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After a smooth row to the start line, Eddie’s W1 set off the racing term with a bang (kind of a weird siren sound actually- ask Matt, he does a fantastic impression). A really solid row, hampered only briefly by a log, gave us a good lead on Maggie W1 - finishing 9 seconds ahead and taking us on to the quarter final! The row up on day two involved roll ups, aquaplaning, suspension drills and quite a significant amount of pissing about. Unfortunately our impeccable discipline in these drills was not translated into better rowing, so day two was a little messy. Alas, not a disaster, day two was a win! On to the semi final! Day 3! Into the semi final and we were feeling ready for a good race! After a strong start to the race, a snapped steering line forced us to pull into the side and stop our race, crushing our dreams of victory (whether FaT were catching us before we had to stop is nobody’s business). But we had fun! Had good row home in high spirits despite the situation! Eddie’s has had a strong start to the year! On to the next race and big big things ahead!! 
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St Neot’s Regatta 2024 Round-up Last weekend saw the HEddie’s crew travel up to St Neot’s for their first BR regatta, competing in the women’s 4+. They kicked off the 1000m races on day 1 with a dominant 5 length win over Lea RC. Next up was Northampton and HEddies again put on a solid display, winning by 4 lengths and lining them up for the final against Jesus College. The final saw HEddie’s and Jesus treat the crowd to one of the closest races of the regatta. HEddies put in a strong performance, leading around the bend at the halfway mark but a final sprint from Jesus gave them the win by half a boat length. A big shout out also has to go to our fantastic supporters Shannon, Xen and Kiah who cheered us all the way to the finish! Day 1 result: 2nd  After hunting down a pizza in town, HEddie’s joined the party in the infamous St Neot’s party tent. If you ever need a conga line starting, sign up the HEddie’s crew! The crew then stayed the night on the regatta camp site, ready for the 500m races the next day. The regatta party had left a certain member of the crew feeling a little fragile, ahem Kathy....! Luckily HEddie’s first race of day 2 was only in the afternoon – plenty of time to recover and enjoy some of the racing! With our super supporter Shannon there to cheer us on, HEddie’s lined up against Lea in round 1 and finished with a convincing lead of 4.5 lengths. Next up they faced a strong Norwich crew but again HEddie’s pushed through, winning by 2.5 lengths, meaning they were through to another final. This time their opponents were the Northampton crew they had beaten the day before. HEddie’s made sure not be complacent and pushed hard off the start line, taking the lead on as they wound up the rate. Pushing hard to the end, HEddie’s took the win by 2.25 lengths ! A great way to round up a fantastic weekend of rowing. Day 2 result: 1st  Easter term rowing with St Edmund’s College Boat Club M1 - more commonly known as the Beef Barge - was a joy. Our coach Angus departed for the final weeks of training to India, but we gratefully had a previous coach, George, step in. The M1 line up was largely the same as in Lent Bumps - Alannah (cox), Tom (stroke), Martin (7), Alex F (6), Alex M (5), Seppe (3), and Justin (2) all returned. We were also joined by Jack in the 4 seat who had previously been rowing for 99s, and Harry in bow who had returned from trialling with the CUBC Lightweights squad. Day One of May Bumps saw the Beef Barge being chased by Catz M2, fierce competition but we went in with a fighting attitude nonetheless. The crew took off after a speedy race start, but unfortunately was caught by Catz M2 on the reach, holding them off for around 1.7km.  Day Two saw Eddie’s M1 keen for a revenge bump after the previous day. The crew took off at great speed, motivated even further by hearing Angus’s whistles from the bank telling us that we were catching up to the crew in front and - perhaps - able to get the bump. Unfortunately a mishap in the boat meant that we lost Catz II and were caught by Sidney M2.  Day Three was a mission to catch Sidney M2, something that the Beef Barge has wanted since being bumped by them in Mays 2023. The attitude was a positive one on the bank, and the crew took off at great speed. Sadly for us, Sidney managed to catch Catz M2 who were in front of them. Fortunately, we were far speedier than Magdalene M2 and, without any fear of them catching us, the Beef Barge had an impressive row. Whilst disappointing to have not got a bump in, the attitude in the boat was altogether a happy one knowing that we were no longer set for spoons! Much cheering from the bank and crews that we rowed past meant that the row home was a joyous one.  The final day of Bumps brought much support from the bank which was absolutely brilliant to see - including our own bank party being double what is allowed. Armed with blue face paint done by the wonderful Liz, the Beef Barge rowed up to the starting line. We were once again chasing Catz M2 which felt like a full circle moment and we were hungry for the bump. Unfortunately, once again, the crew that we were chasing managed to bump the crew in front. This time, though, we fought to get the over-bump. This meant that it was a race all the way to the finish line. Although we didn’t manage to get it, we finished on one whistle - and insist that we would have caught them by top finish!  I’d like to extend a huge congratulations and well done to all of those who rowed in May Bumps, and especially to Eddie’s M1 who have had a wonderful year. Half of our May Bumps crew noviced in Michaelmas of this year, and to see how far they have come has been absolutely wonderful. The dedication and commitment has been really admirable, despite the horrible weather that we’ve faced for most of the year. We went from super-spoons last year to -2 this year, and whilst it’s not the result that we would have hoped for, things are going up for Eddie’s M1 - watch this space! A massive congratulations to the Women’s and AFAB crew who got blades this year, we absolutely loved rowing past you on the way to the starting line every day and being able to cheer your massive accomplishments. Yeah Eddie’s!
What a phenomenal week our Eagles had during May Bumps - bumping up every day in superb style they finished the week with the glorious accolade of blades. Truly well deserved after a year of intense training, ergs & races! The week has been beautifully summarised below by our wonderful women's captain Elizabeth: Day 1 – Chasing Newnham III, Chased by St. Catherine’s II Result: Bump! (+1) Even after winning their divisions in Head of the Cam, Spring Head to Head, and Champs Head leading up to this Bumps campaign, the Eagles were apprehensive on the first day of bumps. The Eagles had come a long way since Lents—they knew they were fast but were also afraid to jinx anything. They need not have been afraid. In the quickest bump of the W3 division, the Eagles caught Newnham III before first post corner! With three shout outs on CAM FM, Eddies were dubbed one of the boats to watch!  Day 2 – Chasing Emmanual III, Chased by Newnham III Result: Bump! (+1) Pumped after their bump the day before, the Eagles were back on station 7 for day 2 of bumps. Station 7: the dreaded ‘under the bridge’ position. With smoke blowing in their faces and the bang echoing around them, Eddies still managed to pull of a strong start. A bit more frantic than the day before, the Eagles still managed to catch Emma just past first post corner for a quick bump! We got yet another shout out from CAM FM who called us 'fierce' which is pretty accurate.  Day 3 – Chasing Queens’ II, Chased by Emmanual III Result: Bump! (+1) Now on the other side of the dreaded bridge, Eddies had the challenge of steering past the outflow during their starting sequence. Luckily, Cox Rory came dressed for the occasion (literally in a suit and mismatched dress shoes under his waterproofs: you dress for success when you’ve got bumps at 5pm and a formal at 7pm). At the third cannon the Eagles exploded off the start line, leaving Emma in the dust as they went hunting for Queens. In their longest race of the campaign, Eddies caught Queen’s II around grassy corner and the bump was captured from multiple angles (see our Vivaldi-remix hype reel). Day 4 – Chasing Clare II, Chased by Queens’ II Result: Bump to BLADES! (+1) Sitting at a comfortable +3, the Eagles kept reminding themselves that a good crew goes +3 and a lucky crew gets blades. Clare II had rowed over every other day meaning that, while there were probably more fatigued, they consistently demonstrated that they were a fast and consistent crew. So, the Eagles prepared themselves for a long, clean, and consistent row. In hindsight, they need not have worried. With their big woman strokes, the Eagles hit the strongest, cleanest stride they had all year; truly rowing as a team. They caught and nearly surpassed Clare before first post reach, when the Clare cox finally conceded after our bow nearly hit their 5’s blade! For the first time since 2016, W1 was able to row home with our flag held high! Coxed by Rory and powered by the formidable 8—Sophie, Maddy, Alyssa, Xen, Emma, Shannon, Paulina, and Kathy—this boat has made Eddies history as the third women’s boat to ever win full blades in Mays. As the boat pieced by the Plough to thunderous applause, even stoic Coach Matt shed a few tears of joy. The Women’s Captain shed a few happy tears too when she welcomed the crew home to the 99s Boathouse (some of which when writing this, her last race report). Over three years, this crew has gone from spooning in Lents to Blades in Mays. And while this is a major accomplishment, it feels like just the beginning of the greatness Eddies is capable off. The Eagles are off to celebrate and will see you next year!   The Eddies Eagles claimed their third victory of the term yesterday at Champs Head with W1 coming in 1st for the Mays W3 Division! While we had to sneakily pull onto the bank before marshaling to fix a broken wheel (tis the Eddies way), this minor setback did nothing to ruin the vibes in the boat. Setting up for a standing start along Plough reach, W1 exploded off the start pulling a tight corner around Ditton and onto the Reach. With a shorter course of 1500m, the eagles maintained a split under 2 minutes all the way to the P&E finish line! W1 ended with a monster time of 5:30.90!! A whole 40 seconds faster than last year , their time was also faster than half a dozen Mays Div2 boats! Waving their championship flags high, W1 now have the goal for blades solidly within their sights . We wish all our rowers the best of luck on their upcoming exams, and we’ll see you all at Bumps  Fresh off the back of their HEddies victory at Head of the Cam our Eddie's Eagles had their sights set on winning another pot at City's Spring Head to Head race! 2km downstream followed by 2km upstream is a daunting task but our fearless stroke, Sophie, powered on at an unrelenting r30 ensuring that we positively flew downstream with an average split of 1:56! Coach Matt said we didn't look tired enough at the finish line and that he wanted us to make sure we properly put ourselves in the bin on the way back....and we certainly did! A call of 500m to go had us all pushing for that last ounce of energy....after a distance of somewhat more than 500m we finally went under the railway bridge - with many of us wondering where on earth the second part of the railway bridge was and where the heck is that blooming hooter to signal the finish!!!!! The Eagles did Matt proud and were well and truly IN-THE-BIN!! As it turns out...thanks so Matt's wonderful advice we WON our category beating Tit Hall by 0.5 seconds!!!! All in all a wonderful day and another confidence boost as our training ramps up the closer we get to that all important May Bumps week!  Huge congratulations to our women's side who combined forces with Hughes Hall to form a W1 Eddie's-Hughes composite boat and went on to WIN their first race of the season - Head of The Cam! We won this race last year so we delighted to retain the title - and in style with a healthy 20 second lead! Well done all!  Congrats to our W2 crew who WON their category yesterday in the third leg of Winter League! Having been plagued by yellow flags all term these guys have only had 11 outings this term! The progress they have made in the last two weeks has been exceptional and they were duly rewarded today! A first race over this distance for the crew, they maintained a super rhythm set by Monica in stroke, with encouraging calls from coach Abbie & BP Kathy on the bank they kept the pressure on and pushed all the way to the line. With fantastic calls from Rory in the cox seat this crew certainly flew like eagles! We can’t wait for Easter term where we WILL smash the GOR and have two boats in bumps! #yeaheagles For the second year in a row, W1 faced off against Newnham in the Pembroke Regatta. Held this past Saturday, W1 was up against the stacked Newnham W2, a whole division above them in the Lent Bumps standings . Side-by-side along the Reach, Newnham pulled slightly ahead at the start with the Eagles close behind. While Newnham pulled away after the stride, our Eagles found a long and sustainable rhythm and began closing the gap as the boats crossed under the railway bridge. Despite the closing gap, Newnham still sneaked across the finish line a boat length before our Eagles. With a rough draw, our Eagles were still proud of the fight they posed to Newnham W2 and rowed home in high spirits . With the early start, they gathered at Eddies for a team Saturday Brunch before joining Hughes Hall Boat Club (and their W1 division winners! ) at the pub for a cross college social. #YeahEagles!  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  |
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