As the sun rose on Wednesday morning, the crews began to get themselves ready for the race in the afternoon, journeying up to Worcester at 9:30am to prepare and get the boats ready. After having a quick test on the water in the morning and grabbing some lunch, spectators and the crews were preparing themselves for the races ahead!

To kick off the afternoon’s fun, the women’s quads and the men’s pairs entered the water and headed to the start line. The first race was the women’s quad, an excellent effort from both crews, with Worcester having an excellent start and continuing to keep the lead throughout all the way to the end.

The second race of the day was the men’s pairs. Both crews set off with a strong start, but it wasn’t long before both crews collided as Worcester moved sharply to avoid a barge. Nevertheless, this proved advantageous to Gloucester going into the final straight. However, Worcester powered on to win the race.

The third race was the women’s double. Gloucester had the more explosive start of the two crews with Worcester catching up as they came out of the first bend. Both crews were looking great as they entered the straight in front of the boat house; both crews were level. The winners were Worcester by roughly 2ft, meaning Worcester had taken the Varsity point for Rowing.

Nevertheless, there were still two more races of the day. The fourth race was the men’s four. Worcester set off to a fantastic start, leaving the Gloucester men’s team behind for the whole race. Both crews rowed fantastically and the clear winners were Worcester.

The final race of the day was the mixed double, with both crews setting off to a good start, level pegging for a fair distance. As the crews entered the bend Gloucester began to take the lead and kept a constant pace. As they entered the final straight Gloucester were in the lead, winning by a length.

The final score of the day was 4-1 to Worcester. Overall, it was a fantastic day on the river and the weather couldn’t have been better with many of the rowers and spectators topping up their tans!

Blue n Blue
Rowing Crew