C: Chris Jackson
S: Arjun Patel
3: Joss Digweed 
2: Bartlomiej Rosinski 
B: Amit Bhudia 
 
The Men’s four rocked up at the boat house for an early start for our first ever paddle as a crew. We made leaps and bounds trying out our sprint start and building up to race pace which gave our crew added confidence for our first sprints race ever!
 
As we were cheering on the novice women, Amit and myself were unexpectedly called to sub into a Novice Men’s VIII due to a timing clash. We took this opportunity to get used to the race we would face that afternoon and came so close to victory in the face of mechanical issues for our bow and stroke seat.

​After the tides turned, we strapped ourselves into our shiny new Hudson and made our way down to the start point, practising one last sprint start along the way. We lined up and were faced with an unexpectedly long call for attention which threw us off. We heard the marshal call go and ended up losing to the more experienced George’s boat who from peripheral vision were faster than expected but all was not lost! Each rower dug deep, listening attentively to Beans’ motivating calls as we put our all into a power 10. Alas, we crossed the finish line uncertain of the distance between ourselves and the George’s crew but remained hopeful for our three-way race for third.
 
With no time to waste we turned around and made our way back to the start line for our last row of the day. Once again, we lined up, feeling exhausted, waiting for the start call. 
 
‘Attention… GO!’ 
 
This time our start was much better, we were holding a tight lead against ICSM for the first half of the race. Not one rower on either crew was giving in, but our bodies were aching as we sorrowfully saw the ICSM crew take our lead and inch away from us. We crossed the finish line to the sound of our teammates chanting, MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE! Everyone who stuck around until the end of the day to watch us race made the pain and suffering all worth it. Although we hadn’t won, we left with our heads held high and excited for races to come.

With some more practice we’re all looking forward to an even better performance at Quintin Head next weekend and particularly UH Head 

Arjun Patel

C Melissa Nelson
S Zakira Klico
7 Sophie Covington
6 Rose Maloney
5 Grace Yang
4 Lauren Pereira-Greene
3 Sophie Ollerenshaw
2 Annabel Butler
B Alix McNeil

​On the morning of Winter Sprints, we ate many a crepe
We gobbled them up without a regret
All the Nutella that made us feel sick
Was the fuel needed for us to row extremely quick

Saturday 22nd saw the first race of the year
We arrived at the boathouse full of cheer
With hair in meticulous battle braids
We got warmed up and put out the blades

The women’s eight’s first race was the semi-final
For Bart’s and RVC were COVIDly viral
We rowed up alongside GKT
Came to front stops and sat squared and ready

GKT’s start was rather strong
Perhaps since their warmup was rather long
Within 10 strokes they’d taken a length
But this didn’t buffer our mighty strength

We held onto them throughout the race
Our technique was good and we were moving at pace
It was captain Melissa’s coxing debut
Her excellent calls helped us push through

But due to GKT’s impressive start sequence speed
​They finished the race with just over one boat length’s lead
This left us in third place overall
A position we felt was good, but improvable

We put our boat back onto the rack
And had our informative post-race chat
And to celebrate our short but exciting row
We took a wholesome crew photo

And with thanks to the incredibly slow boat bay kettle
A haphazard hot chocolate we drank and then did we settle
Over at the pub for a pint or five
Legs tired due to our massive leg drive

Winter Sprints was a great start to 2022
But now we were all rather pooped
So off we all went, homebound
In need of a well-deserved lie down

Sophie Covington

S  Pawel Ogrodnik 
7  Aryan Arora
6  Etienne Royer Gray
5  Josh Lau
4  Justus Schotanus
3  Sam Rolfe
2  Dan Diaz Blanco
B  Dara Razanghi

Overall, a really good day with a lot of promising progress to build on. Despite the loss, the novice men fought back to lose by only half a boat length despite being at times 2 rowers down. Unfortunately, a loose gate and floor plate gave way - perhaps a useful lesson about tightening bolts?
The boat felt really balanced throughout thanks to the efforts of all the novice men, with marked improvements in power, timing and positioning.
This race has given us lots of encouragement to continue and sets a solid benchmark for the rest of the year!

Etienne Royer-Gray

C Vaish 
S Cecila
7 Hannah
6 Geemini
5 Laetisha
4 Sofia
3 Mathura
2 Anam
B Maddy

It was a cold and wet morning in January and like every day at the boathouse, everything was running smoothly, punctually and without any sort of breakdown. 

With our lovely Vaish at our helm, we went out for a classic RUMSBC pre-race paddle, only stopping once (1 time) to prevent an almost-tragic fin-related casualty. The atmosphere was buzzing; first race day for a few of us and first sprints for all. Between a cheeky shoe issue (through no fault of the boatswain & assistant, obviously) and me and Cecilia attempting to dry off after an only slightly spicy landing, the chatter and excitement was palpable. 

In traditional fashion, staying cool, calm and collected was an unobtainable goal. However, we were on time! (Go RUMS!) With the marshals guiding us towards the start line and St. George’s revving their engines beside us, we were tense, we were exhilarated, we were speed! Given that we’d not rowed as a complete crew before, and the fact that a few of our dashing rowers were extremely new to the fun, funky and fresh vibes of the Thames, morale may have been high, but expectations sure weren’t. 

Nevertheless, we brought our big boy legs to the table and when the marshal called “attention…”, we were born ready. Soaring off, neck and neck with the girls from George’s, we were looking good and feeling better. But, no! Tragedy struck in an early crab and we watched, doe-eyed and slightly panting, as victory slipped through our blistered little fingers. Winning may not always be RUMSBC’s style, but giving up definitely isn’t. With a quick reset and some encouraging shouts from Vaish, we were off again, determined to finish and already mentally preparing for the second race of the day. 

Race number 2 was against sworn rivals, ICSM, and with the whole of boat club behind us, chanting dutifully as we spun round into the Middlesex bank, we had a point to prove. The starting call didn’t faze us this time (we were already pros) and so we rushed out of the gates, immediately taking a strong and rather sexy lead on Imperial. 
It seems that fate, however, was not on our side. At RUMSBC, we pride ourselves on our consistency and as another crab held us up, nearly taking out Sofia along with our chances to win, we took a moment to remember the rush of the lead and enjoy our brief respite before Sergeant General Vaish had us back on the grind and pumping out our best rowing to get the race done and dusted. 

Whilst we didn’t win, and were barely able to keep the boat above our heads at any given time, we did learn the value of teamwork, perseverance and importantly, that it never stops being funny when someone falls in the river. 

Hopefully, the promising leads we snatched keep our Nov women hungry and in the upcoming races (looking at you, UH Head), we’ll be able to clinch a few medals with some super zesty rowing.

Maddy Stevens

C: Chris Jackson
S: Hannah Simon
7: Sara Terracciano
6: Cecilia Bogle
5: Diya Shah
4: Belva Tam 
3: Nadia Ali-Nadja 
2: Valerie Mok
B: Annabel Butler

The Novice Women's 2021 Cambridge Head race really all started the night before with Rose, our Captain's, home made vegetarian bolognese. Having cooked enough to feed the 500 we all sat down to eat as a team, after partaking in this age old tradition we went off for our early bedtimes well and truly united.

Rising before the sun like good rowers (although still a novelty for us RUMSBC gals) we were far to soon reunited outside of campus, awaiting the coach that would take us to our first competition. Whilst waiting we were informed that only a few hours earlier it had looked like we would have to float down the Cam in homemade rafts as our boat trailer had encountered difficulties. 

After napping the coach journey away, we woke up to find ourselves in the bleak grey outskirts of Cambridge, where our city lungs were shocked by the concept of fresh air. We set up camp in what I am told is our traditional spot perhaps intentionally close to the landmark that is the row of portaloos. Here we settled down for a day of racing. Like all athletes, as we were last to row, we turned our focus to the important task of sport nutrition. This took the form of carefully crafted, well-balanced, PBJ rice cakes and pizza!

Having spent an inspiring morning watching the rest of RUMSBC race it was time for us to take to the water. Kitted out in our crew shirts we stepped (yes, no wading knee deep in the water today!) into our borrowed St. George’s boat. Waved of by a cheering crowed we rolled sixes down the river. It was about this time when Diya realised that this boat was clearly made for giants when, despite all her best efforts, the shoes were too big for her feet. What were we to do? Drop out a vital pair of rowers? Never! As a boat full of medics (and an architect), surely we could put our heads together and find a solution. And of course we did - tape! - we would tape her feet into the shoes and nothing could hold us back. Making an emergency call, Rose ran to our rescue. But before she could arrive we set of again from the banks of the Cam chasing a rumour of electrical tape at the start line. A quick bit of DIY later and we were ready to row.

And off we went, picking up speed towards the start line. This was perhaps the best rowing of our lives, it seems impossible to think that this time last week we were struggling to role sixes and the concept of feathering was a abstract form of meditation to us. Guided by Beans calls of ‘power 10’ and ‘push off the boys’ who were forever tailing us in the distance. A few crabs were perhaps caught but each was seamlessly recovered and so we travelled down the Cam with what I am told was “chunky rowing”. Reaching halfway, our energy stores were staring to run low but turning the corner we were revitalised by the chant of 'MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE' …giving us the strength to power gracefully though the last two bridges, and with one final push we crossed the line. We rowed our first race in 13:34.6, came 6th in our category, and 2nd out of UH, and so after such an incredible display of strength and determination we went off to celebrate with some karaoke!
By Hannah Simon

C: Will Shorrocks
S: Pawel Ogrodnik 
7: Dara Razanghi 
6: Justus Schotanus 
5: Guy Fischman 
4: Etienne Royer Gray
3: Sam Rolfe
2: Daniel Diaz Blanco
B: Aryan Arora
​
Overall, we were very happy with the race, and definitely pleased with our own performance. As we are a novice crew, we just tried to do our best, and left feeling that we did. Our best also happened to be pretty good for what we expected, so a lot of positives to look back on from the race itself!
After coming back to London, we had our fair share of fun celebrating at Mully’s karaoke to finish off the day. With that our first race day was complete, and we’re all looking forward to the next one!
In the Cambridge head, novice men rowed for 12.20 minutes, came in 8th of 10 teams and 2nd of 3 UH teams.
By Pawel Ogrodnik ​

C: Vaish Sabari
S Luca Richards
7 Felix Von Spreckelsen
6 Jai Sidpra
5 Derek Harrison
4 Sam Gregg
3 Sukhvir Nijjar
2 Joachim Ho
B Max Fornasiero
​
I​t had been a stressful 24 hours to Cambridge. All trailered boats had been grounded by a failed trailer driver so we had to procure 4 eights and a four at 10pm the night before the race. Fortunately our men and women at st George’s had a lovely new Hudson eight they allowed us to use. This presented M1 with a unique opportunity. As their M1 was racing in an earlier division and the river isn’t tidal- we had a matched race! Same boat, same river, same river speed! Finally a proper UH head to head! Their expensive boat was a dream rowing up in, slick slides like they had been oiled with the slippiest of oils. The start! We were adeptly spun on a sixpence in the middle of the river by Vaish and then we powered off. Chasing us was the Cantabrigian Semi-professional rowing club who were hot on our heels and a lot better trained. We held them off for the first 700m and on the second 90 degree turn we had ourselves a good old fashioned stand off. Vaish wouldn’t back down, we had the inside line and we wanted it. Their cox was taking the riskier and longer line, but we had to be safe so couldn’t force them wider. Screaming from the Cantabrigian coach on the side as he couldn’t believe the scenes as our blades and theirs feathered over each other. Alas, we held them as long as we could but in that final straight their crew of 8 very seasoned and experienced men slowly pulled away. As we rowed passed the women’s crew cheering from the bank suddenly the boat speed picked up, and the balance reset. The mens eight powered through the finish. M1 raced through the finish, faster than George’s, in their own boat and with a healthy 10 second lead. Moral of the story, we need to break our old boat for the insurance money and buy one of the ones George’s have.
By Felix Von Spreckelsen

C: Chris Jackson
S: Owen Colligan
7: Bartlomiej Rosinski
6: Arjun Patel
5: Laurens Boevé
4: Lewis Hindle
3: Amit Bhudia
2: Aryan Goel
B: Niccolo Doe

The second race of the year was upon us. Following the fresh morning start (or continuation of the previous night for Owen), there were many sleepy heads on the coach journey up to Cambridge. We were also graced with the presence of Niccolo Doe who was a true hero for subbing in last second. 

Arriving at the green the scratch crew found out we wouldn't be rowing in neither our initial div 2 nor our own boat but rather at the later div 4 and Kings' boat with dodgy steering. This was met with an almost immediate trip by all to the Tesco to get some food and red bulls. 

With time to kill, I introduced the boys to the wonders of Deep Heat forming our own little circle and plaguing the olfactory nerves of all around us. Our warm up jog definitely ruined some trainers but fortunately no ankles. 

The time to race was fast approaching when someone from Kings came over and handed us a 2 seat. We prayed that was the only thing broken about the boat but our prayers were not answered...

We'd all be warned about the horrible turns of the Cam and were prepared to bust out some sick drifts round the bends on the way up to the start. Alas, it was not meant to be, after our smooth entry into the river we were met with traffic rivalled only by the M25 during rush hour.

After a painstakingly slow row up we were met with utter confusion from the marshalls as we were in the wrong division,"What's your number?" "212!" "412?" "No! 212!". We got sent up and down often being referred to as "Kings" or "KCL", before we were eventually allowed to park in some weeds. 

During our wait we discovered that Laurens' shoe wasn't attached properly and now just a free entity and that we may have overdone the deep heat. Regardless the time had come to step up, Beans pumped us up with some beautiful tunes and we were ready to go. We established we didn't care about splashing all we wanted was some good chunky rowing!

After seeing many boats set off before us we were finally brought to the start line. The time had come, we were going to smash this for our fallen soldier (Anshul we love you <3) and we were off. 

Once we got to the bends we found out how truly awful the steering was, people needed to dropped out here and there. Goodbye racing lines, hello janky boat control. As we came out of the second corner we were eventually overtaken by some Cambridge Women swiftly navigating the horrendous angles of the Cam.  

We pushed through the pain, towards the screams of "MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE!". All we knew was that the end was near, and we wanted to leave this godforsaken river till our inevitable return next year. We got out only to learn that some of us had lost our hip flexors along the way and others had gotten showered in the cold river water. 

The result may have not been what we wanted but the sheer determination of these men showed that we're truly in it for those beautiful UH medals awaiting us.
​By Aryan Goel

C: Will Shorrocks
S: Kira Klico
3: Laura Dan 
2: Charis Smith 
B: Millie Walker 
 
After a year of missing rowing and races, we began the day with a ritual no one has missed: the 4am wake up for Cambridge head. Luckily for us, it was the coldest day of year so that woke us all up. Unbeknownst to the rest of us, our president and 3-seat, President Dan, had had nearly no sleep trying to rectify a last-minute trailer driver situation (the situation being that we now had no trailer driver). Heroically, she managed to secure boats for us to row in, so we began the journey to Stourbridge common to unite with our adopted boat for the day. W4 boated early, and Cantabs’ generous offer immediately seemed like sabotage when Laura’s footplate flew off about 5 strokes into the row up. Bow pair, myself and Charis, dutifully powered up to the start line, while Captain Melissa sprinted to meet us, pliers in hand. She arrived just after we had borrowed a pair from a marshal, but was there to give us a last bit of encouragement off the start line. Having not had an outing as a set crew before the race, we weren’t sure what to expect but we felt strong and looked it. Kira set a chunky rhythm that we all bought into – and there is photographic evidence that we were all in the pain cave together from early on in the race. We were overtaken by East Anglia, but couldn’t take it personally as they had a great race. It gave us something to push off in that painful last third, and added a bit of peril for Will, who has coxed Cambridge too many times to be allowed an easy job. Unfortunately for us, there wasn’t a big UH turn out in the women’s 4+ category – but hopefully this means we take them by surprise the next time we come up against them in competition. We completed the course in 12:16.8, which placed us a respectable 190th out of 219 boats. We have a great platform to build off of now in the months leading up to UH head and can’t wait to get some proper outings as a set four! 

​By Millie Walker

C: Abena Amponsah
S: Rose Maloney
7: Sophie Ollerenshaw
6: Emma McEwen
5: Grace Yang
4: Maddie Rose
3: Luisa Álamo-Gómez
2: Irina Soica
B: Alix McNeil
​
Facing the cold Cambridge morning with a crew formed of three fresher +1s and three members too incompetent to race this arch-enemy in their fresher’s year, the WI8 managed a respectful 13th out of 22 crews, and triumphed a wooping first place in the UH crews(out of 1 hehe)!! After the whole lack of boats saga which left poor committee with no hours sleep, we landed safe and sound in the George’s boat, although there weren’t limits to how many times Maddie nearly chucked herself into the river along the way (can’t be as bad as the Thames hey). 
With adrenaline pumping, we were off to a great start; Abena coxing her very first Cambridge Head with a broken cox box, still she might’ve given us the smoothest infamous corner turns RUMSBC has ever seen. Is that a M4 overtaking us? Our women didn’t let a few men slow us down – MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE! Powered on by the cheers of RUMSBC, we swept under the bridge into a finish at 11 minutes 50 seconds, too ready for the sPORT waiting for us on the other side. Great start to a year ladies, UH Head we’re coming for you bigger and better!

By Grace Yang

Men's Senior 8
coming soon, watch this space.
​

RUMSBC started off 2019's racing season as we mean to go on- with a hat trick of medals courtesy of our Senior Women, literally #medalmedalmedal. Huge congratulations to our Novice Women who reached the final and big love to both the Senior and Novice Men for powerful displays which bode well for the upcoming training tour and of course, the big dog, UH Head. 

Senior Women 
Women's First VIII
After a joyous Wetherspoons-fuelled weekend in Manchester, W1 made it back to the sunny Tideway just in time for the highly anticipated winter sprints race! In the interests of not getting too complacent over our victory at Allom Cup, we managed to fit in a quick prep outing before 9am on Saturday, allowing us enough time in the day to carb-load before the 3-way straight final come Sunday. Ensuring our position on Middlesex side, we drifted into alignment, setting off with a fairly rushed start. We quickly brought back our timing, brought up the rate and finally settled into a strong and consistent rhythm. After an initially very close start, we started gaining on both boats, gaining our confidence to battle out the final stretch. There were a few moments where we lost our rhythm but we brought it back quickly, maintaining our position in first place. With medals in sight, we emptied the tank with a final 10 powerful strokes, achieving a full length on both boats; “Middle Middle Middle!” ​-Anna Shadwell

Women's Second VIII
'When W2 Won Winter Sprints'- a masterpiece by Claire Shadwell
A new year shineth on RUMSBC
And the bladies are raring to go, 
We’ve sank our body weight in pints
And now we’re ready to row

At bow we had the Staggsman,
She’s bold with tiny hands 
her fierce enthusiasm for the sport
keeps her off dry land

Next at 2 it’s Rad the LAD
She’s got a trick or two
She’ll chin that Guinn in half the time
It takes me to do a pre-race poo

At 3 we have the dashing Munro
Churning watts at an incredible pace
Beers, boys, blades and bant 
She’s a weapon in every case 

Princess Ceyda is our number 4
Stores strength in the hair on her head
But go near her with a pair of scissors
And you may just find yourself dead 

At number 5, oh lord alive
It’s Laura Dan the man
Winning medals and winning hearts 
This UCL girl can 

Number 6 is a fiery spark
With a wholesome love of rivers 
Winning is the only option
When your name is Charlotte Withers 

Number 7 is distinctly average 
I can’t even remember her name
Nothing much to say on this
Except her rhyming is truly lame 

Our stroke has made a glorious return 
Rowing as hard as she can peddle
What a wonderful day for Liz Sinclair
bringing home her very first medal

Last but not least it’s Georgie Lloyd 
Without whom this boat would have sank
She inspires us all to reach for glory 
And her coxing is really dank

And finally thanks to Billy Smith
We now know how to hold an oar
And much love to our dearest Jenny Budden
It’s this blady whom we row for

If this poem has left you sad and confused 
I’m afraid I’m not sorry one bit
W2 won Winter Sprints
I’ve got a feeling this year will be lit.

Novice Women
"It’s the weekend after Novice Sprints where some of us proved to ourselves that winning was through team effort and Beans motivating us not to give up. Our novice captain Rosa, had warned us that this weekend of racing would be harder than last week, but we were ready to take on any challenge.
 
An earlier, colder, start this week but with the sun out we got the boat out and paddled to the Middlesex side for our first race against our close cousins UCL B.  
 
We patiently waited for the start signal, adrenaline rushing through our veins….“GO!” Beans yelled the tactics of our start as we pushed down on our foot plates as hard as we could, but UCL B pulled ahead of us. As they pulled ahead by at least a boat’s length, the power and speed dropped as emotions started to creep in. It definitely wasn’t a great race but we discussed what we could improve for our next race: focusing on power rather than speed especially during the ‘settle’.
 
Sadly race 2 was cancelled because our rival crew hadn’t turned up, which fortunately meant we were straight to the repechage! With a positive outcome from a rather disappointing race we made use of our time to recharge before race 3 against UCL C. We were hungry to win but most of all we wanted to give it our all.
 
As we got ready for race 3, the officials told us the UCL C team were nowhere to be found so we waited almost 20 minutes in the freezing cold, Surrey side, patiently waiting for our cousin boat to paddle up to the start. This was our last race, our last chance to give our all.
As soon as the “GO!” was given we put down every bit of power in our legs until we saw the red flag of the finish line. Unfortunately, we were defeated but exhausted ourselves and claimed 3rd place for the novices.
 
It may not have been our best day of racing, but every race is more experience for the upcoming races in the New Year!"- Celia Gaier, Seat 6

Novice Men
"We got out pretty early for this race and managed to do some sprint starts beforehand, which we think made a huge difference. Our first race was against Royal Holloway Novice A team, who looked very professional with their full kit. This gave us all a bit of a scare on the start line, however, we had better timing than them in the boat. We had a great start, much better than our starts at Novice Sprints, which gave us the opportunity to be in a competitive position to win the race. We managed to do this, and we comfortably beat them and kept them off the entire way. Half an hour later we had our second race against the UCL Novice A team, who were a really great crew. We had a better start than them at the beginning of the race and kept them off for the first 300ish m, however they pulled away from us and beat us. That was their first race of the day, so we can only imagine what could have happened if that was also our first race. Speaking to the UCL crew afterwards they were really shocked as to how good we were in the boat. Our crew as a whole had a great day and we raced really well, easily our best sprint race day so far. Even though we did not win any medals, none of us were disappointed with our performance, we couldn’t have really done any better and we are all in a great mood for UH head." - Arjun Lakhanpal, Seat 4

Novice Women
Cox: Chris Beans Jackson 
Stroke: Rose Maloney
7: Vaish Sabari
6: Celia Gaier
5: Luisa Alamo-Gomez
4: Emer Daly
3: Catherine Napper
2: Mary Baron
Bow: Daniella Wu
 
The second race for some of us and the first for others was the Novice Sprints Regatta for which one crew of eight had been entered. Since Cambridge Head we had been focusing on the speed and coordination of our race starts to pull away from our competitors as fast as we could. Both at the boathouse and in the gym the girls have been practicing their technique to prepare for the races.
 
With a relatively early, cold start after Friday night schenanigans, all the girls were ready to cheer the Novice men before our race. It was all very nerve racking seeing all the other UH crews getting ready but with the atmosphere at our boathouse, our nerves settled and we started getting ready to race. We energised ourselves to take our favourite boat, “the Stämpfli”, onto the water, took the blades out making sure our gates were tightly closed and got ready to race. With layers piled on, cox Beans got us out from the shore to Surrey side to wait for our first race against the Royal Vets.
 
With adrenaline pumping through our veins, we powered past the boathouse towards Chiswick Bridge but were taken down by our competition. Although we had a disappointing defeat, we were through to the next round, hungry for revenge. We fired each other up, chanting before our race against GKT and it was worth it. We SLAYED, powering through the finish line watching our rivals paddle in after us. We did it and were ready to slay some more.
 
Last race was against SGH, time to give it our all although our tanks were nearly empty. If we went down we wanted to go down with pride. With the last bit of energy left, Beans coxed us to the finish line, sadly defeated but with one win in the bag. With a promising 3rd place, we were ready for next week’s Allom Cup ready to SLAY some more.

Men's Intermediate VIII
​
Sunday morning saw the intermediate men take on the intimidating challenge of rowing the first of many sprint races that we’ll be facing this year. Despite the eight in the boat having not rowed as a single crew, we were all feeling confident off the back of some promising training sessions throughout the weeks in the lead up to this race. As is always the case, tensions were high as we jostled for alignment at the start, but the call to attention soon saw us focus in, breathing steady, primed to seal victory within the first twenty strokes.

Suddenly the flag descended and we were off, launching ahead of George’s in mere seconds, willed on by the cheers from ever-shrinking crowd supporting us from the riverbank. As the rate continued to build we pulled further ahead, seemingly securing victory with every stroke. However, much to our dismay, it soon became apparent we had backed ourselves too much and soon we found our power dwindling as we sustained an unrelenting rate 37. Desperate not to relinquish the lead we had fought so hard for early on we pushed as much as we could muster, but no amount of effort could see us maintain our lead unless we dropped the rate. Steadily, George’s began to claw back from near-certain defeat, pushing the boat into further frenzy. Mercifully, we found ourselves crossing the finish line just as the last of our strength was waning, winning by a narrow margin.

​Victory was bittersweet, pleased with the result but disappointed with our performance, as we knew we could do better. After a less-than-brief respite, we got back on the water with a renewed commitment to secure one race we could be wholly proud of and ready to give King’s a challenge. Thankfully, this time round we executed the race as we had hoped, giving King’s no chance for respite throughout. Unfortunately, our effort still wasn’t enough to best them this time, dropping behind in the final portion of the race and ultimately finishing half a length behind. Despite this defeat, we were ecstatic with our performance and are now keen to show what we can do in the weeks to come!

Once again the time has come for RUMSBC to trade in the Tideway of Thames for the calmer waters of the River Cam in the first race of the year- Cambridge Head. As always, the crews have been training hard both on and off the water for what promises to be an excellent start to the rowing season. What's more, what could be more exciting than our Novice's first ever race! Cambridge Head is a solid introduction to the early mornings, adrenaline and cries of 'Middle Middle Middle' that race days inevitably bring.

Good luck to all crews and we look forward to seeing many a spectator at the riverside for support,  and of course some post race drinks.

Novice Crews 

Men's Novices
Cox: Greg Gibson
Stroke: Adam Turna
7: Max Fornasiero 
6: Arjun Lakhanpal
5: William Owen
4: James Berg
3: Niccolo Doe
2: Ryan Linn
Bow: Anshul Aich

Women's Novices
Cox: Chris 'Beans' Jackson
Stroke: Rose Maloney
7: Vaish Sabari
6: Celia Gaier
5: Rebecca Jacob
4: Mary Barron
3: Catherine Napper
2: Srishti Agarwal 
Bow: Daniella Wu

"The novices are progressing quickly in the boat in preparation for Cambridge Head, with the introduction of all 8 rowing and feathering having varying degrees of success. Most importantly they are having a great time bonding with their team and are showing good form and commitment in the boat. Its onwards and upwards for the novices, and we are both very excited for the race ahead!”- Jack Merritt and Rosa Mobayen, Men's and Women's Novice Captains 18/19

Senior Men 

Men's Top IV
Cox: Kelly Wyatt
Stroke: Freddie Dewey
3: Jamie Glenister
2: Luke Martin
Bow: Callum Field

Men's Cambridge VIII
Cox: Will Shorrocks
Stroke: Jai Sidpra
7: Matt Kinsella
6: Luca Richards
5: Alex Lane
4: Finn Norris
3: Dawid Akala
2: Adam Jones
Bow: Ben Southgate

“Our men enter their first race of the year at the annual Cambridge winter head race. We’re entering an 8+ looking to get their first racing experience this year and and a 4+ looking to be hot on the heels of our UCL cousins. Good luck all athletes and hope to see as many supporters as possible"- Jamie Glenister, Men's Captain 18/19

Senior Women

RUMS Rangers (Matched VIIIs)
Cox: Gracie Sutton
Stroke: Nadia Eden
7: Gloria Smith
6: Elizabeth Sinclair 
5: Anna Shadwell
4: Millie Walker
3: Annalise Munro
2: Ceyda Oral
Bow: Kate Ellis

RUMS Bladies (Matched VIIIs)
Cox: Georgie Lloyd 
Stroke: Asha Dave
7: Claire Shadwell
6: Charlotte Withers
5: Laura Dan
4: Nicole Skajaa 
3: Jenny Budden
2: Hannah Roberts
Bow: Georgie Stagg

“The first race of the year for the senior women is Cambridge winter head, for which we have entered two matched eights. This has definitely brought out everyone's competitive spirits so it should be an excellent start to the year to see who is victorious - will it be the Bladies or the Rangers? Good luck to both boats and come along to support to see the result.” - Jenny Budden, Women's Captain 18/19

WeHoRR and HoRR was a weekend full of drama and excitement, one that saw some crews soar past the competition and others test the limits of Swiss neutrality. All racing crews knuckled down for the longest race of the year, striving against the pain determined to end the racing season with an effort they could be proud of. On this, we followed through, once again overshadowing our UH rivals. With the sprints and head races now behind us, we can look forward to a couple of months away from the Tideway until we return for Bumps to once again make our mark!

Senior Men

Men’s Second VIII

"Despite the slightly less than enjoyable experience of rowing BUCS hungover a few weeks previously, being back in a senior boat for HoRR was a refreshing opportunity to show the world what RUMSBC are really made of. Suffering from a chronic lack of bow-siders meant that two novices, Joe Catling and myself, were forced to sub in for what would be by far the longest distance we’d ever rowed in a day, never mind raced.

The extreme lengths of time we spent in marshalling were largely uneventful (in stark contrast to M1's experience), but for new bowman Timo's complaints ("Scheiß drauf!" "Schwachsinn!") echoing down the boat. After a smooth start off the line, we were encouraged by the shouts of our Men’s First team, now standing on Chiswick bridge after a disastrous marshalling experience, which saw us push George’s even further into the distance, bringing us some satisfaction despite being overtaken by some stiff national competition, before settling in for the long haul.

After almost 20 minutes of pain, cox Holly initiated the Tier system. With the knowledge that soon the race would be over, we put down every last bit of power we had, emptying our ‘tanks’ so we could cross the finish line in a blistering time. However, as our energy began to waver we learnt that there was in fact considerably longer to go than we thought, and after a few minutes of excruciating pain we rolled across the line, broken, but not defeated, in what had been an enjoyable end to a great year of rowing." - Alex Bloom, Seat 5

Men’s First VIII
​
"After the disappointment of coming a very close second UH head the week before, on the morning of Sunday 11th, a fresh faced and eager men’s crew arrived at the boathouse. Our 6 months of elite, high performance tapering had all been preparing us for this day, and the university pennant was in our sites. Even being forced to dredge up former UL rower and general big boy Neale Marlow could not dampen our spirits, and it was clear the boys were prepared for a smashing day.

On the water you could feel the power surging through the boat. Whilst warming up we were leaving crews trailing in our wake, partly because we were rowing the wrong way towards Kew, but mainly because of the watts being put down by each member of the boat. As we eased past the UL 1st VIII (still going the wrong way) you could see the look of awe in Rich Clarke’s eyes as he saw the physical embodiment of ‘Big Boy Strokes’, and the demeanour of a man who realised he had nothing left to teach us as we were literally perfect. Alas, the time was nigh, the start of the race was nearly upon us, all that was left was for us to row up to our marshalling position. Nothing could go wrong from here. 

As we paddled past the boathouse, there was an eerie calm as we began to mentally prepare ourselves for the 20 minutes of pain we were about to endure. Unfortunately, this calm was swiftly broken by a loud European cry from beyond our bows. It seemed that Yulia had taken her coxing feedback of ‘use alternative overtaking manoeuvres’ a little too literally, and had decided that rowing through the Swiss crew that was sat in-front of us was the most logical way to negotiate the marshalling situation. I can only imagine what this crew, who had traveled hundreds of miles to compete in the largest head race in the world thought when they saw a bunch of college boys coming their way. I can only imagine it was a thought of deep regret for being in the correct position. The Hudson/battering ram ploughed into the crew, and when we finally came to a stop we were faced with textbook Swiss neutrality in the face of overwhelming aggression, until their 6 man broke rank and started hurling abuse our way. 

The aftermath left both crews worse for wear, and sadly for RUMS, it appeared the Swiss had come out on top. A broken bow blade and cracked rigger made for a sorry sight, whilst their eight managed to escape with just a damaged gate and a 3 man who’d been hit with his own blade, presumably in an attempted health insurance scam. We quickly moved off the water, where we licked our wounds and repaired the Swiss boat with scraps from our own, before assessing our options. These were limited to a Vespoli with 4 riggers on it, or the Wintech which was on one of the lower racks, and frankly there was an unacceptable risk of back injury if we bent down to pick it up.

As a result, scratching remained our only option, despite the strong will of Neale, who by the looks of it would have done the race solo given the chance, we headed up to Chiswick to cheer on our second eight as they went on to smash the race. Meanwhile both Oxford Brookes and Leander breathed a sigh of relief as they realised that they’d have a chance of victory.

Most importantly, nobody was hurt on the day and a letter has been sent to David Davis requesting the banning of all foreign crews from entering the race, lest the same fate befall them as did the Swiss." - Alex Lane, Seat 5

Senior Women

Women’s Second VIII
​​
"Despite their best efforts, the Watt Farm had not been successful at UH Head; they may have proved themselves the crew with the highest propensity for crying on the Thames, but that wasn’t quite what they’d had in mind. Nevertheless, with three new novices being welcomed into the boat, they set their sights on a successful Wehorr. However, after having only one outing as a crew, in UCL’s kindly donated bathtub that led to captain Claire throwing in her stroking towel and demanding we go back to the safely on the Stampfli, we were nervous.

​Saturday morning rolled around and we set off with anticipation; the pre-race paddle seemed to be going well until new stroke Millie broke her footplate- clearly all those hour long ergs have been paying off. After some masterful coxing from Beans (and a good deal of panic) we managed to collect the necessary tools and fix the offending footplate - finally we would be ready.

We set off ready to SLAM the race we had ahead of us; as we passed our own W1 crew, encouraged by their chants, we took our first casualty in ICSM. There would be many more. We SLAYed the next portion, powering on through Barnes Bridge, only to meet our rivals from the weekend before. Beans assured us revenge was in sight and with some big boy strokes we put some SEND on the boat, sailing past them and leaving them a mere speck in the distance. Much as their own men had looked the week before.

Spurred on by beating our arch-nemesis RVC the next 3.5k almost seemed easy - then, meters before the finish line, we were told we could make it a hat-trick. We pulled up alongside King’s, and with our bow-woman Georgie ensuring us that we could make it a photo finish. One of our newest members, Serena, turned out of the boat to look into the eyes of those she was beating (or not, it’s still a pint) and over the finish line we took them.

Overall, it’s been a fantastic year so far for W2 - all we’re looking forward to now is Bumps and finally getting ourselves some medals!" - Abi Powell, Seat 5

Women’s First VIII
​
"After W1's triumphant victory at UH head, we were ready to show the rest of the country what RUMSBC women can do at WeHoRR. After a pretty smooth marshaling we were off and despite a slightly wobbly start we quickly settled into a strong rhythm. The first half of the race went relatively quickly, with the boat that was chasing us gaining very slowly. Unfortunately, as we came under Hammersmith the chasing crew came up next to us and we allowed our competitiveness to get the better off us and got distracted. Sadly we didn't manage to bring back the concentration and rhythm after this and the second half of our race was less successful than the first.

We had a loud row back with some 'beautiful' singing from Preena and ended the day with a lovely pub lunch and a well deserved pint, happy in the knowledge that we finished 137, beating all the other UH crews easily, despite not having rowed our best. Here's to moving up to the top 100 next year!" - Jenny Budden, Seat 4

The Women's Eight Head of River Race and ​Head of the River Race will see our crews take on a 6.8km stretch of the Tideway from Mortlake to Putney. This race will see several of the Novices take an early jump into the seconds boat, a chance to see what the next generation of RUMSBC can do at a high level. Fueled by our victories at UH Head, this is sure to be to be an exciting weekend of racing.

Senior Men

Men's Second VIII
​
Cox: Holly Joyce
Stroke: Martin Furlepa
7: Ben Southgate
6: Jack Illingworth
5: Alex Bloom
4: Jack Merritt
3: Joe Catling
2: Adam Jones
Bow: Timo Rodi

Men's First VIII
​
Cox: Julia Negreskul
Stroke: Freddie Dewey
7: Will Wilson
6: Sam Gunning
5: Alex Lane
4: Connor Price
3: Neale Marlow
2: Louis Robertson
Bow: Jamie Glenister (C)

​Senior Women

​Women's Second VIII
​
Cox: Chris 'Beans' Jackson
Stroke: Millie Walker
7: Claire Shadwell
6: Asha Dave
5: Abi Powell
4: Hannah Roberts
3: Laura Dan
2: Serena Lu
Bow: Georgie Stagg

​Women's First VIII

Cox: Preena Patel
Stroke: Livi Drewett
7: Nadia Eden
6: Eimear McKavanagh
5: Mattie Williams
4: Jenny Budden
3: Jen Whitehead
2: Libi Hawkes (C)
Bow: Tintin Larsson