Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1992

s h o r e, t he c o x d i s c o v e r ed t o h i s d i smay cracks on the base of the shell. t h r o u gh w h i ch w a t er w a s seeping i n. C a l m ly he k e pt t he discovery to h i ms e lf and urged his teammates to r ow on. L u c k i ly the shell p u l l ed in before any cracks w i d e n ed and the c r ew were spared the scare o f a capsize. T h ey were not so l u c ky the second t i me round. A f t er another exhausting exercise on the river w h en the c r ew were on their w ay back to the shore, gusty w i n d s started to b l ow and b r o u g ht a large v o l ume o f water into the boat. Strong waves r o c k ed i t again and again, f i n a l ly o v e r t u r n i ng it, sending al c r ew members into the water. T he ma r i ne police came to the c r e w 's rescue bu t were unable to retrieve the shell because o f h i gh waves. T o protect the shell w h i ch was b o r r o w ed property, f i ve c r ew memb e rs had to c l i ng onto it f or thre h o u rs i n t he wa t e r, w a i t i ng f or the s t o rm to subside before they c o u ld r ow the shell back to the shore. Winning a Race A f t er f o ur m o n t hs o f i n t e n s i ve t r a i n i n g, t he i m p o r t a nt d ay f i n a l ly a r r i v e d. T h e s i x th i n t e r v a r s i ty r o w i ng c omp e t i t i on was h e ld o n a sunny afternoon in late September, and opened w i th the c o x ed f o ur 1,500-metrac e f or w ome n. A t the start o f th e race, b o th t he C U HK and H KU shells dashed f o r w a rd i n a close duel, bu t very soon the f o r c e f ul strokes o f the C U HK c r ew gave t h em a c om f o r t a b l e lead, w h i ch they managed to keep al the w ay through, defeating H KU b y thre lengths at the end. Second came the n e w l y introduced i n t e r - p o s t s e c o n d a r y s c h o ol s t u d e n ts i n v i t a t i on race. Rowe rs f r om C U HK again p r o v ed themselves superior oarsmen and captured the H a ng Seng I n v i t a t i on Cu p. T he c o x ed eight 4,000-metr ace f or men was the h i g h l i g ht o f the day. F u l ly prepared and w i th the sense o f c omp e t i t i on high, the C U HK racing eight d r ew away t o a lead i mme d i a t e ly after the whistle, and never gave H KU any o p p o r t u n i ty o m o v e close. T h ey charged f o r w a rd c o n f i d e n t ly and r h y t h m i c a l ly u n t il they reached t he f i n i sh line, w i n n i n g the race b y close to seven lengths. I ROW TO VICTORY 21