For those of you who haven't been lured into the lyrca-clad inner sanctum of your college boat clubs, an erg is essentially an indoor rowing machine (those things in the gym people sit on and do something that vaguely resembles rowing). But for those who have become part of the Boatie Brigade – or have simply been lured by that funny whirring sound ergs make in the gym – will know full well how physically gruelling they can prove to be.

The Queens' Ergs competition provides a stepping-stone into this world of pain for newcomers to the university and the sport – "novices" as they are affectionately termed. College Boat Clubs are the first exposure to rowing for many – either water or erg-based – and thus Queens' Ergs offers the perfect opportunity to become bedded into the competitive element of the sport. Novices are expected to row 500m in teams of eight; not a massive distance, but enough to induce a healthy dose of burning lactic acid. 

Queens' Ergs is well-attended, consistently attracting in excess of 1,000 rowers each year, and this is largely due to the event's atmosphere: friendly and welcoming, but at the same time fuelled by competitive spirit and college pride. 

The competition is split into four categories which all follow the same premise – an 8 x 500m relay with 20 seconds allowed for changeover between each rower. The first to row are NM1 and NM2, the Novice Men's and Women's first boats, then NM2 and NW2, and so on, followed eventually by the third and on some occasions even fourth, boats. There is also an invitation-only event designed to showcase Cambridge’s senior rowers who battle it out in a separate competition, setting an example for the future boaties-to-be. The scoring system works by taking an average time from eight rowers over the 500m and calculating the quickest team in each division.

Darwin and Newnham were the fastest crews in the NM1 and NW1 divisions, while in the NM2 competition, Homerton’s average split of 1:36.2 was over three seconds quicker than Magdalene, who edged Churchill to second place. Newnham were yet again victorious in the NW2 event, with their third boat pulling out a highly impressive split of 1:57.7, they were the only team in the final to notch a time under two minutes 

Individual novice achievement was also acknowledged, with Moyewa Odiase from Pembroke clocking the quickest men's time of the day with 1:24.3, and Annarie Roussow from Christ’s the fastest lady in 1:37.8.

Overall it seems Queens' Ergs is a welcoming environment in which to introduce novice rowers to the sport, something that is only confirmed by talking to those who took part. 

“I think Queens Ergs is fantastic” said Raphael from Jesus, “this is my first rowing competition and it’s a great opportunity to compete even if it’s not on the water. Physically, it felt like running a short sprint – it’s the same sort of feeling, really exhausting. You feel bad when you’re out there and it’s hurting, but feel good afterwards." “The competition is a great social experience as well, there’s so many people cheering you on which really drives you on.”

Sally May, also from Jesus, agreed that it’s “been good fun. I’ve never held an oar before so this was my first experience of competitive rowing. We are an NW2 team who managed to make it into the NW1 final.

“It’s a bit like running a relay, but I probably wouldn’t put that much exertion into a running race.

“The atmosphere really helped. We were right next to the speakers but have been shouting a lot as well. I definitely want to keep rowing. I probably won’t be doing it for the rest of my life, but I think I’ve caught the bug enough to do it for the rest of my time at Cambridge.”