Boaties are those men and women which are members of the Boating Club. Boating refers to Rowing and should not be confused with Punting. When Rowing or Punting you push long sticks of wood into innocent water, but Rowing needs several people to push the blades (or the oars) simultaneously and slightly more elegantly into the water. There is also Skulling, which is Rowing on your own with two blades.

The Colleges in Cambridge take a big pride in their rowing. Probably you have heard of the famous Boat Race between Cambridge and Oxford every year. All Colleges have their own Boating House down at the river Cam which meanders through the city and out into the meadows surrounding the city. The Captain of the Men’s Team, Fergal, even gets his own appartment in College. The Trinity Hall Boating Club has a beautiful boat house down at the river.

Unfortunately, today was the fourth time in a row that something prevent me from getting on the water indeed. On Tuesday the lack of knowledge about the whereabouts of the House prevented me from joining the lads.

On Thursday I got up at 6am after returning home late from Graduate Hall, searched my key for half an hour, fell asleep I again, woke up two hours later, found my key under the bed (I don’t know how it got there, but I guess my subconscience was strictly against getting up), look at the schedule and saw that it was not even my turn anyway.

On Friday morning, one of the four people in the boat did not show up. Today I made it to the Boat House on time, only to discover that the river was banned for College boats until noon and only City boats were allowed to go. Instead I went cycling along the river, discovered herds of cows grazing the river banks, found myself a bench and a Financial Times and enjoyed the morning.

It seems rowing is much more than just a sport. There is a social dynamic underneath that is hard to grasp. Sharing the experience of getting up before sunrise in the middle of the night, cycling through the foggy and empty Cambridge streets, sitting around on old benches in the Changing Room and forcing yourself to do some warm-up exercises creates a good group feeling.

Most of the lads take rowing very seriously. Apparently in Spring, when the races are coming up, people will practice ten times per week, plus exercises on the Ergometers (Rowing Machines), running and cycling. Another graduate student, Steph, who is trying to get on the University’s Women Team, is rowing every morning and every evening. I already find it difficult to put the three ‘outings’ (going out on the river) plus the various fitness exercises into my schedule. With four lectures, four seminars and large reading lists, I will most likely cut down my rowing commitment drastically. It’s a pity though, because I really enjoyed rowing when I did it the last three years of High School.