Sunday saw an even busier day of racing for Queen’s beneath cloudless skies and on calm water.
The Men’s Intermediate and Championship 2X both held their own to bring home Silver in their respective finals. Adding to the medals was Fiona Bell winning Bronze in the Women’s Championship 1X.
The Men’s Championship Lightweight 2X was narrowly beaten into 4th in their final to be denied a medal, in what would become a familiar feat for the rest of the day.
The Women’s Beginner 4X comfortably qualified for the A final but were unable to keep up with the leading three crews in the final itself, coming 4th overall and despite not medalling, putting in a series of strong performances throughout the day, setting them up for the 8+s on Day 3.
The Women’s Intermediate 8+ rowed well in the morning time trials to qualify for the Semi Finals. Unable to build on that later in the day, they came 6th in the B final in what proves to be a stronger field year on year. Similarly the Women’s Beginner 4+ had to settle for a B final, pipping Exeter at the line for 2nd place by 0.4 secs.
Last but certainly not least the Men’s Beginner 8+s were in action. Both crews had strong time trials, comfortably making it into the Semi Finals. With both crews drawn in the same Semi, they were both up against a strong field if they were to make it into the A final.
The A crew put in a strong performance, comfortably taking 2nd and making it through the A final. The B crew were determined not to be left out, and in a dogfight with Warwick’s A crew in the final 250m, they dug very deep and found another gear, taking 3rd by a mere 0.14 secs to create history and have both crews through to the final.
Sadly, the Final itself didn’t yield more medals for the club, with the A crew being beaten into 4th on the line. Heartbreaking to be so close and miss out, but a lack of medals does nothing to conceal the fantastic strength in depth of this year’s Novice Men squad and the great character within. The future for the men’s club is looking very bright indeed.