This race came very soon after the end of trials, and was treated as an opportunity to stretch muscles and get the feel of racing. We came low down in the order of 1st VIIIs, as we have done in the past. The schools which train before Christmas have a great advantage, and those that manage to get on the river more than we do in the Lent Term get ahead very rapidly. It is only by late Summer that we begin to catch up, and even then we are hard pressed to make up for ground lost in the Winter. We must in future try not to get left so far behind.