All race reports for Piers Marchant
Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2024 - 2nd division
Posted as: Piers Marchant
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Novice Fairbairns was the first race for NM3 this term and we weren't quite sure what to expect going into it, having never been timed over such a distance. We knew that we had had far more training than the other NM3 crews but where we would place among the NM1 and NM2 crews was a mystery. Despite this we were confident and the race started well with our cox Andrew and our stroke Tony quickly setting us into a fast but sustainable rhythm.
We stayed smooth throughout the course of the race and even were able to overtake the Christ's boat ahead of us. It was only in the last 30 seconds of the race that we fell more out of time, but at that point the overall damage was negligible.
Beating every NM3 and NM2 crew (aside from FaT of course) and coming 8th overall gave us the best placing for a FaT NM3 in history. Learning this on our return to the boathouse was an uproarious occasion. Needless to say that other colleges will have a lot to improve if they want to rival FaT in the future!
Event: Lent Bumps 2025 - Wednesday
Posted as: Piers Marchant
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Another strong performance today saw us chase down King's M2. A strong start led to us coming to one length off quickly after the end of our start sequence. We maintained an (ambitious) stroke rate of 36, but this paid off as we were able to quickly come to a canvas off King's. The final push at the third whistle, even if it seems like an eternity, allowed Lucy to skillfully bump their crew. Overall, we were done less than 150 seconds after the cannon fired. The blades campaign continues tomorrow with us hunting down Hughes Hall M2
Event: Lent Bumps 2025 - Thursday
Posted as: Piers Marchant
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We knew that Thursday would be a pivotal moment in our blades campaign, as we had to get two subs. This threatened to disrupt the pattern we had gotten into in the previous days, especially as the stroke seat changed, and I had to change sides too. Hughes Hall M2 had rowed on the previous two days so we knew they could hold out if necessary. Thankfully there was no cause for consternation. Despite a rocky start, we managed to settle into a rhythm, and we soon heard the first whistle. We stayed at about a length off, but slowly began to chip away at Hughes Hall. The second whistle came soon enough and we began to pick up the rate. We had been sitting at 32 and came up to 36 in order to secure the bump, which came fairly swiftly after the third whistle. We stopped by the plough and were delighted to learn that M3 in the same division had bumped up for the first time too. We go again on Saturday for the final race of the blades campaign against Peterhouse M3
