A note from the presidentIt's hard to find the right words to do justice to the week that Eddies has just had during the May Bumps. Unbelievable, extraordinary, sublime, exceptional, historic, momentous would be just a few that spring to mind!  Richard Naisby presenting the Pegasus Cup for most successful college in the May Bumps 2025 We had high hopes of a good week but I don't think anyone could have predicted, or even dare dream, of having a perfect week, achieving 13/13 successful bumps, taking home two sets of blades, one set of super blades AND the much sought after Pegasus Cup! I would be interested to know when/if any of the Cambridge colleges last achieved such a feat....In 2008 we came home with three sets of blades & the Pegasus Cup, however two of those were technical blades meaning that the crews went +4 but rowed over on one of the days - an exceptional year, topped only by our crews of 2025!  SECBC Class of 2025 Having been President of SECBC for the last two years, it has been an absolute privilege to watch the club go from strength to strength and I am so proud to see everyone's hard work come to fruition. In the words of Matt Heywood "NOW YOU KNOW!". I must thank our committee of 2024/25 and in particular our captains, Justin Wei & Shannon O'Shea, who have made the successes of this year possible - you did it! Absolute heroes! I would also like to thank our W2 crew who sadly missed out on the GOR by just 2s but their support on the bank during the week was hugely appreciated by us all. Your time will come, of that I have no doubt.  Finally, a most heartfelt thank you from me to our honorary presidents Paul, Lily & Andy (pictured right). The clubs biggest supporters for so many years, you make so much possible for us. Indeed this year alone you helped secure a new boat, new oars, the design of our new blazers, and now of course TRIPLE BLADES! We are so very grateful for all you do. Race reports from our captains IN RACE DAY ORDERM2
DAY 1 Spirits were inflated from the glowing GoR rites, yet the abyss of expectation gaped wide. Panic crept in upon whispers that a comrade wandered foreign lands, begging blessings from dusty saints in Santiago. Yet true power needs no prayers. Our quarry, Peterhouse M4—no, their M3 hidden beneath false banner—lay ripe for slaughter. Clare Hall lurked, dreaming foolish dreams. The Ukrainian valkyrie, Yuliia, urged: “Get hard, stay hard, finish hard.” And lo, Clare Hall crumbled like soft cheese, while Peterhouse surrendered swiftly, their hull violated by our prow. Lily’s war cry erupted—an obscene echo of primal conquest. DAY 2 Sidney awaited, sterner prey, yet weak before our destiny. The prey resisted, spirited yet doomed. Yuthika steered the chariot true, until Grassy corner became their watery grave. Yet legend demands absurdities—Wildon, mad warrior, heeding no commands, threatened mutiny. Furious cries erupted: “HOLD IT UP! 2 & 4, TAP! TAP! Wildon! WILDON! EMILE! Obey me, gods curse you!” Only grudgingly did order resume. Then Wildon, in post-race debrief, claimed: “I think my blade was stuck. I couldn’t take a tap.” Video replay says otherwise. Lies now immortalised forever on the SECBC Wall of F/Sh-ame. DAY 3 Facing FaT M4, crew brimming with nervous trepidation. Yet, Yuthika, Amazonian steerswoman, again led with ruthless precision. Whistles heralded triumph, though FaT whispered lies of near victory against Selwyn. Lies easily disproven—what shame upon their mathematicians, unable even to count their dishonor. Yet our bowman, ever eager for infamy, turned to mock the conquered with victorious fist-bump—another proud fine to adorn our legacy. True warriors scorn petty rules. DAY 4 Selwyn, trembling beneath the shadow of fate, awaited final judgment. Yet doubt whispered foolish stratagems—rush early or linger? Prophets Angus & Yuliia commanded simplicity: row as you always have, ferocious, proud, unthinking. FaT faded into oblivion; whistles pierced the air, a joyous crescendo. The moment eternalized before first-post corner, blades seized with ruthless ecstasy. Victory absolute, divine, barbaric—worthy of immortality.  W1 Eddies eagles
Day 1 First day of bumps and we were feeling ready - if a little nervous. The sun was blazing, and looked like it would be all week. Matt reassured us that this would probably be our ‘easiest day’ - but we weren’t so sure. We rowed up to the start, locked in for the race, and spirits were high - M2 had just bumped! After a solid start, we settled into our rhythm and before we knew it, whistles were flying. Ahead of us bump between Tit Hall II and Maggie II caused carnage. We just managed to get the bump before having to hold it up - there was no space to clear. A 4 boat pileup occurred and the entire division behind us had to re-row. There were a tense few minutes while we waited to see if we had the bump, but a handshake between Matt and the umpire confirmed it: it was ours. Day 2 We were feeling good. Matt changed his mind - yesterday had actually been our hardest day. Today would be fine. With all three boats in our club bumping on Day One, the pressure was on to keep the streak alive. We had a clean start and were on whistles for Tit Hall II pretty quickly, bumping them before First Post Corner. A relatively late concession made clearing tricky again, and caused yet more carnage behind us. But we had our bump. Two days, two races, two bumps. Day 3 This was the big day. Bumping again would mean we’d be the sandwich boat and have a shot at moving up to Division 2. First up, we were chasing Maggie II - and we caught them with a solid, straightforward bump. No drama. We marshalled again for our first race in Division 2. Matt warned us this might be our longest row yet. But we like to prove him wrong: we bumped Caius II just after Newnham Bridge! Div 2 baby! Day 4 The final day. Super blades were on the line. With M2 already on blades, the stakes were getting higher. Today, for the first time, we were chasing a first boat: Darwin W1. We braced for a longer race. But when the cannon went, we were on them fast - a powerful row saw us bump them just after Newnham Bridge! Super blades secured!! Rowing home with the flag was incredible - though we had to hand it off to M1, who were also on for blades (a great problem to have).  M1 The beef barge
DAY 1 The fateful day the Beef Barge made its full crew debut. Nerves were jangled as Darwin M1 struck by surprise, having double overbumped into the station behind us. Still, the Barge found its deadly rhythm. 1st whistle under A14—the hunt was ON. Catz M2 blazed off the start, earning two whistles, but then quickly faded. The Barge stalked relentlessly, devouring the water between them before claiming blood at First Post. DAY 2 Downing M2 had humiliated the Barge in 2023—payback time. Rory kissed the first corner too tight, risking disaster in the reeds, but the Barge fought back with bovian "legs-and-hips" power. By A14, half a length separated predator from prey. Downing's wash churned desperately as they felt the Barge's hooves thundering. "CONCEDE!" roared Rory and Angus. The bump, and Angus’s grovelling masterclass, were worth the umpire impersonation fine. DAY 3 Do or die. Sidney stood between the Barge and glory, as they chased the spooning Jesus M2. Rory's battle cry echoed: "Now or never, boys!" Three crews, two sets of overlap, one Grassy corner, pure chaos. Rory held the line like a maestro (CamFM certified) while Sidney crumbled, going wide. BUMP! "One of the best ever" gasped Emeritus M1 rower, Kai. Matt launched his blade in triumph, body turned and bellowing, before the Barge had parked. Rory, exasperated, had to "HOLD IT UP" himself. Footage of a raging umpire and a sheepish Matt available on demand. DAY 4 The final reckoning. Our best start as hari krishna mantras blared under the A14. Suddenly, half a length to Jesus M2—this was it. Rory shattered the expectant air: "55 YEARS—TRIPLE BLADES—MAKE HISTORY—ANNIHILATE THEM!" The boat ERUPTED and surged. 16 apocalyptic strokes later, Jesus M2 lay motionless, their cox catapulted by George's blade. Symbolic. The Barge had done it: an Eddie’s M1 blade for the first time in 15 years. "Why did we randomly decide we can row at twice the speed?" joked Douwe. Matt, risking nerve damage, took to the cox seat with theatrical flag bearing flair on the row home. Meanwhile, Rory crabbing 362 times in stroke confirmed what we all knew: there’s only one seat he’s built for.  And finally, the moment that Eddies crews of 2025 became etched in college rowing immortality, in the words of the CUCBC cannon gods "DEFEND YOUR EARS":
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As it stands SECBC is prepping four crews for the Mays with M2 & W2 subject to the getting-on-race....fingers crossed! The womens/AFAB side has been busy getting races in in preparation for the looming May bumps, with the mens/open side going into Mays incognito! It's all rather exciting as we have four CUBC returners so we have high hopes for an excellent campaign! Watch this space! W1 Winning champs head Collecting 1st prize at Radegund "Mile" Eddie’s W1 made it off Cam and on to the Tideway for Hammersmith head! The day started slightly-less-than-smoothly with a panic at 6.30, with a ‘leave without me’ text after a certain member of the crew read the meet time wrong. But no member of the crew is left behind, so they were collected en route!! We all made it to the UL boathouse, rigged and had a good old chat. With a mission of ‘follow 99s and do everything they do’, we boated. Almost immediately, Kate’s collar came off her blade, but we averted our second disaster of the day very smoothly. In what an anthropologist might call ‘deep hanging out’, W1 were stuck in a boat together for 3+ joyous hours. The row down was good, but marshalling was LONG. Long enough to develop a rivalry with crew 324, who seemed intent on being right up in our space. More on this later. Eventually, we turned and started the race. We had a LOVELY row together, and overtook almost 3 crews (including being right up on 324 - revenge is sweet). The rhythm was solid, the legs were strong - we had a consistently good row - and it was over before we knew it! Now Rory is known for unconventional coxing, but this was a new height. Choices were made, and we came out the racing line to undertake crews…Villains of the Tideway? It’s been said. The row home was long, very long, but we were in great spirits. Pausing most of the way so as not to overtake 99s, who we were still intent on following for support. When we got in, we found out we came SECOND in our category (by 6 seconds) which is a huge result!!! Derigged and went home - feeling excited for big things at WeHoRR!  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!!  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!
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