Clare Novice Regatta delivered everything a novice crew could hope for: adrenaline, drama, near-collisions, actual collisions, and a level of chaos that can only be described as pure Cambridge rowing heritage. St Edmund’s NW1 arrived at the boathouse at 12:15 sharp, a perfectly balanced blend of nerves, excitement, and mild confusion about what a regatta actually is.
Cox Arminel led the charge down to marshalling with the confidence of someone who had fully accepted that whatever happened today, it was going to be memorable.
Our powerhouse crew — An Mei (stroke), Aurélie, Beth, Maxanne, Maddie, Gabby, Juliane, Mia (bow) — pushed off cleanly, blades shining, legs primed, and spirits high.

Heat 1: The Beginning of the Question
The girls rowed a strong opening race, staying composed, keeping it long, and powering past their opponents with impressive rhythm for a crew that’s been rowing for approximately five minutes (in rowing-development terms).
The moment they crossed the line, the first question was asked:
“Did we win?”
A theme that would return. Repeatedly.
Quarter-Final: Settling In
NW1 by now had fully embraced the chaos of side-by-side racing. With every stroke, timing improved, catches sharpened, and Armine’s calls grew increasingly dramatic. Eddie’s powered through another race and advanced onward — followed, of course, by the question:
“So… did we win that one?”
Semi-Final: The Bank Incident
This is the race that will be retold for generations. The start was clean. The enthusiasm was high. The line… less so. Within seconds, NW1 found themselves gliding gently — almost artistically — into the bank. Spectators winced. The crew collectively prepared their souls for defeat.
Someone may or may not have softly whispered “oh no.”
But from the towpath came the unmistakable sound of salvation:
the coaches and the women’s captain absolutely yelling at the crew to restart, reset, and GO. And just as Eddie’s shoved off and began moving again, the rowing universe delivered a gift:
The opposing crew caught a catastrophic megacrab, swung sideways, and crashed into a houseboat with the grace of a wounded swan.
Sensing the divine opportunity, the towpath erupted:
“SEND IT!!! LEGS!!! GO NOW!!”
Eddie’s NW1 accelerated, found their rhythm, and in a plot twist no Cambridge umpire could have predicted, won the race. Officials called it “unorthodox.”
The boathouse called it “peak novice regatta.”
The crew called it:
“Wait… so did we win??”
Final / Last Race
NW1 entered their final race tired but determined. Blades were sharp, timing connected, and the boat moved better than at any other point all day. Though they didn’t clinch the regatta title, they delivered a performance to be proud of — controlled, gritty, and unmistakably Eddie’s.
And yes, the question was asked one final time.
 
Final Thoughts
St Edmund’s NW1 walked away from Clare Novice Regatta with:
* A string of race wins
* One miraculous bank-crab-houseboat victory
* A crew catchphrase (“Did we win?”)
* And the kind of novice rowing stories that last a lifetime
Most importantly, they proved they could stay calm under pressure, recover from chaos, and race with heart.
This crew is going places — preferably not into the bank next time.

 The gods of College rowing were clearly in want for some entertainment when they
elected to match up the Eddie’s novices with their opponents from the previous week,
Emma. And entertainment they did receive, as these two crews went stroke-for-stroke
down the 800m course, the lead constantly changing hands all the way to the line.
The boys flew off the start, not to be out-done by the always fast-starting Emma, and
moved out to a lead of half a length through 200m. As they made their way down the
Reach, however, Emma began to inch back into contention, and coming up to the
Railway Bridge, had moved into the lead.
Coming up to the finish, it appeared that all had been lost for Eddie’s, until Emma’s
stroke did us a massive favour and caught an outrageous crab a mere 50 metres from
the line. As each crew’s bank party bellowed them onwards from the bank, they came
down to the finish side-by-side in what had to be the closest race of the day. Yet again,
fortune was not on the side of St Edmund, as Emma were given the victory by a quarter
of a length.
A much stronger performance from NM1, and they were unlucky not to progress to the
next round. Onto the big one: Fairbairns!

Fresh from their resounding success at QErgs, NM1 were eager to finally put their skills to the test on the water at Emma Sprints, where, as a result of their massive
performance at Queens’, they were given an incredibly tough draw, going up against
Downing NM1 in the first race. Still, they were confident that their fighting spirit and
relentless enthusiasm would see them build on the success of the finalists NW1 (!!!), as they set off for marshalling.
After arriving at the Railway Bridge, conditions took a turn for the worst, as the wind
picked up and our Vikings found themselves drifting ever closer to the bank. Despite the
efforts of their captains to push them back out, the Emma marshals were ruthlessly
efficient and elected to begin the race with Eddie’s blades mere inches from the wall.
Unfortunately, as Downing shot off the line, our Vikings got themselves and their oars
into a fight with a nearby bush and lost. By the time they had got going up to race pace
the gap was irrecoverable. However, the Eddie’s men refused to give up, and with Nordic
Spirit in their veins (not that one), they powered down the course regardless of their
earlier misfortune.
Next up came hosts Emma. Eager to avoid any more entanglements with nearby
shrubbery, cox Nadia lined up the Vikings perfectly, and away they went. Helmets
trembling with the furious power being sent through the water, and seeking to right the
wrongs of the Downing match-up, the Beef Barge rumbled down the course. Emma,
meanwhile, proved to be incredibly strong off the start, and found themselves with clear
water from their Norse challengers, which they were able to maintain until the finish.
Not the result that our novices would have wanted from their debut on the water, but
spirits remained high on the paddle back to the boathouse. With three races still to
come this term, there were plenty of areas to work on to ensure they round out
Michaelmas on a high!

Our first race was against Queen’s NW1 — win. Next up Pembroke NW1 — win. Then Clare Hall NW1 — another win. At this point we were starting to suspect we might actually be good at this. A few dramatic crabs tried to keep us humble, but soon enough we’d made our way into the final.
We gave the last race everything we had. Wolfson NW1 edged ahead in the end, but we crossed the line proud of what we had achieved.
The day was an absolute highlight: a cheeky boogie at marshalling, questionable singing, phenomenal vibes and our theme song blasting through the cox box on the row home.
Future races are looking bright and other colleges, consider yourselves officially warned.