Ladies and Coxes of CUWBC 2015. Wear a bike helmet.

The 2015 Boat Races will be historic ones both for our club and for women’s rowing as a whole. Next year will see the first women’s crew race on the Tideway, over the same course and on the same day as the more widely known Men’s Boat Race. As the club looks forward to this event, it also provides an opportunity to look back at the history of CUWBC; to remember that we are just one squad in a history of Women’s Boat Races and give us a chance to reflect on what the Boat Race means for all those who have raced before us.

Having been elected as CUWBC President for the 2014/15 season I knew I would be joining a unique group of people. A group of people who have voluntarily given their time and effort to make the club what it is today; all the while having to balance their own academic and rowing commitments.  This was a group of people I wanted to get a chance to know more about.

Over the summer I wrote to all the past Presidents of the club asking if they would like to contribute to a blog filled with stories of past crews and words of advice to the current squad. The responses I have received have been amazing (so thank you to everyone who has been in touch).  I’ve had messages to the squad, stories of trialling and races, newspaper cuttings and photos sent to me. Over the next seven months I look forward to sharing their contributions with you, as well as the 2015 squad’s journey. If anyone else has any contributions they would like to pass on, I would be only too happy to receive them – president@cuwbc.org.uk

Today marks the start of our official trialling period, 209 days until the Henley Boat Races and 215 days until the Tideway races. The start of trialling is always a whirlwind of emotions, especially for those experiencing it for the first time; excitement and nervousness at the challenges of the months ahead, as well as a sense of going into the unknown, it is a comfort however to know that whatever emotions you may be feeling, in all likelihood there will have been a girl before you having the same thoughts.

In my first post I would like to share with you all a message to the 2015 squad as they start their trialling adventure.  It is based on Mary Schmich’s article which was later adapted into a song by Baz Luhrmann (attached below). This advice comes courtesy of Lizzie Polgreen, the 2011 President.

 Ladies and Coxes of CUWBC 2015. Wear a bike helmet.

If I could offer you only one tip for the season, a bike helmet would be it. The benefits of wearing a bike helmet in bike accidents have been proved by statistics, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy your season. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and strength of your body until it has faded. You will not understand the beauty of dedicating everything of yourself to one race until the opportunity has passed. But trust me, in a few years’ time, you’ll look back at photos and race results and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much potential lay before you. Life is not as stressful as you imagine. 

Don't worry about the opposition. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to complete your supervision work by checking your emails. The real progress in your season will come from being the best YOU can be, not from competing with an unknown girl wearing dark blue one hundred miles away.

Do one thing better every day.

Stretch.

Don’t waste other people’s time. Don’t put up with people that waste yours.

Eat properly.

Don't waste your effort on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The season is long and, in the end, the competition is only with yourself. 

Take confidence from the races you win. Take greater confidence from the lessons learned in the races you lose. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old training diaries. Throw away your old train tickets.

Core.

Don't feel guilty if sometimes you aren't sure if you are capable of doing this. The best athletes I know have moments of doubt in their training. It is dealing with your self-doubt that matters.

Get as much sleep as possible. 

Maybe you’ll win your seat race, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll be a blue, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll be the spare, maybe you’ll race in the heavyweight reserves boat. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Fulfil your potential, everything else is down to chance.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but the gym.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Ely will be cold. Training will be hard. You, too, will sometimes wonder why you are doing this. And when you do, you'll fantasize about what you could be doing if you weren't out rowing, if you were living a "normal" student life. Hold out, it is worth it.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. It is as strong and fast as it has ever been. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Listen to advice from your coaches, follow it. 

Listen to advice from your alumni, even if you don’t follow it.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in your crew, because the tougher the race, the more you need to rely on each other. 

Respect your opposition. They understand the things you are doing.

Don’t expect to rely on anything except boat speed. Maybe you have a 7 minute ergo, maybe you have a 100kg deadlift. You never know when your seat race will be.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. 

But trust me on the bike helmets.