Lent Bumps 2014, Getting on Race
This was the first time a Third Division was required to battle it out in order to make it to Lent Bumps. Hopes were high, yet, once we had been told that 34 boats would compete for the available 17 spots some of us started getting cold feet. Rubbish. M3 never got cold feet. We knew that we were a crew that would fight till the end.
Unfortunately, one of the bridges along the river was being renovated throughout the term so that only one boat per college was allowed to row in the morning. Sadly, this meant that we had to organise ourselves around weekends. On top of that, with the torrential rains the Cam was flooded for weeks and too many times we woke up in the morning only to see a big red flag on our computer screens.
Despite only just about scraping the required ten outings, we were confident to be one of the stronger boats having come 5th amongst all M3 boats during the Newnham Shortcourse earlier this term. After a passionate short speech by our coach Jack we all felt united in our struggle for one of the coveted places – this ought to be our first test. And so we pushed off…
Though our cox wasn’t particularly happy with our row down the river we made up for it when it mattered. As soon as the start signal sounded the concentration was on. After a solid start we found a good rhythm which we managed to sustain throughout the race. Towards the finish line our breaths were getting heavier and our blisters bigger whilst the memory of having once crabbed just before the finish line in one of the earlier races crept in. No giving up now. Mind over matter. With ten last “BIG PUSHS!” from our cox we rowed confidently across the finish line.
Although we didn’t know how well other crews had done, the fact that we had left King’s far behind us and had caught up with the boat in front of us gave us a good feeling for the row home. Later on that night we would receive an email from Jack entitled “So sorry, guys…” Nooo!
“…YOU WILL HAVE TO DO A LOT MORE ROWING NEXT WEEK!” the message continued. YESSSSSSSS!! Though times for the getting-on race weren’t released we knew we had done well and stood a chance for next week’s Lent Bumps. M4 were less fortunate and had just missed out coming second out of the crews which didn’t qualify. One more reason to make QCBC proud.