Last Friday M1 travelled to the Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers, in an attempt to qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup for university eights. The crew was unchanged from the eight that raced the May Bumps two weeks previously. Unfortunately, despite some hard training, they narrowly missed out, posting a time of 7:20.2 – four seconds short of the mark. Henley Royal Regatta is the pinnacle of club rowing in the UK and while the crew is very disappointed not to be taking part, they hope this sets a precedent for Pembroke sending more crews in years to come.
Wednesday. Bumped by LMBC I. M1 set out with hopes of catching Caius for a chance to row over at head of the river for the rest of the week. Unfortunately it was not to be, with Caius resisting their early efforts, before moving on again down the reach. With hopes of the bump slipping away, the attention turned to keeping away from the fast-closing Lady Margaret 1 behind. Despite a push out of the P & E, the blade of the LMBC bowman made contact for the bump with 50m of the course left to go. Not the start M1 were hoping for, but with 3 days left, they will be hoping to make amends, and give the Pembroke crowd something to cheer later in the week. Thursday. Row over. After a disappointing result on the first day, M1 set out to bounce back and catch LMBC off guard from the start on Thursday. Pembroke set off strongly, gaining one whistle around first post corner, and another coming past the plough. Unfortunately, the whistles didn’t come fast enough, and Maggie were just about able to hold them at arms length. Down the reach, the advantage started to shift in their favour, and M1 ended up rowing over, a comfortable distance ahead of Jesus in fourth. Another day, another tough race but, sitting in 3rd with two days to go, it is still all to play for. Friday. Row over. M1 entered the Friday with dreams of a comeback to take the headship still alive. Characteristically, they set off hard, quickly gaining a whistle on LMBC, who had also gained on Caius in front. Into the gut, Pembroke established a more composed rhythm than they had found the previous two days, allowing them to make further headway on Maggie. Two whistles came on the entry into grassy but some rough water and a few missed strokes stalled their momentum. From there on out, Pembroke continued to throw all they had at Maggie, but with less and less of an effect. By the long reach, Maggie had slipped back to a length lead, and would finish comfortably ahead. A row over the final result. With a day left, the dream may be dead but the hopes of ruining Lady Margaret’s week remain very much alive. Saturday. Row over. Report to come.
W1
Wednesday. Bumped by Churchill I. Despite a very successful year so far, W1 faced a difficult first day, chasing a Lady Margaret crew with Novice pots from Nottingham regatta and being chased by a Churchill crew with four blues. An excellent start saw us push off Churchill and into Maggie by quarter of a length, which we maintained into the Plough. But Churchill were hungry for the bump, and having closed the gap made a big push into Ditton corner to a quarter of a length off us. A heroic drive out of Ditton meant we countered Churchill’s closing attack with a rate up, holding them off over halfway down the Reach with Maggie still a length in front. Unfortunately a determined second Churchill push finally forced the issue and gave them the bump. Nonetheless, a hugely impressive, gutsy row from W1 puts us in a strong position to fight back over the coming days. Thursday. Row over. W1 went into today ready to hit right back at Churchill. Another fantastic start saw us gain rapidly on them, and we gained a first whistle going into First Post corner. A strong push by Churchill out of the Plough lengthened the gap out again to just under a length and a half, with Jesus still well clear behind. However, at this point the bumps gods worked their sorcery of carnage. A bump on Ditton corner meant Churchill and Maggie had to hold it up, with Churchill sitting almost perpendicular to the bank for long enough for us to close up. This forced us out to the widest possible line on Ditton corner, which gave Jesus the chance to claim back all the water we’d pushed off them. With the gap now closing to near-overlap on the reach, W1 went into overdrive, pulling off a superb row all the way down the reach to keep Jesus clear. Winding it up for a big finish just past the Railway Bridge, we shut the door on Jesus and took it home with a truly gutsy row over. The corner escapade has ignited the fire in W1, and we will come to tomorrow hungry for vengeance. Friday. Row over. Yet another flying start from W1 saw us gain our first whistle on Lady Margaret going into First post corner. We kept our cool round bumps inside Grassy and took two whistles into Ditton. Just inside half a length, however, our legs began to fade slightly, and Maggie gained clear water in front as Churchill bumped out ahead. A determined push meant we still finished in style at the line, but din’t quite make it to the bump. We come back for one day more to settle unfinished business. Saturday. Row over. With a spooning Christ’s crew in front of Lady Margaret, W1 knew that we had to go out hard on day 4. We had a characteristic strong start, but two days of row-overs began to show in the legs. We didn’t get the early whistles we had done on previous days, and with Lady Margaret also motivated for a bump, they pushed away and caught Christ’s outside the Plough. We held Jesus II off without too much trouble with another quality row. The down one over the four days does not quite do justice to a crew which has had a fantastic term and year, and has shown some excellent technical skill and properly gutsy rowing throughout the week.
M2
Wednesday. Bumped Christ’s I! In M2’s first race they chased Christ’s M2, but the struggle was short lived. Pembroke had a good start from station 16, and heard the first whistle after 20 strokes. Christ’s crumbled under the road bridge, and Pembroke bumped early on First Post Reach, after just 90 seconds of racing. Thursday. Row over. M2 had a good start, making slight gains on Corpus I. However, spurred on by whistles on FaT II ahead of them, Corpus surged on and pulled back to station. Pembroke kept up the pursuit, but eventually Corpus bumped FaT on the reach, leaving Pembroke with a lonely row-over. Friday. Bumped by Clare II. M2 were sandwiched between FaT M2 ahead and Clare M2 behind. Under pressure from Clare, Pembroke lost length and power, and although they got a whistle on FaT, Clare made the bump on First Post Reach. Saturday. Row over. M2 rowed up on the the final day of bumps determined to bump back Clare, or fly and die spectacularly in the attempt. After a good start, Pembroke gained slightly on Clare, but, spurred on by the whistles, Clare accelerated away and claimed their fifth bump. Not content to settle for a row-over, Pembroke pressed on, leaving Sidney Sussex M1 far behind, hunting Downing M2 for the elusive over-bump. But although the chase came within four lengths (down from six and a half lengths off the start), Downing escaped.
Having held station this year, the stage is set to continue pushing up Division 2 next year.
W2
Wednesday. Row over. W2 had a tough day today, but successfully rowed over. After a solid start Emma W2 had an optimistic whistle on us but we pushed them back and continued on to row over. Onwards and upwards tomorrow! Thursday. Bumped by Newham II. W2 had a really strong row today, putting up a huge fight against Newnham W2 who were chasing. Despite our best efforts, Newnham proved too strong and we were bumped on the reach – there is certainly motivation for tomorrow. Friday. Bumped by Robinson I Saturday. Bumped by Lucy 1. Report to come.
M3
Wednesday. Bumped Christ’s III! M3 set off from station 3, chasing Christ’s M3, who were chasing Queens’ M4. Pembroke had a reasonable start and wore Christ’s down to half a length down First Post Reach. However, the bow man in the Queens’ boat caught an overhead crab, and Christ’s made overlap coming round First Post Corner. With a heroic effort, Pembroke pushed round the corner, moving to three whistles at the bottom of the gut. Queens’ pushed on, evading the bump from Christ’s. Pembroke surged down the gut, quickly got overlap, then caught the Christ’s cox a hefty blow with their bow ball, bringing an exciting race to a decisive end. Thursday. Bumped Queen’s IIII in M5 and Selwyn III in M4. A quick two bumps for M3 today, taking them into the M4 division. With a solid start M3 rapidly gained on Queens’ M4 closing so fast at the end that Kevin didn’t have time to ring the bell for overlap before the Queens’ cox conceded, with the bump taking place just as they were coming around First Post Corner. This promoted M3 to the M5/M4 sandwich boat meaning they had to race again, this time chasing Selwyn M3. With a very strong start M3 was able to catch Selwyn before the motorway bridge, only having to row for a minute! Let’s hope the rowing tomorrow is over just as quickly! Video. Friday. Bumped Selwyn III. M3 rowed up confidently to their new, consolidated start position at the bottom of the 4th division. The crew remained slightly nervous at the start (as all crews should be at their start positions), leading to a slightly messy start sequence. This did not prevent them from rhythming into a nice pace, bumping FaT IV well before the motorway bridge. Saturday. BLADES! – BUMPED QUEENS’ IV AGAIN!
W3
Wednesday. Bumped Anglia Ruskin I! W3 off to a really clean start, settling early into a strong rhythm and soon gaining on Anglia Ruskin W1. Anglia Ruskin took some “interesting” lines, but still managed to close the gap on Girton W2. Determined to put their teams tough training to good use, pushes were called to GET THAT BUMP! Anglia Ruskin gained OVERLAP on the boat in front – but couldn’t finish off in time to hold off the victorious W3. A first bump for nearly everyone in the boat- looking forward to tomorrow! Thursday. Bumped Girton II. W3 started strong, powering through on the hunt for Girton W2. Anglia Ruskin valiantly tried to draw up to W3, and by the time we’d reached the motorway bridge, they’d drawn within station. But they stood no chance as W3 drove on, sitting up strong and relentlessly gaining on Girton. Several boat lengths upstream from the motorway bridge, the crews around W3 dropped away as Pembroke settled in and stayed strong. They bumped before first post, stealing the bump from Girton who were drawing close to St. Catherine’s W2. Hopes are high for tomorrow. May the fastest crew bump. Friday. Row over. After a strong start W3 got the first whistle on Catz after 20 strokes, they held it there as Catz gained on Selwyn, but were not quite able to close the distance. Multiple bumps in front left the outside chance if a double over bump which they valiantly chased all the way to the finish line. Saturday. Bumped up. W3 were in the middle of a sandwich. The pre race electric vibe became a tremendous start. We were soon a length down on Selwyn who responded with a push, but not enough to hold us off for long and after the second whistle the bump came quickly.
Pemgibeers
Wednesday. Bumped Homerton III! The Pemgibeers were feeling good going into bumps today, having all just completed their pre-race weight loss program. The new guys did an excellent job with their first haka, putting fear in Homerton M3’s eyes from the start. After a bit of a frantic start, the guys settled into a good rhythm and started to close the gap in front, and stretch out the gap behind. Going into first post corner, the haka fully came into play – Homerton M3’s 7 man succumbed to his fear and came off his seat. This shortened the inevitable bump, as the Pemgibeers smashed Homerton right in the corner. They’re feeling good about Tit Hall M3 tomorrow. Thursday. Bumped Trinity Hall III. As always, the Pemgibeers were feeling good going in today. Today we were graced by the presence Thomas Schute, here to keep the power in the arms and the speed on the slide. Following some excellent chat on the row up to marshal, the haka (as ever) petrified Tit Hall M3. The start was exemplary – at least 50% of our power went into the water. But truly what lead to our success today was the perfection of Izhan’s bung drop. Dropping the bung when the cannon goes is no small task, but we can rely on Izy to definitively release the bung into the water with grace and style. Propelled by this polished bung drop, the Pemgibeers rushed forward to happily bump Tit Hall on first post corner. Izhan, being a highly efficient cox, managed to combine the actions on bumping and pulling into the side in one magnificent surge to the inside of the corner. Jesus M4 look out. Friday. Row over. Saturday. Row over. Reports to come.
1st Men’s VIII – Reg Howard
C: Dominic Hall
S: Stijn de Graaf
7: Theo Clark
6: Charlie Cummins
5: Piotr Zulawski
4: Sam Ringer
3: Moye Odiase
2: Seoirse Murray
B: Greg Drott
1st Women’s VIII – Sir Richard Dearlove
C: James Roberts
S: Audrey Lejeune
7: Marianna Gailus
6: Courtney Landers
5: Emma Carter
4: Maggie Forrest
3: Neria Aylward
2: Hannah Stewart
B: Katharine Griffiths
2nd Men’s VIII – Geoffrey Perret
C: Gina Wong
S: Thayne Forbes
7: Jamie Billington
6: Tom Zawisza
5: Richard Phillips
4: Richard Marshall
3: Luke Naylor-Perrott
2: Tom Baxter
B: Will Gayne
2nd Women’s VIII – Rebecca Caroe
C: Tom Whittaker
S: Jessica Farmery
7: Holly Clothier
6: Alice Limb
5: Gaia Ladler
4: Scarlett Walsh
3: Anna Cassell
2: Frances Ketteman
B: Katie Pringle
3rd Men’s VIII – James Crowden
C: John Hughes
S: Darion Mayes
7: Balint Homonnay
6: Michael Droogleever Fortuyn
5: Jay Richardson
4: Matevz Poljanc
3: Stefan Stanko
2: Richard Southern
B: Hugo Kirby
3rd Women’s VIII – Nobby’s Girls
C: Richard Southern
S: Jane Braden-Golay
7: Marta de Andres
6: Kathleen Nelson
5: Katie Wu
4: Sophie Young
3: Liza Goodspeed
2: Victoria Hopkins
B: Chloe Tubman
4th Men’s VIII – Bill Hutton
C: Harry Sarson
S: Robert March
7: Felix Fabryczny
6: Barry Colfer
5: Sail Chinoy
4: Pratyay Poddar
3: Nils Eling
2: Henry Kerrison
B: William Grace
The Pemgibeers
C: Izhan Khan
S: Jack Tavener
7: Rishi Jobanputra
6: Rory White
5: Tristan Downing
4: Giorgio Sterlini
3: Thomas Schute
2: Richard Ollington
B: Elliot Lindsay
The Champagne Boat
C: Joanna Buckland
S: Amy Karet
7: Emma Durham
6: Ciara McCarthy
5: Anna Dyas
4: Ellie Heikel
3: Sarah Howden
2: Michaela Morgan
B: Holly Chetwood
