211075 Downing Record 07 - Downing College - University of ...

was good to see so many novices join us on the camp, and their technical abilityrapidly improved. All who attended had an excellent week and this gave the Lentterm training for both crews a kick-start. However, we were hampered by a lackof experience in both squads as we prepared for the bumps. Despite this, bothcrews acquitted themselves well, with W1 falling just one place to finish in 6thand M1 falling two places ending the week in 5th.A composite crew from Downing and Jesus travelled down to the Head of theRiver Race in London, but much to our disappointment, the race was cancelledat the last minute due to treacherous conditions (over the half of the crews theystarted did not finish). Two Downing men were also selected for the lightweightboat for the Henley Boat Races – George Blessley and, for the second consecutiveyear, Ian Sealey.The club celebrated a highly successful Segreant’s Day in April, with the usualfun regatta on the Long Reach. The headship crew of 1982 however dominatedthe races, causing a slight “embarrassment” to the younger members of the club.Yet this shows some hope for all of us, 25 years down the line! The Club also namedits three new boats – two Janousek pairs (“Susan Lintott” and “Barry Everitt”) anda new coxless four, which won in the University IVs (“Clive Anderson”).Throughout the May term the club struggled with a lack of participating oarsmenand women. However, those that remained rose to the challenge ahead of them forthe May bumps. M1 progressed week on week and there could be no doubt that bythe start of bumps week, the crew were as fast as they were going to get. Similarly,W1 who did not start the term with 8 women made significant progress once a crewhad been found. M2 made more progress than anybody thought possible, and thanksmust go to all those who coached them through this difficult period. At the end ofbumps week, M1 remained level in 9th place, W1 went down two to 11th place andM2 went down two to 7th place in Division two (with only three College 2nd boatsahead of them). Our women’s lower boats had a particularly successful week – W3finished up one and W2 finished up four, earning themselves blades and securing aposition in the women’s 2nd division. Such successes can only bode well for thewomen as they prepare for next year. Regrettably, due to a lack of men, the 4thmen’s boat had to be withdrawn from the bumps.The final action for the club saw a composite with the Cambridge UniversityLightweight Rowing Club racing in the Ladies Challenge Plate at HenleyRoyal Regatta. The crew, stroked by Ian Watson raced in the new Filippi VIII, namedthe “Keith Southan” in memory of the late Keith Southan (Captain of Boats1933–34). Unfortunately, the crew was drawn against Brown University, USA whoweighed in at 1 stone per man more. The crew had an excellent race, and despitea blistering pace being set, going off the start at 48 strokes per minute, we wereknocked out. (Brown obtained the fastest time that day and made it to the81