Parliamentary Boat Races: The Parliamentary boat races take place every year on the Thames outside the Houses of Parliament. Races include Lords vs. Commons, crews from London Youth Rowing and a men and women’s senior race. As IC is quite a big deal, a men’s crew was invited to take part by the event organisers to race against London Rowing Club. The IC crew was a mismatch of rowers ranging from superstar Will Todd who is ranked in the top ten pairs in the world, to Rory Fallon; a complete beginner at the start of the year.
In contrast, the crew from London was the well-drilled Thames Cup line-up, and IC knew they were in for a hard race. After evaluating local talent, boats were rigged and in an attempt to gain any type of advantage, the blades were taken down to the landing stage “boat race” style (even more boat race than most was Dom Meyrick-Cole who was sporting an exquisite pair of deck shoes). The race itself was just under one kilometre from Vauxhall bridge to the Lords Lawn. After jumping the start… er what? I mean after the race got underway after a FAIR start, IC took a narrow lead. However, the extremely rough water took its toll on the scratch crew and London slowly edged ahead. Stand in cox Louise Hart called a push but the London crew were too strong, clearly demonstrating why they are favourites for the Thames Cup at Henley. At the finish the verdict was a win for London by 1 length, but of course as we all know, the real victory of the day was rowing.
After the race the rowers descended on the Houses of Parliament for lunch of the Lords lawn. Lord Trapmore was very understanding of his crew – “You’ve let me down. You’re an embarrassment” However the inspirational Will Todd had the last laugh when he stole Lord Trapmore’s name badge and masqueraded as the man himself. This slightly backfired when he was approached by one of the dignitaries who demanded why his son had not received a rowing scholarship. After the crews were suitably refreshed speeches were given, in which one of the members of the House of Lords informed us “Those chaps from Chas Newens put a good four inches in us”. I will leave that comment open to interpretation. Following this, medals were received and it was unanimously agreed that they were heavier than Lord Trapmore’s Olympic medal; ergo more prestigious.
In the end a fun day was had by all and some valuable free stash had been acquired. In the main event the Commons beat the Lords by a margin of who cares and after catching a glimpse of them paddling, there is consolation that however bad Stu says we are rowing, there will always be someone worse.
Danny Bellion