A Gathering of Mötley Crews – The 26th Annual Cake Race

9 January 2014Jeen S

The last day of fall rowing in 2013 saw a massive flotilla of racing shells gather on the picturesque Brentwood Rowing course. A departure from previous years, we were to race a full 2000 metres. However, the defining traditions of The Cake Race remained: mixed crews, crazy costumes, incredible participation and energy along with the quintessential ingredient: cake. A longstanding Brentwood tradition, the Cake Race is arguably the most anticipated day of the year. The atmosphere is one of friendly competition and excitement. It is the only time of the year when we race in mixed crews comprised of all 99 rowers drawn from every program, from varsity to junior novices. This is a far cry from the normal process of training for a race; the months of work in set crews had been replaced with two days to get a costume together and decorate a shell. We have the Captains of each crew to thank for the incredible display of decorating prowess. With costumes ranging from Cowboys, Cupcakes, Dr. Seuss to Fairies, the competition for best dressed was fierce, with the Cowboys ultimately coming out on top. Less fortunate crews had costumes that were not exactly suitable for winter rowing; togas are too loose to wear and offer no protection from the cold at all. Lesson well learned. A lesson never learned, despite year after year of mishaps however, is that it is not a good idea to put eleven shells out onto a single race course with multiple novice coxswains at the helm. Most crews ended up rowing more than the prescribed 2000 metres as coxswains slalomed left and right around the minefield of crews who had caught boat-stopping crabs. However, it is all part of the fun. The Angels dominated the majority the race and finished first. However, the costume prizes were not so easy to determine. First, second and third went to the Cowboys, the Superheros and the Cupcakes respectively. Many thanks to the coaches and the Boat House crew (who were decked out in PJs in their boat “The Nap Time”) and the Caf Staff who baked us over 100 cupcakes! We’re looking forward to the year ahead and hope to see fun and success in all our programs. Jeen S, Whittall ’14 Photos by Danielle A, Mackenzie ’14

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