bank party George that we were gaining on Downing who we were chasing!

Unfortunately, by the time we reached Grassy we were in their dirty water, and without the Canard fin (and unused to taking Grassy at pace downstream) we hit the outside of the bend. Luckily, we managed to quickly push off the bank, reset and get back into our rhythm, reaching some of the fastest splits we’d had on the whole course. However, we knew we would have to complete a fast second race to make up for the time we had lost.

After plenty of sugar and fluids to refuel, it was time to start our second race. We gave Downing a large head start to make sure we wouldn’t have to overtake during the race, and then quickly brought up our rate to begin just past the motorway bridge. Feeling slightly less clean (understandably as we were quite tired by this point) but just as powerful, we made our way around the corners with some beautiful lines by Amy. Our classic ‘new rhythm, new race’ call on the reach had us flying, and cutting down on the gap between us and the boat in front fast. A final ‘sit up and go’ brought the splits down and took us over the line, very tired but pleased with how it had gone.

With the crash on the first race, we were shocked and over the moon to see we had won the Women’s College Championship division, and looking forward to City Sprints the next day, even if it was a very different race format!

Sunday afternoon, still aching from the day before, we reassembled at the boat house for City Sprints. It was a slightly different crew, with Emma having already raced in the morning in the Women’s Beginner 1x! With some nice practice starts on the reach, we were looking forward to more racing (and the much shorter course length of 500m). Our first race was against Caius Sirens. We wound up to our rate 36 again from standing, but this time only letting the rate drop slightly to 34 when lengthening out. We quickly made gains on Caius, gaining a length on them after 25 seconds, and kept pushing further off them, increasing our lead to finish the course in 1:45.

After the rest of the first set of races had taken place, we paddled back up to complete our second race. This time we were facing the intermediate squad from City of Cambridge. We had another great start, and when we reached full length it felt more relaxed than the previous race, confident after our first win. Again, we moved easily away from the City crew, gaining on every stroke. Not to be complacent however, we kept pushing hard until the line, where we won with a margin of 5 lengths.

Overall it was a great weekend for the Queens’ women and I can’t wait to see how we get on with many more races still to come this term.

Head to Head: Cox – Amy Hill; Stroke – Emma Campbell; 7 – Caroline Breeden; 6 – Rosie Aylard; 5 – Pippa Sayers; 4 – Tatiana Sedelnikov; 3 – Hannah Badger; 2 – Carly Gilson; Bow – Lucy Kirkwood; Coach – Mike Champion

City Sprints: Cox – Stephen Carter; Stroke – Emma Campbell; 7 – Caroline Breeden; 6 – Kate Attfield; 5 – Pippa Sayers; 4 – Rosie Aylard; 3 – Tatiana Sedelnikov; 2 – Carly Gilson; Bow – Hannah Badger; Coach – Mike Champion