All race reports for Dohun Lee
Event: May Bumps 2017 - Thursday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Knowing that Clare was inside station on Downing when Downing bumped Darwin yesterday at station 3, we were confident in bumping Darwin. Personally, some of that confidence subsided as the start we did down Plough Reach were some of the worst we've done in the past few weeks.
Despite the start which had neither the rate nor the platform of the one yesterday, we gained half a length on Darwin very easily. However, we sat at one length for far longer than was expected or needed, rowing messily down first post reach. At Rachel and Fordy's call for finishes, the standard of rowing (and boat speed) improved substantially, and we gained very quickly on Darwin, gaining the second whistle around first post corner and bumping before the entrance of grassy.
Definitely not the best row we've done, but it was enough to get the job done today. I am very excited for what the crew can bring to the table tomorrow chasing a much faster boat.
Event: May Bumps 2017 - Friday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Knowing that Downing II was faster than Jesus II, and that Sidney was going to get Darwin very early, we planned a 4(3?) minute race plan: aggressive start, then rhythming to a powerful 38 and chaining 10-stroke pushes until we bump Downing or Downing bumps Jesus.
Both the paddle down and the start down plough reach was committed, clean and powerful, certainly the best I've ever done. The crew got excited as the bump on Downing suddenly seemed an imminent possibility.
As per plan, we set off with explosive start and a powerful rhythm, but it seemed as if we underestimated Downing (or they also went very hard off the start), as we never significantly gained on them, staying on or slightly inside station for most of first post reach (despite covering it 4 splits quicker than we had on Wednesday). Around first post corner, Peter shouted that Downing was to bump Jesus "in the next 10 strokes": disappointing, but it seemed that a relatively easy row over with no threat from behind and no prey ahead awaited.
How wrong I was. Downing somehow managed to miss a certain bump, and kept blowing up just enough to give Peter hope that we could get them. Our entire crew blew up somewhere along plough reach, but Rachel continued to call for pushes down the Reach and past the railings, resulting in one of the most painful experiences in my (albeit short) rowing career. After Grassy, we never really settled to a nice rhythm, and never gained a whistle, despite their awful steering and crabs. A post-race analysis at crew pasta showed that we rowed down the Long Reach 20% slower than we rowed down first post reach (which was actually slower than our paddling), showing the crew's commitment to the 4-minute race plan and hence why we were unable to munch up Downing despite them having blown up.
Tomorrow, we get to try again, this time with a rapid Sidney crew from behind. (who will certainly get close) However, (with half the crew having been never bumped before) we are eager to embrace the pain and give it our all to hold them off. Whatever the result tomorrow, I am very to proud to have been part of this crew. We have already far exceeded expectations and avoided what seemed like certain spoons, and I have faith that what carried us so far this term will help us gain the result we want tomorrow.
Event: May Bumps 2017 - Saturday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Our plan on the last day was to aim for a row over, hoping that Downing tries (and fails) something similar to what they did on Friday, and blow somewhere along the Reach. We knew that Sidney was faster than us: the plan was to not panic even if they move up on us, and do a push and move away if they get to half a length.
Personally, the "not panic" part worked a bit too well. We had a very clean start, and settled to a powerful but sustainable rhythm. Having experienced moving away from Pembroke when they got to less than a length down the gut on day 1, I never considered getting bumped a realistic possibility (especially considering how well we seemed to be rowing) until Sidney moved to half a length on us. (probably less, it is a bit difficult to judge distances from bow) Then Rachel called for a bumps push but Sidney already had the momentum - we got bumped around first post corner.
Sidney was a fast crew, even by M1 standards, so I do not feel very bad about getting bumped: as Peter and David told us after the race, there was always some inevitability about this bump. In fact I feel that M2 has much to be proud of this term, considering that we ended up 5 places above where most people (including Peter and myself) expected us to be at the end of this bumps campaign.
Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2017 - 2nd division
Posted as: D. Lee
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I am adding a report because I think the result gives an unfair outlook of our crew's rowing at the time.
Emmanuel M2 had an extremely fast start, and gained about a quarter of a length on us at the beginning, but we had a powerful rhythm call after our wind strokes and began gaining back on them. However, we were maybe a seat down when our blades started clashing. After about 20 seconds of aggressive and continuous blade clashing, several of our crew (myself included) momentarily stopped rowing - while Emmanuel didn't. And we lost.
However, in the sparing we had just a week after this race, we proved ourselves to be the faster crew (despite having had 0 outings inbetween, while Emmanuel did), coming out on top on all 4 pieces we had.
Event: May Bumps 2018 - Thursday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Darwin were 30 seconds faster than us over the course. They moved on us steadily and there was honestly nothing we could do.
By the time we got bumped (coming into first post corner), we had actually moved inside station of Pembroke infront of us, who ended up bumping the descending Jesus crew later. Unfortunate that we could not find this earlier.
Event: May Bumps 2018 - Wednesday
Posted as: D. Lee
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There was a 5 - boat sandwich in the division with us in the center, meaning that a lot was going to depend on us getting Sidney today.
Unfortunately, after moving to inside a length of Sidney off the start, we struggled to keep the boat sat in the wash and never really made any headway. Pembroke moved on us hard and got us coming into Grassy.
Event: Newnham Short Course 2018 - Lower VIIIs
Posted as: D. Lee
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M4's second race a crew showed a lot of commitment and a huge improvement in time-wise.
Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2018 - 3rd division
Posted as: D. Lee
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M4's first row as a scratch crew - not quite the ideal result but the crew showed plenty of promise and room for improvement.
Event: Head of the River Race 2018 - Academic
Posted as: D. Lee
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The day started with a tragic paddle down to marshaling at Barnes bridge. However, the 2 hours of sitting around (or for me at bow, taking taps) under Barnes bridge while marshaling watching amazing crews row past(including the eventual winners, Oxford Brookes and Leander A), turned out to be an incredible educational experience as our paddling afterwards was suddenly the best we've done all term.
I think we hit 36 off the start and settled to a chunky rhythm at 33, immediately gaining on Imperial "E" in front us. The imperial cox turned out to be particularly stubborn and refused to give up the stream, which resulted in a set of prolonged and rather unpleasant blade clashes as we rowed through them. To be honest, the rest of the race from there until the mile post is a bit of a blur - apparently we ended up overtaking 3 more crews but for me that number could be anything between 1 and 5. I vaguely remember thinking "Oh this is actually the boat race course" as we came under Hammersmith bridge and then quickly being disheartened again as I remember how long it takes the blue boats to get to there.
We start winding it up as we come around the mile post and I think we took the rate back up to 35 in the final few hundred meters, ending the race in a committed fashion. The result might be slightly disappointing but it was undoubtedly affected by the blade clash and the slower stream, and leaves us hungry to return next year to redeem ourselves.
Event: Lent Bumps 2018 - Friday
Posted as: D. Lee
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After a solid paddle down and some relaxed, committed pieces, the crew was excited for its first bumps race of the term. (especially after the ones on Tuesday and Wednesday got cancelled)
Crosswind into the bank meant that our 7 (and 5?) man missed their first few strokes, but we wound to 41 through the messiness into a decent start - but I feel that this start already lacked the aggression that we had perfected throughout term. We still held Robinson at about a length throughout first post reach, but the boat speed notably dropped in the gut when Christ's bumped out, as the crew realized that we had a long row ahead of us. I feel that we were so intent on getting Christs' before they get Peterhouse that we were simply not prepared mentally for this scenario.
What happened afterwards was inevitable - a crew preparing for a long row in bumps often does not do well. Robinson were a quarter of a length off around Grassy, which is when we finally started to react, but it was already too late - they bumped us coming around Ditton.
We are a fast crew that have improved huge amounts this term, and it is quite frustrating we won't be able to reflect this in our final results. But now we need to accept that we were simply not good enough today, and spring right back tomorrow (if it happens), and in Mays and beyond.
Event: Bedford Head 2018 - Open Eights (Band 4)
Posted as: D. Lee
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Having had a "remember how to row strokeside" crash course in the M1 race beforehand, I went into my 3rd race of the day without much power left in my legs but with mildly better bladework.
As it stands, the row was quite solid and enjoyable - probably a tad too sustainable off the start, but the crew actually sustained it throughout the whole course and had a nice sprint for the finish.
Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2018 - 1st division
Posted as: D. Lee
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Crew selection was yesterday, which means that H2H was our first outing as a crew (with Marcus subbing for Peter).
The first leg was rather scrappy, and we struggled to lift the rate to above 30. It also seemed at times that we were too aware of the fact that we would have to do another piece.
We aimed to really attack the second piece, which I think we managed to do despite the horrific headwind. After spending most of first post reach trying to not lose our blades to the wind, we had an awesome lift around Grassy where we gained on Clare ahead of us. Then the wind hit us again on the Long Reach.
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2017 - Plate
Posted as: D. Lee
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The crew list for this race is horribly misleading: terrible availabilities on the day meant that 5 out of the 9 crew members were subs from NM4, who did not have a single outing the entire term. Indeed, two of the subs learnt feathering the day before, and many of them had never tried rowing all eight.
While I was not there for the race, it is indeed miraculous that we only lost by a length to Christs NM2, who went on to take 5th place at Novice Fairbairn's.
Event: Emma Sprints 2017 - M3/W3 Division
Posted as: D. Lee
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We moved off the start, were a few lengths up by halfway, and wound it down before the finish. An Emmanual coach complimented the standard of rowing as I cycled back.
Event: Emma Sprints 2017 - M3/W3 Division
Posted as: D. Lee
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Trinity Hall NM2 were about twice the size of our NM3, which led them to have a stronger start. But we stayed technically superior and held them/moved on them for the first half of the race. Just as I thought we actually had a chance, racing nerves from behind for so long finally kicked in and our rowing started to fall apart. In a side-by-side race between two crews who were rowing badly, the bigger crew prevailed. They went on to win the division.
Event: Emma Sprints 2017 - Division 1
Posted as: D. Lee
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After the race, Neil Talbott asked the crew "Is there anyone who did not catch a crab in that race?"
Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2017 - 1st division
Posted as: D. Lee
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What an incredible row. After a solid first half, NW1 put their hands deep into the fire and took a push after push starting from the P&E. The girls responded brilliantly to all of Kerems calls, but especially in the final push they took 200m from the finish - the lift in boat speed was thrilling to watch from the bank. The sheer determination across all of their faces as they crossed the finish line (and collapsed) is not a sight that I will forget any time soon.
NW1 was plagued by Lady Margaret all term, losing to them in both Emmas Sprints and Clare Novices, but stepped it up with unmatched resolve when it really mattered, coming first by a ridiculous margin of 15 seconds. Congratulations girls - youve done yourselves (and the club) extremely proud.
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2017 - Cup
Posted as: D. Lee
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(From Neil Talbott) A decent start saw us move to around 1/3 length up on Pembroke off the start, at which point the Pembroke stroke caught a monster crab. We were several lengths ahead by the time they had sorted themselves out and were able to conserve energy for later rounds.
Event: University IVs 2017 - 1st division
Posted as: D. Lee
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Not a bad row for a scratch four - in fact, I discovered my last crew member when Alex showed up to the boathouse.
The start was worse than our practice start (probably because I missed my third stroke as stroke) but then we got into a nice rhythm and held it. There were definitely stretches where we were rowing long and cleanly. The commitment was also always there - the definite increase in speed when jacqui called for a push around Ditton was extremely encouraging. I think Fitz moved a lot from us at the start and then very slowly since, but I cant really tell.
Confusing calls from the bank meant that Kristina called the wind down too early, but by then it was clear who the winner was.
Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2017 - 1st division
Posted as: D. Lee
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Terrible availabilities, 3 days of consecutive yellow flags, and the 2-boat rule imposed on the river by CUCBC meant that this was the first time this crew had rowed together since Emma's Sprints. The start reflected this, with two of the members catching overhead crabs right before the post, but the rowing improved throughout the race. I was left at the finish thinking that one more outing before the race would have changed the result significantly.
Rather disappointing result, coming 4th out of 8 NM3s and 51st overall, but the result does not fairly reflect the standards of the rowers in this boat. I wish them good luck for the rest of their rowing careers.
Event: Fairbairn Cup 2018 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: D. Lee
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Not our best row perhaps, but I think this race was really a fitting final race for this Michaelmas M1: nothing spectacular technically, but powerful and truly intensely committed.
We blasted off the start going over rate 40, and "settled" to a powerful 37 coming under Elizabethan bridge. Bomber described the first few minutes of this race as "really quite good", which is some compliment for those of us who know him. I think the rate fell to (still quite a powerful) 35 by the time we were under the white bridge. Technically, I think we started losing some patience around the front end which meant we were not connecting as well - something to work on for next term.
To be honest I can't say I remember much of the rest of the race, (not that I remember the first part very well) but I think we had very good lifts under the railway bridge and coming into the plough. Jedge started winding it up in the gut for the finish, and the entire crew threw everything we had into it for a fantastic (albeit slightly frantic) sprint for the finish.
Winning seems to have been an ambitious goal looking at the margin by which Downing beat us, but we were really not far off a 3rd place finish and miles ahead of many other colleges, some of which are quite close to us in bumps. There are also still many obvious technical changes that could be made, which suggests that there is a lot of easy speed to be found next term. While a slightly disappointing result, I had a fantastic time rowing with great people in a great crew. Every time Kerem called for a lift, I knew that I would have 7 other people to back me up - thanks for the great term guys.
Event: May Bumps 2019 - Saturday
Posted as: D. Lee
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A spooning Clare crew 3 in front had prevented Peterhouse's blades on the previous day, so we again faced the situation of having to row over in front of King's with nothing to bump in sight.
Maybe to live up to their confidence on instagram, or perhaps spurred by a fast Robinson crew behind them, King's stepped up their game on the final day, getting their first whistle on plough reach, their second on the long reach, and moved to inside 1/4 of a length just before bottom finish. However, this is where Charlie called for a move and the crew responded admirably - King's blew after bottom finish and we crossed the finish line with a somewhat comfortable lead, our success never really in doubt to those of us rowing. (although I am not sure if our bank party agree - I've never heard Bomber sound so panicked)
Some people might just look at the result and remember this crew as a crew as another unsuccessful FaT M1 which went down. However, I cannot disagree more. This crew (with 3 ex-novices) was hit with hardships all term, losing two of our triallists to injury, when we were surrounded by boats with blues. But the crew didn't just roll over - we did all the training as was set down by Bomber, and still pushed hard every session. By the end we had a crew who truly believed in our boat speed, and we performed to the best of our ability every day, holding Peterhouse for far longer than both Jesus and Clare, and producing two gutsy row overs in front of Kings. Most of this crew will be returning next year and I cannot wait to see what we can do.
Event: May Bumps 2019 - Friday
Posted as: D. Lee
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We had a King's crew who's been fast all year, and on for blades, behind us - they had expressed their confidence to catch us on instagram the day before, and we were determined to prove them wrong.
They turned out to be quite the match for us (and very well-mannered, despite their instagram posts), resulting in two very memorable races to rap up my captaincy. On Friday, we held about station to the railings, where they had a push to which we did not respond, and started moving fast. They got the first whistle before the white house and were 3/4 quarters of a length under the railway bridge, where we had an excellent push to keep them away. King's kept creeping up on us and finally got their second whistle around bottom finish, but we had just spent the entire term doing pieces from bottom finish to top finish - we held them rather close but comfortably away until the finish line.
Event: May Bumps 2019 - Thursday
Posted as: D. Lee
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With Peterhouse with their two Olympians chasing us, we didn't have much choice but to go for the classic "fly and die" - and we died hard.
We sprinted all of first post reach over rate 40, pulling away from Peterhouse and moving to 3/4 of a length on Emma. Peterhouse were still a length away coming into Grassy, but a combination of wash, Grassy corner and people blowing resulted in an appalling 10 strokes (including many mini crabs) around Grassy, and Peterhouse were a 1/4 length away and moving quickly coming out - we got caught just before the plough.
Event: May Bumps 2019 - Wednesday
Posted as: D. Lee
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We went into this race not really knowing how fast we, or any of the crews around us, are. We thought we could catch Emma if we are lucky, but knew that Peterhouse two behind us with their three blues might push Jesus onto us.
We moved inside station on Emma after a strong start and pulled comfortably away from Jesus down first post reach, but Emma caught a sniff of Downing early and pulled away from us down the gut. I've been told we moved back to around station about Ditton where they pulled away again - by the railway bridge Bomber got us to wind us down. (Amusingly, we moved back on them while paddling resulting in several angry noises from their bank party and boat)
Event: Lent Bumps 2019 - Wednesday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Not our best row, but it was efficient and did the job. Nerves ran high on day 1 on bumps, and this reflected on the paddle down which was quite tense and didn't have the calm relaxation that we've gotten used to in the past few weeks. Having entered barely any races all term, there was always going to be slight mystery to if we were actually as fast as we thought we were, and it was nice to confirm our speed by smashing Clare at first post corner, and we enter tomorrow with confidence that if we row as well as we know we can, the result will come.
Event: Bedford Head 2019 - Open Eights (Band 2)
Posted as: D. Lee
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After the first race, we had a brief break where we discussed potential improvements, and paddled straight back up with renewed commitment. There was a slight mishap coming through the first bridge (some unpleasant blade clashing) but we still managed to get a rate up in time, and this time the commitment and rhythm was there throughout and we had no problems with the rate.
All the pushes through each of the bridges were fantastic and we ended up matching our time for the first race - some really promising results from a crew which still has a lot of speed to gain.
Event: Bedford Head 2019 - Open Eights (Band 3)
Posted as: D. Lee
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First race of the day, and the first race for the crew this term - nerves ran high. Perhaps slightly too aware that we were entered in two consecutive divisions, our start (admittedly, something we've never practiced all term) didn't feel as committed as it could be, and we struggled to get the rate up high. In response, the entire crew decided to rush the slide to create an artificial rate which resulted in a fairly unpleasant rowing experience. I am not sure what I was doing in the race but it couldn't have been very good rowing as both my forearms blew around a kilometer in.
It was a pretty scrappy row and to be honest we were quite surprised at the pleasantly fast time - probably a testament to all the ergs we've been doing throughout the term!
Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2018 - 1st division
Posted as: D. Lee
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I think no other novice crew this term captures the word "brave" quite as well - NM2 threw absolutely everything right from the beginning, hitting rate 38 off the start and only finished 12 seconds behind NM1 despite their technical difficulties - congratulations on the result guys!
Event: Emma Sprints 2018 - NM1 Division
Posted as: D. Lee
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A better start, NM1 was already up on Wolfson when Wolfson decided to catch a boat-stopping crab - I am not sure if they ever recovered.
Event: Emma Sprints 2018 - NM1 Division
Posted as: D. Lee
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NM1 had a slow start, taking Josh's advice of keeping calm a bit too seriously perhaps. However, they settled into a nice (albeit perhaps slightly too relaxed) rhythm and were taking distance from Clare every stroke when some crustaceans brought a halt to their come back, and unfortunately the 500m Emma Sprints course was short enough for Clare to hold them off.
Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2018 - College VIIIs
Posted as: D. Lee
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The night before at crew nandoes we briefly discussed the standard race plan of "go hard off the start, row at a high rate and take a push off every landmark we can name" - surprisingly this is exactly what happened.
After a lacklustre paddle down (having to stop after 3 strokes because of marshalling did not help) we were determined to prove ourselves during the race. We hit around 38 off the start, and then settled to a relaxed but a very committed 34/35 which we kept for the rest of the race. The boat speed sagged slightly around Ditton but we brought it back up coming into the Reach, and took consecutive pushes from there to come into the finish absolutely spent. I was slightly scared that the UCL A crew behind us were going to apply us some pressure but instead they chose to rapidly disappear into the background, and we ended up beating them by ~40 seconds.
Overall a very solid row with the best result in Winter Head since we held headship, but looking at the footage of us rowing (thanks Forbes), there is still obvious room for improvement and we'll be looking to beat the colleges who beat us today at Fairbairns.
Event: University IVs 2018 - Light IVs
Posted as: D. Lee
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Being in a squad system and patchy availability meant that this was the second time this IV went out, although various combinations of 3 rowers had been out reasonably often. The row down started off as a bit nervy, but became more relaxed as we approached the lock.
As it stands, the row was very committed and surprisingly pleasant for a scratch IV. Focus on being keeping relaxed meant that we probably could have been braver off the start - I feel that Clare IV had a strong start down first post reach which is where they made most of their gains. Fantastic lines from Will and good pushes down the straights meant that we held/moved away from them past first post corner (bit hard to judge distances though), but unfortunately it was not quite enough to hand us the win. However, the Clare IV- is a formidable boat (with a former CUBC spare pair at stroke), and I don't think this is a result we should be ashamed of, but something to build on approaching Senior Fairbairns.
Event: Queens' Ergs Senior Invitational 2018 -
Posted as: D. Lee
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Close 2nd place to Queen's (2 seconds) - but great commitment showed by all the crew members and was really fun! Looking forward to winning it next year.
Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2019 - Men's Cup
Posted as: D. Lee
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We knew this was the race - both crews on this side of the semis were faster than the other semi finalists. Unfortunately, NM1 had met quite the match. Both crews were even in the first few hundred meters of the race but a mini-crab caught followed by a few (or quite a few?) bad strokes meant Caius pulled out to maybe a quarter of length of clear water.
The boys never gave up and a push around the inside corner meant we pulled to maybe a quarter of length of overlap by the finish, but it was sadly not enough. Still, very high level of racing from NM1 (much improved from their rowing at Emma!) and a mentality which bodes well for all of their futures!
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Wednesday
Posted as: D. Lee
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The start cannon really threw me off despite having heard both the 4 and the 1 minute cannon before, so our start wasn't quite as together as it could have been, but we still hit a pretty solid rhythm thereafter and hit Jesus fairly early. Jesus must have been sprinting flat out as we only got our first whistle going into the first post corner, but they rapidly came back to us and we bumped them shortly after Grassy, after having held prolonged overlap.
Looking forward to marshalling on the other side of the PE for the first time tomorrow, and chasing Robinson who broke our blades on the last day of Lents last year.
P.S Big thank you to M2 who came all the way to Grassy to support us today - friendly cheers from the bank are always appreciated!
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Friday
Posted as: D. Lee
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Not fast enough - Downing succumbed to Pembroke just past Grassy, we finished inside 2. 5 lengths of Caius.
Await rage tomorrow.
Event: Lent Bumps 2020 - Saturday
Posted as: D. Lee
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As promised.
After first bumping Downing coming into Grassy, we decided to channel our rage further by letting them go then promptly bumping them again 20 strokes later.
