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All race reports for Sonya Milanova

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Sonya
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A great finish after the rather spacky start Let's keep up the good work and kick ass in Bumps just like we walked over Emma - in style :)

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Saturday
Posted as: Sonya
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Looking at your card next to my computer I think it is time for me to thank you as well. You have made this term definitely worth it for me not only because I could have some great food with you at crew pasta ( oh..Juljiana's cake), I also had great fun and learnt a lot from Natasha, but mostly because you have taught me a very important lesson - determination and dedication allow you to get ANYTHING you want, even if it seems almost impossible at first sight.
Girls, thank you for the inspiration and you should be incredibly proud of yourselves- you are by far the best women's crew on the Cam!!

Event: Head of the Cam 2008 - College VIIIs
Posted as: Sonya
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I am still upset with myself for not making 100% sure where the finish was and just assuming it would be at the P&E as we thought. I apologise for my foolish mistake!
Otherwise the race went well and I was pleased with the performance for a scratch crew. Once we get the fitness back we should be able to keep it tidy and controlled also for the last third of the race and do much better next week.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2008 - 3rd division
Posted as: Sonya
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A good row. I am pleased with the improvement we are making and it was visible in the race today as well. The way up was lacking length but we did work on this on the way back and I was very proud of you guys for those pushes on the reach that kept LMBC off.
We have still a lot of work ahead of us but today's race showed us that we have potential to be damn fast if keep the focus all the way through.

PS. Thanks Sarah and Florian for bankpartying and their advice!!!

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Wednesday
Posted as: Sonya
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My first Bumps race as a cox and it was amazing!!!(I rowed my actual first race two hours before this one with certainly less success-see Danny's report)
I am certainly getting the hang of bumping so guys let's keep the good work up and nail Selwyn tomorrow!

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Saturday
Posted as: Sonya
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I though the row over on the second day was painful. I had no idea what was to happen on the last day. This race was very close and devastating but we at least know we gave it all out there and put everything in the last race. That is something to be proud of as well and we will get our revenge on Selwyn next year.
Thanks guys for making my first Bumps(as a cox) so much fun and thanks to Cynthia and Dan who managed to keep believing in us and coached us!

Event: Head of the Nene 2008 - Novice VIIIs
Posted as: Sonya
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Awesome day! Thanks so much for the great experience !!
As for the race as such - I think there were bits that were absolutely great and some less mainly because of the damn wind or when we saw the guys on the side- but luckily there were few of those and we got back on track quickly.
At the end of the day we were faster than Jesus :)

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - 1st division
Posted as: Sonya
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My first even won race. Thanks for the ride boys :)
But seriously, I thought this was a good commited row with its ups and downs (my personal favourite was that push on the 1st leg in the Plough) All in all, well done for a scratch crew and the first high rate piece of term. There is a lot of potential to go quite faster in the future.

Event: Maiden Sculls 2009 - Women's
Posted as: Sonya
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I guess I should write a few words. I never expected to win and only hoped to prove to be competent enough not to lose by a lot. Well, I was fairly incompetent at the start and after realising Gerrard kept increasing her lead (being bigger and overrating me it was not surprising) I lost motivation to push really hard thus the last 20 strokes were sub-standard (on a 500m course quite lame, I know). All-in-all I was not pleased with the row but I could have figured that would happen as I have never rated high in a single for longer than few bursts in the week before the race. On the upside thanks to some good banksteering from Tom I didn't crash! Thanks :)

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: Sonya
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Amidst some impressive results from the rest of the FaT crews(go girls!!) we had to admit defeat to a fast girton crew. We put in a lot of power when girton came close in the plough and out of ditton. For a second I though we could pull away and even bump Peterhouse who were about half a length ahead and failing to bump churchill even with overlap. However, the tiredness kicked in, had a bad stroke which meant girton got us. This gutsy row today shows we deserve our place in division 1 but lets make sure we prove it tomorrow.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2009 - 2nd division
Posted as: Sonya
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This was to be the most difficult race of the day. Luckily their inability to steer even remotely straight off the start gave us a lead we eventually extended (more by sheer determination than good rowing). We beat them fair and square - without any 'cheating' by having peter in the boat or whoever all these supposed m1 rowers are.
Bring on the last week of training and hopefully we will kick some first eights' asses in Bumps.
And big thanks to Tom and Tom for coaching, Neil for keeping the boys dry and warm and everyone else cheering us on the bank.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - 4th division
Posted as: Sonya
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An amazing result girls!!

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2009 - College VIIIs
Posted as: Sonya
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I happened to race with our girls after Tom called me yesterday evening and was very nervous my fitness would let me and the whole crew down. The row up to the start was I think good for what I thought was essentially a scratch crew rowing mostly in fours the last few weeks. On the start line, I was suddenly aware of the fact I agreed to race 2.7k with almost no training and having rowed sweep twice since Mays. Nervous. We hit rate 30 actually easily and despite Emma's lenghten calls we held it there. Felt good and stayed OK till Ditton. On the Reach we had a lot of grunty pushes (literally, grunty) and came pretty close to the City boat ahead of us, which was the only motivation I had not to give up. We kept it up quite controlled till the end the Reach when we just went flat out for the finish, which of course felt like miles away and technically less polished.
I am very very glad I subbed in for this race and I had loads of fun. We all did :)

Event: Head of the Nene 2010 - IM3 VIIIs
Posted as: Sonya
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Good result. At the start we were all just too cold and miserable but got into a decent rhythm for the first half well. The strong middle 2min didn't happen quite well enough and it was a little without spark until we started chasing down Nottingham Trent. Overtaking them went well (we do respond well to a crew next to us) and after a wobbly 10 strokes we got on with it and got clear water. At this point I went for the last 2 min section which took 3:30 min as our race plan accounted for a 20min race(oops) but this way we got a really hard solid final section hoping to see that finish (why did they hide the signs in some bushes?!).
We have a good foundation to build on for WeHoRR. We need to get just a bit more consistent with the pressure and rhythm. But before that, bring on Pembroke Regatta and Bumps!

Event: Lent Bumps 2010 - Saturday
Posted as: Sonya
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Fuck yeah. I called this before we got Emma on day 1, and a few times on day 4 walking away from Downing. It really sums it up. Total Domination! (Watching Bring it on was indeed great pre-race preparation :))

Since Fairbairns everyone knew FaT W1 are coming to get the headship and we were determined to not only stay head but do so with a great margin. On day 4 I have to say we executed this race plan to perfection.

Repeating what was said at the dinner, I want to thank Tom for being a great Captain, JPD and Neil for putting so much hope and effort into us and Iain for always making rowing seem so simple.

A thanks to all who carried the boat with me and Natasha on it. I know we are heavy but it was an amazing experience!!

And finally, thanks to all my girls. I love you all!

Event: Women's Head of the River Race 2010 - Intermediate 3 VIIIs
Posted as: Sonya
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Having listened to my recording from the race and looked all the photos, I have to say I still don't know what exactly happened that we had such a terrible bladeclash (which with no doubt ranks as the most scary moment of my two years of coxing). Had I known that the crew I am overtaking would simply refuse to do even the slightest concession of the line despite being on the inside of the bend and us having the right of way anyway, I might have done things differently, but that is the advantage of hindsight. At least they got a penalty for impeding us..
As it is, we had a fairly good result even with having to stop rowing twice, to the entertainment of the crowds on Hammersmith. However, it would have been really nice to actually be able to compare ourselves with the rest of the field but we will have to wait for regatta season for that. (also, well done to Pembroke who must have had a great race!)

Event: May Bumps 2012 - Friday
Posted as: Sonya
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Fuck yeah!!! So proud of you girls!!!!!!!