All race reports for Neil Ibata
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2014 - Cup
Posted as: Neil I.
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This was certainly the closest race before the final. We didn't really know what to expect from Darwin, and I think that Neil rightly warned us that this might be the best Darwin novice crew that there has ever been. I was probably most apprehensive about this particular race (having been thoroughly splashed before hand probably didn't help lessen minor shivers).
The start was at a ridiculously high rate for novices - Harry told us that we were around rate 40! We never really got down to a decent, sustainable rhythm as in the previous race because we always had less than a length of clear water and felt pressured. This meant that the rate stayed high and the strokes short, and altogether I think that we were quite happy for it to come to an end. The Long Reach definitely feels longer when you're taking shorter strokes - but I guess that this is self-evident.
Anyway, the conclusion from Neil was that we could and should have beaten Darwin by about 3 or 4 lengths had we taken the rate down, taken more length on the slide and applied more pressure in the water, and I think that there was a general consensus from the crew and the bank party that it was somewhat frantic.
We all agreed that there needed to be an urgent change of plan for the next race, and that the rate should drop a couple of notches after our typical fast starts. In hindsight, it is probably thanks to this that we won the regatta.
Event: Fairbairn Cup 2014 - Lower VIIIs
Posted as: Neil I.
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I'm writing this race report more than a year on, and I realise that some of the finer details of the race will be absent from it.
After the frustration of the day before, we determined to have a great row to prove what we were capable of and what we had succeeded in developing all term as a crew. And unlike the previous day, our boat was sat, our rhythm was good and effective, the power was always there and everything was just as clean as it needed to be. We rated in the low 30s and gained on the crews in front of us. We even overtook an absolutely dire Sidney Sussex crew (starting four places in front of us) in the gut, and subsequently contributed to their entanglement with the bank after their cox refused to concede the racing line... ...oops.
We finished ahead of some M1s and many M2s and basically had the row that we knew that we could have had in Novice Fairbairns, except better, and returned, paddling at a really relaxed rate 14/15 to the boathouse, buoyed with high spirits at putting out a time which we knew finally reflected the quality of the crew.
Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2014 - 1st division
Posted as: Neil I.
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I'm writing this race report more than a year on, and I realise that some of the finer details of the race will be absent from it. This was probably the most disappointing race that myself and the rest of the crew had rowed in up until this stage, and probably since as well.
We were almost certain that we were going to win. We hadn't lost a single race all term. We had dominated Clare Novices, with our closest race being against LMBC in the final, whom we beat by ~1 length. The last week of term was hectic, with us not being able to get much quality training due to novice carnage on the river. LMBC, who rowed in the afternoon, were not impeded in their training. We got nervous at the prospect of making history by being the first 1st & 3rd novice eight to win Fairbairns in several decades. LMBC wanted the win badly and had their best row of all term. We wanted it badly but lost composure and lost to LMBC... ...by less than 3 seconds.
There were many ways in which we could have taken the requisite 4 seconds off our time. We all blamed ourselves for the result, thinking about how extra focus, a few percent more power or additional cohesion would all have sufficed. Sadly, none of these things came to pass on the day. Despite the frustration, I think that that race was a crucial point in many of the crew members' rowing career. We realised how much pain we had to put ourselves through to win; we found out just how important relaxation and composure were in race circumstances; and we realised that even from the most upsetting moments, it was possible to bounce back and perform better than ever before. And in a way, all but the loss to LMBC was more than made up for with the row that we had on the next day in Senior Fairbairns.
Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2014 - Student Beginner VIIIs
Posted as: Neil I.
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A slightly belated race report (week 6 was hard and then I just procrastinated), but hopefully the memory is still fresh!
This was NM1s first ever race (except if you count Queens Ergs) and as such we had no idea what do expect. I was definitely excited, but also somewhat concerned about what would happen to our technique, given that we had been rating significantly lower in all of our outings. Catarina's race plan was to stay at rate 28 throughout, give it as much as we could and just hope that everything stayed together. (Patrick's race plan was not to catch a crab - we all have different goals in life).
The marshalling before hand was hilarious, with Catarina repeatedly commenting on the incompetence of the marshals and the other crews - one crew was told to spin (or just spun, I dont know) between us and another crew moored up alongside the towpath, which resulted in an ominous sound and a scratch on the Black Prince we were rowing in as their stern scraped the side of our boat. I remember Catarina letting off a sort of pained yelp at that point (you must start to feel at one with the boat as a cox, I guess). We also witnessed a squad of about 20 Johns novices (all in red lycra) trying to fit into an eight - quite entertaining.
After all of the crews had marshalled, however, things went pretty fast (albeit half an hour behind schedule - as a Natsci it just seems that you have to choose between rowing and lectures anyway). We stored all of our kit into a remarkably dry hold (that all of the novice boats seem to lack for some reason), wished NM2 good luck, and paddled off towards the start line under the motorway bridge.
We accelerated up to race rate a few strokes before the start line, and then things start to get blurred. I remember the first few hundred metres being quite wobbly as we were trying to find our rhythm, but then I felt it improve significantly and we had an amazing 1000 metres of racing (although the video of the race which shows bow six out of time with stern pair would seem to indicate otherwise, I think that we all agreed that it felt good and the speed was quite exhilarating - I found myself smiling maniacally throughout that whole time - maybe I wasn't quite pushing hard enough :P ). We were told by our bank party before and during the race that we could and would overtake the crew in front of us, so I think that that really gave us a constant incentive throughout that first part of the race.
Things started to get significantly messier around Ditton (the corner didn't help to sit the boat, which I think left both sides significantly more winded - all credits to Catarina's racing line though, which was great throughout the whole course, although by the sounds of it most of M1 would beg to differ). Anyway I think I caught a couple of mini mini crabs (dont know how to qualify these in any other way - the oar is still in front but momentarily drags in the water - and overall the technique was not quite as good down the reach.
Just before the kink in the reach, I spotted the stern of the Christs boat which had had at least a 30 second lead on us at the start, and I shouted 'Come on boys, we can do this', which in hindsight probably didn't help the rowing, but might have given us more will to go on. We overtook them fairly quickly, although I believe that we were slowed down a bit by a blade clash on stroke side. And then we were sailing past them, and then we were under the railway bridge, all of us elated and pushing hard once again. We almost dropped the speed down before the finish line because we had no idea where the finish line was but held it until the end and then slumped, exhausted and intensely happy, into our seats. I think that the first person to talk after that was Patrick, who hadn't caught a crab and must have justified Jesus dying on the cross for the first time in Catarina's eyes. I remember basically not being able to hold on to my oar handle and just being glad to sit the boat for a few strokes.
Regardless of what the result might have been, I think that we were all extremely happy about the race - overtaking that boat was the highest point of my novice term so far. And then, when we found out the results (we would receive engraved hip-flasks, NM2 beat most of the NM1s, even NM3 - with a jammed seat - came ahead of Robinson NM1, and of course Maggie was far behind - crabs every five strokes or so does tend to slow down a crew-), some of us tried as hard as they could to forget that we had even raced that day.
Event: May Bumps 2015 - Saturday
Posted as: Neil I.
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This set of bumps has been so much more exciting and less painful than my last - I can now see why people actually enjoy these races. What was meant to happen did happen, and I believe that we are all happy about how the week's events unfolded, despite being bumped on the first day. Apart from the row-over, we rowed near the best of our abilities, and continued on improving over the week. It takes some serious flair to bump before or just after first post corner in the second division. On that note - congrats to Wolfson who bladed by bumping before the corner on all four days, you guys have an insanely fast start and sprint. On the same note - thanks guys for the awesome rowing on Friday and Saturday, and I'm so happy to have been part the crew that gave John and Crouchy their exciting last two bumps races.
As for what happened yesterday, a great square blades warm up allowed us to get the sit of the boat right and we found our awesome rhythm in the bursts. The 1k before marshalling was probably the best paddling we've done this term, and it really helped us get into our race mindset. The bursts down the reach were good and we actually managed a really good start for once in front of the crowds at the Plough. We were soaked by the persistent drizzle at this point, but we did not allow this to distract us and focused on our race plan before the 4 minute cannon.
As for the race, we had a good start, gaining on Downing due to the corner advantage, and then moved outside station during the stride as they were carrying out, to the best of their abilities, a 'sprint or die' race plan in a last ditch attempt to avoid their spoons. Unfortunately for them, the best of their abilities only carried them halfway down first post reach, and then they died, at which point we got our first whistle. As for us, we strode it down to 38 and then to 36, at which point we found the oarsome rhythm with vast amounts of ratio that we had been trying to get all week - our excellent warm up that allowed us to calm down had paid dividends. This the best rowing I've done so far, it was a bit of a pity that it couldn't last longer, really :P
After our first whistle, it was essentially a foregone conclusion, as we just ate up the remaining distance. We got 3 whistles coming into the corner and continuous whistles as we came out of the corner for only the second time this week. In the gut, I could see their canvas progressively getting closer to Crouchy's blade, but realising what was at stake, I made sure that I heard the 'hold it up' call twice before I stopped rowing. We were slightly inefficient at clearing from the middle of the gut, pulled in and collected ridiculous amounts of greenery in a haze of happiness. I created a jungle replica around me in the bow seat and Crouchy gave himself wings to celebrate his victory - we'll be fined, but as the first M2 to go up since 2008, I think it was justified.
The row back was not quite as good as the race, but no-one really cared and I for one could not see much due to the branches around me.
Celebrations, photos, singing and much more ensued...
Despite the result being only 'Up 1' on paper, I believe that this is the beginning of FaT M2's climb back up to the top the second division, although we might never reach the highs of 2007-2010, as the grad colleges appear to have learnt how to row (as we found out to our expense on the first day). We have all learnt a lot from this term's rowing, and provided we can carry all of that into next year's campaign, I can see a time when Maggie M2 will be bumpable and the M2 headship in sight. We shall see... ...when the cannon comes!
Update: We were not fined for excessive greenery - CUCBC do not seem to have their eyes or their priorities in the right place. Oh well...
Event: May Bumps 2015 - Friday
Posted as: Neil I.
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I have been getting distinctly tired of writing race reports of row-overs and races during which my crew was bumped (see M3 Lents' race reports for more details :P ) so I thought I'd oblige for M2 Mays' historic first bump since 2010, which also happened to be my first.
After yesterday's fairly average row-over, we were determined to have a much more positive warm-up and race. We once again showed off our nice square blades frontstops build to the other crews on the river, and had a burst to 32 that felt more like 24 before marshalling. Our half-slide rate build to rate 52 and burst on the reach felt much more controlled then earlier this week. Unfortunately, we still didn't manage to get a great start at the plough, although this was compensated a little by having quite a nice and relaxed paddle down to marshalling.
On the start, we were much less jittery than yesterday, having remembered which seat we were supposed to row in and not having faffed around quite as much after the 4 minute gun.
After my epic races last term, part of me was hoping for a heroic bump just before the finish or something like that. Unfortunately for some of the spectators, Christs' M2 and myself, the bumps charts are seldom reflective of relative ability - which is why the races are fun, I suppose. We were hammered before first post corner by Wolfson on Wednesday (probably the fastest boat currently in the division, and who completely deserve their blades) and hammered Christs' M2 before first post corner today.
As for the start, ours was decent for once (accompanied with encouraging 'MOVING' calls right after the gun), with our rowing deteriorating for a couple of strokes in the wash under the motorway bridge. After that, we found our rhythm (rate 36 that feels like 32) for the first time since the beginning of bumps. We got our first whistle shortly after the bridge, 2 whistles about 40s later, then 3 whistles followed by continuous whistles immediately after. During the short time that we were racing, it was extremely pleasant to see Corpus Christi falling outside station behind us. Holding it up was a little confusing, with most people rowing on for a few strokes after the call as it was unclear exactly what was happening. After having parked on the outside of the corner, we cheered on the rest of the division and collected greenery.
The row back was amazing; it feels really nice to be cheered on by the crowds, and seems fitting payback for a term's hard work. The strokes were nice, smooth and sat (until we easied around the railway bridge, that is...), and I just found myself grinning like a maniac from the bow seat.
Bring on tomorrow and the second historic bump to make us the first M2 (Lents or Mays) to go up since 2008.
PS: I'll continue to work on sharp catches, as the lack of backsplash really spoils the pictures.
Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Saturday
Posted as: Neil I.
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We knew that they had an exceptionally fast start (before they blew that is), so we were determined to match theirs. We had our best start yet, gaining somewhat on Maggie, and kept our distance from them until the end of First Post Reach, where they really gained on us quickly. A much less excruciatingly painful bumps push for both parties considered ensued, and we were quickly bumped in the Gut. Unfortunate, but they were by far the better crew before the 1k mark.
A ray of sunshine came in the form of M1 bumping Maggie even closer to the finish line than we had been bumped on days 2 and 3 (if such a thing were possible...).
Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Friday
Posted as: Neil I.
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This race was so similar to yesterday's that I really will not elaborate very much. We were the faster crew (by a lot) at Pembroke regatta, they had since had a crew change and some practise and had gained a lot of boat speed (~5% is my guess). They were on their way on for blades. We were determined to stop them. They had bumped Magdelene after their second failed attempt at bumping Clare Hall. They were once again a slightly bigger crew than we were.
The lack of a restart today meant that we raced even better than yesterday, and this was starting to be an excellent race. Maggie ominously came to within 1/2 length after the kink, and I started to get a sense of deja-vu (@ webmaster - you should enable accents in your race reports as they are necessary in words such as this). Unlike on the previous day, however, we were pushing as hard as we could, and continued pushes from both crews must have led to interesting yo-yo effects down the second half of the reach. At the railway bridge, however, they had moved to within a canvas and then quickly had a little overlap. The first of our unsustainable pushes was called, and we had clear water again. The pain was atrocious. Maggie were coming back, and with desperate resolve we took another unsustainable push. Once again, there was clear water. We were now further than yesterday. Could we do it?
This time, it transpired that the tank had been properly emptied and they got their bump, fair and square. They were the faster crew. Credit to them for a good race. At the time, though, a huge frustration at bumps racing and the fact that I had been so emotionally involved in this that I had not been able to work properly all week ensued, and I believe that there is somewhere a video of me splashing water on Patrick. All very funny in retrospect of course...
We had lost the M3 headship. As people pointed out later, no-one cares (except for the crew itself), but I see this as a springboard on which we, as a crew, will build future successes. I for one will follow Felix's example and erg every day over the holidays. And when we come back in Mays, dear Maggie friends, we shall bump you, fair and square, before you even have time to bump Selwyn M2. This is not the last that you will hear from us!
Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Thursday
Posted as: Neil I.
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After yesterday's very long race report (which I felt was required given the nature of the race that we had), I told the rest of the crew that I would only write a longer one if we bumped at some point during the week. As such, I will try to make these a little shorter (I was hoping that someone would step up to the challenge of writing them, but it needs to be done, and the morning after Lents Dinner seems to be a good time to do so).
The report of yesterday's heroic race may appear to fall flat on its face after the rest of the week's results, and the crew name 'Invictus' may seem to reflect the irony of a crew that thought that they were better than all of the other crews that they had to face. I do not think that this is true in any way. We realised on the first day that we were in danger, and consistently focused on improving technique and control in the face of fierce opposition.
I will not bore you with the paddle up any more than to say that it was shaky on Thursday and steadily improved to acceptable by Saturday, which is a sign that even when faced with adversity, this crew was able to hold its own.
We once again started under the motorway bridge, but a long discussion on start strategies at crew pasta (remember, this was what had caught us out yesterday) meant that the start was much cleaner than the day before, and so Clare Hall only gained marginally before First Post Corner. A boat-stopping crab from the spooning Peterhouse M2 (which we were hoping to catch on Friday) meant that Churchill M2 ploughed right into them at the entrance of the gut, and we were forced to hold it up to avoid complete carnage.
I think that on everyone's mind was the hope of a technical row-over to spare us a race as painful as yesterday's (probably amongst the top five most painful five minutes of my life to be quite honest). After hanging around for five minutes, however, we were told to spin and return to our stations (why couldn't we go to head station and avoid the cannon?).
By this point, we had warmed down physically, and I seem to recall that we were a little more jittery and as a consequence of this our start was not quite as good as the first start. Clare Hall closed a little more off the start, but a much better first kilometre from us meant that we were at about 3/4 of a length until the exit of Ditton. Once again, we saw Magdelene M2 blow down Plough reach, but this time, due to some much better cornering from Clare Hall, they never came within a canvas of our pursuers.
I believe that the beginning of the Reach is where we made our mistake. Guys, tell me if you do not think that this is the case, or write your own race report detailing what you think happened at this stage. We were a good distance from their bows and I think that the utter determination that we had had on the previous day was not present for most of the (admittedly very painful) race down the Reach, because I expect that part of us thought that we were safe. We did not kill ourselves yet, because we thought that we needed the energy at the end of the race. Yesterday, on the other hand, we were just as composed but determinately pushing them away for most of the race.
How very wrong we were to think that the danger had passed. We took a few bad strokes after the kink, due to the washy and nervous nature of bumps, and realising that they had gained a little (two whistles as I seem to recall), they started pushing much harder. We were resilient and could row well and hard in the face of constant pressure. This saved us on the first day, and might have saved us had today's race unfurled differently. They were bigger and could sprint faster than we could. This gave them the advantage on the second day. By the railway bridge their effective push brought them to a canvas, and then overlap. We held them off for an agonising half a minute, but a shudder in the boat told me that the bump had occurred. Catarina's hand went up, conceding the bump. We rowed on as we knew we must after a bump to clear the river, which was more of an ordeal than expected as they were slow to hold it up.
I for one was crushed at the result, repeatedly swearing in frustration at having been caught so close to the finish line after yesterday's pain. I vented much of my frustration by taking power strokes back to the boathouse, which led to some steering issues (sorry Catarina...).
The consensus at crew pasta was that we had raced well but could have gone a little more unsustainable at the end, which might just have enabled us to row-over. Just about. Maybe.
Event: Lent Bumps 2015 - Wednesday
Posted as: Neil I.
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M2 might have had an uninteresting row-over, but ours could hardly have been less eventful for a first bumps race. We were planning to bump Churchill M2 somewhere along the second half of the course, but a series of interesting plot twists meant that we spent about 80 % of the race at less than a canvas from being bumped by Clare Hall M1, whom we had beaten by about 10s in Robinson Head and did not see as much of a challenge.
I for one was distinctly apprehensive and excited about this race, which would be the first bumps race for six ex-novices in the boat. We did not really know what to expect, although we knew that our technique would significantly deteriorate in the wash around Grassy, and that, starting at station 7 under the motorway bridge, we would probably not be able to hear much of what happened in the first few hundred metres of the race. This, together with the adrenaline and trepidation from the start, would likely take up the rate and make everything altogether messier and less effective. Most of these predictions turned out to be correct to some degree, but the only way to really feel how bumps are is to do bumps, plain and simple.
After a crew erg and core session (best abs on the cam boys!) we pushed off and had quite a nice paddle down to the marshalling area, if a little unsat and not entirely in time at the catch (we really need to focus on this for tomorrow in the bows). Our practise start was measured and got us up to a decent rhythm and boat speed. We span and de-kitted with five minutes to go, with the four minute gun taking me completely by surprise as I quickly got out of the boat. Those last few minutes seemed to go by so quickly. In no time at all, it was time for the one minute cannon, and then we were pushing off, and then...
...An explosion of noise (admittedly not as bad as I had perhaps anticipated given what people had to say about our station) as the cannon went off. We wound it up to a ridiculously high rate, as we usually do under race pressure, and gained about half a length on Churchill after our fast start. We took our usual power strokes, but they seemed very ineffective, which I attribute to a combination of the wash and the rate, and we were probably back on station by the time we strode. In no time at all, we were at the end of first post reach, and we started to hear a whistle. Assumed that it might have something to do with us, but I did not really know what that may be at this stage. First post corner... ...2 whistles... ...wait, what? I looked up and saw (although from the bows I'm pretty useless at judging distances) that Clare Hall, which we had so far ignored behind us, were moving up and were closing on us at a noticeable rate. I admit to have been quite surprised and afraid at that point that my first bumps campaign would start (and presumably end) in total failure. Three whistles at Grassy lead to five seconds during which I wondered what would happen if we were bumped. Would we spoon? And then came resolve. Why should we let ourselves be bumped? After (as Shahid pointed out after the race) 360 squat jumps every time we had circuits sessions, compounded with the 630 other elements in our routine? After all of those times when we were on the river in pain instead of lazing around drinking and eating crisps? NO, we were First and Third M3, we would not let this happen. All of this happened more or less around Grassy (can't remember exactly where, but it can't have lasted more than 5 seconds).
It was only then that I realised that Clare Hall were being pushed hard by Magdelene right behind them. Great, our first ever sandwich, and we were on the receiving end of the trouble. Clare Hall took a strange line around Grassy, going really fast into the corner and then turning quite sharply close to the towpath side, which presumably was in an attempt to avoid the bump, and that somehow worked out fine for them. This led to them probably coming to a few centimetres of overlap, but about 3 metres to the left of us. In hindsight, this manoeuvre probably gave us the race, or at least took the chances of a bump down significantly, but I think that that was due both to the slight distance lost and the fact that we (or at least I) strengthened our resolve at this point. Magdelene blew quite spectacularly down plough reach after coming within very little of Clare Hall's stern. The sandwich probably ended at around the Plough, and that left us once again in a two-boat race. We pulled ahead a little, then were bunched up again around Ditton (2 and 4, massive strokes!!). The race so far had been hard psychologically, now it was starting to get really hard physically (not that we hadn't been working hard - I think that the adrenaline had made us not be conscious of it).
As we began racing down the reach, the boat started to move better and our confidence grew. Perhaps the strangest moment was when Rob gave the thumbs up to Catarina, which she understood as an indication of a good racing line, and returned, which at least two of us in the boat thought looked suspiciously as if she was conceding... (we had moved away, Catarina, what were you playing at?). That little glitch aside, our rowing improved dramatically after Ditton. We have consistently had excellent reach pieces in our races, and although this was a little scrappier because of the wash (together with a few missed strokes and air-strokes from essentially everyone in the boat), it was still vastly better than in the initial parts of the race. Clare Hall stuck with us for another 500 metres or so, presumably doing almost continuous bumps pushes because of the fairly constant 1/2 length whistles that were being communicated from the bank (thankfully we did not come to within a metre or two at any point on the reach). And then, the pain starting to really show, our better fitness finally came into play. We somehow (I don't remember how...) pushed away from them just before the motorway bridge, and then we just opened up the gap until the end.We must have finished slightly inside station on them and outside station on Churchill, so not quite the race that we had planned, but by all means an exciting first time in bumps.
I remember trying to yell as we reached the P&E but instead just grunting and collapsing into my seat (a great reason to be at bow by the way... ...unless you have developed a strong physically intimate relationship with one of your crew mates in which case you would probably not want to be there). I was completely spent, I couldn't take another stroke. We then had quite a poor row home, which tells me that everyone pushed hard, which is a good sign... Hopefully tomorrow we will hold them at station rather than at a canvas. This means having a much better first post reach and then taking advantage of our superior fitness across the rest of the race. If we come within half a length of Churchill, then we bump, otherwise we try to emulate M2 and have a slightly less exciting, although hopefully not uninteresting race tomorrow, and wait for the bump on Friday.
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2014 - Cup
Posted as: Neil I.
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Coming out of the fairly catastrophic Emma Sprints race (during which we crashed into the bank after three strokes, caught a crab and still managed to beat Clare Hall by about three lengths), I think that we all wanted to have a cleaner race. Unfortunately, that was not to be as we started off rating too high, almost caught (or did catch) a few crabs, and generally did not find a smooth rhythm until we realised that Queens' were performing significantly worse than we were and were nearly 3 lengths behind. At that point (i.e. just before the railway bridge), we took the rate down and finally found the power, length and togetherness that we were so conspicuously lacking in the first 400-500 metres of the race - and that we would also struggle to find in the next race.
We were certainly happy to win this one, but I think that it mainly served as an alarm bell (albeit not a particularly effective one) to really focus on the technique that we had been developing throughout those long weeks of daily morning outings (I mean - why else torture ourselves if it isn't to be the best novices on the river?). It was a pity that those first two races didn't reflect the real potential of the crew.
Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2016 - Open Invitational
Posted as: Neil I.
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A fairly decent race in a scratch four. The downstream leg with the tailwind had good patches but the power was being applied a little too late in the stroke, which resulted in a mediocre pickup. The finishes that we had been working on were good down the straights, but we let ourselves be distracted by the corners too much and it took too long to find our rhythm coming out of them. There was a tendency to finish away from our riggers in an attempt to correct the set at the finish, for which I take a significant amount of responsibility. Despite this, there was a significant improvement in technique and togetherness throughout the leg, as expected from a scratch crew, with a nice finish down First Post Reach.
During the rest at the lock, we talked about keeping the boat set at the finish and front-loading the race a bit more, bumps-style, with the aim to race hard to Ditton and hold on. We achieved the first two focuses quite well, leading to a much better first 1.2 km to the second leg. Having raced hard to Ditton, we hit wash from the Catz W2 boat that we were chasing, came into the headwind and Matt's wrist strap fell off. This led to a few extremely dodgy strokes, but we never really picked it up from there, and the boat just felt really heavy until the finish. I subsequently began to forget which way was vertically upwards and didn't help with finishes down the Reach. We need to learn to keep the technique together once it really starts to hurt if we want to close the deal down the Reach in Bumps. Tom Rose's prescription: more weights.
Also, my first pots since Lent 2015 - though we were racing some weird invitational category due to having scratched the eight...
Event: Head of the River Race 2016 - Novice Academic
Posted as: Neil I.
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As part of the 'non-enthusiastic' senior members of the crew, I feel that I should start by nuancing Forbes's race report a little. I admit that I lacked enthusiasm during Winter Head-to-Head when I saw just how much work there was to be done. I lacked enthusiasm during the following weeks during which we struggled to make the technical changes that we needed. I think that I only became properly excited about the crew after Robinson Head, during which we found a platform and send. But even before then, what impressed me was the speed at which the crew was improving. As I openly told many people in the club, this crew has been by far the fastest-improving crew that I have ever rowed in.
However, one cannot improve properly without constructive criticism, and I hope that my extremely irritating calls and slightly negative feedback at the end of some outings helped with this in mind. We found the mental toughness and concentration needed for bumps, and eliminated any complacency that we had from earlier in the term.
By all standards, bumps went extremely well. We pushed on through the week and delivered when we needed to. We found a crew spirit, and everything was awesome. The next few weeks were a bit of a mix-up across the club, and, unsurprisingly, some of the outings were a bit shaky - I remember not being extremely happy after the 2*19 min pieces for example. This was more the exception than the rule, however, and many of us made significant technical changes.
The week on the Tideway, rowing with a partially scratch crew, included lots of good rowing, technical changes and commitment, culminating on some very good sparring on Thursday afternoon with M1. I believe that I was generally positive and not 'sullen' up to this point, nor did other guys in the boat seem unhappy. Two slightly worse rows on Friday and Saturday morning made me slightly less happy, but altogether I was looking forward to the race and seeing how far I could take myself over the red line (Lydia telling us on Saturday that HoRR was all about playing with the red line for the last 5k of the race).
An agressive paddle-up, which included good stretches of battle-paddling with other crews about 150 places further up, translated after a surprisingly short period of marshalling into an aggressive first quarter of the race. I was quite happy when Ben took us down from 36 to 33 after about 30-40s, as I was wondering just how long I'd be able to hold on to that rate. After that, we settled into a nice long rhythm and gained on Bristol II in front as Hatfield College Durham gained behind. Overtaking gave us an extra surge of adrenaline and stopped Hatfield's advance at ~2-3 lengths, where they remained for most of the course. After that, it's a bit of a blur, but I remember a terrifying moment when my blade was turned more than 90 degrees by a wave, and I only just got it square before the catch, two more overtakes, a couple more waves, and Christ's two places behind gaining quickly on us as crews behind and a lack of crews in front made it difficult to stay in the stream (or know exactly where it was), finishing fairly far on the Middlesex side. The last 500 m were particularly painful, as Lydia called "150 m to the line" at which point I started counting and sprinting for the line. 15 strokes later, she told us "100 m to the line", then 10 strokes later "last 20 strokes", during which I just about kept my rowing together. As soon as we crossed the line, my legs cramped up fairly badly, and the pain levels were near those of the grim 5k selection erg done a few weeks earlier.
Our second-best race as a crew (after the crazy Thursday of Lent Bumps race), and a good memory which will hopefully carry on to many more exciting Tideway races.
Event: Lent Bumps 2016 - Saturday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
A slightly disappointing end to what has been my most intense bumps campaign so far. We were all feeling really good before this race, knowing that we would have no pressure from behind, and I at least was quite pumped for today. The paddle up was marginally better than it had been on the previous two days, and unfortunately, as I mentioned to Fordy last night, our races seem to inversely correlate with the quality of the paddle-up.
We had a lack-lustre start that saw Downing gain a whistle on us when they got bumped, then saw Sidney Sussex close distance on us when they got bumped, and then had a (mostly) clear river behind with only Eddies M1 in the distance. We had OK pushes in and out of the corners, but we just spakked around massively, forgetting how to sit the boat, get our blades in together and press out our strokes. This meant that we were never really inside station, and when we realised that we didn't have any whistles coming into Ditton, the power sagged even more, and we finished 3 lengths off them. It's a bit of a pity, as I'm sure that we could have given them a good race had we committed hard from the start.
As I said after the race however, it speaks volumes about how the crew has improved and committed over the other three races that we had this week that my least favourite race of the week was a row-over that saw us not be too far behind a decent M1. We committed when we had to (on Thursday's race), and we reaped the benefits of that great row. And more importantly, I think that we have all learned just how valuable commitment and perseverance in the face of adversity and pain are, not only in relation to rowing, but also in other walks of life. Here's to another successful term of rowing (and other things of course)!
Event: Lent Bumps 2016 - Friday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
This was the day when we reaped the rewards from the crazily intense row-over on Thursday. This time, we expected to bump, and this led to nerves throughout the row-up and we never properly found our rhythm and togetherness in the bursts and paddle down, practise start excluded (that was surprisingly good, given how poor the rest of the row-down was). During marshalling at the P&E, one of the Downing II guys had come over and told us that he thought that they had no chance of rowing over in front of us, and hoped that the race would be over quickly. This made me feel more confident that the bump was going to happen.
Whatever happened, we were not going to row the whole course, either bumping Downing II or being bumped by Queens II. This led to a 500 m race plan, which we followed quite well. The start was quick, slightly spacky, and the stride which we had executed so well on the previous day never really occurred. We got one whistle after the end of our start sequence, and basically just slowly ground them down over First Post Reach, keeping station on Queens' and bumping shortly before the corner. With people unsure exactly when to hold it up and Ben catching a massive overhead crab immediately after, we failed quite badly to clear and Queen's had to do some fairly tight evasive steering to go around us, but luckily for them Sidney Sussex weren't particularly fast and both crews rowed over. Greenery was dealt out in a fairly extravagant way and we rowed back from what was half of the crew's first bump in a slightly wobbly but controlled manner.
Overall, the result that we wanted, but if we want to stand any chance of bumping Darwin today, we'll need all of the compusure and commitment that we demonstrated so spectacularly on Thursday. We know that we can give them a fright - let's go out there and bump them!
Event: Fairbairn Cup 2015 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
We kept the Winter Head crew unchanged for Fairbairns after another few fours outings. Once the crew was finalised, we had an eventful Earith weekend which we thought would enable us to improve significantly while the other college crews were unable to row on the Cam: we battled high waves on the Saturday and posted quite a good 5k time in calm conditions on the Sunday. This prompted Tom to propose to rig the Empacher, a proposition that we welcomed unanimously as a crew, as rowing in the Wintech had been rather tricky despite the good technical improvements that we made while rowing in it. Unfortunately, we didn't quite find the sit and relaxation that had characterised some of our earlier rowing this term in the pre-race outings, with a bit of nerves linked with the boat and possibly the upcoming race leading to slight twitchiness and difficulties in rocking over quite as well as we had practised in the other boats.
We woke up early for a pre-race paddle (allowed exceptionally by the Fairbairns secretary due to heated discussions with his own mens' captain) which was marginally better than some of the previous days' outings but still lacked proper balance and relaxation. We tried to ignore the excitement of the novice races to focus properly on the upcoming race. The mood was one of determination and the erg warm-up with bursts allowed us to settle in to the race mentality that we needed.
The race plan was simple; given three equal sections of the race, we had three respective focuses: from the start to Chesterton corner: PLATFORM; from there to the end of the Reach: POWER; from Ditton to the finish: TECHNIQUE. This meant, more specifically, that we shouldn't go nuts during the first five minutes, and build up a proper platform for the power application afterwards. The middle part was self-evident, and the last focus would be necessary to keep the boat moving well through the pain and the technical corners.
The general consensus was that we executed the race plan, but that a little more power and rate would have been required to make up the 3.5 seconds to a more positive 3rd place finish (I'm excluding the Oxford colleges, who really shouldn't be competing for time, and CULRC, who were rowing time only). We started strong and a little less frantic than in some of the practise pieces, then strode down to rate 32, but it took at least a minute, until we had cleared the wash under the Elizabeth Way road bridge, to actually find a proper platform. We worked to improve this platform during the next 3-4 minutes, but lost time to Maggie and most other crews who had a more front-loaded race plan during this period. The push off Chesterton footbridge was quite strong, but the power sagged significantly from the P&E to the railway bridge. We had an awesome lift in power and commitment at the railway bridge, and we finally found our race form. The last half of the race is a bit of a blur in my memory, but we kept the power high and had awesome corners. The push down first post reach took the power even higher, and we wound to the finish at high rate, albeit losing a little cohesion at the very end.
The row-back was quite fun indeed: we experimented with Dutch rowing with pausing at the finish in the crucifix position, rocking over stupidly far so that the Zoe could see between bow pair, and had to stop often due to Queen's being blocked by slow crews in front.
People were understandably somewhat disheartened by the 5th place finish as we thought that the training that we did during the last few weeks would have given us a significant edge, but the result should not overshadow a great term of rowing with great people in a great crew. Despite the odd outing where things did not quite go our way, and the difficulties related to work, rowing, LBCing, etc., I am definitely glad to have been able to row with this crew this term and to have achieved a really nice result that shows our improvement throughout the term and suggests that much speed is still to be found.
Event: Lent Bumps 2016 - Thursday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
Ben's race report pretty much sums it up, but I'll try and write about what I remember from my second most painful rowing experince to date (the most painful being the 2k in January that I paced at 1500 m pace and then blew up in).
After Tuesday's race, knew that Thursday's race was going to be very tough, as Queens' II were inside station on Corpus when Corpus bumped us. I tried to reassure the ex-novices in the crew by saying that we were probably going to row-over, but that it was going to be really painful. I thought that unless we pulled a miracle out of a bag, we were probably going to be bumped at the beginning of the reach again, but I kept my dark thoughts to myself. I felt better waking up on the morning of the race, then worse as I sat through a supervision slowly feeling my energy decrease to scarily low levels, then sprinted to hall, where for the first time in my time at Trinity I didn't finish my meal as I worried that I might throw it up otherwise during the race.
Back in my room for 20 mins, I decided that the best use of my time would be to watch the Abingdon vs. Belmont Hill Henley QF 2009 race, which showed a crew 1 length down coming through a seemingly faster opposition in the last 150 m, with crazy cox Rory Copus shouting some classic motivational lines. I got really pumped and walked to the boathouse feeling much better, and agreed with Lydia that the call "They've gone too hard, NOW WE FUCKING PUNISH THEM" should be given as soon as we moved away from Queens', whenever that might be.
Our paddle down was poor due to nerves, but at least we got all of the spacking out of the way before the start. We were a little more focussed before the cannon, and it translated into a cleaner and less frantic start sequence. We held station on Corpus, but as expected Queens' moved up on us, gaining their first whistle justbefore First Post corner. Corpus bumped Downing II at that point and failed to clear properly due to their bows being jammed into the outside of the corner, which in turn led to us holding it up and mounting their stern. Queens also held it up and parked next to us. Some of the most intense carnage that I've seen in bumps so far. All of the boats behind had bumped out apart from Sidney Sussex who rowed past the carnage and continued on for their row-over. The umpires, seeing that Queen's had moved on us, gave them the option of a re-row, which they took. We had to spin and go to Head Station and start all over again. The minute gun occurred quite quickly, and very soon racing was underway again.
We had a better start due to the clean water and really powered away around the corners. Queens' got a 'bullshit' whistle around Grassy, which turned to a proper whistle coming into Ditton as they started to make their move. Our pushes in and out of corners were much improved from yesterday, and so we didn't lose ground around them (Lydia's lines were as tight as usual, of course!).
Coming into the Reach, I thought that we would probably hold them off as we had had a good start to the race, and if they had a "fly and die" race plan as I thought that they did yesterday, they were probably not going to move any further. I got tunnel vision at this point, so I don't remember exactly what else happened, but I remember small sections clearly. At the kink, we had a few bad strokes, and they closed from just outside 1/2 a length to a few feet of clear water. This was reduced to no clear water, then overlap about 8 strokes before the railway bridge. A the point at which Lydia called "five strokes to the railway bridge" (probably the only call that I remember from that entire section), I thought that we'd made it this far, so why not just make it the last 100 m of a race just there.
We held them, then they took a poor corner under the railway bridge, and opened it up toalmost no overlap, but a second big push from them took them to 2 metres of overlap again, which they held for the next 30 s. I can vaguely remember a roar from the cheering women's crews parked on the bank, but at that point all I was thinking of was: "my legs are no longer responding; please don't black out; why are we still racing". We somehow held it together better than Queens', and after more than a minute of overlap, they started to blow and forget how to row, and we eased it out of overlap, and then to 1/2 a length at Peter's posts. I then remember seeing them about 6 lengths behind (they had stopped rowing), but all that I could think of was "I need to get past that line", so when Lydia called us to wind down I freaked out massively and shouted, incoherently "Lydia, we're not yet at the end", and then when we had paddled to Top Finish, I pointed at the finishing post and screamed "that's the finish line", crazily, maniacally, desperately.
And then it hit us - we had rowed over, walked away from the closest race of Lent Bumps 2016 so far, and adrenaline took over. I forgot to be exhausted, I just had the most enormous surge of excitement, and shouted myself hoarse: "YEEEEEEES, YEEEEEEES, YEEEEEES" resounded under Chesterton Footbrdge, and I grinned all the way back from my most exciting bumps race so far. Crew Nandos was very cheeky, and we now have a shot at having a very successful bumps week.
What we need to remember for Friday's race: Queens' are going to want to bump us badly. They will close hard off the start. We will need all of the composure that we can muster to stay away from them, or Thursday's awesome race will have been for nothing. They are faster than us, but we have shown that we have the mental strength to hold them off. If we can do all of this and row cleanly and with long, pressed-out strokes, then we will bump Downing II and send them on their way down to well-deserved spoons.
Event: Lent Bumps 2016 - Tuesday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
This crew has improved enormously since the beginning of term. After the shambles that was Winter Head to Head, we knew that we had a long way to go to be competitive in bumps. Apart from a few short plateaux that occurred due to lack of focus in morning outings and blistering headwinds, we improved at a rate that I have never seena crew improve at before, on and off the water. We were showing signs of proper togethernessa few weeks before bumps during paddling, but the lack of strong finishes that has plagued our training through most of this term led Jon Glass to say that we rowed like a Vets Crew...
Hmm, time for high rate pieces. Luckily, Julia came at exactly the right moment for this, and put us through two days of significant pain doing 500 m pieces. Things were looking promising, except for a sag in pressure after a minute into the piece (when our legs actually started to hurt, that is). Robinson Head was to be our last high rate full-course piece before bumps. Neil Talbott, who was bankpartying us for this race, urged us to sit up and look up, and, lo and behold, the balance of the boat was there and we had a great race, finishing second to a fast LMBC II crew.
With very little time left until bumps, we focussed on high rate pieces, with the low points for me being the Tom Rose - style 6x500 and the 10x (17 on - 5 off) Fartlek on the Friday morning before bumps. Another Talbott outing focussed on getting blades square early, and with a few days to go, I was feeling better about our chances, though still more uncertain that I had ever been about what our race speed would actually be.
From results earlier in the term, I was convinced that Downing M2 were going to be absolutely terrible and would be bumped very early on by Darwin M1 ahead of us, and glimpses of their starts during our last pre-bumps outing seemed to suggest that I was right. M1's report of their sparring with Darwin seemed to indicate that Darwin weren't as rapid as last year, meaning that we might have a chance at bumping them on the first day - something that I had discarded more or less at the beginning of term, so I psyched myself up for a potential bump. Behind, we had absolutely no idea how fast Corpus were, as we had only seen them out on the river once before, but I told the crew not to be complacent and expect an extremely painful row-over at best (though obviously we would go hard for the bump off the start).
I for one was really nervous about this race, more so than for any of my previous bumps races, as I had no clue how fast we were and how we would perform on race day. Our paddle down to marshalling was the best low-rate rowing that we'd done so far this term, with commitment to long pressed-out strokes that made me quite happy indeed, and I was starting to lose some of the nerves that I had been feeling since waking up & going to Stomp. The first burst (to 24) on the reach was good, the second (to 28) less so, but still showed some of the togetherness of the row-down to marshalling. Our practise start was OK, but I think that nerves were creeping back into the boat at this stage. We paddled it down rather poorly to station down First Post Reach, and I was starting to be nervous again. We lacked a bit of focus between the 4 minute gun and the 1 minute gun, and I think that it affected our start a little.
We went off ridiculously high off the start, winding to a spacky 43 and striding for the first time to a OKish 38, which we had to stride down from to our race pace at 35. We were outside station on Corpus and at station on Darwin just before First Post corner, but lost a little power and send coming into the corner and didn't pick it up coming into the Gut, where the wash surprised me as usual. Apparently Downing II got bumped by Darwin at this point, and some of the crew noticed this and realised that we had a long row-over ahead, and the pressure sagged a little more.
Corpus closed to 1 1/4 lengths coming into Grassy, and got their first whistle coming out of Grassy, which we didn't push into properly either. Corpus got a sniff at the bump here, and started really moving. We responded, but possibly a little too late. We held them at 3/4 length down Plough reach, during which time Queens II behind had one whistle on Corpus. The pressure sagged again coming into Ditton, and an unsat corner and a big push from Corpus lost us most of the remaining distance. Lydia conceded about 10 strokes out of the corner, but unfortunately they failed miserably to hold it up for another 10-15 strokes, resulting in a rigger hitting her back and a blade hitting her head hard. I'm glad that they got fined for that!
We were obviously annoyed at getting bumped, but the row showed patches of very good commitment and we never resorted to a "shit we're about to get bumped, let's just give in" mentality. We had a good start and knew that to do better on Thursday, we had to push hard into and out of the corners and not lose vital ground to a fast Queens' crew behind.
Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2016 - Lents 2nd Division
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
It's hard to write race reports on races that don't go well without resorting to complaining, but I'll give it a go. Crew selection had been mostly finalised a few days before the race, and this was our first outing as a crew. This explained in part the lack of togetherness in the rowing and the tremendous difficulty that we had in sitting the boat. More frustrating, however, was the fact that we had no idea how to improve any of those aspects of our rowing, and the row-up consisted in crashing down on strokeside on a large fraction of our strokes. I was a little bitchy about it and called for an increase in focus for the race.
The lack of focus and togetherness pervaded the first part of the downstream leg, during which we spacked around at an extremely ineffective, rushed and not pressed-out 30-31, before taking it down to a slightly less rushed, yet still fairly ineffective 28 after Ditton. Finishes were still not pressed out, and I don't think that we had more than 5 continuous approximately sat strokes in a row, though we had a few nicer bits around Grassy and the exit of First Post. I called a few times for 'platform' after the corners, which in hindsight should probably have been replaced by 'press the finishes'. Down First Post reach, we saw Magdelene M1 overtake a flagging Clare M2 crew, and we realised that our next leg would be difficult, trying to hold them off over the course.
After the usual 20 min faff at Head to Head, we were off again. We quiched massively down First Post reach, until people realised the Magdelene M1 had gained about 5 lengths in 600 m, and we decided to get our act together a little out of the exit of Grassy. Their rate of progression slowed, and I actually began to feel some semblance of togetherness as we finally started to apply some pressure in the water. The rowing became messy, and then frenzied after the kink when it was obvious the Magdelene had had a big push and were going for the overtake. After some of the least effective strokes that I have ever taken down that last stretch of reach, they drew level with us - on the line. The row back wasn't awesome either, and I continued to complain from the 5 seat - sorry guys...
Lessons from Saturday's race: 1) Focus during the whole outing 2) Work together 3) Work at a constant high level of power output, not only during the start or pushes 4) Press out finishes -> 5) Sit the boat.
We need to get our act together over the next few weeks. Downing II (2 ahead) look set for spoons again, and we'll need to row the long race on Day 1 to hold off Corpus M1. On a positive note, we will gain a lot more speed by just rowing together, and rowing hard. I think that we can improve significantly this term, and be very competitive come Bumps.
Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2015 - Student IVs
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
This was a good race in a scratch four. Had a nice rhythm down First Post, lost it a bit coming down Plough Reach, and then dug deep coming down the reach to move strongly up on the other four, and keep the Kings' College London four behind on station. Nice send and timing meant that technique was good coming into the eight later in the day (although the only photo we have of this race would suggest otherwise...).
Marshalling down at the lock is always fun as well - this time we were rewarded by a display of performance anxiety from our esteemed captain (see photos).
Event: University IVs 2015 - 2nd division
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
After the great race against Jesus, which put us, to our slight surprise, into the final of our event, we determined to go out and win this category and demonstrate our newly found speed. This determination showed in the paddle down, which was equally good and even more relaxed than the piece. We parked and waited (quite a long time) for Maggie W1 to appear for their final against Downing - was this an attempt at intimidation?
We started strong and relaxed, if a little scrappier than before. Finesse progressively dissolved a little into raw application of power, but we were still thinking about clean tap downs and positive rock-overs, which allowed the boat feel to stay nice and level throughout. We were told that we were a few strokes down at the Plough, so called a power raise, which turned into an unsustainable push and then a rate wind as we got onto the reach. I don't think that we could have got much more power down over those last 500 m. We couldn't see Maggie (being behind them), but I suppose that they must have also put on a big push at this time, as they progressively increased their lead to several lengths.
Despite the slightly frustrating end result, we were all really pleased with this week's racing, due to the technical changes that we made and the relaxation that we found. Getting a crew a week before Uni IVs and making it come together so nicely definitely bodes well for the rest of term. If we can get the power from the end of this race and the technique from the last into our rowing, we'll be going quite fast indeed.
Event: University IVs 2015 - 2nd division
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
That was a great race; we started extremely relaxed and kept the timing and rate throughout the whole piece. The rating felt ridiculously low, but this was just due to the extra smoothness. The boat was nicely sat most of the time, with only a few bad moments that did not take away from the overall feeling of togetherness. I for one finished the race not realising that my legs were hurting until after we crossed the finish line. Definitely my favourite bit of rowing so far this term. It's always difficult to tell distances during Uni IVs, but I felt that being in front gave a good incentive to keep the pressure high and constant, and we opened up a nice margin towards the end.
Event: University IVs 2015 - 2nd division
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
Definitely not as good as during the 4x3 minute pieces on the weekend, but the intent to row fast and together was there, and first post reach felt nice. Deteriorated after Grassy and we never really picked it up properly after then (just lost balance and send). We realised after the race that clean finishes and proper rock-overs might actually help sit the boat, and managed to apply that change on Friday.
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Tuesday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
Doing a pre-paddle on the morning of the first race seemed like a good idea until we carb-loaded a little too effectively and I was unable to sleep until well after 1 AM. A short 5-6 hours later we avoided the outside possibility of a scratch during Stomp by successfully injuring our five-man's wrist during the pre-paddle.
My own wrists were distinctly unhappy as well (though I didn't want to say this too loudly to the crew); but after procrastinating with a prolonged foam-rollering session and figuring out that I could load the outside of my hand without stabbing pains in my forearms, I was beginning to feel pumped up for my first bumps race in 3 years.
Watching Homerton M1 push off during a huge downpour dampened our excitement just a little. We decided that our very own backsplash-generated weather system was quite wet enough without having to compound it with British winter rain, and simply sat out the shower.
Our relative dryness once again buoyed our spirits, and the pre-bumps nerves showed in a powerful - if very unsat - row-down. Having hidden our speed all term, it was comforting to comfortably hold station with Pembroke downstream and Hughes upstream for the row-down. Meanwhile, Jesus M2 two in front were left hundreds of metres behind, confirming our suspicion that we would be in for the long haul once they were bumped by Hughes.
First day nerves were apparent off the start: bow pair were spectacularly ineffective at tapping the boat into position, which probably cost us half a length or so. We responded by winding up to a comfortable rate 43, before chilling down to rate 40. The combined carnage of Hughes bumping Jesus M2 and Darwin catching Eddies within the first 30 strokes required some emergency evasive manoeuvres which likely cost us another half a length.
Consequently, Pembroke M2 behind were still on station at First Post despite our strong start. Coming out of First Post, our bank-party spotted Sidney 5 lengths ahead and the possibility of an overbump spurred us on. We steadily closed the distance to 3 lengths and moved away from Pembroke M2 down Plough Reach and were 2 1/2 lengths ahead by the time they were bumped by Homerton on the exit of Ditton.
Unfortunately, the lack of pressure from behind focussed our attention on the pain in our legs and wrists rather than the possible overbump, and we didn’t close the distance any further down the Reach.
Overall, a good row despite the initial difficulties down to Ditton, followed by a tired last km. A similar race on Friday with no danger from behind awaits - I’m excited to see what we can do!
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Friday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
Not aggressive enough: less rain, more splash tomorrow!
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Thursday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
So much splash...
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Saturday
Posted as: Neil I.
Event Link
Like Thursday's race, but with a semi-successful rhythm. Got 2 whistles off the start, took a while to get 3 and sat there for a worrying amount of time. Got them coming into First Post.
We'll probably get fined for teaching Ilsu how to row strokeside on the way back...
This was a blast; looking forward to getting blades with this crew in Mays!
