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All race reports for Ulrike Bauer

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2006 - Lower VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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To put something straight first: This heading is out-of-date. We did race as seniors for the very first time (and did well!), so the caption has to be:

3rd women's VIII, Lower VIIIs

Okay, back to the race:
1. We rowed well (or 'good' or whatsoever) ...FACT!
2. We beat Newnham II. During the second half of the race we gained more than 14 seconds on them!
3. Again in the second half, we also were 10 seconds faster than Girton II!
4. Sarah: that coxing was marvellous!
5. We got not disqualified! (Thank you Lyns, for kissing all those Jesus-asses...)

See you all at training camp in Lent term!!!

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2007 - 2nd division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Lots of things to work on before Bumps though as well. We were improving from race to race today, but nevertheless we didn't row as impressively as last week, and thus I think it's just logical that we didn't win the thing today. Let's work hard and improve for Bumps!

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2006 - Cup
Posted as: Ulrike
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Given that we were rowing for the first time with 2 Subs and me on stroke position we really did well (especially in the first round)!!! The second round was really a bit unlucky, and the nasty weather conditions and all that sitting around and waiting in cold and damp clothes over most of the day did not really help to keep up our spirits, but nevertheless, we went out again and really fought for it. I'm proud to be member of this crew!!!

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Wednesday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Not our best row ever, but job more than done. Tomorrow we will hopefully be a good deal less nervous and row as pretty as we know we can!

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Saturday
Posted as: Ulrike
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The toughest race I ever had. It felt like dying instantly when we rowed past the kink, and I remember thinking 'sh**, another 3 mins to go'. I have no idea how I managed to keep moving and putting power down until we finally (ages later, it seemed) passed the finish line. And I will never understand how the distance between the Railway Bridge and Peter's Posts can extend so much that it ends up being longer than all the way down from the start to there (somehow it did though).

Back in Michaelmas Term, when I thought of defending the headship all I felt was naked fear, and I was sure this would end up in total embarressment. Nobody believed we could do this, including ourselves. 5 months later, finding ourselves reffered to as 'legends', I still feel like living in a totally irrealistic dream! I keep waking up at nighttime, turning on the light to have a quick glance at my headship medal, just to confirm it is there and things really happened!

We worked hard to achieve this, and we paid with sweat and blood (most oar handles had stains after the race) for this victory. I personally was so knackered that I couldn't even open my water bottle anymore, and Iain had to heave me out of the boat. I hope I never have to go thus far beyond my physical limits again, but at the same time it was totally worth it!

We did it! (Still can't quite believe it.) WE REALLY DID IT!!!

We wrote history and made FaT the first club ever to retain a double headship!

Ra Ra First and Third!!!

3: Height - 5'6''; weight - 9.6 st; age - 33; highest boat before Mich 2007 - W2.

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Friday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Well done guys!
Go out now and finish this week in style!!!

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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After beating Emma in the semi-finals we had already achieved everything we ever dreamt of. I guess that and the fact that we were all dead tired by that time (I kept yawning during marshalling and all the way down to the startline) added a lot to us being not even a bit nervous anymore for the final. We simply had nothing to loose.
Caius in contrast seemed very over-confident - having 2 blues in the boat - and hopelessly over-rated straightaway from the start. We were down a third of a length almost instantly. Although most of us probably didn't believe in a win anymore at this point we still thought we can as well give up when we reach the finishline and are still behind, so we settled into our rythm, focused on our own rowing and started to push back. We drew level under the railway bridge and started to overtake slowly. I guess they just gave in by then or were blown out from going at a ridiculously high rate, whatsoever, it seemed we just had more heart than they have, and consequently we had clear water at the finish line.

For the first time I feel that we really deserve to be FaT W1!!! And I'm damn proud to be part of this crew! As long as we want it, nobody is going to steal the headship from us!!!

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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YEAH! There's always a first time... :-)!

We concentrated on this one and had the first really nice start. Consequently we pulled away from the first stroke, and apparently they never really came back.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Finally we started to row together. We were still very nervous though and didn't really calm down. And the thought of Emma in the next round left us even more nervous after this one.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Even worse. Complete panic on the start and total disharmony afterwards. Only after one of the girls caught a crab we suddenly came to our senses and calmed down. At least the second half was a slight improvement compared to round 1. To cite Iain: 'I really appreciate that you try to make it more exciting for the spectators on the bank but is this really necessary?!'

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Not much to say about this one. Just really bad rowing. Concentration and focus were not really aided by getting up at 6ish and by lots of adrenalin on the startline. Only positive aspect was to see that we can row really really spacky and still win a race.

Event: Head of the Nene 2008 - Novice VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Awesome! Bring up Bumps!

Event: Christmas Head 2008 - S4 4+
Posted as: Ulrike
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Let's call it an outing under race conditions...

With only 4 outings before the race and 3 crew members who had never been in a racing IV before this week, there was not much to expect and we were definitely not going for a good time but rather for a decent row. Consequently, we rowed most of the race at about rate 21. Coming up towards Elizabeth Way Bridge the schoolboy's VIII chasing us caught up quickly which caused us to have a spontaneous burst at about 25 that felt surprisingly good and made the boat move suddenly. Unfortunately it only lasted until the schoolboys crashed into us trying to push through on the inside of the bend (where there was about a meter between our blades and the concrete wall).

A very useful practise for the (Ex-)novices though, and the definite proof that you can fit Rachel into the cox seat of Sirens ;-)!

Event: Cambridge Small Boats Head 2009 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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Second race in a single, first one on the Cam. Fortunately, I wasn't half as nervous as in P'boro, but still too nervous for my liking...

I had a decent start and started to catch up on the schoolgirl ahead of me right away. Unfortunately the overflow of adrenalin from my silly nerves pretty much switched off my thinking, and as a consequence I took the worst possible line around every single corner of the course. The adrenalin, together with the fact that I had actually never done a piece past the railway bridge, also caused me to blow up completely somewhere between the railway bridge and Peter's posts. It was also somewhere around there where my fin picked up a reasonably sized ball of weed which caused me to drift to one side on every recovery from then on, apart from not actually helping to bring up the boat speed...
I somehow fought my way through to the finish line, not without crabbing twice on the last 50 m.

On the positive side, I got the fastest bridge-to-bridge time so far (9:27, kindly taken by Julijana), and (again, according to Julijana) ca. 50% of my strokes looked pretty tidy with nice and quick catches. (The other half was completely off...) Still, not bad given that I made massive technical changes during the last week before the race.

Coming 1st in WNovice and 7th out of 13 female scullers in all categories is clearly more than I expected and leaves me perfectly happy with the day :-D!

Event: Peterborough Summer Sprint 2009 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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This was my first ever race in a single, so I had no idea how fast I was compared to the opposition. Consequently, I didn't expect to get anywhere further than the first round, and my sole aim was to reach the finish line without crashing or capsizing.
After a shakingly nervous start, I was so focused on this aim that I completely forgot to push. Only after I realized that I miraculously had been going for quite a while and still not fallen in, I dared to look around and was surprised that I could still see one of the opponents! At that point I finally remembered pushing but by then the 500m were pretty much over...
In conclusion, this was probably the worst sculling I've ever done but I still didn't capsize and didn't even come last, and so I took a massive boost of self-confidence back to Cambridge. And was only the slightest bit annoyed with myself knowing that I clearly could have done better...

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Awesome, girls! Very proud of you!!
Go out tomorrow and get Churchill - I know you can do it!

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Really good row. Queens were never a threat even though we had to take quite an adventurous line around first post thanks to some cunning marshall sending Christ's right across the river in front of us. Awesome push down the reach when we realised that the double overbump was within the realms of possibility. Tomorrow's definitely gonna be fun!!

Event: Peterborough Sprint Regatta 2009 - WIM3
Posted as: Ulrike
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Most possible contrast to the first one. Still lots of commitment, but this time together. Most enjoyable row in a long time!

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - 4th division
Posted as: Ulrike
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AWESOME, GIRLS!!!
Would have loved to see you row!
Just keep this spirit up and carry on training hard, and there'll be no way anyone snatches the headship from you guys!!!

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - College 1st
Posted as: Ulrike
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Positive points:

We didn't crash.
We didn't come last (time-wise). In fact, we beat 9 other crews, among them 2 VIIIs (okay, they must have been really crap).
We had a really good line on the first leg.
We finally got it together and rowed nicely for the last 40 or 50 strokes of the race.

Negative points:

Well, all the rest, I would say.
On the first leg, we managed to sustain a surprisingly high rate (probably around 30ish) for the whole course, but our rowing was definitely spacky and it felt quite rushed. Thanks to the stream, our time wasn't too bad.
On the way back, we started off not too badly but lost it completely around the corners. Zig-zagging down the gut and Plough reach didn't really make it better, and so the women's single chasing us had caught up quite a bit by the time we came onto the reach. As said above, we finally managed to remember how to row at around the kink and slowly gained back some distance on the single, but not enough to get a good time on this one.

Conclusion:
Good practise and nice to have something to train for before I go off for field work! We definitely benefited a lot from training in a small boat for 2 weeks - massive thanks to JPD and Tom Rose for some very helpful coaching!!!

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2008 - College IVs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Definitely one of the best rows I ever had! Technically neat and amazingly smooth, we kept good length and cover, a relaxed rhythm at an average rate of 29-30, and consequently a good run. I wouldn't have believed before that Fairbairns (exspecially in December and after having rowed it in the VIII already) actually could be fun, but this was purely enjoyable!

Event: University IVs 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Got the start right this time, but made up for it by making the following 10 or so strokes quite wobbly. Then we settled into it again and drove off - pretty much like yesterday. Amazing how much fun racing can be!

Event: Peterborough Sprint Regatta 2009 - WIM3
Posted as: Ulrike
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Technique-wise one of the worst rows we had so far as a whole crew. Being frozen solid for the start didn't really help, nor did the heavy rain or the substantial cross-/tail-wind. On the positive side, it was probably the most committed row so far as well. Everybody pretty much ignored the weather, the pain, the cold muscles and the fact that we were down on the other crews from the start, and gave it all to win it back. It's this sort of commitment that we want for our races this week, just combined with better rowing!

Event: University IVs 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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We didn't quite have the best start ever, and consequently they took about half a length off us from the start. Once we settled into our rhythm, however, we moved off and never gave them the slightest chance to come back. Must have been kind of a deja-vu for them...

Definitely the smoothest and best-balanced row we had so far as a crew! It was hard work all the way through but nevertheless most enjoyable at the same time! We made this boat fly today - let's do the same for the rest of the week!!!

Event: Peterborough Summer Regatta 2010 - W.IM3 2x
Posted as: Ulrike
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The conditions had decided to turn pretty evil and we had to fight a considerable cross-head wind and some seriously choppy water in an approaching thunderstorm. In combination with the number of races we had already done this made the row more than unpleasant and definitely took its toll on our sculling technique as well. We crashed less than in previous races and beat the 3rd place quite comfortably but were beaten pretty clearly in the end.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2010 - women's
Posted as: Ulrike
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I knew I had to attack this one straight away as McClean had beaten me 4 weeks earlier in STCS by 10s. Due to some epic communication failure, I didn't have a bankparty for the race, which isn't exactly helpful when starting from bottom station.

Consequently, my race plan was pretty simple: Keep it controlled for the first 3 strokes, then wind as high as possible and go flat out for 2k while trying not to crash and take some not totally appaling lines around the corners. You might have noticed that this plan actually lacks a point to settle into a rhythm... which is very likely why I forgot about that during the race as well. After a good corner around First Post (focussing on not letting the rate drop), a substantial push down the gut, and a clearly suboptimal line around Grassy I realised midway down Plough Reach that I had never settled into a sustainable rate and that the second half of the race would be all but pleasant. On the positive side, when looking to the side I could see McClean's stern from the corner of my eye, so I knew I had a comfortable lead by then. So I gritted my teeth and pushed on, finally thinking a bit more about ratio and technique, but making up for that by taking another rather bad corner around Ditton. Coming past the kink I lined up for what I thought where the finish should be and wound it up to unsustainable again, unfortunately without really looking round to confirm my line. As a consequence, I gradually approached the bank and finally managed to crash about 10m before the finish line. After swearing in a clearly not-ladylike manner, stopping, pushing out and restarting it took about 3-4 strokes to actually cross the finish, which I confirmed by asking the marshall at least 3 times if this really was the finish.

I was utterly convinced that the crash had cost me the victory but apparently there was still the minimum necessary margin left to win it :-D!

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2010 - women's
Posted as: Ulrike
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I was pretty knackered after the semi final so wasn't too annoyed by the fact that all races were running incredibly late, and we had to wait around at baitsbite for ages until we finally got started. My only worry was that I might actually fall asleep while lying down in the boat and might let go of my blades then...

I knew from the way up that my paddling was substantially faster than Gale's so I decided to focus on proper technique (and actually settle) in this race rather than going flat out again. I also had bank party for this one as Tom was so nice to phone Fordy, and started from top station, so all advantages finally on my side!

Very pleased with the result indeed, and looking forward to the regatta season now!!

Event: City Sprints 2010 - Inv W Novice 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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Since CCRC decided to split up the few female 1x entries into even more categories I ended up with one single opponent who turned out to be a schoolgirl. Unfortunately she crashed into the bank about 100 m into the race which left me with no real opposition at all. Slightly disappointing, given that a combination of the 3 (!) W Novice categories could have provided at least some sort of competition and the chance for a few more races.

Event: May Bumps 2010 - Wednesday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Woooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

So massively proud of you guys - absolutely amazingly awesome!! I'm gutted I couldn't come down to watch but I'll definitely be there for the Grande Finale on Saturday! :-D

Event: Peterborough Summer Regatta 2010 - W.Nov 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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A race that's better quickly forgotten. I had tried the boat briefly a few days before but with different sculls that apparently had significantly slimmer collars. Unfortunately I only realised that the gates were much too tight once I'd pushed out. Quite understandably, neither I nor any of the folks around me on the way to the start happened to have a spanner on them...

The race was accordingly more than unpleasant. I had loosened the gates as much as I dared without risking them to come undone during the race but still had to wrench around the blades violently every stroke. Consequently my hands and forearms were totally cramped up halfway into the race and my technique accordingly screwed up. I haven't sculled that badly in a while!

Crashing into the buoys in regular intervals during the race didn't really help either... every time I caught up with my opponents again I found myself on one or the other side of the lane again. Given that the lanes in P'boro are actually quite wide I must have steered some impressive zig-zag!

Nevertheless I managed to push back several times and in the end I only missed out on the rep by 3 seconds. Which made the whole mess even more annoying! A glance at the results table showed that the first 3 boats in my heat were all within 6s, and the heat itself was about 30s faster than both other heats.

Event: Peterborough Summer Regatta 2010 - W.IM3 2x
Posted as: Ulrike
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Pretty smooth and comfortable row given that this was only the 3rd time we were in a 2x together. We had some early buoy-clashes and were down a bit after the start but then started to slowly but continuously push through our opposition to a quite comfortable lead in the finish.

Event: Peterborough Summer Regatta 2010 - W.IM3 2x
Posted as: Ulrike
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Slightly more tense and heavy than the heats, but only fair as the wind had picked up a bit and Sarah had literally just jumped out of the single before the race.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Regatta 2010 - W Nov 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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I have hardly ever sculled worse. However, my opposition was still worse than that, so I won despite about half a dozen crabs.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Regatta 2010 - W Nov 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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A textbook example how bad nerves can screw up a race despite the fact that you are faster than your opposition.

I started. I got approximately to "lengthen". Then I crabbed.

I restarted. I kind of found my rythm (well, at something frantic like r34) and caught up. When I was level with my opposition I crashed into the bank.

I restarted. I put in a series of all-out pushes until I was level again. My opposition decided to steer into me so that I was wedged in between the bank on one side and overlapping blades on the other. I was, however, a tiny bit ahead at that time so that the overlap would *only* affect me if I crabbed. (This was about 100m to go to the finish.) I crabbed.

I restarted. By that time I was basically foaming with rage and consequently wound it up to approximately 38, which brought me almost level again on the finish line. Unfortunately only *almost*.

I would have liked to be a bit more successful in my last ever race as FaT. Ah well, at least I put up a good fight!

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2009 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Until yesterday I would have written off anyone who suggested that racing Fairbairns could actually be enjoyable as a complete nuthead. I was wrong. It WAS really fun, despite the pain and all. It felt powerful, efficient and surprisingly relaxed even when we took it up to r36 for the last 200m or so. And nothing really beats the feeling of 8 people moving neatly together and applying power in synchrony! We really made this boat fly... :-D!

I never ever enjoyed rowing that much like in the past 2 weeks! At the start of Mich term I wasn't particularly keen on VIIIS or sweep rowing in general... now I simply CAN'T WAIT FOR LENTS!!!!!!!

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2010 - Open doubles
Posted as: Ulrike
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We entered in the 'open' category as we were the only women's 2x in the whole race and thought we'd rather have some opposition. Consequently, our goal was to beat at least one of the men's crews we were racing. I guess the one we did beat in the end probably was a complete scratch crew, but then we only had one brief paddle together before the race as well, so we were pretty happy with the result!

Racing in the double was great fun and leaves me convinced that I want to do more of the same in the future!

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2010 - Ladies
Posted as: Ulrike
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Not much to say. Clear testimonial of still being way too slow. This was partly due to being really inconsistent. I started behind Anna Railton who quickly faded into the distance (well... no surprise) and in front of a girl from Emmanuel who was more in my own league. Crashing under the Motorway bridge after only about 10 strokes didn't quite help. After pushing out and restarting I slowly made ground on the Emma girl, only to have her catch up again every time I did something stupid like catching a crab or taking a really appalling line. On the positive side, I had some of my best sculling strokes so far coming towards the railway bridge. In the end I lost by about 10s to the Emma girl and know that there's lots to work on before SBR.

Event: Lent Bumps 2010 - Saturday
Posted as: Ulrike
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What a finale to my college Bumps career! After lots of issues with nerves meant that we started into the week signifacantly below our usual performance, we gradually found back to our rowing and improved from day to day. On the last day, we finally showed spectators and opposition why 'Head of the River' is really the only position we can be in this term!

The first stroke was still a bit nervous but already during the 'build'-strokes it became obvious that there was nothing to worry about at all. Downing had announced that they would treat this as a 'race to the Plough', giving it all off the start and sprinting for us, but they never got anywhere near us. We found our rhythm, pushed through the corners and down the gut, and flew down Plough reach, carried by the cheers of the crowd. Coming out of Ditton, we did our usual push onto the reach and started walking away. The sight of Downing fading into the distance between Ditton and the kink will stay in my mind as one of the sweetest rowing memories ever!

From then on, it was really only about how much margin we could put between us and them. Our bankparty called 3 1/2 lengths coming under the railway bridge, and we gradually extended that to 4 lengths on the finish line.

All that is left is to say a heartfelt thank you to my crew and the coaches. I have never enjoyed rowing as much as in the last two terms. I've never before been part of a crew with such an amazing crew spirit, where the feeling of belonging together and trusting each other extends far beyond the boathouse! Thanks to all of you! Rowing with you guys is a pure pleasure!

And thanks to Sonya for being our 'brain', our motivation and simply the most amazing cox we could possibly have!

Massive thanks to Tom for uncounted hours at the river, for carrying huge amounts of kit while cycling like crazy, for offering your place for crew pasta again and again, and for organising all and everything around us so smoothly that we never had to worry about anything and could totally focus on our rowing. This would not have been possible without your commitment to captaincy!

Finally, our deepest thanks go to the coaches that forged us into the fastest women's college crew currently on the Cam. JPD, who came down from London so often that we gained the impression he'd moved to Cambridge, and who even came out to Ely to see us sparring with CUW. And Iain. Having you back, believing in us, giving us confidence and sharing your experience with us meant more than I can describe with words. Your smile at the finish line was the sweetest reward after every race, better than any pot or medal in the world could be! Thanks for every early morning this term, for every Saturday you came to see us race, for coming all the way to Peterborough and Ely with us! This is your headship as much as ours.

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2009 - College IVs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Classy repetition of last year's performance.

The start from backstops was slightly wobbly, not at all surprising since everyone had to get adjusted to following someone new. The plan was to row as similar to how we all rowed in the VIII as possible to make sure we find a good rhythm, and it totally worked out. After a short but efficient wind we settled into a chunky and pretty relaxed r30 which eventually dropped down slightly to r28 final cruising speed.

Despite significantly underrating CUW ahead we constantly kept moving up on them over the course. The distance to Downing behind us was difficult to guess from the boat. It looked like they were gaining on us between Chesterton and and the Railway Bridge; however, an epic final push from the kink onwards all the way to the finish obviously meant that we moved away again and eventually finished with a comfortable 7s margin.

Fortunately, Swords had done his homework after the VIIIs and steered absolutely smashing lines throughout.

We were all pretty knackered from the morning and didn't think we'd stand a chance to win this anyway, but then it felt so surprisingly efficient and well together for a scratch IV that I think at some point we tacitly and unanimously decided to really give it all again.

It was totally worth it. Beating every other crew out there means that next year FaT first Ladies IV will start ahead of CUW. Which is how it really should be!

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2009 - Student Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Having lost by a margin of 2 seconds sucks. Especially knowing that we could have pushed that extra bit harder to get these 2 seconds. No excuse for that.

On the positive side, we had our best row together so far, and it was really noticeable that things finally start getting together. Let's build on this and really consolidate the technical achievements! Our main issue so far was not a lack of strength or fitness but of togetherness in the boat. We're getting there now. I'm getting excited to see what we can do if we synchronise our power!!

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2009 - Single Sculling Sprint Challenge
Posted as: Ulrike
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Apart from the absolutely hilarious marshalling procedure along Riverside, and the delay of almost an hour by that time, the actual race went quite smoothly. Thanks to some amazing bank-steering from Neil, I took a lot better lines than in Small Boats Head. Despite the clear lack of sculling training over the past weeks it felt technically reasonably ok. Curious to see the results (well, if they EVER manage to put them up!), although I guess being in the later division didn't really help, given that the wind picked up constantly over the day.

P.S.:
Now, with the results out, the resumé is obvious: too slow!

Event: University IVs 2009 - 1st division
Posted as: Ulrike
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Well done!!!
All the best luck for tomorrow, girls!!

Event: Pairs Head 2009 - Mx.IM3.2x
Posted as: Ulrike
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Altogether a solid row, given that we only had 4 outings beforehand. We kept a nice solid rhythm for most of the course, only slightly struggling in the middle bit where we were hit by the head wind and some pretty choppy water. We overtook quite a few crews on our way and were only overtaken by the Reading 2x that went on to win the category.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2009 - College VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Excellent job girls :-)!!!

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2010 - Women's 2x
Posted as: Ulrike
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The race was run as a timed head race with a rolling start as only 3 out of 4 entered crews turned up and everybody agreed that this was the most sensible procedure. All 3 crews finished within 10s, with the Eddie's double winning and the Fitz double beating us by just 1s. Definitely annoying to loose so closely, but on the positive side a respectable result given our quite limited amount of outings together, and my lack of steering experience.

I believe we kept it at a solid rate 30-32 through most of the race, winding it up to 36 for the last 250m into the finish. I had good lines around First Post and Grassy and definitely a suboptimal line around Ditton. That, together with a mini-crab from Julia on Plough Reach at a point where we just started to move REALLY nicely definitely cost us the second place, and possible even the win. Nevertheless, we definitely hit some nice rhythm out of Grassy and down the Long Reach, so overall a positive resumée.

Event: May Bumps 2011 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Well done nevertheless, guys! I watched you from Grassy and you put up a GOOD FIGHT!!! :-)

Event: Christmas Head 2010 - IM3 1x
Posted as: Ulrike
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You had a banksteerer??! Surely that's cheating...!

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2010 - Invitational VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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In an unpreceeded fit of keeness BPBC women decided not only to have a practice outing for Fairbairns but a practice race! Now this was so unthinkable indeed that Cantabs spontaneously decided that the notion "W Inv 8+" on the entry form must have been a misspelling and instead put us in the draw as men. They also had a lot of confidence in our fitness and speed and decided to send us off 2nd in our division.

After realising that there wasn't any W Inv opposition in the draw we thought we might as well take on the challenge and race against the men... and Cantabs came up with the ingenious idea to create a sponaneous time handicap system for us. It remains to see if they actually implemented it...

After an initial unsuccessful attempt to get the timing around the back end together we gave up on that and decided to just make up for the lack of togetherness by increasing the "grunt factor". Cantabs in turn decided to start us first in the division and then not give us more than the usual gap before setting off a LMBC men's VIII to hunt us down. We responded with an epic push out of First Post which helped to delay the inevitable for a little while, but unfortunately we then panicked a bit on Plough Reach when LMBC steamed past us. After some wobbles around Ditton we got it back together on the Reach and found a slightly too controlled but reasonably efficient rhythm for everything but the back end which was still all over the place since we all felt the desperate urge to keep up some individualism. We nevertheless put up a good fight against Pembroke men who came up from behind and held them off pretty much up to Peters Posts. In summary, it was a committed though not pretty row and for a scratch crew we gave a pretty solid performance!

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2011 - Invitation VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
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Being a rather random line-up with half of the crew not having been in a boat for at least a year, the expectations (and ambitions) were mixed and ranged from "we should be fairly competitive" to "can we just race past the boathouses and then paddle it home?". Bow four got about 3-5 practice strokes before the start while stern four just "visualised" how to row, and then we were set off. Maybe it was this lack of time to actually get worried about the race, or the fact that everybody had a fairly relaxed approach to this... anyways, I think we were all surprised by how smooth and efficient and together the row felt from the very first strokes! Thanks to this and some absolutely excellent coxing from Jenny the race felt surprisingly short and the boat never felt heavy or unbalanced for more than a stroke or two. Definitely one of the most enjoyable Fairbairns experiences I remember!

Loosing out on the Invitational shield by a mere 10s agreedly was a bit annoying, especially as we could've easily worked that little bit harder (quoting Neill: "You definitely deserved a price for rowing pretty but you looked a bit too comfortable throughout the race") to make up those 10s over the course. We comforted ourselves with the fact that coming 7th overall is a *very* respectable result for a scratch crew, and that Murray Edwards probably had had a wee bit more practice beforehand than we did.

Well done ladies! It was a real pleasure to race with you and I would be pleased to do it again, whether for Fairbairns or for any of the other races around the year!

Event: Lent Bumps 2012 - Tuesday
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Gooooooooo get Emma girls!!! :-D

Event: Lent Bumps 2012 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Woooooooooooooo!!!!!
So so proud of you girls, amazing! Go finish off Emma now and put yourself in the perfect position to attack Downing next year!

Event: May Bumps 2012 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Excellent!! Upwards and onwards from here, ladies! :-)

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2012 - Invitation IV's
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Scratch IVs tend to feel a bit ropey, and having 3 strokesiders in the crew doesn't necessarily help. Given that, the fact that we all were tired, freezing cold and significantly underweight for the shell we were using, the row was surprisingly decent. Not our prettiest rowing ever, but a gutsy performance and a place in the top quarter of the field that we clearly don't have to be ashamed of!

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2012 - Invitation VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

As much as coming second hurts, I could hardly be more pleased with the achieved: a scratch crew, with only three members that do actually currently row, no warm-up, not a single practice stroke before the start, yet beating every single college crew on the river and finishing a mere 4s short of a top town crew that has been seriously training for this event. To my knowledge, this is the highest finish position Black Prince women ever achieved in Fairbairns!
The race itself was pure joy: we kept it at a solid rate 30 throughout which never felt rushed for a single stroke; I never struggled to get out to full length, Fran set an absolutely lovely rhythm and despite the occasional wobble things never fell apart. We wound up to 33 for our final sprint from about halfway down First Post Reach and finished in style. I'm so proud of every single girl in the crew - it was a pleasure to row with every one of you and I hope to see you all back for the rematch next year!

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2012 - Invitation VIIIs
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Having a BPBC 2nd women's VIII out racing was a major win in itself, and a historical first! Thanks to everyone of you for coming and racing with us, and for being so reliable and uncomplicated to organise! Beating 8 college crews and 4 invitational VIIIs on the way was more than I had dared to hope for - well done girls! Hope to see many of you back next year!

Event: Lent Bumps 2013 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
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Wooohey, well done holding up the good old tradition of bumping Emmanuel!! Next one: Downing! :-D

Event: Lent Bumps 2014 - Thursday
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Wooooooooohey!! Excellent job, ladies!

Event: Lent Bumps 2014 - Saturday
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

YESSSSS!!

Massive congratulations, girls! Sweet sweet headship, well deserved!

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Wednesday
Posted as: Ulrike
Event Link

Wooohey!! Well done girls! Onwards and upwards from here!
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