So bearing in mind that the Woman’s Head is only a few days away (cripes) I have managed to sneak in a report on Womans and Juniors – essentially the consensus was that it was cold. However, on the positive J completed her first race in the coxing seat after putting in many hours practicing steering and calls and learning the importance of tone. I spoke to her within and hour of finishing and she was still on a high and wanted to do it all again – not so sure the rowers were as keen.
As an added bonus I have also managed to squeeze a few words from the more literate novices……
BBL Novice crew A (No. 70) care of Clemmy
Amazing race, much to Dave’s (very vocalised) shock we rowed well as a crew – and he exhausted himself showering us all with praise! Thanks to the last 7 months of training, and hard work from our coaches and coxes, we managed to cut through the horrible waves in snowy conditions, only being pipped at the final post by one other boat – Lea – who apparently wanted to ‘destroy us’! Now with the number 1 position at WeHORR firmly in our sights, we have 2 weeks of hard training to get to where we need to be and our hands on that WINNERS PENNANT.
Dave this one is for you……..
BBL Novice crew B (No 74) care of Lucy
In what felt like minus 3 degrees we sat waiting, massaging cold fingers and toes and hoping we would all seamlessly blend together as a high performance rowing team for the race ahead. As we moved into the start an hour later we creaked into life holding off for a short while two boats closely on our stern eager to pass. Our Cox, Katie brilliantly held us together through the choppy waters (which i later discovered nearly caused the race to be scratched) and then led us on to complete the course in a time that was 2mins quicker than Quentin Head. We came 9th out of 11 and ended with a clearer sense of what it means to join in the fun of racing in a Novice squad on the Thames – hard work, cold fingers, laughter and far too much cake.