Pembroke were by far the dominant Oxbridge College at Wallingford Regatta yesterday.

M1 entered two events, with Senior II Eights in the morning and Senior III in the afternoon whilst W1 entered the Novice 8 category in the afternoon.  The men's Senior II heat was used to practise race tactics, and with a successfuly executed first 1500m the crew paddled the last 500m.

The Senior III heat was a nail-biting race from start to finish. With a sluggish start from Pembroke, University of London and Shrewsbury School jumped out to a lead of one length.  As the boats settled into the race these three eights stretched away from the rest of the field, and with 750m to go Pembroke began to claw back. On the finish line Pembroke edged UL out by only a few inches after overtaking them in the last hundred metres.

The final saw a similar race pan out, with Shrewsbury shooting out to a length's lead which they clung onto throughout the race. Pembroke held their form into the finish and just pipped London Rowing Club for 2nd place.

The times that Pembroke posted saw them convincingly quicker than Magdalen, New and University, and six seconds quicker than leading Cambridge College, First and Third Trinity.

Meanwhile W1 entered Novice eights, and entered into a stroke for stroke battle with the Oxford Development boat, Osiris, down the course, only to be pipped by a few seats in the last hundred metres.  They comprehensively beat Exeter College and can take a lot of confidence from the performance.  Pembroke's times were considerably quicker than University College, Oxford, and Selwyn College, Cambridge, both competing in the Senior IV event.