W2 bumps report… Blades!!! And a spot in division 3 for the first time in a decade.
A brief summary of the week:
On day one, despite best efforts for free speed from dyed armpits and Sidney gaining on Christs W2, Christs was able to pull away to get Clare Hall.
On day two, the magical discovery of putting tapes on blades (and effort, focus and dedication etc) led to a bump on Clare Hall on grassy corner leading to waterworks for some of the crew.
On day three, W2 managed to bump Darwin W2 on the reach after a fierce battle.
Day four in the words of Alessandro Nashat-Mettry, coach:
“The final day of bumps was an electric day, the crew approached the day aware of the fact that they could get blades, but it would take a whole load of effort to do so. In the first race W2 started off strong, gaining a whistle on Christs W2, but subsequently losing it and regaining it. By the long reach Sidney was wearing down Christ’s and wondering when something would give. Suddenly, under the pressure of Sidney’s relentless hold, Christ’s struggled with a crab which Sidney took full advantage of, pulling forward and achieving the the bump.
After some cheers and words of encouragement to the losing crew, Sidney looked to materialise the most unlikely dream in the form of a blade to take home. Their rivals? The tough Jesus W3. They had escaped Christs W2’s fangs for the past 2 days, and it just looked like they might have gotten away from the start. By the plough, however, something in the crew awakened. It was a battle between who wanted it more and Sidney W2 came out on top with incredible resilience and beautiful racing lines from our cox Lucy Keeley resulted in a bump by Ditton corner.
I jumped from my bike and threw it to the side in excitement, I then contained my excitement as to not get a fine from early celebration. But once the bump was confirmed and the greenery had been placed on the crew’s heads, I unfolded the flag that we looked up to for a year, that had kept us united, and the crew enjoyed a relaxed row home, basking in glory and the sunshine, knowing that all the hard work and effort had paid off.”
– Alessandro Nashat Mettry, coach
