St Catharine's College Boat Club

After Corpus failed to bump into the second division, we were chasing them again, with Emma II behind us. After another decent start, we moved slightly on Corpus again, holding Emma behind us. However, after the first 30 strokes we failed to settle onto our rhythm, instead rating higher and rowing shorter than desired. As a result, Emma strongly moved up onto us, reaching half a length by the plough.

At this point, at the fourth time of asking, Alistair got us to lengthen out to our rhythm at 35. However, Emma had their tails out, and pushed up to a canvas at the spinning posts. The next two minutes saw us hold there, moving the rate up 2 to keep our stern clear. This continued to just before the railway bridge, where a further push saw us spring out to half a length, and we continued to move away from a blown Emma boat. This push brought us back onto station with Corpus, which we held to the finish, crossing three lengths clear of Emma.

To push off from a canvas against a strong crew is testament to the character of the crew, and the amount of work that's gone into the land training. However, Emma will be back with renewed vigour on Friday, and another strong performance will be required.