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)
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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.
Another first in recent memory, the Eddies Eagles went on a field trip! And by that we mean the women’s senior crew took our boat off Cam to race in the Isle of Ely Head on Sunday. While de-rigging the boat the day before was done in a torrential downpour, the race itself was a beautiful, sunny day although the strong stream and headwind were certainly leftover from Storm Ciaran a few days prior. The Eagles arrived in Ely with plenty of time to rig the boat (no supervision from coach Matt needed....insert wry smile...!) Coach Abbie was once again doubling as our trusty cox, lead us from the boat launch and downstream 6km to the start line. The race was a total of 5km long—the longest sustained rowing this crew had ever done—upstream against the wind. The crew found their rhythm right off the start line settling at a competitive pace. So competitive that, at the 1.5km mark, the Eagles were able to soar past the City 8+ crew and overtake in approximately 30 strokes! By the 2km mark, City was fading into the distance, and the Eagles pushed through to the finish with a respectable time of 24:10 (just 7s behind Churchill W1!). After de-rigging the boat, the Eagles were momentarily lost—where do we go when Fort St. George is not just on the other side of the river? And so, the Eagles ended up at Maccies for their post-race crew chew. While certainly tired, the Eddies’ senior women are feeling strong for the upcoming Fairbairns race at the end of the month which—while a long race—won’t be quite as long as the Isle of Ely Head and certainly another milestone they can conquer! Yeah Eddies!!
The novice men were in the first division of the day and after their first two competitors held a HUGE lead. Sadly they couldn't hold onto this lead all the way through but ended up coming a very respectable 5th in their division with an average split of 1:44.0. The novice women (aka eddies eaglets) soon followed racing in the second division. Their LBC's were all away at Ely so Alannah kindly looked after them for us. She clearly did a fantastic job motivating them because they put on an outstanding display to finish in joint third place and progress to the final! They completed the final with an average split only 1 second slower than their qualifying round and finished 11th overall - great effort!!
Now we just need the weather to play ball so we can transfer all this ERG work into the water! For the first time in recent history, St. Edmund’s entered a boat into the University IVs competition. Part head race, part regatta, where two 4+ crews set off 150m apart and race for the best time over a 2km course. With ARU dropping out, Eddies progressed straight to the semi-final against Emma W2. Eddies brought only their meanest faces and strongest watts onto the water ending with a competitive time of 9:06! Sadly, it was not quite enough to beat the Div.1 Emma crew, but Eddies rowed back home with a feeling of accomplishment (and very sore legs). The senior women begun training for the race before the start of Michaelmas term and faced a numerous number of hurdles. With rowers getting injured or severely ill, rowers being unable to make the afternoon race slot due to university work (do we learn here, I thought we just rowed?), and rowers switching from stroke to bow side, the race line up seemed to change every week. While our formidable crew—Adriana, Kathy, Kiran, and Sophie—ultimately rowed, I’d also like to take this moment to acknowledge Shannon, Xen, and Rosie who all helped make this race happen. And another huge thank you to our formidable cox-coach Abbie who took the tightest line around grassy and coach Matt (who even smiled a little bit)! Written by Elizabeth Leung (Womens Captain) Practice start on the plough reach
Eddie’s Eagles were back racing on the Cam as a 4+ at Autumn Head. Below is a race report written by women's captain Elizabeth Leung. “Eddies made their return to the Cam this Saturday racing in Autumn Head. They had a stacked 4+ boat with the ‘meerkat’ Elizabeth and our small-but-mighty powerhouse Kathy in stroke pair and our bow pair wow pair Sophie and Shannon making their SECBC racing debut. While the sun was thankfully out, this crew had to fight against the wind and heavy stream through the 2.6km course. And, in true Eddies fashion, they had some hiccups in the race. But when the cox box died mid-race, Abbie powered through unfazed. Feeling good about our first race of the 2023-24 year, it is but a stepping stone to the University IVs race in the coming weeks. Yeah Eddies!” W1: Rowover (+0)
On day 4 Eddie’s W1 were chasing Newnham to reclaim their favourite station 7 under the motorway bridge. Chased for a third time but Catz II, Eddie’s Eagles left them in the dust but were unable to catch the formidable Newnham and rowed over for a third day. Ending up on -1 the women were happy with their performance and eager to reclaim station 7 next year. M1: Bumped (-1) Concluding their eventful bumps campaign, the M1 Spice Boys were chasing Sidney M1 and looked to get them back for their bump on Day 1. With a strong start, the Spice Boys reached within striking distance Sidney, only for the speedy Jesus M2 to catch them before they could secure the bump. Ending the campaign - 6, the Spice Boys will be starting next year eager to improve. Nonetheless, they did well, displaying incredible spirit and endurance in the face of unexpected challenges. We commend both crews for their dedication and hard work over the last few months and for demonstrating their commitment to the club and the college. We are confident that they will be back stronger next year W1: bumped by Newnham W3 (-1)
On day 3 the W1 Eagles were in full spirits as the first bump of the campaign approached after 2 days of row overs. Sandwiched between a catch-able Emmanuelle III in front, and a speedy Newnham III behind, the race was going to be an exciting one. After a speedy race start the women quickly got a whistle (within one boat length of Emma), then 2 whistles (within half a boat length of Emma), all whilst keeping Newham a station (1.5 boat lengths) behind them. The Eagles kept this distance for around a kilometre. When they rounded onto the reach however the Newnham crew sped up, and after another 500 meters caught the exhausted Eddie’s crew. An impressive display of effort from the women, they are left vengeful, and ready to reclaim station 7 tomorrow. They will be chasing Newnham III and will be chased by St. Catharines II. M1: Over-bumped by Downing M2 Starting their row with high spirits, the M1 Spice Boys were looking forward to a good day of racing after having to contend with rigger difficulties in the last two days. Chasing Homerton M1, they exploded off their station with a blistering start that saw them avoid a bump by Sidney M1. Despite putting up a valiant row that saw them get close to Homerton, they were unable to keep the Downing M2 juggernaut at bay and conceded an over bump. Nonetheless, having displayed some of their best rowing this year, the Spice Boys will be looking to return the favour as they chase Sidney M1 on the last day. W1: row-over (+0)
On the first day of bumps, the W1 Eagles flew down the full length of the bumps course hunting Hughes Hall W1. After gaining a little ground with a speedy race start, the Eagles maintained a station (1.5 boat lengths) for the majority of the bumps course. The Eagles were chased by St. Catharine’s W2, who flew at them off the start and then dropped several boat lengths by the end of the reach. All three crews ‘rowed over’, i.e didn’t bump or get bumped, and so the Eagles, perpetually station 7 (and next to the canon) will have a repeat of today’s race tomorrow, but with renewed confidence after significantly holding off Catz and keeping up with Hughes down the whole course. M1: Bumped (-1) Concluding an eventful first day of bumps, the M1 Spice Boys are one down after giving Sidney M1 a tough challenge. Facing a snapped Rigger right before the start of the race, the Spice Boys' hopes of racing were kept alive by the heroic actions of wonder bank party Robert, which saw him race to and from the boat house to perform an emergency re-rigging operation just as the 4-minute cannon went off. Rigger fitted and crisis averted, the Spice Boys kept Sidney M1 away for a significant while before conceding a bump to them. All things considered, the Spice Boys are raring to go and will be looking to return the favour to Sidney tomorrow. A whopping 9 races for the Eddie’s women in the 99s Spring Regatta!
This Sunday saw the Eddie’s women take part in 9 races as part of the 99’s Spring Regatta, a series of side-by-side races down the reach. Eddie’s W1 started off the day by drawing Clare W2. Despite the recent focus on drilling race starts in outings, Clare’s start was considerably stronger, and they quickly pulled away by about half a boat length. Eddie’s maintained this gap all the way down the reach until about 150m from the finish line where they emptied the tank and started gaining seats on Clare. Sadly the push came a little too late and Clare took the win. Next the Eagles were paired up against Maggie W2 in competition for a plate. Much like in the first race, Maggie gained off the start. The Eagles valiantly stopped the gap from increasing and despite a much better start than the previous race, and much smoother rowing, were unable to claw back any seats. Despite these two defeats, a lot was learned from the racing which they will take into training next week. In the afternoon 4 of our W2 rowers raced with Hughe's W2 and W3. Jazmin, Olia and Vero (who was racing for the first time) joined the W3 crew and Vice Captain Elizabeth joined W2. Hughe's W3, a mostly novice boat, were first up against the Vet School boat, an unlucky draw as it was filled with many 6th year vets with many years experience in W1 college crews. Despite a valiant effort and some gorgeous rowing, the vet boat pulled away straight off the start. A brilliant first race for Vero! Next they were up against Maggie 3, another unfortunate draw against a massive club on the Cam where they were sadly defeated. Despite the losses, the girls had a lot of fun in the sun and got some valuable race experience. Hughe's W2’s first competitor scratched, so got to enjoy the sun while their 3rd boat flew down the Cam against Maggie 3, waiting to race the winner. As Maggie came out victorious they paddled back to the start line to race. Hughe's W2 took an easy win meaning they got to the final against the Vet School boat. With the Eddie’s vice captain in one boat, and the captain in the other, the boats set off for a show down. An unfortunate crab meant Hughe's W2 lost their rhythm for a few strokes which made all the difference in the neck-and-neck drama up the reach. After a speedy recovery, Hughe's got back into their stride and started gaining on the vet boat. Sadly it was too late, and they crossed the line shortly after the vet boat, finishing 2nd place in the div. An incredible performance against the veterans who were expecting an easy win. Despite some disappointing results, the women absolutely gave it their all, demonstrating the Eddie’s underdog spirit we all know and love. Congrats Eddie’s on the amazing performances and for being the friendliest club on the Cam, saving multiple crews from scratching that day. Yeah Eagles! And a big shout-out to Abi John from Hughe's for subbing into our W1! |
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