The crew was confident about today’s race coming off a good week of training with some excellent practice starts and solid water time. The row down the Reach to marshal for the race bolstered our confidence, as it was some of our best paddling yet, and our practice starts were smooth as well. Our race against Girton was the first of the division, so we hadn’t much time to wait before being called to the starting line.
Our start was quite solid, and it pulled us out to a slight lead over Girton within our first ten strokes. Girton, rowing well themselves, pulled back even as we came out of our start sequence and began to open a slight lead a couple of hundred meters into the course, when chaos struck. Girton drifted slightly towards Christ’s racing lane, and a crab in their crew drove them sharply into our line. Nearly simultaneously, Christ’s caught a grab as well, driving us towards the oncoming Girton boat and creating a nice jam which caused both crews to momentarily stop rowing. Girton came out of the mess upstream of Christ’s and carried on rowing much more quickly. By the time Christ’s straightened and resumed a rhythm up the course, Girton had a couple of lengths of open water.
We rowed the remainder of the course fiercely, but the deficit proved too much, as Girton held us at a distance through the finish, winning by a length and a half. The result is disappointing, largely because the crew has been rowing very soundly as of late and maintained that in the race, aside from a single bit of carnage. We take away the consolation that we lost to a very good Girton crew, which made it through to the finals of the draw, and that if we maintain the progress evident today, we will enjoy the results of Fairbairns in only a few days’ time.
