CUWBC athletes competed on both days of the Met, with GB U23 triallists Melissa Wilson and Claire Watkins racing in composite crews in Elite 4- and Senior 8 on the Saturday which they won, and again in the Challenge 8s event on the Sunday. They were joined by a coxed four representing all three 2014 CUWBC Boat Race crews, racing in the Senior 4+ and Senior 2- events, winning both.
Double winner, Hannah Evans writes:
“The Senior coxed four was the first race of the day for us, racing Thames RC and Oxford Brookes. Soon off the start we started pulling ahead of the opposition and being in the lead helped us to sustain a calm and strong rhythm throughout keeping us in first place right to the finish line. It was good to be able to put into practice technical points we had been working on in small boats during weeks prior to the race and see good results. Furthermore, the experience was really useful as preparation for Henley Women’s Regatta.
After success in the four, we split into two pairs to compete in a straight final for Senior Coxless Pairs with 5 other crews. Jilly and I were racing in lane 1 with Holly and Izzy in lane 3. From our perspective, the race was quite similar to the first race and we started moving ahead early and had clear water by 750m. We maintained to finish first with Holly and Izzy finishing third. Racing in a coxless boat was very different and a good learning opportunity.
It was really fun to race in a Regatta as large as the Met and to perform well against national clubs and other university crews – we also couldn’t have had better weather for it!”
