M1 M1 had an exciting Trinity Term with a new head coach, James O’Connor, taking charge. After vigorous training and the technical work James contributed to the program, the men were in a better position to face the immense charge from behind that Eights would bring. Lead by Men’s Captain, Anthonie Jacobson, the crew contained newcomers to Lincoln, bringing with them new energy and power, and returning veterans: stroke Samuel Diana in his fourth year with LCBC and cox Olivia Lamming in her third and final Eights.
The first day saw M1 row over, holding a good position as 3rd in Division II. The following days were less lucky, and as anticipated, with strong crews behind them, Lincoln M1 was bumped each successive day, ending in 6th in Division II.
W1 Summer 8s proved the culmination of a productive and focussed year for W1 under the experienced coaching of Alex Bostrom, continuing Lincoln’s charge up through Div 2 and maintaining the Salani’s impressive fame of never being bumped.
The crew started in 7th position in Div 2 and began the regatta with a quick bump against Osler House in the gut, leaving St Catz in their wake lengths behind. The second day saw a Lincoln vs St Anne’s show down with Lincoln again taking the victory with a bump on entering the gut before even finishing their start sequence. After two successful days the crew felt they still had more to give with such short races and went into the third day with high hopes and fierce determination to continue their quest for blades. The crew went into the race knowing it would be tougher than the days before and they would need to maintain a strong mental game if Jesus were to bump Merton before Lincoln could bump Jesus. Unfortunately, despite a strong start, Merton continued their plunge and were taken by Jesus in the gut, taking Jesus out of the race and foiling plan A. But the race was not over and plan B was soon put into action as the crew ‘sling shot’ out of the gut under cox Elliot’s powerful calls in pursuit of an over bump on Worcester. However, the cruel nature of bumps racing came into play and despite a strong performance and gaining a lot of water on the Worcester crew along green banks, a klaxon due to a collision lower down in the division prevented the bump, and blades, coming into reality. The final day of Eights gave W1 the chance to get their revenge on Merton with the crew flying off the start to gain another bump in their start sequence barely a minute into the race. This ended a very successful four days of racing with 3 bumps in total giving much to celebrate for at the boathouse and boat club dinner later. It is always painful to lose catch of blades after so much hard training and focus throughout the year however finishing 4th in Div 2 leaves Div 1 in sight for next year and the chance for a Lincoln W1 crew to enter Div 1 of Eights for the first time in history.
M2
M2 entered Trinity Term with a new crew and coach, Anthonie Jacobson. Starting 1st in Division V, the men had a rocky start being bumped by St John’s II and Hilda’s I. However, Lincoln rallied and rowed over on day 3 putting them in a good position to bump Exeter II on day 4. M2 ended Eights down one place, and look forward to the opportunity to bump in to Division IV in 2016.
W2 W2 had an excellent four weeks of training this Trinity term under the experienced hand of coach Tom Frost, who went to great lengths to organise their 6 sessions of coaching a week as well as revising for his Medicine finals in 5th week. Through the crew’s dedication and hard work they made significant improvements both to their fitness and their ability to row together as a team. As the crew grew closer and stepped up their commitment nearer to VIIIs, it was disappointing to see this not be rewarded by their results during the four days of racing itself. With tough navigation around bumped-out crews in front of them on every day (steered excellently by cox Haden Spence), the crew repeatedly found themselves being overtaken and bumped by crews behind them as they were forced onto slow and lengthy lines down the course. Although this ultimately led to them being awarded fabled Spoons, our W2 this year showed real grit and determination, and we couldn’t be more proud of their efforts in the face of unlucky racing.
W3 In Trinity, W3, coached by Elizabeth Finneron-Burns and with the opportunity to enjoy more water training sessions, attacked their Eights training keen to ensure their continued place as the only third boat in fixed divisions. Eights saw them put in strong performances, rowing over the first two days behind a particularly fast Balliol W2. On the last two days, W3 were bumped but were pleased to have held onto their position in fixed divisions.
W4 After some disappointing results at Torpids, finishing two places below qualifying, the boat re-grouped and began training for Eights with members going on Training Camp and returning rowers joining the crew. Come Eights, and coached by fourth year Lincoln rower Sam Diana, W4 handily qualified, even beating some men’s crews! Taking to the bungline for the first time, their performance on day one set the stage for an exciting Eights campaign. Bump after bump, W4 went into Day 4 set for blades and won them after gaining an overbump on University W3.