Staff writer Niamh Cunningham reports on a day of hard graft, sunshine, and surprises at the Varsity Rowing event.
King’s faced defeat to UCL in Varsity Rowing yesterday, but that’s not to say they did not put up a good fight, with the Women’s Senior 4 gaining an incredible victory.
Each division raced the same course: just under 1km from University of London Boat Club to Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club. This made it an intense sprint with a high stroke rate.
The day began with morale high. The weather certainly put everyone in a good mood with one crew member noting how she was ‘excited to row in this gorgeous weather and enjoy the sunshine’.
UCL Boat Club and their tendency to triumph year-on-year meant expectations to take home a win were particularly low. Yet, KCLBC remained set on taking advantage of the beautiful day and having a great time.
The races kicked off with the Men’s Novice 4 boat, the Women’s Senior 8 boat and the Women’s Novice 4 boat.
Particularly notable was the performance of the Women’s Senior 8 boat. They held a strong lead at the beginning of the race, pulling ahead of UCLBC by almost a boat’s length.
However, they faced a slight equipment malfunction at the last stretch where a blade came loose from its gate. Unfortunately, this meant they fell behind and lost the race, but it’s safe to say the women should be incredibly proud of their performance.
The Men’s and Women’s Novice 4 boats also performed strongly, but were unable to triumph over UCL. Even so, the races proved to be incredibly close.
After this were the Men’s Senior 8, the Men’s Novice 8, and the Women’s Senior 4 boats.
The Men’s Senior 8 held strong throughout their race, and despite their loss remained pleased with how they had performed as a team.
The Men’s Novice 8 faced similar circumstances, but all pushed themselves hard to the finish line.
The most impressive take away from Varsity Rowing was the victory of the Women’s Senior 4 boat over UCLBC, featuring Izzy Cantwell, Alice Doyle, Beth Williamson, and Orla Mantle. They performed at an incredible standard winning the race by a considerable distance.
Their technique was highly refined, making the movement of the boat efficient, but they also worked incredibly hard physically, maintaining stamina over the short distance.
It is also worth noting the fantastic performance of the KCLBC Coxswains. Amaya Sharma, Ellie Day and Orla Kennedy worked hard throughout the day, jumping from boat to boat to cox a variety of different crews.
They played a huge role in the performance of the boats, encouraging their crews to perform at maximum capacity while also maintaining their own responsibilities within the boat.
Overall, KCLBC performed incredibly well. They had a lovely day spending it as a team and certainly did not let UCLBC get away easy with their win.
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