Hi, I’m Natasha, a second year Theology student and the Women’s and NB captain for this year. I joined DCBC at the start of my first year, having rowed in Cambridge for 5 years previously. However, while rowing on the river Camb was familiar to me, I had primarily sculled and so switching to sweep in 8s would be a bit of a challenge.
I contacted Rosie, the women’s captain, before the start of my first term to ask about rowing with DCBC and was offered a spot in W1. Although feeling quite unnatural initially, learning to row in 8s has been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed being part of a larger team than the singles and doubles I’d rowed in before. Although I’ve raced in a fair few of the Camb races, I’ve been able to try new ones or approach races from new perspectives with the club, which has been so much fun.
Throughout the year I’ve had so many brilliant experiences with the club, a highlight being Lent bumps where I not only got my first bump, but also had a pretty epic row-over on the last day; despite Trinity Hall gaining to overlap our boat, the crew managed to keep the pressure on and push off them for a successful row-over.
I’ve had an incredible experience in my first year of rowing with Downing and I hope to see the women’s squad develop and become stronger this year!