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All race reports for Sam Bell

Event: Nottingham City Regatta 2012 - Senior3 IV+
Posted as: Sam
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Wow. Spurious accusations indeed. I blame the gate... Quiche had nothing to do with it. A positive result considering the lack of outings. More regattas please...

Event: May Bumps 2012 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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We attacked the race, and rowed it on our terms. Maggie moved on us at the Reach, and we succumbed at the P&E. There was always full commitment from the crew, and in time, we'll remember that race as a gutsy stand against a faster crew. Let's crack 'em next year!

Event: Head of the River Race 2012 - In3
Posted as: Sam
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With the crew only having a week to transition from Bumps racing to HORR, this was always going to be challenge. Off the start, we lacked some aggression, surging to 31/32 (this rate was pretty much constant throughout the race). Reading University came up quickly behind, but some strategic blade-clash under Barnes Bridge nullified the danger. The potential consequence of this was only realised when they walked past en masse after the race, murder in their eyes.

Preceding Hammersmith, we rowed with decent composure and timing, and coming up to Hammersmith, I actually believed we could pull off a good performance.

We then decided to blow up spectacularly, just in time to emerge from under Hammersmith Bridge to a headwind and choppy water.

This destroyed our cohesion, and we never really regained this for any significant period of time after technical lifts. The rate wind never really happened, and this sort of gear shift must be developed for Mays.

Overall, rather disappointing, but it leaves a drive to come back massive and angry. Bring on Mays!

Event: Lent Bumps 2013 - Wednesday
Posted as: Sam
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Coming into this, we knew Queens' were capable of bumping, and that we had to be quick in catching them. A quick start got us the first whistle coming into First Post Corner, and despite water coming over the saxboard from some pretty hefty wash, we closed Queens' down pretty effectively into Grassy.

The crew gained overlap through the second half of the corner, with Queens' having to hand-brake turn to correct a wide line, and we should have killed it here. Unfortunately, some confusion, and more wash, meant the bump was missed, and Queens' pushed back out to half a length. We stayed in touch with Queens', but didn't come as close again. They bumped out halfway down the Reach, and we were caught on the wrong (right?) side of the carnage and were forced to hold it up. With Jesus floundering in our wake, it was deemed acceptable to award a technical row-over.

Kudos to Queens' for escaping today. A more clinical row is needed tomorrow to set up the rematch.

Event: Lent Bumps 2013 - Thursday
Posted as: Sam
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For a crew rumoured to have a slower average erg than our M2, Maggie held out a reasonably long time, closing Queens' to half a length.

However, one does not simply escape winter on the Cam. We cruised through the Gut with more composure than yesterday, and got our first whistle a few strokes out of Grassy. We bumped coming into Ditton.

Event: Lent Bumps 2013 - Friday
Posted as: Sam
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More rage needed.

Event: Lent Bumps 2013 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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Missing Queens' is a big disappointment. Over the term, the boat has improved quite dramatically, and we feel that we have underperformed this week.

We certainly gave Queens' a good race to Ditton. Coming into the corner, we had a couple of feet of overlap, but I think we steered for the bump, and missed. These things happen. We stuck religiously to our plan, and blew so hard at Ditton that we managed to row more slowly than Jesus, who came as close as 2 feet from our stern before fading.

I remember sitting down at Dinner last year, and essentially saying that down 2 was a fair result. We had worked Queens' hard, and given a good account of ourselves. Since I had committed to going hard off the start, and blowing somewhere around the main, I don't actually know what was said last night about this set of Bumps, but I hope it was this: No, we shouldn't be happy with our results this week, but when we look back to our assessment of last year, we can see that the club is in a much healthier state. We go to race HoRR in a couple of weeks intent on proving that.

With continuing drive to improve, more rage, and regular opportunities to smash stuff, the May VIII should be a fast one.

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Thursday
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Some interesting parking turned a fairly comfortable row over into a Lents 2012 epic as we moved under the railway bridge. Apparently the official verdict at the finish was 2cm laterally I think we could have held another couple of k.

Cheers Queens'.

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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This was my favourite row of the week, despite the result. A sharp start took us to 48, and we strode out for the second time to 41. Two whistles in the Gut, a Bumps push and then continual pushes down the rest of the course (not quite correct - we did in fact stride back down to 36 for a grand total of 5 strokes on Plough Reach, before we started moving on them again and went back on the hunt). We didn't let Pembroke ease out past a quarter of a length clear water all the way down the course. And we pushed them onto a length from Jesus. In short, by Saturday, we were a better crew to the one that showed up on Wednesday.

It would be easy to look at the negatives of this performance. You could say we had an incredible chance to get Pembroke, and we missed it, and we may have got something wrong on the first day, when we were bumped by them.I don't think either of these points hold much water.

Our crew was forged on days 1 and 2. On day 1, we found that we had composure under pressure, and on day 2, we found the will to keep Queens' off. This was huge for us. It gave the crew belief. You could feel the change overnight to a bullish attitude. We were not awful, we were not a spoonbarge, and we were not letting Queens' anywhere near us. And we didn't. We upped our game, and kept performing. On the final day, we almost bumped a crew who were seemingly comfortably faster, and we threatened them all the way down the course. We didn't bump them, but we must give some credit to Pembroke - they were a good crew.

I'm very glad I decided to row this term. There was a great set of guys in the crew, and nearly every outing saw a step on. We would come back off the water enthusiastic about our progress, and hungry for more speed. It was a new crew dynamic for me, and I loved it. We're coming for you, Pembroke.

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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The race panned out almost exactly as anticipated - with a fast crew behind, Newnham went all out to bump back before First Post Corner. They almost did it. When ARU bumped Newnham, there was about 3m separating Newnham's bows from our stern, and most of that was lateral. The rowing had been frenzied, and had lacked some of the assuredness and rhythm of the previous day, but it got the job done.

The inevitable relief-fuelled sag in speed lasted a minute or so, before the girls refocussed and pushed on towards Girton, who were sitting around station. Beforehand I had seen Girton as a relatively easy bump - they were down 3 coming into Saturday, and hadn't gotten past the Plough on any day. However, the Girton crew we raced held the girls between a length and a quarter and 2 and a half lengths for the rest of the course.

W2 finish up 2, a fantastic result given the starting point this term. There are many people to thank: the girls, Chris, Neil, Daisy, Fordy, Thomas, among others. I only hope next year's WLBCs can find a similarly determined set of young women to keep First and Third rising. To be a small part of success this year was a privilege and a pleasure.

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Thursday
Posted as: Sam
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Today was a well executed bump. Went hard off the start, moved on Pembroke, moved more on Pembroke, mounted their stroke girl's blade. Boom.

Event: May Bumps 2014 - Wednesday
Posted as: Sam
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Having lost two of our top rowers from Lents to the first VIII, we welcomed in 4 new girls to W2. Despite some exam-centred stress through the middle part of term, the final two weeks of preparation have seen the boat improve vastly, Talbott style.

On the row down to the start, the girls surged up to Fitzwilliam's stern a fair few times, giving us on the bank a fair amount of confidence that the threat from behind wasn't huge. As is often the case in Bumps, however, we weren't quite right.

Off the start the girls moved slightly on both Newnham and Fitzwilliam, but hadn't significantly closed the gap when Newnham bumped out halfway between the road bridge and First Post Corner. Chris provided some fine evasive steering to prevent a tangle with the two crews ahead, but the necessary application of hard rudder took away enough speed to allow Fitz to start to move back on us.

The facts of the rest of the race are these: Fitz continued to move on the girls despite a cohesive row, getting to within a length at Ditton (accurate distances should be reported by someone who remembers). Their progress was slowed at various points by pushes from the crew, where a really nice rhythm developed. They had advanced to within half a length at the railings, spurred on by Jesus, who were closing on the overbump. The last 90 seconds of the race were a mix of bloodcurdling shrieks from the 3 seat, pain faces, and a cohesive, determined push for the finish. They made it. Relief.

A few of the girls had stated their fear of rowing over beforehand. While this shouldn't be the aim for the rest of the week, hopefully the crew is now aware that they have enough to last the course, and they can hold off Fitz again as they push for the bump on Pembroke. I am proud of all of them, particularly those who had the shadow of being bumped 200m from the finish in Lents in their heads, and who have so emphatically put that to bed.

Onwards and upwards.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2014 - 1st division
Posted as: Sam
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Our start was poor. Catz took several seats in the first moments of the race, and moved fairly steadily out to 2/3rds of a length, and then a full length. It felt like once we settled into a rhythm, Catz started to move less slowly on us. Whether we were in fact moving back on Catz is presumably dependent on which boat you sat in.

It was at this point that their stroke man crabbed. It must have been a fairly major event, because it took them over into us, and caused an after-crab for another of their crew. We disentangled and sat around a little bit, before Priya (the Catz cox) gave us a lesson in racing and called Catz back up. They were down on us though, and so we had time to respond and get back up to speed without relinquishing too much ground.

Nothing got broken, and everyone seemed unhurt. With a crew change for us, and a lack of crabs from Catz, it will be interesting to see where we stand come Bumps.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2014 - 1st division
Posted as: Sam
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The crew for 99s almost resembled the May's crew, although Chris was missing. This particular combination was fairly stable; I think we had been out at least twice in the crew order of the day.

Off the start we held them fairly well, although didn't move away. This was disappointing. We then faded away throughout the course. Not our best rowing, but it cleared the cobwebs.

Event: Lent Bumps 2014 - Friday
Posted as: Sam
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I think this was a better row than yesterday. Not just because we made it further (First Post corner rather than the bridge), but because it looked like the girls gave it absolutely everything. Iain reckoned it was their most consistent row of the week so far.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to hold off another first boat. How damaging the one-boat-rule has been to our Bumps campaign is difficult to quantify, but I can't help feeling that next term should see us more able to compete with the lower first boats. Having seen the heart and commitment in the crew, it remains to commit to a good, hard row tomorrow, and avoid spoonage. It goes without saying that I am proud of the way the girls have performed - I couldn't have asked for more - now let's get a result to take to dinner!

Event: Lent Bumps 2014 - Thursday
Posted as: Sam
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Having missed the first day, I was told that we had gained on the start against Pembroke. The girls were keen to go hard off the start, and see if we could inspire a fear-induced crab, or something. Credit to the girls - they tried to do just that. The start was fairly clean, and committed. We moved on Pembroke, a little bit, but it was clear that the boat that mattered was behind us, and closing fast. The girls lifted as Corpus approached, and I think they slowed Corpus' progress, but they were just too good for us. We succumbed just before the road bridge.

This wasn't the result we were hoping for, but it was a good effort, and I'm sure we can give St Edmunds a good run for their money tomorrow. If we can hold them off, we could well have the opportunity to finish Bumps on a high.

Hopefully the cox-box works tomorrow, so we can once again inspire false hope at the proximity of the railway bridge. Courage legs, cursing, and confidence (I couldn't help myself) will be required.

Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2013 - 2nd division
Posted as: Sam
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We came away from Clare Novices with only one goal in mind: an emphatic victory against Caius, who had bested us in the first round by several lengths. Whilst it was clear that all the girls shared this goal, it wasn't until they started racing that I really saw fire and aggression.

The crew attacked the first half of the race, and put together a fantastic first few minutes. By the time we came round Chesterton, the pain was obvious, but the drop in speed was minimal. Kudos.

The rowing wasn't always the prettiest, but the sheer commitment to the row, and the effort put in by every member of the crew made up for every bad moment of the term as an LBC. Every early morning was vindicated as we marched on up towards Downing's stern, finishing just one and a half lengths from them. Erin set a great rhythm, and every girl did everything they could to back her up down the course.

Seeing the girls respond to pushes despite the grimaces on their face was deeply rewarding. Telling the crew that we smashed Caius was also really fun. One member of the crew was a little down that 'my legs just stopped working halfway through', feeling that she let the side down a little. That her legs stopped working is very encouraging, and that she was disappointed with it is even more so. We'll fix the fitness, in time. It's important that this crew already has a racing mentality. Bring on Lents!

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2013 - Cup
Posted as: Sam
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Despite a panicky practice start, I was feeling pretty buzzed as we lined up on the start line. We were bigger than Caius, and we were rowing fairly well. Having done a couple of extra practice starts as we moved up the Reach, I was fairly happy that blades would be in the water for the first stroke.

I think we were probably faster than Caius. Certainly, we were 2 seats up when Lydia caught the first of her overhead crabs, about 10 strokes in. Sadly, these things happen, and we lost about 5/4 lengths recovering the situation. We did move back to a length down, and were moving through Caius, but Lydia caught another boat-stopper, and we crashed into the towpath bank. At this point, the race was over.

However, to the girls' credit, at no point did the power or rate drop off, even when they were 5 or 6 lengths down, and they gave a good account of themselves. I was proud to see that. With a lack of race experience, we can always expect mistakes to happen. I think the crew dealt with the issues that arose as well as they could, which is very pleasing.

On the face of it, this wasn't an ideal result going into Fairbairns, but perhaps there is a silver lining. We have at least had our shocking race of term. Next time when we line up, we are going to remain calm and in control, and we will try and beat Caius. I believe putting this result right should be the primary objective of the crew coming into Fairbairns, and hopefully we will use every stroke we take from now on to get closer to that goal. Come the dinner, I'll drink to that.

Event: Emma Sprints 2013 - Division 2
Posted as: Sam
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This race came as a surprise to me, but it was much closer than the first race. Off the start, Sara (with the extraordinarily long legs) strategically pulled us round into Selwyn, thereby slowing their advance on us. I think we were within a length for at least half of the reach, but by that point, the crew looked a bit tired, and we faded away to the sweet serenade of Sun's singing. Unfortunately, it wasn't Stravinsky, so the alliteration ends there.

Overall, we learnt:

1. Sara doesn't fit into Peter Brandt at anywhere other than bow (well, maybe 7, not sure). I am still in awe of this.

2. Alexa makes awesome minion costumes, and definitely has a better eye for colour than whoever made the Wolfson minion crew a fluorescent yellow/green colour.

3. That losing races doesn't have to be grim. Well, I learnt this. I've never seen anybody so pleased just to have raced as Pandora. Kudos.

Event: Emma Sprints 2013 - Division 2
Posted as: Sam
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I did at least get to shake Santa's hand before Rudolpha and co. blitzed us down the course, winning by a significant fraction of the Reach. With a scratch crew versus a first novice boat, it was always going to be tough. However, the crew seemed to enjoy it, and actually, there was a remarkable level of timing. Sadly, this didn't translate into usable power, and boat speed, but we'll be back for Clare Novices.

Event: Lent Bumps 2014 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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I have possibly never been happier to see a green face - it ties closely with rowing over against Queens in my first year. This was a much more assured row-over than that. The girls took distance out of Peterhouse on the start, and had ~20sec at the finish. Fantastic!

I'd like to thank every member of the crew for showing real heart throughout the week. I'm really pretty proud of them. With some training, I can see Mays being a lot different. Ra Ra First and Third!

Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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I was pretty fired up for this, and judging by the row down, so was everyone else. It felt pretty special to be in the boat today.

I was bumped by Maggie in my first ever Bumps race, and subsequently bumped by them again, 20 strokes from the finish, in my first Mays. Now I'm even. We sat on our 34, and got the legs on down the reach, with the rate maybe dropping a couple of pips as we came into the headwind round Ditton. This was where we took the race to Maggie, getting our first whistle somewhere around the spinning zone, and our second whistle by the white house.

The second whistle was gotten not only through the better rhythm of our crew, but also the incredibly tight line taken by Tom next to the Queens' and Pembroke crews that had bumped out. His lines have been fantastic this week - we have the GoPro footage to prove it. This got us about half a length in 200m.

At two whistles we moved to an unsustainable power, and started to make some real inroads. At about the railway bridge we decided that it was getting a little close to the finish for comfort, and we went again. What followed was possibly the most satisfying push I've ever been involved in. There was an awesome lift in power, and we munched the last quarter of a length up.

Having caught Maggie, Alex crabbed, Bence collapsed, and Neil T threw his phone in the river. Despite Neil's best attempts to drown himself, only two of these were rectified before the row home.

Finishing what might be my last Lent Bumps race with such a good race was special. We may have failed in Operation Tripod, but we can be proud with our efforts this week. Let's make sure we start May Term with ALL THE WATTS.

Event: May Bumps 2015 - Friday
Posted as: Sam
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Sometimes you put together the perfect race and it doesn't come off. Today was one of those days. Overlap on Downing, then confusion, then Jesus rowing past us while we were stationary.

We're hurting. But that Jesus rower who celebrated is going to be hurting a whole lot more tomorrow.

Pembroke, respect.

Event: May Bumps 2015 - Thursday
Posted as: Sam
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Clean start with much aggression and looseness left us gaining steadily on Jesus until the Reach, where we unleashed the beast and closed hard. We cleared, had a breather, then watched Queens' row past, many lengths behind.

Pembroke bumped Downing a little further on, to ensure another day of safety. The chase continues. #noescape

Event: May Bumps 2015 - Wednesday
Posted as: Sam
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Had a decent start, and held station with Pembroke until they caught scent of Jesus. Pembroke bumped out just before Ditton. After exchanging pleasantries with them, we took it down to about 34. At this point lolCatz were just rounding the corner, and bravely held out against the mighty mighty Queens' for most of Plough Reach, I think.

Successive strides down the Reach meant Clare 'pushed us hard' for the over-bump late in the race. We wound it up to 24, and finished in isolation.

Bit of a non-event, but we executed our plan reasonably well. Pembroke can't run forever.

Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Friday
Posted as: Sam
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Today, we decided to revert to our first day plan of hitting a solid 34 and seeing what happened. We executed this pretty well, staying on a better rhythm than yesterday, and moving away from Peterhouse over the first half of the course. Down First Post we again moved on to almost a length from Queens', before they held and then moved again, bumping Maggie somewhere on the Reach. After this, we just took it home, lifting somewhat ineffectively when Peterhouse attempted a stupidly late wind and sprint to catch us. Pembroke must have wound down pretty hard, as we finished about a length and a half from them.

In other news, a BNY Mellon fleece is warm, but when wearing Ali's I feel like a very small child.

Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Thursday
Posted as: Sam
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We believed Maggie would be caught reasonably quickly today, and so we raced to Ditton. Settled off a good start onto a good 35/6, and came into First Post corner just about a length from Queens'. Lost a bit of speed round the corner, probably due to large wash, and then never really got the firm, sent rhythm we had previously. Sat at just outside a length to Ditton, blew as per our race plan, and then were moved away from by Queens' and Maggie, who had a great row to hold off Queens'.

Overall, committed really well to a race plan, executed it to the best of our ability, didn't pull it off. Looking forward to tomorrow's racing!

Event: Head of the Nene 2015 - IM2 VIIIs
Posted as: Sam
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I can't match John's report - although I will echo the thanks to Neil, and extend them to Rob Stroud, who subbed into M1 with approximately an hour's notice.

This was a reasonably solid row, aiming to consolidate on a number of changes the crew had made over the last couple of weeks in a long, high-ish rate piece. We held 34 down the course, and had the added interest of coming up sharply on a Cantab's VIII in the later stages of the race. The race plan was to focus on the back and front ends in successive 2 minute focuses down the course, and I think this was reasonably effective. We struggled a little in the penultimate kilometre as we hit some wash, and some slightly disturbing noises from the 2 seat in the second half suggested that Alex *may* have been having some forearm/wrist issues.

Kudos to M2 for being so close - I think the difference in crew average 2k suggests this was a massive result for them! Conversation in the car afterwards with Neil indicates that M2 are getting their legs down, which I think is the next big change to come for us. More speed to come.

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2014 - College IVs
Posted as: Sam
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I was hoping this result would fade away without being reported on the website... Having Corpus close is not a good feeling. While it was genuinely fun doing a few outings in the IV, getting as much as we could of the old NM1 back to relive Mich '11 wasn't as effective as I had hoped. We missed the double speed yelling of Yining, the war cries of Florian and Ahmad, and, of course, Tim 'cousin of Nash' Hele. It should be noted though that one member of our crew cheated by not racing in an VIII beforehand - this was perhaps atoned for by Jason, who rowed in 2.

The row itself was committed, though. Decent effort.

Event: Emma Sprints 2015 - M1 Division
Posted as: Sam
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This was pretty straightforward. It was obvious from the first stroke that barring a huge mishap, NM1 would win. Given the crab from the stern of the boat could only count as a minor mishap, they won!

Event: Emma Sprints 2015 - M1 Division
Posted as: Sam
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Wolfson were bigger than Queens', and this was a closer race. Nonetheless, NM1 didn't panic, and kept reasonably together down the course, finishing a decent margin ahead of Wolfson.

Event: Emma Sprints 2015 - M1 Division
Posted as: Sam
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The only reason I'm writing race reports. This was epic!

NM1 started cleanly, but Caius started strongly, and moved out to about three quarters of a length. Through this, NM1 stayed in their rhythm, and slowly the speeds equalised. I don't know whether the subsequent movement of NM1 up on Caius was the result or cause of a Caius rower losing their seat, but over the next 200m, we gained steadily on them, coming to level with about 10 strokes left.

At 2 strokes to go, there was a wobble in the bows, and I thought all was lost, but NM1 held onto an extremely narrow margin (surely less than a metre) to win.

This was a brilliant example of trusting a rhythm, and moving back through a crew as a unit. Hopefully NM1 take this victory, and remember, when they are down, they can still win. I don't know how much the seat incident cost Caius, but it will be interesting to see the two crews race over a longer course; I'm fairly confident we had been about the same speed before the seat came off.

Moving on, the crew mustn't discount Caius as very serious competition - they saw off a big Jesus crew in the previous round. With the Red Scum also an unknown quantity, NM1 must continue to press on, and work to be as fast as they can be.

Event: Emma Sprints 2015 - M1 Division
Posted as: Sam
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Not a formality, but a formality. Selwyn were in touch for the first third of the race, then caught a series of crabs, and stopped. The real final was the semi-final, but well done to the crew for finishing the day off.

Good effort!

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2015 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Sam
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We had our first outing the Sunday before the race, in heavy wind, and it was awful. Fairbairns promised to be a miserable 17 minutes of soggy rowing. The crew's second outing, on the Wednesday, was apparently somewhat better (including a 5k 2k), but at this point there was little confidence in having a good row.

As it happened, it was decent! We got to the boathouse and decided there was little point in being conservative. We'd try and set up a rhythm and then give as much as we could in that. The start was a little bit scrappy, but we settled onto a good rate (somewhere in the 30-32 region). Then we had the call to finish square, and actually executed it. This improved the rowing immeasurably. I think the application of power round the back end (we were racing, after all) helped bring the finishes 'together'.

At this point, there was enough experience in the boat to know that with this platform, we could work, and so we did. The finishes were lost at points, but having remembered once we were always able to recover. Although the power dropped through the race, this wasn't substantial, and we had a committed lift to the finish.

Event: Lent Bumps 2017 - Saturday
Posted as: Sam
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This crew wasn't meant to go up three. With four rowers fresh from their novice term, this term would surely be one of crafting victories from defeats, with a view to Mays and beyond. Thankfully, with four rowers fresh from their novice term, this crew didn't know that.

On Saturday, I joined the racing at Ditton: a headwind, and under a length (I guess) to Christ's. It was on. As on Friday, there was a good rhythm to the boat, bringing a deserved three whistles around the kink. Each move was emphatic; Christ's lost ground with every push, their responses only partially stymieing Lizzie's advance.

In the end, it looked easy: Christ's broke, and the women came into them strongly, forcing a clash of blades and an umpire's judgement of the bump under the Railway Bridge.

At this point, as an occasional coach of a successful crew, it is traditional to eulogise. That seems out of place here. This crew is just getting started, and I refuse to put a work in progress on a pedestal. Their virtue is to approach rowing with smiles on their faces and steel in their legs. As a result, with the guidance of Will McDermott and the leadership of the senior crew members, they are now one of the faster crews in the women's division. However, there's still plenty of physical and technical progress to be had, and I hope the crew is excited about that! Have a great time at WEHoRR - you'll be up against a lot more than 130 boats, but at least history's on your side.

Event: May Bumps 2017 - Wednesday
Posted as: Sam
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It's always good to get the first day out of the way without drama. There was one missed stroke off the start, but that didn't matter: it was fast. Churchill gained once Maggie started moving into them, but the pressure disappeared abruptly around First Post. A lack of direction meant that the resulting rowing was solid, but not threatening. More to come.