For those who don't know, trial viiis is an intra-club competition where the coaches aim to form two matched 8s in which we train separately in the lead up to the race so that we line up on race day knowing we'll have a good race but not knowing exactly how good the opposition is or what they've been working up in the run up to the race. This year we were in opposing crews Holly in Nudge Nudge and Caroline in Wink Wink; here we'll give you our views of the race and rowing on the Tideway from both a winning (Holly) and losing (Caroline) perspective.
Caroline
After a week struggling with illness in our crew resulting in us having very few sessions in our race line up we still felt confident going into the race; we knew we had a decent start and we'd bonded well as a crew, we'd definitely reached the stage we wanted to win as much for each other as we did for ourselves. On the start line I felt calm, confident in my crew, this confidence proved to be well founded and we stormed away off the start, taking more out of the other crew than we ever could have hoped. Knowing Nudge Nudge would have the initial advantage on the Middlesex station going past Craven Cottage we tried to settle onto our rhythm and not worry as they started to move back on us knowing that the bend would soon turn in our favour around the big Surrey bend and that we should be able to regain our lead at that stage. Coming into Hammersmith Bridge we were pretty much level, still feeling in control this was fine, but they kept moving on us, we followed our race plan but eventually Nudge Nudge broke free. Being used to rowing in the bows it was strange rowing towards the stern with less visibility of the crew by your side moving on you, despite the fact that our cox was making calls saying how much water was between us I always felt like they could have still been by our side just out of my peripheral vision.
Barnes bridge to the finish was one of our strongest sections of the race and we managed to move back on Nudge Nudge however it was too little too late and we didn't manage to regain contact and had the crushing moment of hearing the other crew celebrating while we were still rowing.
After regaining some breath we then paddled through Chiswick bridge and were made to come together with the other crew to shake hands. It was such a hard moment having to shake hands with the people who had just beaten you and made you feel so terrible, having to come to terms with the fact that they're your friends and that in the world outside of competition you wouldn't be friends with people who make you feel like that. Yet in the rowing environment you have to learn to take your friends making you feel that bad by beating you as being a good thing, learn that they're pushing you to be better so that when the real test comes against Oxford in just under 3 months time, you'll be mentally and physically stronger. So thank you for the great experience of racing against me on the Tideway Nudge Nudge and in many ways thank you for beating me, i'm very glad I'll be lining up with you on the 30th March rather than against you - one of us had to lose trial viiis, thankfully none of us have to lose the Boat Race.
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| Level under Hammersmith, with the 3rd eight "Say No More" on the bridge |
Holly
The week or so leading up to the trial viiis race is a strange experience and sets an interesting dynamic in the squad. Although we have been competing against each other as individuals for seats in the top boats since the start of the season, we have not yet been placed in matched crews competing so directly against each other. Suddenly your best friends are 'the enemy' and tactics such as answering questions about how your outings have gone with a non-committal shrug and an "ermm, it was ok"; you speak about your race tactics and start sequence in the changing room on pain of death. However, it's also a great opportunity to get to row with and get to know a lot of the squad you haven't spent much time in a boat with during the season and form a crew identity.
I was at stroke of Nudge Nudge, a crew that had not fared well in paddling in the last few outings prior to moving down to the Tideway- we knew we had a lot of work to do. The outings on the Tideway went well, we learnt lots; not least some of the skills required to deal with the unpredictable water on the course. Depending on a number of factors including the direction of the tide and the wind direction in relation to it, different sections of the course can range from flat calm to white horses, changing in a matter of a couple of strokes.
In the race itself, our start wasn't great and we found ourselves a fair way down by the line of boats. The confidence in the crew and team mentality we had built up allowed us to stick to the rhythm we had practiced and push the psychological advantage Wink Wink had gained by being in front out of our heads. We held Wink Wink through the bend to our advantage and on the Surrey bend (our disadvantage) used our crew move to inch ahead. Holding, and then using another move as we came alongside Chiswick Eyot, we moved ahead to clear water. The incredible feeling of being up negated some of the fatigue from the many pushes and allowed us to hold our heads high as we continued in our rhythm to the finish, but always with the threat of Nudge Nudge drawing back. Still, the Championship course is a long, long way and I don't think the supposed 4 minutes from Barnes to the finish could have possibly seemed any longer.
After the elation of a win, exhaustion set in and then, as we shook hands the realisation that we were one team again and how glad we were to be facing Oxford with the same girls that had just pushed us to our absolute limit.
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| One team again |
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