M1 - 4th in May’s Eights Division 1 in 5:01
After a week of training since the last race M1 looked to take on what had been learnt and scaled back the training a fraction in order to hopefully maximise performance. Unfortunately conditions conspired to make the piece become a battle against the elements as a strong head wind whipped itself up just before the race.
Starting from standing the boat accelerated into a race rate. The uniqueness of Champs meant the crew was striding into race rhythm as Ditton corner approached. Unfortunately it was at this point that things started to go wrong. As the boat was hit by the headwind the rhythm was lost and the crew struggled to re-find it down the length of the reach. The boat was probably being a fraction over-rated and we were not getting effective run from the boat. Despite calls from Bronwyn in the coxes seat the crew took a long time to reassert a rhythm it taking until the railway bridge for any run to return to the hull. By this point the damage was done with respect to time and despite a trademark lift for the finish the crew knew it was a disappointing row.
The results confirmed this impression being beaten by some crews that really should not be beating our crew such as Selwyn and unfortunately for bumps Pembroke also finished ahead. However with four weeks still to go there is plenty more time for improvement until first cannon. Stroke – James Edgley 7 – Matt Edmondson-Jones 6 – Rob Emery 5 – Matt Chipping 4 – Jack Robinson 3 – Mark Varley 2 – Tom Bury Bow – Peter Mildon Cox – Bronwyn Jones W1 12th women’s crew in 6:05
M2 4th in M2 division in 5:03
W2 4th in W3 division in 6:38
W3 5th in W4 division in 6:52
M4 Winners of M5/6 division in 5:34