Henley Boat Races

In the upsettingly wee hours of January 2^nd, a few days after returning from our Christmas break, the OUWBC 2012 squad boarded a coach to Gatwick to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. We arrived in Le Temple-sur-Lot rowing centre in France exhausted after the journey, but after food and a brief exploration – “a bit like Center Parcs!” – and once the excitement of living directly above our boats (extra time in bed is important!) had subsided, we got down to the task of re-rigging and were soon on the water. 

A few days in we were faced with gale-force winds and dramatic white horses on the river, and fast stream due to the open dam. Unfazed, we set out to conquer the elements, enjoying the rare opportunity to try out white-water rafting for free. Even the girls in the 2- remained cheerful as they bailed out their rapidly-filling foot-wells between high-rate pieces. Fortunately there was calm after the storm and we had some warm and sunny weather for most of the camp, helping keep spirits high during some gruelling but productive seat-racing.

Coach Mike Genchi decided it was a shame to be based on a 40km stretch and not make use of all of it, so an 8+ set out on a magical-mystery adventure row, complete with a picnic for lunch. The outing “redefined ‘BOOM’” and the crew returned with heads held high after their marathon paddle. Other highlights of the camp included the ‘Screaming Eagle’ outing, inspired by some bizarre footage of an unorthodox technical exercise on YouTube, and the glamour and ‘go-faster pigtails’ of bad kit day. We ended the camp in style with some solid 2km pieces on the final morning, in fog as dense as a rower’s thigh. An eight and two fours rowed the course twice, with all crews giving great performances in a side-by-side race in the last piece.

Although ten days of doing nothing but rowing, eating, sleeping and occasionally lifting a pen to do some work (or play OUBC Pictionary) might sound like a long time, the camp sped by. We had three outings each da , many in small boats as well as in fours and eights. The training was intense but there was always a fun atmosphere, with plenty of fooling around at meal times and games in the common room. By the end, we were surprised by how much we had achieved, individually and as a group, and how enjoyable the camp had been. As well as improving our rowing, our already close squad was even better bonded by the end of the ten days, and on the 11^th January we were all sad to return to Oxford and the impositions of ‘real-life’.

After ten days of non-stop training, three days of seat-racing, a casual 40km up and down the Lot, racing in fog-soup and exposure to innovative culinary delights beyond one’s wildest dreams, several things were confirmed in our minds: that OUWBC have an unreasonable capacity for having fun, that we can make boats go pretty 'dam' quickly, and that one should not cover hard-boiled eggs in spinach and present it as a meal.

Bring on the Boat Race!

(Written by Mary Foord-Weston)