Trinity College Annual Record 1996

Account of the year by Damien Maltarp, Captain 1995 - 1996

Michaelmas 1995 began with a pre-term training camp on the Cam in order to secure a head start for the University Fours. The men entered three crews consisting of two matched fours, racing as a shell four and a light four, and a 2nd shell four. In the first round the light four went out in the semi-finals to the eventual winners, Clare. The 2nd shell four was knocked out by a "light-weight ladies" Christ's four after beating King's in the first round and the 1st shell four went on to win, beating Christ's in a nail-biting final. This was the shell four's second victory of the term after winning its category in the Bedford Autumn Head. The women entered two fours. The second four unfortunately had to stop racing due to an asthma attack, and the first four got through to the semi-finals where they were beaten by Trinity Hall, the eventual winners. The following weekend, the 1st shell, light and women's 1st fours raced in the Head of the River Fours, where all crews recorded good times, and the 1st shell again won its category. Four men's eights were entered into the Fairbairns, more than any other club, and performed excellently. The 1st VIII won by a large margin, the 2nd eight won the "Fastest 2nd VIII" plaque and the 3rd VIII beat all other 3rd VIII's. This is the first time the Club has won the Fairbairn Cup in over twenty years. The women entered 2 VIII's with stern four from the first VIII racing again in the fours division. The 2nd VIII was the fastest 2nd VIII on the river and the first IV won the fours division recording a satisfying win over Trinity Hall amongst others. During the term wins were also made in the Colquhoun Sculls (J. Elliott) and the Cam Autumn and the Winter Heads. The Club also purchased four new boats: a restricted VIII (named Titan), a pair/double (Hambleden) and two sculls (Magpie and Stump).

Like the previous term, Lent term began with a training camp on the Cam which was attended by most of the Club. Five men's crews were put out, but due to the cancellation of most of the term's races due to ice, they had little experience when the Bumps started. This proved not to be a problem for the 1st VIII which had improved on its Fairbairns form and won its Blades bumping Emmanuel (15 strokes from the finish), Pembroke (with ease), Jesus (in a re-row on the Saturday morning) and Lady Margaret (with satisfaction). The 2nd VIII met with disaster on the first day when their rudder string snapped after two strokes. Despite this they managed to row almost the whole course and nearly bumped before ploughing into the bank and being hit by Clare II. They bumped back the next day, rowed over on Friday and then bumped Queens' II on the last day. Lower down, the 3rd VIII ended up one place after bumping up four (twice as sandwich boat) and then being overbumped and the 4th VIII went up two places. The 5th VIII failed to get on.

The three women's crews were entered in the bumps. The 1st VIII, with only 3 of the previous term's 1st crew remaining, fought hard but were caught by CCAT on the first day and went down again on the last, having rowed over on Thursday and Friday. The 2nd VIII rowed on and then rose three places in the first three days, making it look easy. Unfortunately, they rowed over on the last day with nothing to chase. They did however, at last secure a permanent 2nd boat place in the Lent bumps. The 3rd VIII failed to get on.

A men's eight was entered in the Head of the River Race in London two weeks into the Easter Vacation. Although beaten by three Cambridge Colleges it moved up 30 places from its previous position. A week later the University Boat Races took place in which three members of the First and Third represented Cambridge and were victorious: A. Beary and S. Postlethwaite in Blondie and J. Elliott in the men's Blue Boat.

The term ended with a long but enjoyable trip to Ely and back in a mixed crew. The pub lunch and Cathedral were memorable. The May term commenced with a pre-term training camp. A men's 1st boat squad of ten oarsmen went to Peterborough, whilst the women and the men's 2nd VIII stayed in Cambridge. Crews were selected two weeks into Term and a total of seven men's and four wornen's crews were put on the water. A number of races we entered to help with preparations for the Bumps; the Cam Head stands out as a particularly successful one for the Club. Valuable experience was gained at Nottingham Regatta and the Women's 1st boat won their category in the Cam Regatta. In the bumps, the 1st men's had the arduous task of rowing over every day, closing on but not quite catching Emmanuel on two of the days, while the 2nd men's went up one bumping Caius too easily on the first day. The fortunes of the lower boats were mixed. The 3rd boat went up one, the 4th VIII narrowly missed blades to go up 3, the 5th VIII, despite bumping on the 1st day, were subsequently bumped and over bumped, and the 6th VIII remained level.

The women's 1st VIII fought all the way, but again fell two places after an exciting re-row in which they rowed over in front of Jesus II. The 2nd VIII continued their steady climb up the 3rd division winning well deserved blades, whilst the extremely colourful 3rd VIII rose two places including a satisfying bump on Lucy Cavendish, who had escaped the previous day. The men's 7th and women's 4th boats failed to get on.

May Week was interrupted for the women by training for women's Henley at the end of the week. In the first round their opposition failed to turn up, putting them through to the final day's rowing, when they were beaten by St Hild and St Bede (Durham) in a good race by about a length and a half. After recovering from the May dinner, May Week and the Association dinner, a men's VIII started training for Henley Royal Regatta. Despite almost missing their qualifying race due to traffic delays on the way to Henley, the crew qualified for the Temple Challenge cup, but was subsequently knocked out in the first round of the regatta by a swift Durham University. The crew spent the rest of the week consoling themselves with Pimms in the enclosures. The Club would like to wish Dan Darley (Club Captain), Ella Jameson (Ladies' Captain) and Raf Carbonell (Secretary) every success in the forthcoming year.