The Neptunes
DANIELLE OXBORROW
October 2017 Volume 9, Issue 1
Easter Term Extravaganza Danielle Oxborrow, Publicity Officer IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!
Welcome back to The Neptunes and an especially warm welcome to the '17 Freshers! It seems like forever since MECBC were rowing up a storm during May Bumps. This term's issue will give you all the deets from Easter term's races, an insight into racing in a single and reports from alumni who raced Henleys Women's Regatta this year. We celebrated a particularly warm and tiring Bumps campaign with our annual Bumps Breakfast in the beautiful gardens of our President, Dame Barbara Stocking's home. Keep reading to see more from the event and to find out about our shiny new blade, courtesy of
our NHBC alumnae. This term we'll be showing the Freshers that the cold and dreary mornings of Michaelmas can't stop MECBC. There'll be taster sessions and Freshers' events to show what being a rower at Cambridge is really all about. We're looking forward to seeing some new faces on the river! As always, you can find this issue and all past issues on the website: http://mecbc.soc.srcf.net You can also find us on: Twitter: @_MECBC Instagram: @_MECBC Facebook: Murray Edwards College Boat Club 1
Easter Term Race Results Please visit the website for full results W1 Spring H2H: 3rd in category 16:37.1 Champs Head: 4th in category 05:41 May Bumps: net movement 0 W2 Champs Head: 9th in category 06:17.4 May Bumps: net movement -3
HELEN HAGGER
W4 Getting on Race: 10:39
WING YING CHOW
W3 Champs Head: 4th in category 06:29.9 May Bumps: net movement -1
Dates for the Diary Look out on our social media and website for more information regarding taster sessions, novice signups and socials! Queens' Ergs 2017: Saturday 11th November Winter Head: Saturday 18th November Emma Sprints: Sunday 19th November
WING YING CHOW
Fairbairn Cup Races: 30th November - 1st December
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Spring Head to Head: Going it Alone Felicity Parker Captain of Boats Classics, 3rd year I entered Head to Head in a single. It seemed like a good idea: at the end of Lent I’d done STCS, 2.6km in one go, so 2x2km would be a different challenge but doable. Then the day before the race Mark told me I was racing in the VIII as well, and where 2x2km had been fine, 4x2km seemed rather daunting. But I am a student rower, and rarely let common sense get in the way of ridiculous amounts of rowing. So after our first race I bade the rest of the crew farewell and got out Andy Silk. With the wonderful Ying as bank party, and Medward Bear lodged firmly behind my footplate, I lined up for my first run of the gauntlet. Despite crabbing several times, and a minor crash at the finish line, I didn’t capsize! Nor was I overtaken, though that’s possibly because I was last in the division. There was a brief wait at Baitsbite and then it was off again for the second attempt. 11 minutes later I passed the finish line for the fourth time, tired but proud. Next time I’ll go faster!
WING YING CHOW
AT THE START OF TERM
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Mixed College Madness: W4's Journey to the GoR
EASTER TERM CREW SELECTION is historically very challenging. Although I tried my best I didn’t qualify to race within the 3 competitive boats and was put into W4 along with 5 others, I started to feel sad and regretted not going to the gym over Easter break. I didn’t expect much from this crew as W4 only had one or two outings in Lent term 2016. The surprise came when Taine emailed us saying ‘we have decided to make W4 a serious and competitive crew’. After Taine and Emily’s hard work contacting different boat clubs, we formed a full crew with some keen rowers from Catz. Everything seemed ready! We could even aim for May Bumps! Training week didn’t go as smoothly as we expected. We struggled to find enough rowers almost every outing and two rowers had to drop out due to injuries. Thankfully we had a lot of support from Catz rowers, and some Peterhouse rowers as well. The joining of a novice cox (me) made the situation even worse, seemingly taking every chance to crash the boat into the river bank and other boats. I really appreciate the crew for being so patient. After three to four terrible outings, I finally managed to steer the boat properly. The Getting on Race was so much fun. For a crew that was only assembled 30 minutes before the race, with rowers from four colleges: Medwards, Catz, Caius and Peterhouse, a novice cox and little training
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ZOE YE
Zoe Ye, Astrophysics PhD student
together, the boat was nicely set. After rushing to the starting point, we managed to calm down and enjoy the row itself. We crossed the finish line without crash or crab, a massive achievement! On our way back, we were so happy and all amazed by how well we worked together. That’s why I enjoy rowing/coxing with MECBC. We celebrate our progression and achievements, even if they seem small. We are probably not the best athletes, but we are absolutely trying to be our personal best!
Genevieve Bouchard: A Coach's Tale W3 Coach
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WING YING CHOW
I HAD THE PLEASURE Of coaching W3 during the Easter term, and I was impressed by their willingness to try to things and make radical changes when things weren’t working. They welcomed me with open arms at the start of the term, and didn’t complain when I changed up their morning routine to include things like lunges and post-outing press-ups (which came a long way throughout the term!). We started off by returning to the basics, focusing on really clean technique and demanding complete mental focus from one another for the entire outing. By slowing things down and not focusing on everything all at once, the crew was able to make great progress. Once we were all happy with a uniform technique, we built on that progress by applying power to each stroke, and practicing an all-new starting sequence. Even though the new start was completely different from what they’d previously done, the rowers were willing to give it an honest try and see if it would work. Because of their open-minded attitudes, they were able to put together one of the most dynamic, aggressive starts of their entire division during May Bumps, according to Cam Radio!
WING YING CHOW
WING YING CHOW
Management MPhil 2016-17
Alumnae Accounts: Henley Women's Regatta
Why is the HWR such a big deal? Henley is the biggest date in many clubs' calendars because of its prestige. Henley Royal is better known, but HWR has built on the rowing reputation, whilst focusing purely on women. It's also at the end of the racing season so is easy to aim towards. What was your best race this year? My heat against Reading was my best race. We went in knowing we'd been slightly slower than them in the time trial, but determined to improve. And we did! We powered down and 10 strokes in we were up 2 seats, eventually winning by over a length. It was my first ever Henley win! If you had the chance to race a race from your time at MECBC again, which one would it be? I'd love to race Bumps again - one race our bow jumped over Peterhouse's stern but we didn't quite manage to get contact. I wish I could go back and make up that extra inch to get the bump.
What was your best race this year? It was a dream to be able to race in a HWR final, but it was a tough race to lose. I think my favourite race would have to be Ghent International Regatta in Belgium this May. We won a spot in the six lane final, there's nothing quite like the roar of six coxswains and 48 oars tearing through water off the start. We knew Molesey and Oxford Brookes had the first two places, so we got in a great to and fro battle with Oxford Brookes' second boat. We held our rhythm, pushed back and took 3rd, although our 5 seat nearly fainted on the finish line! How has your experience with MECBC shaped you as a rower? (For better or for worse?) MECBC was the first time I was involved in competitive sport. The club gave me a great grounding in technique to take forward, I've had the basics fixed in my brain since my first term in W1. MECBC also gave me a love for the sport and its camaraderie which you need when you're up at 5am wading in sewage to get in a single on the Thames. Holly Ai Smith, Tideway Scullers School Asian & Middle Eastern Studies Matric. 2010
KIERAN CLARK
Sally-Anne Bennett, Lea Rowing Club Mathematics and Management Studies Matriculation year: 2010
How does the Henley Women's Regatta work? HW is a 3 day side by side regatta held on the world famous rowing stretch in Henley-onThames. HWR boats race about 3/4 of the Henley Royal course. Categories for entries range from Junior to Elite. Athletes have to compete in qualifiers (like the getting on race) and the fastest 16 go on to compete in a heat, quarter final, semi and down to the last two boats in a final.
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Bumps Breakfast
This year's breakfast was a special one, seeing the return of some of our New Hall Boat Club alumnae who very generously gifted us a blade to mark their '84 Head of the River status. Big thanks to Social Secretaries for organising, to Dame Barbara for letting us host in the President's Lodge and to Ying for the photos of our well deserved post-Bumps celebrations.
The Neptunes October 2017 by Murray Edwards College Boat Club is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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