In the late 1990s I mostly coxed women's crews for the Free Press BC.
This was mainly been IVs, aiming at the CRA Town Bumps, but also coxing
IVs and VIIIs at various regattas on the Cam and further afield.
In July 1997 I coxed the Free Press women's 1st IV in the Town Bumps, starting 6th and finishing 2nd, i.e. we'd got a `bump' every day. The picture above shows us, with the celebratory greenery, on the last day, and the one below shows us -- plus our coach/pusher-off -- all looking very pleased with ourselves as we had earned our `oars' (or rudder in my case). I was very happy with this, as despite coxing many, many set of bumps, and missing out by one bump on several occasions, this was the first time I'd got a rudder. (In a few minutes time we looked a lot less happy... the rest of the crew decided it would be a good idea to throw me into the river... but while they were poised to do the dirty deed, they didn't notice another (mens) crew coming up behind them... and all five of us ended up in the river! Not at all nice, as the river is not very clean.)
Here is the Free Press women's 1st IV that I coxed in the 1998 Town Bumps. Building on the previous year's success, we started 2nd, bumped up to the headship on the first day, and stayed there. Thus, we were the first ever head crew for the Free Press! The picture below shows us celebrating. Notice that I am wearing different clothes from those I wore while coxing... yes, they did throw me in the river again!
Here is the composite Free Press/Rob Roy women's VIII from the Women's Head
on the Thames in 1999.
Most recently, here is the Free Press women's 2nd IV that I coxed in the 1999 Town Bumps. We went up three, to finish fourth on the river, which is the highest placed women's 2nd IV!
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