Mighty IC rule the waves

The first head race of the season saw Imperial crews sweep the opposition away with apparent ease at the Peterborough Head of the Nene. The pre-Christmas training camp and hard winter work is obviously starting to pay dividends, with the men’s crews claiming the top four positions overall in the morning’s 2.7km warm-up race, backed up by division wins for the men’s novice four (tenth overall) and women’s open coxless four (eighteenth overall). The 4.2km eights race in the afternoon presented the women the sternest test in the shape of the Cambridge blue boat. Holding a higher rate of striking then their light blue opponents over the whole course, IC looked sharper and more focused than the larger Cambridge girls, which showed in the fantastic result, IC winning by a clear six seconds over the University of London, with Cambridge down in third place. The men’s crews were up against more feeble opposition in the shape of the Cambridge lightweights, and beat them by a suitable margin to take first and second overall. The women’s second eight couldn’t quite manage to beat their opposite numbers from Cambridge, but still came away with victory in their division. Both men’s and women’s novice eights raced competitively, but were both beaten by Cambridge college first eights.

The women’s crews now shape up to take on Cambridge head-to-head at Henley on Sunday where they hope for a repeat victory. The men’s squad continues with preparations for National squad selection(first eight) and a trip to Ireland (second and third eights) with the women’s first eight to take on Trinity College (Dublin), University College (Dublin) and the tough Irish club, Neptine.

Last weekend the novice men went to Burway on a mission to redeem themselves after a mediocre showing in the eights a Peterborough. The A crew won by miles, leaving the B crew in second place but still 30 seconds clear of the nearest opposition.

Overall, not a bad start to the year!