St Catharine's College Boat Club

3/9 in M2 category - 8:24

After bank partying for M1, and hearing them say that rowing in the wind was like "doing a bench press to get the blade in the water, and then a leg press to push the boat", I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the race! However, with a strong crew (Owen in for Ben at 2 being the only sub), I was confident we could do well, and that we'd need the experience of rowing in such a strong wind.

With only M1, M2 and W1 boats allowed to race, we were one of only 6 boats racing in our division, which fortunately made marshalling quite painless. We (almost literally) sailed down to the start with the 25 knot wind at our backs, giving us a feel of what we'd be racing back into.

The start of the race felt very nice, quickly reaching a calm rate of 32 1/2, which was held the whole way down First Post reach until we rounded the corner into the windy gut. The rate dropped to 31, but the pressure was still there, and soon we were back out of the wind into the Plough reach. As planned, we pushed hard to make the most of the last of the sensible water, before starting to come round Ditton and hitting the wall of wind. What followed was 4 minutes of the hardest 28 of my life, every stroke a struggle to get the blade in the water and make it count. However, commitment never faded, and we crossed the line with the boat behind us barely in sight.

Harry confirmed that we'd beaten the previous best M2 time of the day, although unfortunately it wasn't good enough to beat Downing or Pembroke who raced in our division. However, we beat every crew in our division of bumps, including King's II who are 2 places ahead of us. A solid start to the term, but we still have to improve to ensure the best possible outcome in bumps.