Lent Bumps 2017 Day 5: The Grassy's Always Greener on the Other Side

All three boats were again in action on the last day of Lent Bumps 2017, which proved to be an eventful day at Grassy Corner.

M2

M2’s final day of bumps was somewhat historic, but in the sense that the crew will never live it down. The first part of the race went similarly to Day 3, with M2 initially pulling away from Anglia Ruskin II and settling into a steady rhythm. However, with no technicalities to save them from the continual effort of exercising, Corpus found themselves floundering as they past First Post – their usual finishing line from the previous days. St. Edmund’s II fell to Girton II’s rowing prowess, leaving Corpus with a clear river ahead and unfortunately no realistic option but to aim for the actual finish. Never making it to Grassy Corner before, the crew were in awe of the scenery around them. To stop and enjoy the view, they gave Anglia Ruskin II their first bump of their campaign. This left M2 three places down overall and, to their dismay, bottom of the lowest division - and the river :(. A feat worthy of ‘technical spoons’. Regardless, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed rowing with and captaining M2 this term and am very much looking forward to improving our bumps record come Mays.

W1

The Corpus women ended their bumps campaign triumphantly, by leading their division... well, okay, the division they had been knocked down into the day before. Again, their benevolence shone through in allowing Hughes Hall/Lucy Cav. II a bump just after Grassy Corner. At Boat Club Dinner the girls brandished their well-earned spoons and drank to the terms rowing, and drank, and drank, and drank...

M1

Day 5 saw M1 row almost like a real crew. We caught Homerton by Grassy Corner, putting us +2 for the week and up to 7th in Div 2, which is the highest the Corpus men have been since 1995. It is no coincidence that Joseph Lidbetter was born in 1994, and he commented 'It is a great feeling to know that I have equalled the best results Corpus has seen in my lifetime. I think this can be put down to the great commitment of rowers and coxes this term. I just wish we had a bit more fun and banter in the boat, it was all a bit quiet and people took it too seriously. With hindsight we didn’t need to bother training as hard as we did but it will hopefully set us up nicely for Mays, where we welcome back Ben Mackworth who will be a decent enough substitute for Barney. I love rowing’.

Photo Credit: Giorgio Divitini