(no subject)

[aleathiel]

DAY ONE OF MAY BUMPS RACES:

WE BUMPED

(p.s. - that's a good thing!)

/rowing talk for today

I apologise in advance for the next four days in which you will get a daily update on the state of my crew.

Comments

[nitw1t.livejournal.com]

WE BUMPED
*smiles nervously*
riiigggghhhhtt....

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

It means we caught up with and hit the boat in front of us, moving us one place up the division at the start of races tomorrow.

And yeah, literally "bumped". It's a dangerous sport. The boats are low the the water and move fast. Sometimes a boat doesn't make it through the four days because it gets smashed up. Equally people can get flung out of them on impact. I've seen that happen.

It's said that the last person to be killed in the May Bumps was less that ten years ago - a blade (oar) hit him/her in the back of the head.

[dystopic.livejournal.com]

deja vu!

Didn't you go through something like this last time? Because I distinctly remember you talking about rowing and races once... Or I might be wrong. *shuffles feet*

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Yup, I did. There are three big races annually. Fairbairns, which is December and which is most important in your first year. On crossing the finishline at Fairbairns you become a senior rower.
Then there's the Lents, which you remember. And now the Mays, which are like the Lents in that it takes four days (Fairbairns is a single timed race) but 'bigger' - more crews (more divisions?) and far more people watching. Probably because the weather is so much better! Also, for the Mays all the Blues level rowers (University not college) come back from training. So the guys from the boatrace are involved and so on.