On the 20th May, M1 journeyed to Worcester for their annual pre-Eights warm up event, keen to cut their teeth in the racing environment before hitting the Isis this week. Here’s how they got on!

Morning Session: IM3.8+

Cox: Alice Vacani
Stroke: Chris Nicholls
7: Alex Allison
6: Jack Waterman
5: Steven Crabb
4: Chris Jones
3: Marcus Green
2: Rob House
Bow: Maciej Arcadius Bugala

Heavy rainfall met the 8+ on the start line as the lined up against Oxford Academicals. As they waited for a narrowboat to traverse the course, the weather shifted and there was just time for a quick kit change before heading to the start in sunshine. A strong start, especially given the heavy wash created by the narrow boat, saw them gain 1 length as they stretched out to a chunky 37. We continued to push on, eventually winning by 3 lengths and earning a place in the final. Cheltenham College J15s were our opposition, who had beaten Worcester College, Oxford by a 3 length margin in their semi. They had a good start, gaining 2 seats off the start, but M1 had also found a nice rhythm, and were beginning to walk back. A big push at halfway saw us eek out a half length advantage, which we extended by another 1/4 length by the finish to take the win. A gutsy row from behind that will stand us in good stead for eights!

Afternoon Session: IM3.4+

Cox: Alice Vacani
Str: Chris Nicholls
3: Chris Jones
2: Jack Waterman
Bow: Alex Allison

A lack of entries in the IM2.8+ category had given us the opportunity to race a 4 in the afternoon. Despite this combination not having rowed together all term, we were buoyed from the morning’s win and determined to put out a good showing. As luck would have it, our opposition for the quarter and semi finals had scratched, which gave us a chance to go out and practise the course twice, allowing us to groove in a nice rhythm and stretch our legs. We met Birmingham University A in the final, who had comfortably beaten their opposition in the first two rounds. Our start was good, which is more than can be said for our opposition who ended up grazing bank off the start. They recovered well, and started to move on us from 1 length down. They eventually took out a 1 length lead coming past the boathouse, but with the bend in our favour we wound up and began to apply the pressure, starting to move back and producing an exciting spectacle for the onlookers. Eventually Birmingham’s greater experience in the 4 showed through as they took the victory by 1 length, but they congratulated us on being the first crew all day to make them work for the win!

Alex Allison HCBC President