Vision committee, Emily Sinclair and Laura Rowe, went to cheer York on (sadly not to victory) last weekend at the rowing competition.
We arrived bright and early for the second half of the races and found ourselves a seat on the banking. Tensions were high, and we were feeling a mix of excitement and nerves as we got ready for the races. It’s weird how nervous you can get as a supporter, isn’t it?
The rowers boated up and rowed to the starting line which was sadly out of our sight. It was only a 1km race so we knew it was going to be a quick yet very nerve-racking few minutes. Everyone clapped as they rowed past to the start line and we knew there was going to be a good atmosphere.
Both myself and Emily were horrified to see some of the coxes lying down inside the boats. We both remarked how claustrophobic it looked and were very relieved to be sat on the bank and not on the water! We were later informed that if it is choppy the water goes over the coxes’ faces. Again, we were very glad we were only spectating! For anyone wondering, this is a technique rowers use to be the most streamlined… I am told.
As the women’s first eight rowed past, they shouted to the Lancaster team (who were right behind us) informing them that their boat was in fact rigged incorrectly. They urged them to fix it so that the races could begin. Clearly, we had sat with the Lancastrians as they began re-rerigging the boat right behind us! We promise that there was no sabotage from us!
After rather a long wait (and several discussions over whether we had time to go and get a coffee) the races eventually began! Each one was action-packed, especially as from our position as we couldn’t see who was in the lead until they were practically at the finish line!
We were all shouting ourselves hoarse cheering York on. We were even briefly joined by Charlie Jeffery himself who cheered along and kept us up to date on what was happening.
The Women’s Second Eight were the first to go and won their race by a mile! Well, not literally. The race was only 1K! But either way it was a spectacular win. We had the pleasure of speaking with one of the Women’s Second Eight rowers, Charlotte Hair, on how she felt about their win. Charlotte commented “It felt incredible. There was a lot of cheering from the crowd and the buzz of excitement from the boat felt exhilarating. It was definitely a good end to a lot of hard work following rigorous pre-season training!”
The other races passed in a blur with us crossing our fingers that York would win. Eventually, it all came down to the final race. The Women’s First Eight. As they came around the corner we thought there was no way they could pull it around. But right in front of our eyes, they sped up as they almost levelled out with Lancaster. From where we were stood it looked like York had won and we held our breath for the announcement. Sadly, however, a massive cheer came from the Red Lancastrians and we knew that York has not managed to win… this time!
As it stood, York was only 2 points behind Lancaster so we’ve got plenty of time to even that out this weekend. The fun we had last weekend bodes very well for an exciting competition ahead of us.