The 68th annual Women’s Eights Head of the River Race took place last Saturday 1st March from Mortlake to Putney. A head race is a time trial where crews cross the start line in quick succession allowing overtaking of other crews to occur. An eight’s head is when the boats racing contain eight athletes steered by a cox. IC was represented by a women’s senior eight (S2), a women’s novice eight (Novice Acad), and by Jenny Forrester in a London composite entry (S1). Each crew lined up sequentially and was timed over the 4.25 mile distance.

Weeks of gruelling land and water sessions under the iron fist of Coach James Blackley had the novice crew prepared in peak physical condition. The novice boat, of which I am seven of nine, was assigned number 239 of 251 due to there being no novice entry last year. Fire raged in the belly of each crew member after some inspiring motivational speaking from James and senior women’s coach Ross Smitheman. The novice crew set-off after the senior women from the IC boathouse on Putney embankment after 9 am.

Although initially impeded by some steering-deficient crews, top Cox Katie Oliver impressively manoeuvred us across the river to our designated banking position just short of Barnes Bridge. At 10 am the Saxon sounded and soon the first crew came hurtling under the bridge towards Putney. IC’s Jenny Forrester was in boat two looking powerful in seat three.

After watching a hundred or so crews pass us the Marshalls came down in their launches to herd the rest of the crews up to the starting position. We crawled our way towards Chiswick Bridge keeping in along the bank as the racing boats continued to pulse towards the finish. As we emerged under Chiswick Bridge we were met by strong winds, water traffic and shallow waters along the bank causing early concern for crews trying to prevent fin damage to their boats.

Tension mounted as boats up ahead began to spin around for the race wind-up. Nervous chatter was hushed and crew members stripped down into their racing gear. It was after 11 am and we had been on the water for 2 hours keeping warm and focused. We took the psychological advantage when several of our crew members had no choice but to relieve themselves over board; shocking opponent crews and giving them something to visualise for the next seven kilometres.

With the boat lighter we spun round and set off at full concentration towards the start line at Chiswick Bridge. Stroke Selina Graham set us off into a steady rhythm before building up the pressure and increasing the speed to a blistering 34 strokes per minute (s/m) race pace as we crossed the start line under Chiswick Bridge.

Just a few strokes into the race and the blade from Bow’s Kate Wylie came loose from the rigger setting the balance off. We managed to maintain our rating while she swiftly recovered the blade. A few hundred metres later a bang followed by a distressed cry of ‘My seat came off!’ was heard from seat six Mackenzie Clavin. The seat was replaced on the slider impressively fast as the rest of the crew pulled harder to maintain our speed. Allowing no mechanical mishap to stand in our way we strengthened and settled into a steady 32 s/m rate. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew further disaster was unravelling as the steering controls snapped early-on in the race causing difficulty for Cox Katie Oliver who displayed outstanding navigational skills in steering us through the course in the fastest stream.

With technical difficulties behind us we approached and throttled past one-two-three-four-five crews in quick succession leaving them demoralised and feebly paddling in our wake. Motivated by their pained expressions we banged out the strokes down the Thames towards Hammersmith Bridge. Huge cheers from fellow ICBC members and family relatives pushed us on away from the Bridge. Some incredible vocal ranges were displayed by Adam Seward and John Davey.

Holding our rate we continued steady before hitting Craven Cottage, an area we had earlier marked as our first push for home. We blistered on, tiring but refusing to slacken off. Our final push came as we passed the ICBC boat house just a few hundred metres from the finish. With gladiatorial war-cries from Cox Katie resounding across the Thames, Selina took the rating up to 33 s/m for the final push home. With every conceivable muscle aching we pounded out the final few strokes and grunted our way across the finish; exhausted, but elated.

The overall Head winner was Osiris BC (S2) in a time of 19:32.81. Jenny Forrester’s composite crew finished 8th overall, 5th in their category (S1), in 19:50.99. IC’s senior women finished 23rd overall, 7th in their category (S2) in a time of 20:14.39. And our novice crew finished 147th overall, 4th in our category in a time of 22:10.92. This means a gaining of places by all crews for next years ICBC participants. Well done to everybody involved!

With early morning training cancelled on Sunday, post-race festivities began early with a boathouse crawl along Putney embankment ending up in London RC. A great day was had by all and we wish the best of luck to the men’s crews in anticipation of the men’s head of the river race on March 15th.