| Alice Millest reports:
The day got off to a bright start, with the sun shining through on a warm(ish) December morning, as the squad arrived in Wallingford for the 2005 Head Race. The first division offered us Women’s Senior 3 Eights, and as we paddled down to the start, our cox Steph Richards noted some pretty tricky bends in preparation for the race. The eight (from stroke) of Hannah Smith-Willis, Alice Millest, Meghan Treleaven, Natalie Beveridge, Mima Boardman, Liz Rowles, Emma Hodson and Linda Reynard, hit a steady rhythm early on and exploited the good line taken by the cox to place themselves 4th in the category, beating openweight crews from Molesey, Henley, and University of London amongst others.
After a quick turnaround, the eight split into two coxed fours for the afternoon division. Hannah, Natalie, Meghan and Liz were coxed by Alistair Stewart, and Mima, Alice, Emma and Linda by Olivia Rissland. Both crews showed gutsy rather than pretty performances and came out with very respectable 2nd and 3rd places in the Women’s Senior 3 coxed fours. OUWLRC again beat openweight crews from strong clubs such as Imperial College, UL and Bristol University. These results were due, in no small part, to the well negotiated corners and encouraging calls of the coxes, as well as the determined performances of the crews.
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