We only wear trackies on Thursdays...

 Unbelievably we're now half way through our first term of clinical vet school and two months into our trialling year and are gradually learning how to balance the two (most of the time).

We're pretty sure our vet year group think we're a little odd,  for a variety of reasons:

1. Our Hackett jackets have become almost a uniform. Given we're all so attached to them and never leave home without them it means we're constantly matching, something other members of our year have commented on on several occasions. We like to think the rest of our dress is a bit more variable - we only aim for one trackies day a week and on rotations even have to go for "professional" dress, resulting in us looking like we almost don't row (atleast when we're inside and not wearing our jackets anyway).
2. As the vet school is on the opposite side of town to the station, our arrival back from Ely necessitates a sprint cycle through Cambridge to make it to 9am (or more accurately 9.12am by the time we arrive) lectures. Piling in sweaty and loudly dekitting doesn't exactly make for a stealthy entrance.  
3. Along with our fellow fourth year vet triallist Claire, we now travel everywhere as a pack. 
4. Our lecture theatre is the most uncomfortable ever made and whilst most people bring in their own cushions, our ingenius solution is to sit on our seat pads.
5. Eating between every single lecture, even the ones straight after lunchtime. Then clocking the calories on My Fitness Pal.

Ultimately, to the rest of our year we must look like the rowing equivalent of Mean Girls - only we like to think we're a lot nicer and we rely on BBC weather rather than our other assets to predict what the Ely weather may be like.

In other very exciting news, we competed in Brit Champs a couple of weeks ago. Coming so early in our season, Brit Champs is a challenging one to prepare for, with limited time in race crews and minimal race fitness preparation. The day ended with an exciting final in which we won the University pennant and came third overall! Possibly the best part of the day was standing on the podium with a multitude of big rowing deals, who dwarfed us- all standing about a foot taller than our crew. Brit Champs is a great event from this perspective, looking across to your opposite number on the start line and seeing that it's an olympic champion is an experience you really don't get very often!

Looking up to the olympians in more ways than one.

Bronze medallists!

We also got to go on a trip to London last week for the President's challenge, leading to more country girls in the city fun. Unlike our last trip to the capital this time we managed to avoid getting stuck in any ticket barriers; although getting stuck crossing the road we did have to be escorted across by a man dressed as a giant banana. There was also the obligatory dash to the train at King's Cross, challenging in blazers, pencil skirts and heels to say the least. Getting to go the BNY Mellon offices again was exciting though. Highlights definitely included Esther's calamity acts; her powerful coin toss into the crowd (she may be a cox, but she really doesn't know her own strength- just ask her what her party trick is) and the shield somehow falling off the stand while we were having our photo by it.

The Challenge.

Coming up we've got weekends to the Tideway, GB trials and IVs head to look forward to before the end of the month, more on those to follow....