All race reports for Jonathan Williams
Event: Newnham Short Course 2013 - 1st division
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Event: May Bumps 2013 - Wednesday
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As we then neared grassy we were comfortably away from John's with a hideous looking sandwich developing behind us. Unfortunately this was when the curse of Grassy struck and before we knew it we were stuck in the outside and desperately trying to push off again and avoid being hit. Alas, it was to no avail, a painful inevitability loomed over the 8 or so strokes we managed away from the bank before Maggie bumped, much to the dismay of Caius behind them. We'd barely got back into the racing position and found ourselves pulling in again, this time intentionally.
In retrospect Wednesday's events were a foreshadowing of what was to come...
Event: May Bumps 2013 - Friday
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Event: May Bumps 2013 - Saturday
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As we waited in marshalling we noticed a disturbing amount of uni stash in the Christs boat, apparently some sort of boat club politics had lead to a worryingly stacked M2, damn...
Sure enough as soon as the guns went Christs started to move, but we reacted. A valiant if inevitable chase ensued. The crew finally clicked after a very uncertain term and as Christs moved to two whistles we started to hold them, they stopped gaining for a while; maybe we could do this. We didn't have to spoon...
Then Christs, spurred on by the thought of blades, raised it to another gear. We had nothing to react with, we tried, we made it round Grassy and even held a foot or so of overlap for a while. But alas it was in vain, eventually, as we approached the plow, it was too little too late. And so we completed our spoons.
SO there it was, 3 years, 3 sets of spoons for Mays M2. I know it might not have been the result we wanted, but I sure enjoyed this term so thank you to everyone involved in project M2. And hey, at least we got a good song out of it, so it wasn't all bad
Event: Drumps 2016 - Monday
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As the guns fired, Jedge warned us of the need to defend our livers and dignity, warnings in retrospect we should have heeded. With the go cannon we proceeded to try to down what I can only describe as carbonated urine. The men on the team all saw off their cans with little difficulty, with incredible technique shown by Ed in finishing strong and being the first crew member in getting on to his second can. The girls employed our tactical disposable cups and ensured that the fosters posed no real threat. After a brief 15 second settle to release the carbonation, we pushed on into the first corner (of Angel C staircase) and moved on to room two.
After a solid start, we settled into a nice rhythm and saw off the glass of prosecco each with little difficulty in room two. That was until we realised that we still had one glass left. It turns out Ed had gone wide on the previous corners as a result of catching a crab. I took care of an extra tap (of prosecco) to get our crew back on course and, having regrouped, we pushed on to the middle part of the race.
As should be expected, this was definitely the hardest part of the race. The rush to Wolfson was quite an effort, and proved our brief settle to handle carbonation was far from sufficient. Shearme proved that even handicapped by crutches, his speed was lightning quick. As we arrived at station three, the need for a traditional push was very clear. At this point the issue of volume was becoming very clear and we were not pleased to see the basics feast lying before us. The female members of the crew made a solid effort in lifting the spirits, but here were bitter feelings for the men's four with what lay in front of us. We really struggled to pick the rate back up to our Angel speed. At this point the grad boat arrived and we were seriously at risk of being drumped. We tried to lift the rate and move clear of overlap, however Shearme quickly realised that the grad boat we in fact the crew we were chasing. We then started to celebrate an early drump. However, Shearme then told us he had messed up and the grad boat had two rooms in incorrect order and essentially we were on station. At this point we relaxed and took time to avoid an unnecessary crab in the gut. As the crew behind us arrived in order to take our first real overlap we upped the rate, and a gargantuan effort from a revitalised Ed saw us complete the push and we moced away from an uncomfortable overlap.
We arrived in room four to find a frankly horrifying task in front of us. We noticed that we'd finally managed to drop Shearme but pressed on anyway, fearing the real risk of being drumped. As we handed round the god awful sherry, we noticed we'd lost our cox as she'd got her line wrong on the way up the stairs. In the absence of a clear leader, the crew managed as strong a push as they could but we simply couldn't hold a high enough rate. We forced progress, and eventually Emily corrected her line and brought a very keen chasing crew with her. Once again we were at overlap and in real risk. Inspired by the arrival of our cox I decided to take one for the crew and pressed out four strong finishes to leave us with no more work to do in this reach (at this point I had forgotten about the pure hell that awaited us in the final room, this would render this heroic effort somewhat naive).
We hastened on to the final station, bouyant by having moved away from overlap yet again. We arrived to find 8 abominations of curdled lord only knows what mixed with suspiciously crimson looking fluid. Shearme offered the advice of treating them like an oyster and just being done with it. This was not enough to convince some members of the team to drink(/eat) these things and so we found ourselves with two cups left to finish. In a case of sheer desperation for this to be over I once again stepped up to the plate and helped us finish strong.
I am told that on the way to top finish, Hannah and Jedge managed to catch a bit of chop and this slowed the crew down. I myself missed this as I caught an overhead crab in the closing moments of the race, but immediately pushed through to help the crew finish a strong race. We'd managed to put in a strong effort in rowing over, as Jedge took great pleasure in explaining to an incredibly attentive post box.
All in all a strong result for a relatively inexperienced team.
Event: Head of the River Race 2016 - IM3 Academic
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After racking our boat and getting changed, we reconvened in spoons (our spiritual home for the week) to chat about our plan. The idea was pretty simple; go out hard to Barnes, find a more relaxed rhythm to work through to Hammersmith, then attack again. We returned to the IC boat house and prepared to boat with a slightly ridiculous amount of kit, knowing that the tideway can be a cruel mistress in marshalling.
In the warm up we executed our front stops work as we had practised all week. We took a quick race pace burst through hammersmith, and happy with that, we returned to a chunky paddle. At this point we noticed that we had moved past Leander II. We then proceeded to enter into an impromptu round of battle paddling. They clearly didn't get the message that this was what we were doing however, as they suddenly went to race pace (we think this was just in desperation to try to keep up). They managed to move up a bit, but our chunky rhythm held and we soon pushed them away. At this point they gave up and brought in a tag-team of Leander I to try to give us a challenge. This crew gave us a better challenge and we found ourselves holding station with them until the marshals decided they had seen enough of our dominance and we were sent to the other side of the river, apparently there was some sort of race going on, interrupting our private fixture.
With our spirits now buoyed we moved up to our marshaling position on a solid paddle and felt very confident about our ability to execute the plan. In the hour or so we spent trying to stay stationary, I must have told Emily to turn off the cox box about 30 times. That being said there was a particularly good use of the cox box where Emily declared her love for bow pair and their ability to keep the boat exactly on station. We watched as the other crews span one by one and eventually came our turn.
Once we were spun, we got straight back on to our chunky paddle, with Clare starting their paddle hot on our tails. As we moved through Chiswick Bridge we took the rate up to attack the start and quickly found a nice chunky 34. Through the start we had a solid first minute and pressed on around Barnes bend. We kept the rhythm strong through to Barnes Bridge and pressed Clare slightly away. As we came through Barnes Bridge we naturally settled onto our mid race rhythm to work through the slightly choppier water on this stretch. Emily took a fantastic line to keep us making some progress on Clare, whilst reassuring us that we were moving up on the crew in front of us.
At this point, the crew 2 behind us started to make some real ground. Conscious of this we moved slightly away from the optimum line to make room. Meanwhile Clare doggedly stuck with their line and this helped them as they started to move towards us. I can't remember a lot of the Chiswick stretch, but it was in the choppier water here that my inside shoulder did not take merrily to the baldes clipping the chop. This left me in a lot of pain here from old injuries and gave a bit fo welcome relief from the pain elsewhere courtesy of extreme agony in my shoulder. About here Emily let us know we were 10 minutes in and I have to admit I found myself thinking I wasn't sure how much longer I could go for.
As we came round the Hammersmith bend both Clare and the other crew continued to move up on us. We kept working within our rhythm, and some fantastic work by Emily kept us as close to best line as we could do with double overlap. We managed to force our way to hit the second lamp post under Hammersmith Bridge and the other two crews scrapped it out leading to a blade clash and a brief moment of reprise for us. At this point we went back to our plan and took a step up to move to a big two minutes off of the bridge. We found a new rhythm at 34 that we would carry all the way to Craven Cottage. Unfortunately, the crew 2 behind us were now more angered than ever from the clash and really started to loom down. Emily did all she could, and I could have sworn Clare seemed to teleport through the buoy by Harrods.
Sadly, the inevitable 3 abreast racing meant that Emily had to move out from the stream, but not without fighting hard for the best water she could get us. The other two crews finally started to move having had the best of the stream for about 7 minutes at this point. This should have given us the chance to take the stream back again for our final 4 minutes. However, this wasn't to be, as a very rapid Radley crew were bearing down on us. Hence we had to complete the race somewhat in the slacks.
That being said, we wound from Craven Cottage and really wound the screw, leaving nothing behind. I don't remember a lot of the final couple of minutes, apart from my desperate screams of finishes as my shoulder reminded me quite how unhappy it was. The stroke coach tells me we finished at a strong 36. We paddled through and came home, heads held high.
The result probably reflects fairly what happened in the race. A position pretty much equivalent to the previous year. It is very easy for us to come away disheartened, we had hoped to break the top 120. However, the race was well executed and I think we can say it was a good row. It's a shame we had to spend so long away from the water we wanted and I've no doubt that we'll have lost a fair bit of time from this. That being said I must say a huge well done to Emily, for someone who first saw the Tideway on Wednesday she did and amazing job getting us the best water she could. The tideway is a formidable beast for experienced rowers and especially coxes, so for a cox who first stepped into a boat only 5 months previously, Emily did fantastically, especially when you consider we spent about 12 out of the 20 minutes of racing with a crew struggling to overtake us. I've seen much, much more experienced coxes struggle to hold their own line, nevermind having the confidence to aggressively fight for their own water. I can't wait to see what you can do with more experience under your belt.
Racing with this crew has been a real privilege and I want to say thank you to everyone involved (and a sorry for the fact that I only had 2 weeks training under my belt as we started this race, how I survived I still have no idea). I think there is a lot of potential on the mens side and I can't wait to see what next term has in store for us. In my time in Cambridge, M1 has never finished Mays up for the week, but if we approach the next term like we did the last 2 weeks, I know it's time for that trend to change.
Event: Radegund Mile Head Race 2016 - College VIIIs
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The row up to the start was reasonable. We remembered how to row and even dared to sneak a couple of bursts in. The rowing may not have been pretty, but there was certainly a lot of power going done. This was probably helped by our bass boosting courtesy of Fish.
As we spun at the top, the fact that 6'1'' (ex)lightweights aren't meant to be coxes was very clear. It turns out that I was larger than the boat was wide and my right leg had gone numb from the lack of blood supply. Anyway, this aside we were pretty keen, and all were relieved when we realised the Radegund Mile was, believe it or not, a mile in length and not the 2.6k some had feared.
On the drift towards the start line we had a brief interlude in our bass boosting as Fish's dad hijacked control of his spotify leading to a brief break form our otherwise clinical focus on winning this most prestigious of races.
Before the start we had planned to give Clare Hall W1 an extra long gap after we'd been entered with a predicted time of 7:50. However, in noticing the start was during Grassy, I forgot about this fact and we started with them about half way down plough reach.
The build for the start was solid. As was most of the rest of the rowing. I don't honestly remember a lot about it, other than there was no lack of power. Down the reach I took a slight detour via a the heavy stream, but a refocus brought us back in to the stream and with a lift we started to reel Clare Hall W1 in with some speed.
As we came under the railway bridge the gap was about half a length, at which point we unleashed the gain train (in the absence of our bass boosting) and quickly moved up to overlap. Unfortunately Clare Hall also had overlap on the crew in front and both crews moved away from the towpath (where they should have been) and blocked our way through. Despite multiple screams out to Clare Hall we had to wind down early as we succeeded in making bump number 1 of term for the grad boat.
We then rowed home, bass now fully boosted. This was particularly amusing as we got held up outside Emma Boathouse by a crew failing to land. This was less than ideal as they were in the process of naming a new boat. We feel that we only helped to add to the party atmosphere, with a few heads turning to enjoy our glorious presence.
All in all a respectable result for a crew with minimal preparation. Also I didn't crash into anyone so will call this a success.
Event: May Bumps 2017 - Wednesday
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Coming in to bumps we were certainly seen by almost everyone as the underdogs. We are a very inexperienced crew, featuring only two previous M1 Mays rowers (and an M1 Mays cox now rowing). With three novice rowers and a novice cox this was always going to be a crew that only the test of bumps would show the true ability of. The loss of most of M1 from Lents to 'M3' certainly didn't help in this. Throughout term most other clubs also came to feel we were a spoonbarge waiting to happen based on race results. Even coming to 2 weeks out from bumps our confidence still had a long way to go. But 2 weeks with JPD is a magical thing, and we came into bumps with renewed confidence. It all seemed to come together with 2 outings to go, even with having lost our 7-man not one week before. We had a clear warm-up and race plan and felt as ready as we could be.
The row-up to the start was very nervy, as might be expected for an inexperienced crew. We didn't let that upset us, and sat and with calming words from JPD we were ready to go as the 4 minute cannon went. At this point we were going to be racing, and the true mettle of the crew would be tested in the fire of battle. We were calm as we pushed out and I felt like this was about to be a great piece, but would probably be a hard one. Little did I know what would follow...
We wound through a scrappy start to a peak of 43, before finding ourselves settling to 38. We made a rhythm call but this was no use in a crew determined to channel their adrenaline. We stuck with 38 into first post (much above the 34/5 we were aiming for). At this point we got our first MOOOOVVVIIINNNGGG call and I realised the race was on. Sod what all the (now replaced) messageboards had to say, we deserved outr place as M1. Coming through the gut we stuck to our 38 and were rewarded with 2 whistles. 2 weeks ago I wouldn't have believed this, but suddenly we'd got the enemy in our sights and the race was ours to take on. We kept pressing our 38 through grassy and moved this on to three whistles. The crew put everything into it at this point and pushed hard out of grassy. We never quite made it to overlap (I'm told) but boy did we throw everything we had at Jesus. At this point Downing were miles back and this wasn't the easy bump everyone predicted for us, but instead we really had a shot at Jesus.
As we settled into plough reach, the rate finally stepped down to 35 as our legs started to go from us. 3 1/2 minutes of our hands in the fire and we simply didn't have anything more left to give. That being said, we still fought on and were repeatedly told there was only a canvas in it. To be honest I was so far past the red line by the plough that I don't remember much of the next 3 minutes. Sophie said something about someone going wide in Ditton, I think we had a lift.
We had a solid reach, working as hard we still could. Jesus eased out a little on us but I'm told it was never more than 1/2 a length.I don't remember seeing them come up on us, but through the railings, Downing were suddenly 1/2 a length off and we were spent. They coasted up to about a canvas at the kink, and we pushed again holding them here for about a minute, until a few strokes from the railway bridge. Here they finally moved up on us, but we still reacted and held them again. I honestly thought at this point that we had them held. Unfortunately they were able to make one more lift and took 6 inches or so per stroke until they finally got us around Morley's Holt. I was feeling very much worse for the wear (sorry Matt and Sophie for seeing my lunch re-appear) but remember Downing immediately congratulating us on a great race.
The result does not reflect what the race looked like, but so is the nature of bumps. We had an absolute epic slug with Jesus and came so close to it, but just couldn't quite bump (memories of Mays 2014 Saturday...). Unfortunately, when battles like this happen, the chasing crew becomes easy prey for a more evenly-paced crew behind. As such Downing had the legs when our own battle ensued, but kudos to all 7 guys and Sophie that we held them at bay for so long (please can we not make me have to row so much if we don't row over).
It's fair to say that the 6 guys and Sophie who earned their M1 colours today deserved them and then some. One of the most epic races I've ever done, and a baptism of fire for the newbies. You've earned your stripes and then some, baptism of fire anyone?
Having moved out on Downing off the start, and getting so close to Jesus, I think we have surprised everyone (apart from me and hopefully most of the crew) and can hold our heads high. I can't wait to see what happens throughout the rest of the week.
Event: May Bumps 2017 - Thursday
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Off the start we wound high again and settled to a slightly more sustainable 36 or so. However, the level of sting wasn't quite what it had been the day before. I am sure yesterday's efforts came with a price to pay today. As such, after initially moving up on Downing slightly, we never quite got to any whistles. Through grassy it became clear that we'd need to bring it to our cruising rhythm at around 35 and prepare for a long row. We pushed well down Plough reach, but unfortunately Peterhouse had a faster base pace than us. They started to gain on us and moved to within a canvas coming into Ditton.
Sophie did all she could to get us to react, and we gave it all we could. But the debt for yesterday really came to hit us and we just didn't have the legs to keep them away. They finally got us (well Sophie's elbow) at the exit of Ditton. Not the result we had hoped for, but still a determined row. It was a shame that we couldn't hit the highs of Wednesday, but I think for such an inexperienced crew pulling such a huge effort out of the bag on day 1 was always going to come at a cost. I'm told even as we were bumped Downing hadn't taken huge amounts of distance on us, and they themselves bumped Jesus some 10-15 strokes further along. A real shame we got caught by a faster crew today, I'd have loved to give it another crack at Jesus tomorrow. We'll just have to work to hold Emma at bay tomorrow and hope that this sets us up for a cracking Saturday. In any case, the process that got us to yesterday is the same process that will carry us forward. With a new day, comes a new race, only the process remains and I for one have faith in this.
Event: Pembroke Regatta 2018 - 1st division
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Results for the last 3 terms would have put us as the underdogs, but we have the power, and the determination and took the race to Clare, finishing the job and stunning the Clare bank party. A great turn around from losses to Clare in all recent races, just in time for the build to bumps.
Event: Pembroke Regatta 2018 - 1st division
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Again we excuted an excellent start and quickly moved away from Emma. Again as we came up to the railway bridge they started to move back. I think this time however we had that bit more confidence about holding them off and saw the race off in relative comfort in the end. It felt great to leave a big mark of overturning the events of last time we raced Emma directly. We came away from this race knowing that it was that 3rd minute we will need to work on for bumps, but we really took confidence from the huge step on so far we achieved this weekend.
Event: Pembroke Regatta 2018 - 1st division
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That aside, the race with Magdalene came on the back of a very close, and apparently contentious, upset where Magdalene knocked LMBC out. We took the race to Magdalene again, using our rapid start to take a seat or two out of them early. Sadly this time we didn't quite have the legs, and they started to slowly walk up to about half a length on us coming under the railway bridge. Again this was about the point where we let them move, and they took another half length or so up to the line. But this was still only just over a length overall, after two hard races for us. We can take heart from today's events. We shocked everyone with our raw speed, which put us all the way to the semi-finals. Even better, we gave a good race to crew who had just knocked out LMBC, showing that we are very much back in the league of the big boys and not to be underestimated. I can't wait to get to bumps with this crew and to see where this heart and guts takes us. We know what we need to do to get even faster, but things are heating up.
I also foolishly decided to catch up on my 55 minute low-rate pyramid erg after the race. I would not recommend this to anyone who values their legs. But the gain train has picked up momentum and who am I to stop us hammering our way to bumps.
Event: Lent Bumps 2018 - Friday
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Event: Lent Bumps 2018 - Friday
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