rowing in the christchurch regatta

When people asked me how the day 1 race went, I’d answer, “We lost, but at least we looked good doing it.” And it was true. In the video, you could see us rowing gracefully with our oars in sync – bandanas on our heads, star stickers on our faces, shirts color-coordinated to our respective colleges. And I was pleased! To me, the regatta wasn’t about winning, but about enjoying my first race experience with an awesome team.

Cut to day 2. Such a hectic morning. Two friends from home were visiting, and just as I watched their train pull into the station, I realized I’d forgotten my student card in my North Oxford house – a solid 25-minute journey from the boathouse. I sent a heads up to the Benet’s captain Amina about my mishap. I gave the speediest tour to my friends, then hopped on my bike to start the sprint home. I arrived to the LMH boathouse 30 minutes late, just as the girls were finishing their warm-up. Warm up? I was already dripping in sweat.

Luckily, we still had a few minutes of buffer time, so I whipped out the gold star stickers and plastered them over my teammates’ cheeks, just as we’d done for Day 1. Then, time to get the boat out. We pushed off. As we waited on the river for Catz to arrive, we did the Benet’s pre-race ritual: bumping elbows, one at a time, to pass good luck from bow to stroke. Unlike the day 1 race, when we had a few minutes to mentally prep at the start line, 30 seconds after we got in position, I heard the call “Attention, GO!” And we were off. I could hear Hatty, our cox, shouting the rhythm of the race start. I could see from the corner of my eye that Catz was already ahead of us, and soon, a full boat ahead.

It’s funny. The race is just a few short minutes, a burst of adrenaline while trying to focus on form and power and rhythm and the calls of the cox. And yet, maybe because I’d seen that we were so far behind, I remember my mind wandering with fully-formed thoughts: Wow, I’m starving. Ugh, my arms are tired, so maybe I’m doing it wrong because it’s supposed to be in my legs. The river looks beautiful with the sun on it.

Then, I heard Hatty shout: “We’re ahead!” Cue the thought, Oh my God we might actually win this. Sharp focus on the back of Juliet’s head. Legs, body, arms; arms, body, legs. Feather, square, feather, square. Power in the legs. Don’t overthink or you might lose the rhythm. Water splashing on my legs and arms. Don’t you dare get tired. You’ve got this. Keep going.

We burst through the end of the race, beating Catz by three-quarters of a boat. We hip hip hoorayed and whooped as we turned the boat around. On shore, our college mates and my visiting friends were waiting with big smiles and cheers.

I was fine with telling people about our loss on day 1. But, when people asked me about the day 2 race, it felt so great to answer them: “We won.”