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All race reports for Danny McMillan

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2007 - Cup
Posted as: DM
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This was much more like it. A good start followed by some controlled rowing meant we left the opposition trailing in our wake for the whole race. Sorry about the rubbish call for a push off the bridge, but you kept your heads well to close out the race and showed the opposition that a fast start doesn't guarantee a victory.

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2007 - Cup
Posted as: DM
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Not so much of a race as a comedy of errors. After 3 strokes we were well up on the opposition before they decided to crab and veer right into us. After a few blade clashes and some incompetent marshaling (telling us to row on straight after blowing the 'hold them up whistle') New Hall were rightly disqualified. Unfortunately this deprived us of some race experience, but at least it told us we could get the start right

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Thursday
Posted as: DM
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You girls must be one of the unluckiest crews on the river. Go nail Jesus III tomorrow!

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Thursday
Posted as: DM
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Much better today. A nice relaxed start got us up to race speed in good time and we held off Emma quite well until the corner. Due to bumped out crews in front I had to take first post corner wide, but I went too wide and allowed Emma to gain ground before they stuck in a really good push for the bump.

Let's have more of the same tomorrow off the start and let's really attack it when we come out of the corners.

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Wednesday
Posted as: DM
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Bloody hell, they were fast! You looked really good on the row up and the row home, so if we row over tomorrow then we'll be chasing New Hall on Thursday which should hopefully be a bump.
Hope you get better soon Kate.

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2008 - Women's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: DM
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Cheers for the beer Mark!

Event: Cardinal's Regatta 2008 - Fancy Dress
Posted as: DM
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This time there was no crazy coxing so we got a decent race. For a boat that consisted of 4 people who haven't rowed for a term and one person who has rowed seriuosly enough to have an effect on steering the start was pretty good. The rate was comfortable and the first push left us in contention. Alas, the other boat had a somewhat higher average age than ours and they seemed to be taking the whole thing a bit more seriously. They pulled ahead in the second half, and although we kept up with them they were just a bit too strong for us. We lost. I blame this on not having enough Easter eggs.

Well done Liz for coxing us on the way back, even if it was a bit hysterical at times. Sorry about my shabby rowing

Event: Cardinal's Regatta 2008 - Fancy Dress
Posted as: DM
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We managed to get ourselves a headstart of about a length due to some tactical Easter eggs. Selwyn didn't seem pleased with this, so responded by steering at us. Maybe they took their pirate costumes a bit too seriously and were actually attempting to board our boat. Anyway it caused me to get a bit too close to the bank for comfort which halted our progres somewhat. Our start hadn't been that bad, but that was about all the rowing we got in. Selwyn were rightly sent home packing.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 3rd division
Posted as: DM
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After the byes in the earlier rounds and the crash which meant we were rowing in a different boat it was fair to say we had an eventful day.

The race itself was awesome. We had one of the best starts we have ever done, getting the rate down to a reasonable level before our first push. We were a few seats down for a good bit, but our pushes drew us level. After the bridge we managed to get clear water, and although they tried to come back at us you absorbed their pushes really well and rowed really well all the way to the finish.

Well done again. Now lets get on!

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2007 - Cup
Posted as: DM
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What a race! They managed to get ahead from the start, but we knew this would happen. From there some great rowing kept us in touch before an excellent push off the railway bridge which managed to close the gap to about 1/3 of a length. There was little in it down the home straight, but sadly we didn't have quite enough as the opposition managed to find just enough to hold us off. However, this is probably some of the best stuff we have ever rowed. Everyone was getting the blades in right at the front, all of you squared early and nobody was rushed on the way forward. If we keep that standard up we should do very well at Fairbairns. Also it will be interesting to compare our time with that of this team who seemed to be entirely focused on this competition.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Saturday
Posted as: DM
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That's the one we were looking for all week; controlled and confident with effective work going down. We finally managed to hit a comfortable ryhthm off the start, and even though tit hall put in a sprint from behind the girls didn't panic and we steadily moved away from them.

A tight line round grassy and a nice lift out of the corner saw us move nicely on queens, then some moron decided to go wide round ditton. This could have ruined the whole thing, but the girls responded great to some calls down the reach and we bumped them by the houses. Definitely the kind of race I wanted to end my bumps career on.

This would be a good time to thank thoses who have made this possible; our coaches Iain, Pete Summers and Jenny who also took time out to bank party us every day. Also big thanks go to Liz for all her coaching and support, and thanks to anyone else who came to cheer us on during bumps.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: DM
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A better row than yesterday, we managed to settle and find a rhythm quicker even if it was a pip or so too high. Despite taking the most horrendous line around first post corner we got two whistles and then almost straight away hit the boat in front pretty hard. Job done again, we'll be coming at queens all guns blazing.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: DM
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Another nice start saw us hit our stride and then a call along the lines of 'that's our rate let's hold it there' produced some wonderfully spacky and splashy rowing. Still, we got them at first post. Job done.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Wednesday
Posted as: DM
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A few of us were expecting this to go less than great, so rowing over by quite a distabnce felt pretty good. It was definitely one of the better rows we've had, with a comfortable start and some nice lifts out of the corners, although we can still look for a bit more round the finish. All in all a good confidence boosting row that should set us up nicely for the rest of the week.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Wednesday
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And I bet you thought clawing back that win in the nines regatta was as good as it got. Congrats, really well done.

Event: Cardinal's Regatta 2009 - Fancy Dress
Posted as: DM
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After last year's toga fiasco we went with ninjas this year, although a few people may have thought we were terrorists and Iain even offered "the lady loves milk tray" as a suggestion...

Anyway, the row up was a good laugh with Liz taking some nice lines around the corners and me finally working out how to draw in in a fashion that resembled level.

The other boat got a head start despite a tactical easter egg and then we had a very spacky race. Apparantly there is a video lurking around somewhere which should be a laugh.

Event: Cardinal's Regatta 2009 - Fancy Dress
Posted as: DM
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The call was bowside pressure ... it didn't come.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: DM
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This sounded immense on the radio. Huge Congratulations!!!!!! Go whack Emma tomorrow!

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: DM
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Not much to say about this one. Frantic start, shit cornering and a bump in front of us almost straight away didn't really leave us with many options. We had a peak at the overbump but the rowing never really came together and with every stroke it seemed less likely. We know we can row better than this.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: DM
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After the earlier row spirits were high among the crew. We had a great row down to the start complete with two immense practice starts. Even Louise was smiling while we were pulled in at the lock!

The start was powerful and controlled, although we may have settled a few pips too high. This didn't really matter as we had planned to be in for the short haul. Once round the corner (without hitting any reeds this time) we were inside a length and moved to within half a length by the bridge. A nice push saw us close the gap even further and we hit them not long after the motorway bridge which turns out not to be the best place in the world to bump due to a slight paucity of greenery. Oh well, with my bumps record I'll take anything.

We've achieved our aim of moving up a division and tomorrow resume our tussle with corpus. Hopefully third time's a charm...

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: DM
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Losing a rower to illness overnight wasn't exactly ideal preparation for the day. Sonya kindly agrred to sub and fitted in no problem on the row up with katie coping pretty well at 7 as well.

We were confident for the row over having bumped Wolfson earlier in the week, but we knew that they would be behind us for a fair bit. Our start was clean but lacked power and this let them take some distance off us in the gut, but after we came round grassy (a bit tight...) a series of pushes saw us pull away. By the time we came onto the reach there was loads of clear water between the crews and then Clare II bumped Wolfson at ditton. We wound it down to complete an enjoyable row over.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Wednesday
Posted as: DM
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Coxing is a constant learning curve, but apparantly I pay a bit too much attention sometimes. Having been told by a million people not to steer for a bump, I can now appreciate that it's ok to do so when you have quite a few feet of overlap. Hopefully I have now had my share of fuck ups for the week.

The start felt nice - it's going to take more than a crab and some over optimistic whistles from the crew behind to unsettle us. We ditched the stride and powered along at 36 round first post and grassy where some nice pushes saw us fend off Clare and move within a length of Wolfson. At ditton it all got interesting. They went wide and a solid push from us saw us close to half a length. Then an even better push saw us close the gap steadily with every stroke. At this point everyone on the bank was screaming at me to steer over, but apparantly I go deaf in races. We hit them eventually with their bow over the line. Phew!!!

Thanks to Wolfson for a great race and to their cox for pulling us in when marshalling. Cheers, much appreciated. Thanks to the girls for getting me my first bump and sorry to our bank party for making it so tense.

Tomorrow we have nothing chasing us and have a longer course to have another go at Corpus over. Hopefully we can keep it together in the second half of the race and take the bump that eluded us yesterday.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Tuesday
Posted as: DM
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A gutsy, determined row over that's definitely one of the best rows we've had as a crew.

It was pretty controlled off the start (the real one...) and we wound to about 38 before settling around 33. By grassy we were inside a length and a solid push saw us close to half a length by ditton. However we died a bit round the corner and they were able to pull ahead. Not long before the finish they crabbed and we steadily gained on them, but it was too little too late and they crossed the line about half a length clear.

Tomorrow we are chasing Wolfson who we should catch, which means we are still on for going up a division.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2009 - 2nd division
Posted as: DM
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As Louise says LMBC have been the dominant boat in our division all term so this was always going to be the most difficult race of the day. Our start was fine and we settled into a nice rhythm again, but the power wasn't there. Maggie went off very hard and opened up a good lead over the first half of the course. However, by the railway bridge they were dying and some committed pushes from us saw us close the gap a bit, but by this point it was too late.

Despite losing this was a very encouraging day and if we row as well as we did today then we should hopefully cause a lot of people a lot of trouble in bumps.

Thanks to Alex C for subbing in the last 2 races, everyone who supported on the bank, and to Louise and Katie for carrying me in and out of the boat.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2009 - 2nd division
Posted as: DM
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A much better start saw us fairly level after the first 30 strokes before we turned the screw and took them apart seat by seat. The boat felt like it was crusing pretty much the whole way at a nice 32, and some nice effective pushes saw us produce masses of clear water. Definitely our best row of the day and a good confidence booster.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2009 - 2nd division
Posted as: DM
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Horrible, panicky, spacky, 6 different draw strokes type start and a good 40 or 50 more strokes before we settled into anything vaguely resembling a rythym. This didn't really matter as the opposition weren't up to much and we had clear water by the kink. After this we picked it up a bit and we're able to extend our lead over the rest of the course.

Event: Robinson Head 2009 - 2nd division
Posted as: DM
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The result says 4th, but Girton W2 was really their W1. Nice to see we are still gaining on Jesus and LMBC (1st and 2nd division respectively) and that we beat Pembroke.

Overall it was a pretty decent row that sagged in the middle, but some commitment and a lot of grunt (plus some spit...) saw us wind it up for the line quite well. It also suggests that fitness, rather than technique is the main factor holding us back and that with a few solid weeks work we should be able to achieve our aim of moving up into the 2nd division.

Event: University IVs 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: DM
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Didn't have the greatest of starts and a few mistakes just before the stride meant that we never really settled into a comfortable rate or rhythm. This left us about a length or so down which they slowly chipped away at as we made more mistakes and continued to row in a panicky fashion. However, they didn't really hammer home the advantage until the final 300m or so and we kept pushing right until the end.
We have done and can do a lot better than this.