May Bumps 2016: Wednesday Report
June 9 2016 - by Laura Day
Lady Margaret began their Bumps campaign with a bang, as Wednesday racing got underway and resulted in an overall score of +1 for the Women’s side, and 3 Bumps up on the Men’s. The day saw Maggie man chase fellow Maggie man up the river, and a dramatic (and unscheduled) swim for one of the coxes. However, Maggie grit and determination prevailed amongst all, and the day ended with the sun shining on a successful afternoon of racing. If nothing else, the men and women of LMBC certainly showed every other college that they mean business over the next few days, and can hold their heads high as Thursday’s racing follows.
M1: Quite simply, ‘up 1’.
M2: Where to start. It was another eventful division, with a confident Hughes Hall boat chasing M2, complete with no less than five trialists. A fast start for the boat, followed by a thrilling 2 minutes of racing, culminated in a three boat sandwich, with LMBC finally stealing the bump on St Edmunds M1 whilst under a concerted amount of pressure from Hughes Hall. After a marvellous corner from cox Faye sealed the result, carnage only seen in the Bumps ensued, and Faye was knocked clean out the boat. She was followed gallantly by stroke seat Gregor, who dove into the water to her aid. Both are safe and well, and ready to push on tomorrow for Homerton M1.
M3: After an interesting start, M3 managed to survive an approaching St Catherine's crew to row over, with the intention of pushing on for a result tomorrow.
M4: With Caius IV in the sights, LMBC IV made a strong start and refused to let them escape. The chase was unfortunately short-lived, as LMBC V cut the distance between the boats on every stroke. A rate increase to 38 yielded an extra burst of speed, but was unfortunately no match for the fellow Maggie crew.
M5: Much like their M1 counterparts, the M5 crew would rather their result do the talking. Therefore – ‘M5 bumped in 45 seconds. Done’.
W1: With a vuvuzela ready on the bank, a hearty roast in their stomachs and a year of success and hard work behind them, W1 paddled off for the first day of May Bumps. Having barely processed the heroic episode of M2 earlier, W1 had a strong start, gradually closing in on Newnham. Reaching a mere length away from Newnham by First Post Corner, W1 set their rhythm in order to pursue the long bump. Ahead of Newnham, Girton bumped in the Gut, leaving Newnham with clearer water. W1 easily held off Pembroke behind them, despite several attempted pushes on their part. Unfortunately, this was not enough to bump Newnham, and Maggie W1 rowed over on the first day. W1’s determination will carry them through the rest of their campaign, and we look forward to see them tackle Newnham again tomorrow.
W2: After bumping Christ’s W2 on the last day of Lent Bumps, W2 were out to repeat the success once more. Despite a fumbled start, W2 managed to gain quickly on Christ’s, settling into a nice chunky rhythm to close within half a length after just under a minute of racing. Spurred on by cheers from the bank, the girls pushed hard into first post corner to gain a well-earned bump. They now look forward to challenging Clare W2 tomorrow as the valiant campaign to enter the 2nd Bumps division continues.
W3: W3 went off to a flying start, holding off an experienced Wolfson W2 crew behind them. Unfortunately the carnage of the W4 division meant they were unable to row past the motorway bridge and were awarded a technical row over, with the boats in front failing to clear quickly enough. Wolfson were slow enough to avoid the pile up and rowed through to claim what should have been a Maggie over bump. The girls are in a good position to bump up on Thursday.
Many thanks to Wilfried Genest, James Alvey, Laurence Mayther, Emily Conway, David Jones, Alice Farrell, and Rachel von Maydell for their reports.