Welcome back everyone!Eleanor Dickinson

The Neptunes

HOW WONDERFUL IT FEELS TO BE BACK AT LAST. It

seems like forever since the Murray Edwards girls

cooked up a storm on the River Cam last term,

taking home an incredible result of double blades!

Everybody should be hugely proud of themselves

for their amazing success in May Bumps, and after

a well-earned rest, be ready to not only repeat last

term’s results, but completely annihi late them.

In this issue of Neptunes, you will be able

to read about how we achieved our Mays success.

Turn to pages 2-3 to view last term's results and an

account of how we got there.

Pages 4-5 introduces a few members of our

new committee for this year, who will share some

of their most interesting rowing experiences with

you. More to come in future issues.

We welcome any feedback and

suggestions from you, so please email boatclub-

captain@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk with your

ideas. Once again we will be holding our

biennial alumnae dinner for which you can find

out more detai ls inside.

As our boat club has come on in leaps and

bounds over the last few years, it is even more

crucial that MECBC maintains this year’s success.

Therefore we look to you more than ever now to

help our boat club reclaim its position at the top

of women’s rowing!

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September 2011 Volume 4, Issue 1

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EASTER TERM GOT OFF TO A VERY WINDY START.

Literal ly. On our first big race of the term,

Champs Head, we were greeted by the most

terrifying hurricane winds. However, knowing

how important this race was for determining

where we stand in Bumps, we were ready to fight

the weather’s onslaught. W2 raced first in the W4

division, as the wind continued to pick up.Despite my misplaced fears about Cox

Chloe’s race plan flying in my face, we got off to

an excel lent start. Only when we reached the

corner did the wind truly hit us, and if not for

Chloe’s cries of “NOW! PUSH FOR TEN!” I think

we may have been blown just sl ightly off course.

Anyway, an overal l fantastic race meant we were

placed 1 st out of the W4 boats, and much to our

del ight, were sent beer glasses as a prize!

W1 too had an impressive day at Champs

Head. Despite the ever increasing speed of the

wind, W1 pulled out an amazing performance to

come 2nd in Mays W2 division and even more

fantastical ly, 4th out of al l women’s crews. These

results not only showed our hard work was

paying off, but spurred us on with the thought we

could beat the opposition come bumps.

However, before Bumps came an

unfortunate disappointment for W3 in the

Getting on Race. Despi te putting up a val iant

effort, 3 crabs set W3 back in 1 0th place and

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therefore they did not qual i fy. They should be

very proud nonetheless.

Less than a week later, 1 8 boaties, 2

coaches and an abundance of baking (courtesy

of Reana) descended on the Cam. W2 knocked

out Darwin I I and Addenbrookes on days 1 and

2. However, Newnham delayed our moving up

a division by bumping an inept Jesus I I I , forcing

us to complete two painful row-overs. We had

our revenge though, and completed the week

bumping both Jesus I I I and St Eddy’s to earn

blades! A sl ight improvement from last term’s

spoons I must say.

Despi te rather grim weather, W1 had an

absolutely fantastic week, knocking down the

opposi tion smoothly and swiftly, boat by boat.

Day one saw them knock out Darwin in just

over 30 seconds. Angl ia Ruskin, Robinson and

Jesus I I were promptly dealt with in a simi lar

fashion. Their incredible power not only earned

them their second blades of the year, but a long

awaited chance to push Coach Mark in the

Cam. I t was a wonderful sight!

Our double blades also earned us the

prestigious Pegasus Cup, plus a HUGE supply of

beer to lure the freshers in this coming term.

Looks set to be another exci ting term! Wel l done

everybody, and as Cox Chloe would say, “More

epic man power!”.

From bump to bump!Eleanor Dickinson

I f there was ever a reason

to go for blades, i t was for

the chance to throw

Coach Mark in the river.

Michaelmas Term RacesMECBC IS PLANNING ON entering these races for

Michaelmas 2011 . The most up-to-date events l ist-

ing and race results can be found on our website.

Queens Ergs (novi ces) - 8th Nov

Winter Head (W1 and fi rst novices) - 1 9th Nov

Emma Sprints (novices) - 20th Nov

Fairbairns Cup (novices) - 1 st Dec

Fairbairns Cup (senior crews) - 2nd Dec

Murray Edwards Col lege Boat Club are

looking for a corporate sponsor to help us

keep up our track record on the RiverCam.

Contact boatclub-fundraising@

murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk i f you or your

business contacts are interested.

Results Easter 2011Champs H ead

W1 : 2nd in Mays W2 division , 4th out

of al l col lege womens crews.

W2: 1 st in Mays W4 division, beating 8

W1 crews and 11 men's crews.

Mays G etti ng on Race

W3 : 1 0th VI I I i n G oR

May Bumps

W1 up 4 - Bl ades

W2 up 4 - Blades

These resul ts earned the club the Pegasus Cup!

Detai l ed ti mes and ranki ngs can be found on

the websi te http: //www. srcf. ucam. org/mecbc/

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Sal ly-Anne BennettTreasurer and Secretary

2nd year Mathmo

First memory of rowing:

Almost not coming to boatie tea, and

then only signing up for rowing because

al l my friends were - I 'm now the only

one sti l l rowing!

Most proud of:

Getting in 1 st boat before I knew what i t

real ly meant.

Marina SteketeeCaptain of Boats

3rd year Chemical Engineer

Best memory of rowing so far:

Getting blades is always amazing and

unforgettable.

And the worst?

Getting a wake-up cal l and real i sing

you've overslept and everyone is wai ting

at the boat house for you!

H ELLO! I ' M MARINA, A 3 RD YEAR CHEMICAL

EN GINEER. I 'm very exci ted to be the new

Captain of Boats for MECBC. Last year was

fantastic and the boat club saw much success;

in particular our triumph in the May Bumps

which won us the Pegasus Cup.

I am looking forward to continuing

with that success, giving thes boat club an

even higher profi le in col lege and the

recogni tion i t deserves! I 'm eager to attract

plenty of novices at the start of term to keep

the boat club growing, and to train them up

for Queens Ergs and Fairbairns.

I 'm also looking to wrap up the year

again with at least two senior VI I I crews. I

expect that this year wi l l give us as much fun

and achievement as the last.

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Wing Ying ChowCaptain of Club

3rd year PhD in Chemistry

Best memory of rowing so far:

Stroking in Easter 201 0 and bumping

up three!

I tems of black and white ki t:

I stopped counting at 1 5.

Hates: People not turning up! (Ed's

note, you have been warned!)

Jeny OatesComputer Officer

2nd year Natsci

Worst thing about rowing: ERGS!

Worst memory of rowing so far:

That time the end fel l off Harald. . . : (

Most proud of:

The boat club winning the Pegasus cup.

Double blades! !

Dr Owen SaxtonThe one time Senior Tutor, former

Praelector and current Admissions Tutor

is our new Senior Treasurer taking over

from N icola Cavaleri .

Fact: He has one oar at home, but i t' s a

daughter's. His own rowing experience is

l imi ted to the fi rst five minutes of a 24-

hour fund-raising ergo a few years ago.

Owen has been a warm supporter of the

Boat Club for many years and we feel

very lucky to have him on board.

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Next year...Wing Ying Chow, Captain of Club

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HELLO ALL, I AM YING, CURRENT CAPTAIN OF CLUB FOR

MECBC. Seeing as this is going to be my 7th year

in the Club, I am probably a familiar face to quite

a lot of you lovely readers of Neptunes. Having

seen a fair share of the Club's ups and downs, I

can say that at the moment we are definitely on

the 'up', and I intend to keep it that way.

First things first: this is the year again for

our biennial alumnae dinner, and for the occasion

we will be naming a new VIII (see below). It wil l

be taking place on Saturday, 11 th February 201 2

and I hope to see many of you there- formal

invitations will be sent around Christmas. Put the

date in you diaries!

Secondly, as you may have heard in the last

Neptunes (can be found under 'alumnae' section of

our website), Harald suffered irreparable damage

during Lent Bumps last year. Over the summer, our

new treasurer Sally-Anne and I have been working

on a number of spreadsheets, meetings and

negotiations, which means that now we are actually

in a position to place an order on a new VIII for the

Club. This cannot be possible without a generous

loan from the JCR, to which we are very grateful.

We have much fundraising to do to pay back

the loan in the next 6 years. As Cambridge

Consultants is no longer sponsoring us, we have a

dedicated Fundraising Officer, Holly, who is in

charge for finding a new sponsor. We will also be

raising money through the usual subs, kit, and

events, including a BBQ and a 24 hour erg this

Michaelmas. Let the fun begin!As for our alumnae, I encourage you to

check out the "For Club and College" section of our

website, and consider making a regular donation---

just 1 0 alumnae donating 1 0 pounds per month will

allow us to repay half of the loan in six years, taking

a huge pressure off future committees.

Finally, I hope you have enjoyed this issue of

Neptunes so far, thanks to the efforts of Eleanor who

has kindly agreed to take up creating the whole

issue this time. Do get in touch if you have any thing

you would like to see or share in future issues!

Contact us on boatclub-

committee@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk. I look

forward to meeting many of you.

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The Neptunes October 2011 by Murray Edwards Col lege BoatClub is l icensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0Unported License. Some rights reserved.

W2 celebrate the end of bumps

with a bi t of cox launching.

7

Just some of this term's highlights

And final ly THAT dress. . .Reana

wows the Peterhouse Boat Club

dinner whi le the MECBC girls sing a

round of 'Pretty Woman' .

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