Summer VIIIs was held during 5th Week of term, with the Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club (LMHBC) fielding three boats. In spite of limited time spent on the river this year, the crews put in determined performances, and there were a huge number of positives to take away from the competition.
In their own words, the LMHBC members give their summary of the week’s events:
W1’s resilient performance in Summer VIIIs is a testament to how hard the crew has worked. Using the experience of Torpids, W1 went into the week with a killer instinct resulting in four days of well-fought racing.
The crew approached Day 1 with one goal – to bump Mansfield and do it quickly. Pulling immediately away from Catz, W1 were laser-focused, resulting in a bump past Donnington Bridge. Spirits were high, especially as W1 delivered Hermione a birthday bump!
Day 2 was slightly more challenging, with the task of chasing down Hertford, who had a strong crew this term. W1 rowed the course with power and determination, resulting in a strong and clean row-over. The crew were ready to come back even stronger the next day, using the slight gain we had off the start to secure the bump on Day 3.
The strategy for Day 3 was to use our strengths to catch Hertford off the start, holding off the speedy Merton boat for as long as possible. W1 fought a valiant battle, catching up to within half a length of Hertford, but then found themselves in the middle of a three-boat sandwich. Just as the kill calls were about to be called, Merton sadly got to W1 first. However, the crew proved their power by rapidly closing the gap with Hertford.
Day 4 saw the chance of another birthday bump for cox Eve, chasing Merton and being chased by Somerville. Merton pulled away, but W1 were not going to give Somerville blades without a fight. The women left everything on the water, holding off Somerville until the end of Green Banks, and in doing so demonstrating how much stronger they had become. Although it was not the ideal final day of racing, W1 still ended on a high, knowing that it was a strong row and they had given it absolutely everything.
The overall W1 bumps stat was -1; however, the improvement shown by the crew is promising for the year to come. W1 were up against some strong crews, but they held their own and gave their opponents tough competition each day. The crew should be so proud of themselves and this week has proven that all the determination and hard work has paid off. A massive thanks to Viv for all her coaching expertise! W1 are excited to see what it is to come next year!
With just over a week’s worth of outings together as a full crew, M1 managed to put in an outstanding performance across the week in Summer VIIIs. Through immense dedication to long erg sessions and too many early mornings, the crew came together wonderfully to produce an extremely competitive boat, showing significant improvement since Torpids.
Day 1 looked to be a difficult prospect, with Jesus chasing. It was a strong performance against the significantly better-tested Jesus, who managed to catch M1 within 30 strokes in Torpids, and the crew rowed-over to hold their spot at the top of Division 2. With not enough left in the tank to catch up to Trinity at the bottom of Division 1, the crew finished Day 1 with their heads held high.
Day 2 looked to be just as daunting, with a very strong Merton crew behind. Although M1 got bumped by Merton, they were able to hold off this highly-rated crew until they were over 100m outside of the gut — a testament to them punching far above their weight on the water.
Day 3 saw M1 running away from Jesus again, with Wadham in front. Wadham pulled away just after the gut, which left a battle for second in Division 2 between M1 and Jesus. The crew fought tooth and nail to the line, finally getting bumped just 2 strokes before the clacker. Although it was a frustrating result, the feat of holding off the Jesus crew for that long showed how far this M1 crew has come, and how promising they will be in the future.
The crew’s strategy for Day 4 was to row hard and fast to the gut to escape Hertford, and M1 put in a hefty row to catch up to Jesus. Having left absolutely everything on the water, and managing to gain overlap on Jesus, M1 couldn’t give any more, and they sadly dropped off the back of Jesus, and got bumped by Hertford.
We could not be prouder of the M1 crew this year – they managed to put up a significant fight against crews who 3 months ago blew them out of the water. Despite the -3 movement, with how close each bump ended up, and how hard fought each battle was, this crew could not have done a better job, and has an extremely promising future!
Following the cancellation of lower divisions in Torpids, W2 began Summer VIIIs training with very little racing experience. Despite this, they put in an incredible performance, earning themselves a well-deserved +2 on the river.
W2 battled it out on Day 1, chasing Wolfson and being chased by Oriel. The race initially looked close, with Oriel managing to get within a canvas of the boat, but a well-timed crab from the Oriel three seat saw W2 pull away speedily, managing a clean row over.
On Day 2, W2 were chasing St Peter’s. In high spirits, W2 were confident that they could evade Oriel again, and get the bump on Peter’s. After a strong start off the bungline, W2 hunted Peter’s down, managing to bump them just after Longbridges.
Spurred by the previous day’s success, Day 3 saw W2 gunning for Univ. Peter’s were looking for revenge, but W2 refused to give it to them, charging through the gut and catching up to Univ at Longbridges. The race then got fierce, but W2 held strong, and bumped Univ just before Boathouse Island.
On the final day, W2 were chasing Wolfson once again. Univ were hot on their tail, and they knew this would be a long row. Wolfson bumped out early, and with the overbump on St Catz looking unlikely, W2 resolved to tough it out until the end. Despite Univ getting within a quarter length of W2, the girls were able to secure a valiant row over close to Boathouse Island.
Given that W2 had a different crew on each day of VIIIs, with some of the girls only on their 6th ever outing, we couldn’t be prouder of what they have achieved – a testament to their pure determination and grit. A huge thank you to everyone who came out of retirement to sub into the boat, as well as to the hard work of coaches Molly and Zara, who believed in to the end!
