CUWBC won both WS4 8+ and WS3 8+ in the Cambridge Autumn Head on October 20th, and were second and third fastest women’s crews overall (beaten only by a veteran crew containing several ex-CUWers!).
The next event on the CUWBC calendar is the Fours Head on the Tideway, on the 3rd November, where 3 coxed IVs and one coxless will be braving the ‘championship course’.
Third year Natsci and New Zealander Sonia Bracegirdle trialled for her first time last year, and made it straight into the winning Blue Boat. She kept rowing in exam term, and when receiving her results found out that she had the best overall result of the 100+ chemists in her year.
What made you decide to trial for CUWBC?
I noviced at Caius College in my first year, and decided then that I would like to challenge myself further. I did start trialling at the start of my second year, but had to abandon that attempt because I had too many lectures scheduled on Saturday morning. I took part in the CUWBC Development Squad at the end of that year, and was finally able to trial this year. I consider myself very lucky to have made the Blue Boat straight away.
How did rowing affect your studies?
Many people – mostly supervisors – warned me that rowing would affect my studies for the worse. To be honest, I have noted quite the opposite. Rowing has helped me manage my time much better. I actually believe that I have done more work than the previous years because I valued the time I had available more, and thus used it better. I am really pleased with my result - I had not expected it at all, and having won my Boatrace on top of that has made this a fantastic year.
What advice would you give aspiring triallists who are worried about combining rowing and a degree?
I think the most important thing is to believe that it can be done. Only people who have never rowed say that it is impossible to combine rowing and a degree. But when you talk to rowers – the ones who actually tried – they will advise you quite differently. I am not saying that it is easy: you must be prepared to work when you are more tired than you might otherwise be, and it is very important to keep on top of things; it is difficult to pull an all-nighter when you train twice a day. But, as I said, rowing has actually helped me be more disciplined and organised. What I also found very helpful is spending a lot of time around other people who are equally motivated about both rowing and their degree, and who offer a very supportive and understanding environment. I have found that very stimulating, and that is something some non-rowers overlook.
So, you have your First, your boatrace win and your blue. Are your trialling again?
Of course! Last year was a fantastic year, and I would love to have the opportunity to experience that again.
Following their Champ 8s win at the BUSA Rowing Championships in May of this year, the 2007 Blue Boat was selected to represent British University Rowing at the European University Rowing Championships, held in Banyoles, Spain. With Janine Lumley (BB ’06, Vice President ‘07) in for Hannah Stratford in the 3 seat, the crew flew out to Spain on the 4th of September with the rest of the 60-strong British squad.
The temperatures in Banyoles proved to be significantly higher than those in Britain, and thus the crew spent their first day on the water in Spain getting used to both the heat, and the considerable afternoon headwind with accompanying waves. This afternoon headwind proved to be somewhat characteristic of the course over the next few days, leading to the cancellation of the following day’s racing due to safety concerns. The Blue Boat were expecting to take part in a race for lanes on this Thursday afternoon, but subsequent reshuffling of the racing program meant that this race was instead moved to Friday morning, with the final scheduled for Saturday morning.
Saturday morning dawned hot and calm, with the temperature being over 30°C when the Cambridge crew began their warm-up for the W8+ final. A fast start saw the very strong Dutch crew from Grongingen University open up an early lead, but the Blue Boat hung on to remain in contention over the first 500m. However, the Dutch crew then began to pull away over the next 1000m, and so a tough battle ensued between the Blue Boat and the Zurich University crew for second place. Cambridge entered the final 500m a few seats up on their Swiss rivals, but the Zurich boat had the edge in the fading stages of the race to pip the Blue Boat by 0.2s on the line.
After making the most of all the kit-swapping offers, the Blue Boat were presented with their bronze medals at the prizegiving, where the British squad took the prize for Best National Team. This was the last chance for the 2007 Blue Boat to race together as a crew, and this thoroughly enjoyable trip proved to be a fitting end to the year for this boat-race winning crew.
The Cambridge crew by the lake in Banyoles