The authentic eye (and ear) witness account of how St. Edmund’s House College won its first oar14/2/2024 It was an absolute treat to receive this first hand account recalling the escapades of the 1975/76 crew and their successful blades campaign (back when St. Edmund's college was St. Edmund's House).
In the year of our Lord 1975, or indeed in any year preceding the year of our Lord, 1975, St. Edmund’s House College (henceforth referred to as St. Eddies) did not have a crew on the river. Or rather, to be more precise, St. Edmund’s had a boat that rowed on the river, but that boat was not allowed to row in the May Bumps. That may have been a good thing as it was leaky old tub commonly dubbed the “BA Ordinary.” In order to attain such a privilege, a crew would have had to endure a horrific ordeal, i.e. the May Bumps Getting-On Race (MBG-0R) to determine if such crew was worthy. St. Eddies (quite rightly at the time) deemed itself unworthy, or at least knew full well that we would not meet the challenge. Technically, MBG-0R is described as follows: We were now at the head of our division (the bottom division, that is) and only needed to not get run up into the trees ourselves. Things were going smoothly until our coach, Mr. Bruce Elsmore, could be heard shouting, “Number 5, reach out; lean back.” Then silence from our leader; then, “Keep it up; keep it up.” The unlikely occurred. The seat upon which the able bottom of number 5 resided broke. It froze up. It would not move and number 5 wound up sitting on the rails, manfully trying to keep the pace with the other crew members. ¡Non pasarán! And no one did pass. We won our oar. The banquet was a huge success. Monsieur Demers was carried into the hall (he could not walk on his own; the drinking had been going on for hours). The Master, beaming, mumbled appreciative words. Our Captain was singled out for praise for without his wiles, we would not have been in the Bumps at all. Mr. Elsmore was lauded for turning us into a passable [4] crew. Mesch’s leadership, Tyndal’s steady hand, Stoeger’s calm assurance, Barratt’s style, Halliday’s experience and Hauck’s strength were enthusiastically lauded. Macy’s ample foundation and stubborn doggedness were gratefully recognized as well. [1] This account is by an American. All spelling and grammar are correct (for an American).
[2] An excellent sherry for those who like a true aperitif. Indeed, the words “cream” and “sherry” should not even enjoy a nodding acquaintance. Cream is for cakes. [3] Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs http://www.cucbc.org/mays/gor [4] More accurately, perhaps, “unpassable.”
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SECBC is run by a determined and hard working student committee, on an entirely voluntary basis. The club is supported by dedicated coaches and some excellent alumni relations which ensures that every member of the club receives the best possible experience of college rowing that can be provided. Being a mature college, the turnover of our members each year is high, and as such this puts an emphasis on our capability to train up new aspiring rowers year in, year out. Despite our best efforts, providing this level of coaching can be a strain on the club, both financially for the club, and on the workload of our committee. We decided to run a 24 hour ERGathon fundraiser to help raise funds to cover the costs of races and our coaching requirements. It is imperative to the club that we are able to provide equal opportunities to all our members, whether they wish to race in the top crews, row casually, or even just row for one term to have the experience. The event was a great success and we must extend our thanks to all our members who got involved, and to every single one of our extremely generous donors. We covered a whopping 276.5km and raised a fantastic £1,251 (and counting - click here to donate!) W1 made big waves in their return to the Cam for Lent! Racing Newnham Head’s 2km course upstream from the motorway to railway bridge, W1 proved that they know how to row as a crew. Settling into a controlled rate 28 set up by their fantastic stroke Adriana, W1 sped down first-post reach off the start line. With Paulina (7), Sophie X-T (6) and Kathy (5) keeping the split down, bow four kept the corners tight with pressure from Polina (4) and Sophie L-W (2) round first-post corner and then a big push from Xen (3) and Kiran (B) round grassy. With cox Elizabeth yelling encouragement through the mic, all eight put their legs down to the plough and onto the reach. While they were met with some wind for the home stretch, that’s where eagles soar. With a last herculean push, they made it cross the finish line at the railway bridge, exhausted but proud of their work. Working as a team, W1 tied for 3rd in the Lower Lents Category proving that they are a boat to watch in Lent bumps! BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!! Eddies didn’t just put watts down in the water, their smiles alone could power the 99s Boat House. This boat’s sunshine attitude and impeccable vibes won them medals for the SMILIEST CREW AWARD! Grins firmly intact, this crew certainly had something to celebrate on their traditional post-race pub trip. After our 24-hour ergathon this coming weekend, the eagles will be back for Pembroke Regatta on Saturday 17th February! Help keep the eagles rowing strong on their road to bumps and donate today: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/secbc-ergathon2024 Written by Elizabeth Leach-Leung
Eddie’s M1 took to the Cam on Saturday morning for Newnham Head, battling hangovers, flu, and a dodgy shoulder. The crew took off at a scrappy rate 30 which was maintained throughout the race, and made a huge effort to keep the power on throughout and empty the tank at the end. We finished a respectable middle (ish) in our category, and celebrated at Eddie’s brunch after. A huge thank you to our 4 seat sub from LCCBC, Timo! Written by Alannah Atherton
Race report written by Alannah
The final race of Michaelmas for the Eddie’s men and it was a great one. I put together an amazing scratch crew, which included the infamous 2 seat of the 22/23 season making his long awaited return to Eddie’s rowing. What we lacked in costume we made up for with rowing. Despite being a scratch crew, set was better than last year’s M1 and vibes were definitely high. When the race began, we flew off at a very respectable rate 28, slowed only by Alberto’s incessant crabbing which eventually sent us into a bush in front of a very entertained audience. Huge recovery from the boys and dynamic coxing from me, we got straight back on track even faster than we had before. Overall, we gained on the (very slow) crew in front, finishing only a few seconds after them, and left the peas behind us in the dust. Overall was a huge W for the boys, topping our category (sorry Lucy Cav) and celebrating at the pub after. Expect big things from Eddie’s men this year x Race report by Alannah Atherton
The Eddie’s senior men have spent the term training with the lovely Hughes Hall rowers, creating a hybrid M1 lovingly deemed ‘HEddies’. Senior Fairbairns was the first race of term for the Eddie’s boys, coxed by me with my notoriously dodgy chat down the mic. The gents did their best row of the term over the 4.3km course, keeping clean catches and huuuuuge legs, with a of 17:11 placing them second last, beating out Sidney Sussex with a DNS. Possibly the most enjoyable part of the day was post-race marshaling, where Alex had a nice lie down and Tom and I engaged in riveting discussion and pineapple biscuit sharing with the Corpus crew we were parked on top of. Note for next year: bring post-race tinnies. In Cambridge rowing tradition, the Eaglets dressed up in silly costumes for the famous Christmas Head!Need proof? Our excited Eaglets dressed as PacMan ghosts (with PacMan as their cox) were captured posing on the bank outside the boathouses waiting for their division to boat by the Cambridge Diary. With their costumes on over approximately ten million layers, the freezing weather has all the eaglets asking Santa for more thermals and pogies in their stockings. Yet, the bright PacMan ghosts lit up the river through the snowy fog as they maintained a steady rate from the P&E through to Jesus flagpole. The 1.8km race was the longest sustained rowing many of the eaglets had done to date! With the race complete, our little Eaglets have become full-fledged Eagles!
And, in true Eagles fashion, we ended the day at the pub celebrating our final race with the men’s side before we all parted ways for the holidays. That’s a wrap on 2023 and stay tuned to see how high these Eagles soar in 2024! (The internal rhyme in the final two sentences is my crowning achievement for the year) Through sicknesses, injuries, boat malfunctions, and shuffling crew line ups, the Eagles made it to Fairbairns! The grueling 4.3km race down the Cam had our senior women digging deep to maintain pressure around each corner and through each straight. Our fearless coach Abbie was once again in the cox’s seat cutting the sharpest race line the Cam had ever seen. With Sophie and Paulina setting the rhythm in stroke and 7, the powerhouses Elizabeth, Xen, Liz, and Kathy backed them up in 6, 5, 4, and 3, with Kiran and Adriana holding us all together in bow pair wow pair. After putting down major watts for a big finish, the Eagles were able to catch their breath while marshaling at the baitsbite lock in the sun. With a final time of 19:12 from the Jesus flagpole to the little bridge, the Eagles were a whopping 42 seconds faster than last year: a HUGE improvement of which the Eagles should be proud! While the Eagles have a well-deserved rest over the holiday, they’re preparing to come back stronger than ever in Lent.
After gaining vital race experience at Clare Novice Regatta, the novice men were keen to display their true rowing talents at The Fairbairn Cup. Sadly, race conditions meant their usual cox (and captain) Alannah was unable to cox them for the race.
So, the week before I was given the task! I put on my coxing hat and adopted one of my favourite phrases “fake it, ‘till ya make it!!!”. After a couple of good sessions battling the traffic of the cam I was feeling confident going into the race. With my trusty race plan strapped to my legs and a sneaky plan to keep the boys calm, off we went! Aim for a long & strong rate 24 I said….and the perfect rate 26 off the start we got! Being far too preoccupied with getting the correct lines and giving encouraging calls at the right times I forgot to press start and had no idea how far the boys had gone. I gave them my best guess “pretty sure you’re halfway but haven’t actually got a clue”. Showing me some of their best rowing – beautifully in time and balanced I elected not to inform them that they were now rating at 30 and just left them to it! As we turned onto the reach the crew firmly “pushed that bridge away” and powered on to my unrelenting pressure calls until that beautiful horn to signal the end of the race. Coach Jan was seen shrieking in delight running alongside, bursting with pride at their excellent performance. When he asked me what rate they raced at, and I informed him it was r30, he asked me again - refusing to believe that it could be so high when it looked so controlled. As the results came in, the proof was right there – second in their division and the fastest college crew! Outstanding effort. Watch this space….we are well and truly on the BLADE HUNT! Watch out Cambridge! The novice men “Nine Times Martin” had a great time at CNR celebrating Martin’s birthday! This was their first race and a great learning experience! Vibes were immaculate and the opposition were so scared of having 9 Martins chasing them that they scooted ahead. However, the crew will make use of the experience gained at CNR to improve for their next race - Novice Fairbairns on Thursday! The Novice women, our beloved Eaglets had another great day on the river!
The weather might have gotten colder but that did not stop these little eaglets from flying! While the sun was out, temperatures on the Cam last Saturday hovered just above zero degrees Celsius which made for a chilling marshalling for Clare Novice Regatta, our second novice race of the term. Learning from Emma Sprints, our genius eaglets found the best way keep that rate 26 feeling: warming up to Uptown Girl. (Seriously, check out the Reel, it is too good to miss!) And their efforts paid off! In their first race against Kings the eaglets were able to maintain a strong rhythm pushing long and strong throughout the 800m course down the Reach. While the race was neck-and-neck for the first half, the eaglets were able to pull away to win by over a boat length! A stunning start to the day. While deservingly tired, the eaglets marshalled to race again, this time against Caius. The eaglets knew Caius was a hard draw but put their all into their second heat. After a slight blade clash off the start, the eaglets couldn’t quite keep up with Caius down the reach but gave them a good fight—the best we could have asked for. After a race well rowed, the eaglets returned to roost at the 99s singing their reprise of Uptown Girl and getting in the festive mood with an off-key version of Last Christmas. Nothing can kill the vibes of this boat! A big congratulations to all our novice rowers, be it their first or second race, and to our novice cox on her successful first race! While two 800m sprints felt like a lot, the pressure is on for the 2,700m marathon of novice Fairbairns this coming Thursday! |
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