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Round up of Lent 2011 with race results from the Club, rowing in the 80s, and tales from one of our girls who trialled and raced in the Blue Boat this year.
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Where did Easter go?Wing Ying Chow, Vice Captain 2010 – 2011
The Neptunes
THERE HAS BEEN SO much rowing-related excitement
over the holiday, it feels as if I have gone straight
into Easter term without a break in between. The
main event was of course the Henley Boat Races,
in which Izzi and Tamara competed in the Blue
Boat. Izzi wil l regale us with her tales of trial l ing in
this issue of Neptunes.
The weekend before the HBR, MECBC
travel led down to London for the Women's
Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR), and
had a lovely dinner with alumnae. Clare Briegal
(1 981 ) in particular told us much about rowing
on the Cam in the 80s, and has also wri tten an
article for this i ssue.
Having no excuse to get out of
Cambridge as a grad student, I made the most
of i t by running scul l ing sessions for beginners.
We now have nine members with some inkl ing
of how to make a boat move with two blades,
two of whom are practi sing regularly. Of
course, al l thi s would not be possible without
the generous donation of Two Fat Ladies by
Florence Butler (2006). I t i s a great piece of
equipment to have, so I would l ike to say thanks
once again!
Do emai l us any ideas at boatclub-
[email protected] for an
upcoming issue. Nothing is too short or too long!
WIN
GY
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CH
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May 2011 Volume 3, Issue 3
1
Report from
Eve BonnerCaptain of Boats
I T' S BEEN ANOTHER GREAT TERM FOR MECBC!
An odd start to Lent term in the form of
a delayed Fairbairns race for a scratch W1
crew, but i t got everyone focussed and in the
racing mood for the run up to Bumps.
Pembroke regatta provided the fi rst
chance for W1 to real ly show what they were
made of, seeing off Selwyn W1 and Corpus
W1 both with a 2 length lead. W1 put up a
strong fight against Emma W1 , but
unfortunately were a canvas behind as Emma
gl ided over the finish l ine. Wel l done W1 , a
round further than last year. Next year, into the
semi-finals!
Next i t was the turn of the lower boats to
represent us in the 'Getting On' race. W3 had
an excel lent race, keeping focus even after
watching the boat chasing them crash into a
tree. Whi lst they didn' t make i t into one of the
7 places avai lable in the Lents, they should be
very proud. W2 spent most of the race with a
vast amount of open water behind them and
slowly pushing onto Magdalene in front,
earning them one of those precious 7 spaces.
On to the main event; Lent bumps. W2
began the week with an unfortunate day. Off
the start they were clearly closing on Ti t Hal l
ahead, before Peterhouse crashed al lowing Ti t
Hal l to bump out early, and Lucy Cavendish to
bump us down.
In pul l ing in from this bump, Harald was badly
damaged and has now lost his bows. This led to
W2 needing to row the next 3 days in Winston,
which they never real ly got used to, and
although they improved every day, they ended
the week with spoons. In l ight of this event,
MECBC is now short of a boat, and we are
currently looking for donations and corporate
sponsorship in order to buy a replacement.
W1 had an enti rely di fferent week, bumping
up before grassy for the fi rst 3 days, and walking
away with blades despi te a close cal l on
Saturday chasing Emma . Excel lent work girls,
wel l done!
The post-bumps weeks of Lent term were
spent using the smal l boats to improve
technique and experimenting with scul l ing and
switching sides. W1 , however, were busy
making final preparations for WEHoRR, another
successful race day, fini shing 1 41 of over 300
boats. On to bigger and better next term
everyone!
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Easter Term RacesMECBC I S PLAN N I N G ON enteri ng these races for
Easter 2 01 1 . The most up-to-date events l i sti ng
and race resul ts can be found on our websi te.
3 0 Apri l 2 01 1 - Ci ty H ead to H ead (W1 )
22 May 2011 - Champs Head (W1 , W2)
1 0 J une 2 01 1 - G etti ng On Race (W3 )
1 5 –1 8 J une 2 01 1 - May Bumps (W1 , W2 )
Murray Edwards Col lege Boat Club
is proudly sponsored by
Cambridge Consultants
Results Lent 2011Pembroke Regatta
W1 : beat Si dney Sussex W1 (round 1 ) ,
beat Corpus W1 (round 2 ) ,
knocked out by Emmanuel W1 (round 3 )
Lent G etti ng on Race
W2 got on: starti ng at 1 5 th i n W3 Di v
W3 : 5 th 3 rd VI I I i n G oR
Lent Bumps
W1 up 4 - bl ades
W2 down 3
WEH oRR
W1 1 41 /2 99
Detai l ed ti mes and ranki ngs can be found on
the websi te http: //www. srcf. ucam. org/mecbc/
HO
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Rowing in the 80s
Clare BriegalClare Briegal (nee Munford)
Social Secretary 1 982-3 (and Head of the
Mays 1 984)
ONE THIN G I DON’T miss i s those dreadful black
towel l ing rowing shorts – although they did
help you stay on your seat! Ah yes – rowing
in the early 80’s – al l Frankie Goes to
Hol lywood and Maggie in the Falklands - the
days before lycra and 2k ergos. (I remember
that CUBC had two ergos that we had a go on
once!) Those were the days!
27 years ago (ahem!) we were training
for the Mays in N HBC 1 st IV. (Yes we raced
the May’s in fours up unti l and including
1 989.) 4 of the crew (3 rowers and cox) had
narrowly missed going Head on the last day of
the Mays in 1 983 so we were determined to
catch Trini ty Hal l that year.
Our coaches, a hand picked team
including New Hal l ’s own Nerys Hughes
(N HBC/Blondie late 70’s) and other top
coaches from around the universi ty, had put
together their cunning plan. I seem to
remember a lot of 2 minute pieces in the long
reach. ‘OK, racing start, 2 minutes then turn round
and do it again’ 6 times – that was a favourite.
Our training schedule for the 8 weeks of
the summer term included 6 outings and 4 land
training sessions per week. We used the gym at
Fenners for a heavy weights and body weights
circui t, then running for other sessions (not a
favouri te). Sprints along the river I seem to
remember in the summer. We used to train on
the river each afternoon, Monday to Saturday,
much to the chagrin of my Biochemistry supervisor.
There we were al l psyched up on the fi rst
night. We caught Trini ty Hal l at fi rst post and
rowed over head 3 nights. The Bumps Supper
and boat burning was a great night – although I
don’t think we were too popular with Valerie
Pearl at the time and especial ly when she saw
the damage to the Fel lows Garden the fol lowing
day. I sti l l cherish the brass foot stretcher from
the cl inker 8 we burnt. Ah happy times!
N HBC I 1 984
Stroke Clare Munford
3 Carol ine Ramsay
2 Anne Hodgson
Bow Jo Busvine
Cox Libbie Walker
Coaches: Nerys Hughes, Mark Briegal , Richard
Clayton & Ian Bernstein
Bumped Trini ty Hal l 1 , Won Fairbairns 1 983
and Novice Pennant at Fours Head 1 983.
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Tales from Trial l ing
Izzi Boana-EvansBlue Boat 2011
2nd year engineer
Noviced in Michaelmas 2009
I T HAS BEEN AN IN CREDIBLY impressive year for
Murray Edwards Boat Club; not only did the
Col lege’s fi rst boat achieve i ts second
consecutive set of blades during Lent Bumps,
but 2011 also saw both myself and former
Murray Edwards rower, Tamara Hornik,
competing in that l i ttle known race against a
certain rival universi ty. . . the Oxford Cambridge
Blues Boat Race.
I am so proud to have flown the flag for
Murray Edwards at CUWBC, i t has been an
absolutely amazing experience. I t was without
doubt a tough chal lenge to gain that seat in the
Blue Boat, a chal lenge consisting of 5.55am
trips to train at Ely, bi tterly cold training sessions
and many, many 2km erg tests. Yet i t was a
chal lenge I rel i shed and enjoyed thoroughly.
The defeat that we suffered at the hands
of the Oxford Boat may have been
disappointing, but we wi l l not let i t spoi l our
season. I look forward to the Easter Term ahead
with both CUWBC and MECBC, and wi l l put
my best efforts into making sure both achieve
the success they deserve.
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LEN T BUMPS DIN NER WAS HELD in the Long Room
on the evening of Sunday 6 March. The turnout
was very impressive, with over 50 boaties fi l l ing
two long tables—wel l done social secretaries!
Half the seats were occupied by Peterhouse and
Selwyn men. In addi tion, we have our recent
alumnae returning again to join us in
celebrating blades for W1 (and sadly, ' footship'
for W2).
The dinner provided a great opportuni ty
to get to know our fel low boat dwel lers, and of
course make ample opportuni ty to reap
vengeance for any of the pent-up rivalry
between boats during bumps.
After the Dinner we proceeded to fi l l up
the bar. There was an attempt to show the "RIPHarald" video, though sadly many technological
challenges prevented a satisfactory playback.
Never mind, as the video is now on our website
(under 'general' category)
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/mecbc/2011 /03/rip-
harald-video/. Hopefully it wil l al low some of you
to relive some fond memories of a boat who
meant a great deal to us as a club, as both Gina
and Reana’s heartfelt messages should convey.
After much more social i sing in the bar,
the night ended in one Cambridge’s most
popular club venues (though that i sn’t saying
much considering there are only four). For
many people this wasn’t just a chance to
social i se, i t was also the fi rst chance since the
lead up to Lent Bumps to final ly let their hair
down again. This i s probably most appl icable
to the MECBC girls, and the W2 coach Watson.
Overal l , i t was an extremely fun and wel l -
deserved evening of much merriment, which
aptly celebrated our continuing success as a
boat club. W1 also had the opportuni ty to meet
and dine with some alumnae and former
members of N HBC whi le in London for
WEHoRR, which proved to be a fun fi l led
evening of journeying down memory lane
Looking ahead for this term: al l alumnae,
their friends and fami ly are warmly invi ted to
our Bumps Breakfast which wi l l be held on
Sunday 1 9 June this year. Whi le we do take
entries on the door, i t wi l l be great i f you can let
us know you are l ikely to attend by Tuesday 7
June. Emai l the social secretaries on
SocialsEleanor Dickinson
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The Neptunes May 2011 by Murray Edwards Col lege Boat Clubis l icensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. Some rights reserved.
In case you can' t tel l ,
they're attempting to spel l
MECBC. Ola, in the front
row, is supposed to
represent the blades.
Reana's amazing cul inary
ski l l s were amongst the
highl ights of bumps. The
pie to the right was
particulary del icious!
A trip to London for
WEHoRR was topped off
by a dinner with some
our former rowers.
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