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All race reports for Tom Coker

Event: Lent Bumps 2003 - Tuesday
Posted as: TomC
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Clearly Selwyn have been practising since the Robinson Head - they held us off very well at about 1/2 length until we crashed. It looked like we were in for row over, despite Andy's suggestion that we still had the reach to catch them... I thought the 1/2 a length call when we going round ditton was a lie to make us go faster.
A superb piece of determination from the whole crew, but it has to be said we were quite lucky - Selwyn would have almost certainly caught Girton if Clare hadn't crashed.

Event: Cardinal's Regatta 2003 -
Posted as: TomC
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Andy did offer our 3 man to one of the female marshals... unfortunate in many ways that they preferred the alcohol.
It was a much better race though, we spacked to the halfway point, but then finally managed to get the rate below 40.

Event: May Bumps 2003 - Saturday
Posted as: TomC
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Fantastic! Just a pity it took three days of practice to row like this.
Also nice to see a good amount of clear water between emma and maggie down plough reach, ie we were quicker than the infidel scum.

Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2002 -
Posted as: Tom C
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Having won Queens' ergs and (morally) the Clare regatta, this should have been in the bag. The crew was reshuffled after Mycroft broke his ankle in an awkward fall from a height of one foot in the JCR, but this at least allowed us to take more than 10 strokes without a crab.

We thought it was going really well, the rhythm was better than ever and there was plenty of power. Unfortunately the rate was 24.

Event: University IVs 2003 - 2nd division
Posted as: TomC
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A thoroughly enjoyable race. The wind wasn't so strong as the previous two days, which added to the fun. We gained on them from the start, their puddles came into view in plough reach, and we overtook them down the reach to finish with a length of clear water. An impressive margin considering the amount of water we took on board.

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2003 - Plate
Posted as: TomC
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A solid start gave us an early advantage of about 10 feet, and despite a few bad strokes things were going pretty well. Unfortunately bowside all got stuck in at the finish somewhere about halfway down the reach, causing us to crash into the towpath. We gained on them considerably up to the railway bridge, but it fell apart slightly towards the finish. Pretty encouraging overall, and we'll undoubtedly beat them in Fairbairns.

Event: Lent Bumps 2004 - Friday
Posted as: TomC
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Caius: We were wondering whether they could respond to a sprint. They provided an unwanted affirmative.

Downing: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Event: Lent Bumps 2004 - Friday
Posted as: TomC
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The first row was pretty good. The start was nice, closed slightly on Homerton, then settled to a pretty solid 32. A bit of zigzagging down first post reach allowed jesus to close, so we lifted to 34 in the gut and kept them at bay. Then we had to take a really shite line round grassy to avoid some quite rudely parked crews, but not as shite as Homerton's which included some mowing of the grass on the outside of the corner. Would've been a good race and an excellent chance to row over or even bump back.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2004 -
Posted as: Tom C
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They spent at least a minute parked on various banks, and we were faster than them. We didn't row the last half especially well but there wasn't really any need to.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2004 -
Posted as: Tom C
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There was a significant headwind through most of the course which we struggled to find a rhythm in. And they were quite good, hence the result.

Event: May Bumps 2004 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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Things didn't really go our way, after boat swapping at the P&E we only just made it to the start in time, and a few of the crew were a little unsettled. We were on course to bump, but a couple of crabs were caught, more or less stopping the boat. Then the crew behind started to overtake, but their bowman ejected himself in a bizarre fashion so I thought that was the end of the division.

Technical overbump?? A very disappointing decision, and a real pity that we won't have another shot at Clare.

Event: May Bumps 2004 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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We had a nice smooth start today but the rest of the row was pretty mediocre. Downing showed some tenacity but fortunately very little competence.
An inevitable but pleasing result.

Event: May Bumps 2004 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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A very good row today. About half a length off Hall when we were bumped by a boat that should be a couple of divisions higher.

Event: May Bumps 2004 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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Downing were looking confident until they found they had no lifejacket. They tried to blag it with the safety ring from the lock but the umpire wasn't convinced. We had a good row up to the beginning of the reach, at which point it became even more clear that none of the other boats wanted to play with us.

Tomorrow we have a good chance of bumping a slow Clare crew, but no doubt Downing will have some frustration to express from behind.

Event: May Bumps 2004 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
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I'm afraid I wasn't lucky in any possible way last night, although I did obtain 2 bruises on my 2nd leg and am missing 2 shoes, and I managed to get out of bed (slowly) at 2pm.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2004 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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Went over the course at 31. Must do better.

Event: Robinson Head 2005 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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A good improvement from the Peterborough race, but the result shows there's a lot of hard work to do in the next couple of weeks. We look forward to it.

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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The first half of the race wasn't great, but pushing Downing miles away in the second half was very satisfying. Since we won't be able to do that tomorrow, we'd better get a bump.

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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The minute gun went a minute earlier than we'd expected, so it was a bit of a rush to finish the pre-race pit stop, get in the boat, kit off etc. Luckily I remembered to put my feet in with 8 seconds to go so the start was pretty good.

The whole race was much better than yesterday with some good pushes down the reach, so Caius had to work hard to hold us at about 2 lengths. With a similar improvement tomorrow we should be seriously challenging them, and as Emma failed to make any real impression on Downing we'll have nothing to worry about behind.

Event: Lent Bumps 2005 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
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We threw the kitchen sink at them, but sadly they had most of the bathroom to hand. 11.5 seconds down at top finish.

Must've been our best row, was committed all the way with plenty of good lifts. Happy with the performance, but we still lost. Bullocks.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2005 - Men's 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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After a week of unavailability, illness and boat breaking, we turned up to race having rowed no more than 20km together. We also scratched the wrong crew and ended up with the harder of the two possible opponents. Bugger.

We went off pretty hard, and must have had a useful lead going into the corners. Went a bit wide round first post but survived, and we somehow got a good line round grassy despite the barges on the outside and Dan having to stop and leave me to work out where we were going.

I reckon we were about 5 seconds up at the 1500m post, but by then I was really knackered, finding it hard enough to move the rudder, never mind stop Din from pulling me round. Managed to hold on though, catching my crab exactly on the finish line. The marshalls gathered together for a chat, and finally said that we'd won, by the smallest possible margin. Not sure I could've faced another re-row.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2005 - Men's 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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We were pretty confident going into this; I'd implicity beaten one of them easily in maiden sculls earlier, and they chose to advertise their power disadvantage by wearing CULRC kit. The hard bit was getting the equipment down there so we could re-rig. Being inept, I managed to get one of the trestles stuck in my front wheel and went flying over the handlebars, but thankfully avoided serious injury.

We had a good clean start, and rowed nicely up first post reach. They held the racing line well, but unfortunately there was a big barge parked in it. Din called a lift to gain us as much as possible, and a few seconds later I announced that we'd won. The corners were pretty good, and the rowing was much nicer than yesterday. With a few pushes in the second half we should be able to do some serious damage tomorrow.

Event: Maiden Sculls 2005 -
Posted as: Tom C
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I'd had a bye in the last 16, so this was my first race whereas my opponent had had two, so I kind of expected him to be better off the start. This was indeed in the case, indeed I couldn't really have done worse without falling in. So I was at least a length down by the time I found a rhythm, rating a little low but effective in the water. I could see his puddles getting closer, and I had clear water by 300 metres. At this stage I was anxious to wind down to save myself for the pair race later, and fortunately the bank got in his way so I did.

Good to get through, but I'll need to find top gear and a decent start to do well tomorrow.

Event: Maiden Sculls 2005 -
Posted as: Tom C
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After Monday's encounter in the pair, we were expecting a close race, so I was very keen to get a decent start. I did pretty well, and probably took a slight lead after the first few strokes. But it rapidly became clear that I couldn't control my blades in the headwind, and a couple of shipwrecks left me well down. Dan reckoned my cruising speed was faster, and I was definitely moving up when I got a few good strokes together. I'd hoped to get back into contention with the bend in my favour, but the wind was relentless and I conceded after a final shipwreck which left me about a length down after 300m.

He'd done a fair bit of training in the run up to STCS when it was pretty windy, whereas I'd not been out in anything that could shift a leaf. I reckon in calmer conditions I'd have had a very good chance of winning this event, but sadly it wasn't to be.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2005 - Men's 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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Although it was rubbish, we always knew we were ahead. It shows how tight this competition was that 6 seconds was a pretty comfortable win.

Event: Foster Fairbairn Pairs 2005 - Men's 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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After waiting nearly half an hour, they decided that it'd never be clear so we'd have to do the best we could. Steering was made doubly harder by the wind which was being both strong and inconsistent, but even so we did a bad job of first post reach. The corners were ok, although I had to pull my blade in a foot on one recovery round grassy. Pretty relieved when Dan told us they'd crashed, and we just about maintained a 5 second lead through the second half.

Thanks must go to Dan Jane for his superb bank steering, and Jacob for his loud encouragement down the reach today.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2005 - Men's 2x
Posted as: Tom C
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Didn't see the corners but the boys were making ground down the reach despite being in dirty water. Was particularly amused by Graham's enthusiastic up 2 call going into the last 400 and Andrew's equally "enthusiastic" response.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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This was by far the best race, kept the rate at an effective 39 despite the headwind slowing the catches. I guess this was because they were built like coat hangers and losing would have been too embarrassing.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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We'd won the race before it started by simply having more fun than the opposition. Indeed, they were looking pretty bored while marshalling, whereas we quietly acted out an entire blackadder episode, and despite Dan's volcanic enthusiasm he only shouted one line loud enough for them to enjoy. The race was really fun for us, the bladework amusing and the power exhilarating, they just looked like sore losers. And finally we had the most fun cos we got to drink our free beer in pewter.

Event: City Sprints 2005 - ARA S2 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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The start marhsall had told James he was allowed to banksteer so long as he didn't coach. The marshall halfway down the course and other ideas and managed to block his passage. Dan didn't notice, and hearing no further instructions carried on damn straight.

I was quite impressed by the Maggie pair; we were rowing pretty well and yet were only 3/4 of a length up when we hit the bank just before 300m and thus ended the contest. They lost by about a length in the final, so it would've been a good race if we'd made it. Or maybe the Robs pair were just having a laugh, we'll never know.

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2005 - Men's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: Tom C
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We weren't rate capped, but possibly length capped at about 12 inches... well it was VERY windy.

Event: Peterborough June Regatta 2005 - Senior4 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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wank! no rhythm! we rated fast. and our main regret was getting beaten by a schoolboy 2nd VIII.

Event: Peterborough Sprint Regatta 2005 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Poor preparation produces piss poor performance. Lack of sleep combined with a curry strong enough to kill an average Frenchman left me feeling pretty rough in the morning, and I didn't go for my intended practice on the lake, preferring to eat sausages. So I started the race unaware that I was drifting a bit to strokeside.

The first half was ok but a little untidy, by 250 I think I was starting to row through the guy in lane one. Then I found myself too far over because of said drift, and struggled to get back over. Eventually a buoy caught my blade and capsized me. I got back in as quickly as possible but sadly I'd lost too much ground. Very disappointing, I was definitely capable of winning this race.

Event: Peterborough Sprint Regatta 2005 - Senior 4 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Two people didn't turn up, so last was good enough to make the repechage. I had an ok row, but the other guy was a bit quicker.

Event: Peterborough Sprint Regatta 2005 - Senior 4 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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The starter chose to leave a pause of about half an hour between "attention" and "go". During this time one of my blades unsquared itself, and as such my first two strokes were completely ineffective, so was a couple of lengths down immediately. If anything I got a bit closer to the guy in the next lane (who lost by a second), but never back into contention.

Need to move the boat in a straight line, and do some more fast pieces to work out the right rhythm.

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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Houdini would've been scared by this. We were closer to Robinson than Queens until grassy, but then Queens really went for it. We didn't respond well because no-one could hear Rachel, and they hit us while exiting Ditton. Quite happy when told we got Robinson first, but we'll have to improve to hold off Queens later in the week.

With any luck we'll get a shot at Downing tomorrow, can't wait!

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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LMBC were on station till about grassy. And what does hench mean anyway, you filthy little woman?

We were 3 lengths from Catz after LMBC bumped out, but unable to make any more progress in the headwind with tired legs. Tomorrow we're gonna hit Downing so hard that their last head crew will feel it.

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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Same as Wednesday, except we did it better. Don't quite understand why we didn't get the bump this time. The trouble is that the last few feet were much easier for Queens than us because Downing had clear water. Unhappy indeed.

Event: May Bumps 2005 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
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Playing for the overbump on Catz, we finished about 2 lengths behind. Perhaps they were a bit fitter than us, but not so gelled as a crew, so they were able to keep us at bay in the second half despite early losses. We had a pretty good row, pushed it hard to the end with some good misunderestimation of the distance remaining from Rachel, so no disappointment today.

So we finished level for the week, but it could easily have been up 3. Indeed, if LMBC had been given a (clearly deserved) re-row on the first day we would've had a shot at Hall today for blades! Awesome for a crew with 4 novices. Quite annoying that we're still behind Downing and Catz, and I'm not convinced that Queens would've got us if we'd had clean water.

Next year, Downing will be destroyed.

Note: apparently "hench" refers to the appearance preferred by young male homosexuals.

Event: Cambridge Small Boats Head 2005 - S4 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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Most importantly we secured the pots. My nasty cold kept the rate down, hence the fairly mediocre time. But we got good boat speed for our work and we didn't hit anything, so we can smile. And we did.

Event: Cambridge Small Boats Head 2005 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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First attempt at the head course, or indeed any distance greater than 1k. Pleased with the first half - the guy behind (11:48) was a couple of lengths back at Ditton. After that it started to crumble, the wind was a bit gusty down the reach and knocked me over a few times. Then my right arm gave up, and the last 500 was reduced to a light paddle to keep me going in a straight line.

I reckon I lost 10-15 seconds going wide round the corners, but the main issue was falling apart towards the end. So let's do some longer pieces in training.

Event: Pairs Head 2005 - S3 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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An excellent day out, easily the most enjoyable trip I've made to the tideway. Marshalling was more like sunbathing, none of the usual freezing cold and needing to piss so badly it hurts.

Less enjoyable was a powerful headwind in the first third of the course. We rowed ok in it, but I think it was blowing us away from the stream a bit, also it was really knackering. Crew 184, two places behind, were looking like overtaking soon after Barnes Bridge, and they went on to win S3.

We must've had a decent second half, losing only two lengths to them, but it didn't feel so great. The arms and backs were feeling very tired, and the rate was flagging a bit. The water was very choppy in the last couple of minutes, so we had a couple of shipwrecks before a decent push for the line.

The final reckoning? We were 30 seconds off the S3 winner, and an irritating 6 seconds behind Jacob and Colin. If Dan hadn't been on holiday in France the week before the race, and we'd ever practised on the tideway, I reckon we could've been quite competitive. Perhaps we can have a good run in the IVs...

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2005 - College IV-
Posted as: Tom C
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We could make lots of excuses; tired legs from the eights race, we'd only previously done half an outing in this combination, the riggers were too high, the rudder didn't work, the wind picked up, Dan was ill, etc, etc.

But the reality is that, despite pulling hard and rowing pretty well, we lost heavily to some losers in red. In only one week, we shall return, stronger than they can possibly imagine.

The good news is that the fastest town 4- only managed 10:09, and allowing 20 seconds for a cox we were well clear of all the other college boats.

Event: University IVs 2005 - Light IVs
Posted as: Tom C
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It was a bit windy, but no more so than when we did our long practise pieces. Good rhythm down first post gave us 3s, which we increased to 6s by the Plough after a couple of pushes and superior cornering. At this point they started to worry and went for it, so we only gained another 2s in the second half.

We rowed well and steered well, but hope to be even better for the final. Obviously very pleasing to gain 20s on them in 10 days, and even better this completed a clean sweep of 4 red crews knocked out by 1&3 this week.

Event: University IVs 2005 - Light IVs
Posted as: Tom C
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More windy than Wednesday, and enough to make things hard. We'd been working on pressing the finishes out a bit more, and this improved the rhythm down first post. Steering was better too, but we were only 2s up after they took grassy wide. Pushed well down plough reach, and gained another 2s on the corner.

With more urgency than against lmbc, we nailed it down the reach. Focusing on the catches before the 30 stroke push helped a lot. Don't know what happened to them, maybe they started too hard, but we took a lot of distance out of them here. We finished it off with a committed sequence of up 1's after the bridge, stretching it out to a massive 14s.

I believe this is the club's first win in this event since 1988, so well done us!

Event: Head of the River IVs 2005 - S3+ (A)
Posted as: Tom C
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We didn't enter any crews, so I established a small 1&3 presence in this 4-college composite, the only attachment to Pembroke being bow pair's blades. We started in front of Pembroke Oxford (obviously), who seemed to think they could overtake us but blew up before Hammersmith having failed convincingly.

Could have been a bit quicker if we'd rated more than 28 and not been impeded by crews refusing to move out of the way (we hit Latymer pretty hard), but we still beat all the Cam colleges by 30s, and I reckon most of the faster S3 crews should've been disqualified for having practise outings. More importantly it was a good laugh.

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2005 - Senior 2 IV-s
Posted as: Tom C
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I think we were pretty pleased this, really flew down first post reach. Had some trouble overtaking a KCL women's eight, Dan was busy eyeing them up rather than the barge we crashed into. We also had to go pretty wide round Ditton so this must've cost us at least 5 seconds. Can't really remember the rest except that I had difficulty making calls.

So we lost 49 seconds on the eight, which seems like a lot, but I suppose it wasn't quite as balls out and we haven't been rowing for 2 weeks. The fastest college 4+ was Kings with 9:30, so we may need a couple of outings before Fairbairns.

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2005 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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We rowed very hard, and earned our victory over the sporting colleges. Caius however have done 10 times as many outings as anyone else, and so are going to look very silly when they don't win Fairbairns.

Event: Lent Bumps 2006 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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We were in a win-win situation today; either we bumped Christ's or they bumped LMBC, in both cases we start behind LMBC on Friday. In the event, Christ's were about the same speed as us, so we had to settle for the latter option. There was some optimistic talk of an overbump, but one by one we gave up hope and pressure, maintaining the rate just to look cool.

Event: Lent Bumps 2006 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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I'm sure giving Downing spoons will be more satisfying than winning your own oars...

Event: Lent Bumps 2006 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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This is probably the greatest victory I've had in 3.5 years of college VIIIs racing, even better than beating Caius in Newnham short course. We really didn't think our superiority would be quite so devastating, with some people on the towpath prediciting a sandwich. Humble sandwich for them.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2006 -
Posted as: Tom C
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He said he hadn't done much sculling recently so I thought I might win. I didn't.

It started going wrong during the pause between "attention" and "go". Unfortunately I was busy buttering my second round of toast when the beep finally sounded, and my first stroke didn't produce any forward motion. I recovered OK but the outflow hit me very hard and I nearly capsized. After this ordeal I reckon I was a couple of lengths down, but found a decent rhythm at 31 which combined with his perilously wide line round Grassy left me a length and a half up at the Plough.

I lost my concentration slightly coming into Ditton, and had to corner quite sharply. It seems I'm using my forearm to turn, and by the time I was round it was completely burnt out. We were about level at the the start of the reach, but I was reduced to half pressure at 27 while he pushed it up a bit. I guess the margin would've been about 15 seconds if I'd bothered rowing it out.

The legs and lungs were still going strong so it's pretty annoying to lose it like that. Will have to work out a better way of cornering.

Event: Magdalene Silver Pairs 2006 -
Posted as: Tom C
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Dan got back from Berlin at 6am, so we did well to get to the start line. We had a pretty good race, I think we gained a bit by steering the corners better, but they just came back in the headwind on the reach. We were half a second up, but in this game that's a draw.

So we had a 500m rerow, which suited our fast start. The race plan was wind, hold for 20, legs 10, backs 10, arms 10, up 10, and so we crossed the line at about quarter slide. This time it was a very dead heat. We had a chat and decided that we'd concede at this point, since a) Dan was tired and I was racing later in the day, and it was clearly gonna be a while before we got a result and b) the final was against a pair from CUBC who were gonna annihilate us (they won by 48s).

In any case we had a lot of fun. Perhaps we would've done better if I hadn't insisted on only using one clam, to prove that we're harder than Jacob and Bryn. For an indication of the wind speed, we did a fairly shoddy 2k piece in 8:00 last week in calm conditions.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2006 - Mixed 2x
Posted as: Tom C
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Record or otherwise, I wasn't best pleased, and must apologise for telling the umpire to "go away".

Maybe we should've won it, we went wide round grassy, and fell apart a bit in a very windy reach. The shorter re-row suited us as they'd been having trouble getting the rate up, so we just caned it. The official time was 2:00 which is at least 15 seconds slower than what we doing last week, ouch.

They had a Blue and a previous winner of the Fairbairn sculls. Chlo got binned and I got whipped yesterday. I reckon that counts as a score.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2006 - Mixed 2x
Posted as: Tom C
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I tried to delay the start as long as possible, I was shaking to the point it was hard getting in the boat. We were confident of beating a lighter crew in a headwind, but they were pretty tidy.

Down first post we were very smooth, even though the legs were already burning. I think that extra bit of efficiency allowed us to pull away on the reach, to win by about 4 seconds.

So I should get my name written up in gold letters in the weights room, which is, let's be honest, exactly where it belongs. Much thanks to Dan, who once again won the race for us, and the guys who wrote the words on the bridge.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2006 - Mixed 2x
Posted as: Tom C
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It's worth recording that the enemy were too scared to even bother turning up.

Event: City Sprints 2006 - CRA Nv 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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We rowed very badly indeed, but our power advantage over the other crews was sufficient to retain the title.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2006 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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I thought my arm might hold up after the races in the double; it didn't. Wasn't helped by the rain making the handles slippy.
First leg 12:06. Started to lose it round grassy, even went wide and easied.
Second leg 13:15. Very little recovery time at the back of the division, so I tried to take all the work out of my arms. Might've helped a bit but I didn't really survive Ditton and was rowing in circles down the reach. The last 700 was soul destroying.
Steering wasn't too bad in general, but I can't really draw any positives from this vile experience.

I'm very sorry to everyone for soiling the name of the club.

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2006 - Men's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: Tom C
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We should really have won this, so let's roll out some excuses. The CUCBC flag had conspired against us so that we hadn't had an outing for 9 days, let alone practised rating above 28, ever. Also there was a stiff headwind in plough reach which the earlier divisions hadn't suffered so much. And bow pair had a tough golf match in the morning.

In any case, it was good fun... rarely do I get a chance to row in such a powerful crew.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2006 -
Posted as: Tom C
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Jacob woke me up at 10.30 to "borrow my bike", and somehow I ended up at a golf course half an hour later. My assessement of the weather wasn't great, and the opposition could've been forgiven for thinking that I hadn't changed my clothes since formal the night before. Certainly I started playing as if that was the case, and we quickly slipped behind.

Fortunately our rate of improvement was even quicker, with Andrew getting a 2 to move us back into contention. I was swinging the club properly for the last 3 holes, and starting hitting the greens. But by then I could hardly see through my rain covered glasses and missed a couple of 4 foot putts. Combined with Glass's sensational finish (probably the longest shot he took on the hole), this led us to a narrow defeat.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2006 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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I reckon these would've been good races if we'd had a proper racing boat. I'm pretty sure we were up on Hall after 20 strokes, then they were gonna stride at exactly the same time as us so I kind of ignored the call (sorry boys). But once you get to cruising speed, the fat hull is a handicap too far.

Event: May Bumps 2006 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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Two and a half years I've been waiting for this, now they've finally got what they deserve.

GET IN.

We were a bit unsettled at the start, when I heard a count of 5 I wasn't sure if it was for the start or the one minute gun. Fool. After about 5 strokes it was fine, but perhaps we didn't attack the first minute hard enough. Settled onto a good rhythm at 34, but not as tidy as we're used to in the rough water. The gossip was that Downing were faster than Queens ahead of them, but that didn't seem to be the case, and all three were about on station coming into first post.

Downing weren't cornering well, so we gained a bit, pushed hard down the gut, and closed to within half a length on Plough Reach. With burning legs, we nailed Ditton, and had overlap at the start of the reach. They weren't gonna give us an inch, so we lifted it to 36 and put in back to back pushes until they finally broke at the railings. Churchill never threatened, and were 3 or 4 lengths behind, much like when we were out paddling on Tuesday.

The first day's never a great race, but we got the result and know what to do better. We've got another serious score to settle with Queens, so keep all pets indoors.

Event: May Bumps 2006 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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We knew that Hall were slow, so we powered off the start much better than yesterday, holding 39 through to the stride. Within a length by first post, and 3/4 when Queens bumped out just before the Plough. Churchill bumped Downing remarkably quickly, so it looked like an easy rowover.

Jesus then ominously rose out of the debris, and looked like they were having a shot at an overbump. We found a nice rhythm at about 5k pace, had to put a bit of work in to leave them a length down at the finish. Impressive commitment from them.

Obviously disappointing that we won't get our blades, but I reckon we've got a chance of bumping Hall tomorrow if raise our level as much again.

Event: May Bumps 2006 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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We really wanted to get them back for messing us around yesterday. The start was aggressive, and the boat didn't feel especially keen to stride to the really solid rhythm of yesterday. Hall managed to put up a fight for the first minute and half, but by the time we rounded grassy we were taking a foot a stroke, and made the bump at the Plough. I was hoping to get them rather sooner than that, but we hit them so hard that I'm happy.

Tomorrow we've got a great chance to sort Queens out, as they narrowly failed to bump LMBC. Guns.

Event: May Bumps 2006 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Of course it was emotional, and I was really dreading the start. But the cannon pulled me back together and only the heat made the rowing harder than previous days. We went off hard as ever, at 39 through 50 seconds, and settling onto a better rhythm than yesterday. Our pushes through the gut and grassy were rewarded with a length call at the Plough. Coming round Ditton I really thought we were gonna do it.

Why not? Queens were resilient, no doubt. For me it was rough water than beat us, the three crews ahead all got closer (apparently Catz had been on the piss), and it's very hard to keep control of the boat. By the railway bridge the doors were falling off, and a modest increase in rate didn't give us any extra speed. Jesus were presumably going for the overbump again, and this time were about 4 lengths back.

It would've been nice to go up more than two, and in particular I reckon we could've bumped LMBC given the chance. Still, we were faster than all the crews around us, and certainly in the top four with Caius, Catz and Jesus. Our training through the term was disjointed, but in some of the racing we did realise the potential we'd been having glimpses of all along.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2005 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I don't think anyone wrote this up at the time because we were all shocked by the result. This is how I remember it a year on...

Caius had beaten us by a massive 16 seconds in the winter head, so we'd been working very hard in the last couple of weeks. It felt like we'd moved on a lot, and we were rowing very well indeed for a mich term eight. It went a bit wrong in the last couple of days, with Florian getting ill, but Phil jumped in and the boat didn't feel much different.

Before the race, Henry gave us an inspiring pep talk, informing us that when Caius had beaten us they'd had a couple of subs in the boat: Kleinz and de Groot. After hearing this, we really thought we could beat them. In retrospect, I'm sure it was a lie, but a very good one.

The execution wasn't amazing, we didn't deal that well with the conditions, and the rate was a pip or two below our target. I personally rowed so badly that I couldn't face getting back into a boat the next term. But even so we didn't expect to lose by anything like as much.

Was it a disaster? I think that Caius were exceptionally strong, probably the fastest crew to race Fairbairns in the last 5 years at least. I think beating Black Prince almost for the first time was a great achievement. Who really gives a toss about these other colleges?

Event: Cambridge Small Boats Head 2006 - S4 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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Not our finest hour. The plan of not drinking the night before went awry when I got skanked into going to BA dinner at the last minute, but at least I passed on the port. So we weren't quite at our physical "peak".

The first 500 was pretty good. Things started to go wrong when the Queens double ahead repeatedly crashed, and Barry started trying to overtake them by shouting really really loudly. So we had to take some bad lines, and Barry's lungs got burned out. Eventually we did overtake, but the unfortunate irony was they were actually faster than us when they weren't attached to the bank. So they overtook us back, which made us very angry cats. It was a real slog up the reach and beyond.

On the positive side, we lost by about the margin I thought we deserved to (30 seconds), and we've improved around the front a lot. Also, we did win the S4 pots and chuckled accordingly at the Burrells party.

Event: Pairs Head 2006 - S3 2-
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I don't understand. I really, really don't.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Head 2006 - College IV-
Posted as: Tom C
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We lost, despite posting the fastest time in recent years. On the plus side, this was our first outing without at least one of bow pair being badly hungover, and so it felt a lot better than it has. Also we only rated about 31, leaving the tank far from empty. Ten days, ten times harder.

Event: University IVs 2006 - Light IVs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

The finish umpire said we lost by 2 seconds. Jesus were clearly a lot better than last year, and did a good job. We were a little shaky in the first part of the race, didn't deal with the strong wind as well as we might, but we stuck at it and gave ourselves every chance to get back into it in the second half. So I don't think there was anything wrong with the execution, it's more that we didn't get enough practise in, and I have to ask:

what if I hadn't injured my shoulder and missed two outings in the week before the race?

You can never, ever, say "we lost, but we gave it our best shot on the day so we can't complain". It just means you didn't train hard enough.

The trouble with these races is, if you win then you know that it's not important, doesn't mean anything, there's no big shiny trophy and the opposition probably weren't trying. But there's nothing worse than losing.

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2006 - Student Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

A slightly disappointing row, lacking the aggression of last year, although the slow time is due partly to a nasty head wind in the second half. I'd like to think that the 1k times are more representative when comparing crews in different divisions, apparently it was calmer in the morning.

It's encouraging that we weren't soundly beaten, as in the autumn head, and this must be our smallest margin of defeat in this race for a number of years. But the likes of Jesus will be a lot better than the opposition here, so the foot won't be coming off the gas in the next couple of weeks, not even slightly.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2006 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Results earlier in the term suggested that this race would be close, and a lot of crews were capable of winning. We thought we could do it. It's very disappointing to miss such a good opportunity.

A few things went wrong on the day. The start wasn't great, it's hard just getting in the boat and going. I think it was ok up to Chesterton, but then it never really came together, and we weren't keeping the oars in the water for long enough. Also the catches got a bit dubious, and the boat wasn't running quite straight. We did at least keep the rate at 34-ish the whole way, and couldn't have put any more effort in.

Last year was soul destroying because the margin of defeat was incomprehensible. This year it still hurts a lot, but we're in touch with the opposition, the door isn't closed. There are serious technical issues that we can resolve to gain a lot of boat speed, and we can get stronger and fitter. If we stay on the bus, it'll take us to better places.

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2006 - College IVs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

A confession is needed here. I thought that the Jesus and Downing entries might be their light fours, so this could've been a chance for payback. Thus, totally against the spirit of the competition, we had a practise outing on Wednesday to set the boat up correctly. With this advantage it's hardly surprising that we won by 25 seconds, even though the legs didn't allow the rate to go much over 32.

At least 1) we were man enough to race it, unlike the eights that beat us, and 2) we did pretty well at keeping the blades in the water longer, which was our technical aim for the race.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2007 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

An ugly result indeed. Some of the deficit may be attributed to the brutal training schedule in the week leading up to the race, and the slightly less brutal drinking schedule the night before, but even so we're a long way from even being competitive.

The downstream leg wasn't too bad, maybe a little pedestrian, but we picked the boat up well at times. The upstream leg was a world of pain. We raced it quite well, keeping the rate over 30, and attacked the wind shadows. But the blades were flying all over the place and we must've lost too much length.

Event: Robinson Head 2007 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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The reach was a shack of shite and not enough beach weights. But a win's a win and we hope to build on this.

Event: Robinson Head 2007 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Good work girls. Now's the time to gear up properly.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2007 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

There's a lot more speed to come when this boy stops being ill. Maybe I shouldn't have rowed, but couldn't have found a sub without skanking the lower boats, and I really wanted to win this. Pleasingly we were faster in every section of the race, only 2 seats down after the bend and sealed it 20 strokes after the bridge. Very happy at the finish, but it doesn't make up for uni 4s in any way.

Event: Lent Bumps 2007 - Tuesday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Congratulations! I'm particularly impressed that Mr Yarr has managed to update his report at 1812, 1818 and 1839, despite having a supervision between 1800 and 1900.

Event: Lent Bumps 2007 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

We were more relaxed in the first half, having rowed over once already. Jesus got Caius coming round Ditton, and were probably inside station on us at Grassy. Some stops will need to be pulled out tomorrow.

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2007 - Shell
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Started sculling again a week ago, after a break of about 8 months when the club didn't have a boat big enough for my immense 77 kilos. I like the new one a lot. Not really got back on it technically, so aim here was simply to finish the race (which I haven't managed before).

Was hoping to rate at least 26, and managed about 28, yay! Steering (with Dan's help, thanks muchly) was pretty good, but went wide out of grassy having gone in too tight. Got tired and spacked in the last km, in part cos I knew I'd won my personal race already, and the gearing was a bit hard for my depleted upper body strength. Anyway despite losing heavily I'm happy, no burning forearms at all!

NB started at upstream little bridge post, 7mph average headwind. 4.38 to second Plough post, about 8.30 for 2km.

Event: FaT v BPBC Football Challenge 2007 - Football XI
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

am i playing? my diary doesnt accept emails

Event: Head of the River Race 2007 - Senior4 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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I was gonna write GASH but 328 isn't as good as that. We'd best go up.

Event: FaT v BPBC Football Challenge 2007 - Football XI
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Sorry about the lack of cards; I didn't have shin pads and had St Paul's at the back of my mind. Minced so much I may have been mistaken for a cabbie.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2007 -
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

The gospel according to STCS said I had to win this fairly comfortably. I didn't. Over confident, I cruised and went down a length in the first minute.
Still believing, I kept going and took it up a pip out of grassy, won the race in the third 500, and spacked it up to 35 through the final headwind.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2007 -
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

It feels a bit lonely starting on bottom station without a bank party. He must have struggled a bit with steering, and very kindly let me overtake when he was parked opposite the Plough.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2007 -
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I wasn't too fresh after a hard race in the double about half an hour beforehand, so I went down quite heavily in the first 500. Didn't change much in the middle, and I was (allegedly) 6 seconds down at the Plough. He took Ditton better than me, and being on top station I had an extra 100 yards of headwind to deal with, so the race was effectively over with 500 to go. I wound hard for the finish and pulled some distance back, but it wasn't enough. Not at all.

Some days you race better people and lose. Some people say there's no shame in this, but they're dead wrong. I didn't lose in 8 minutes, I lost in 8 months. Must do weights.

Event: Colquhouns 2007 - Open 1x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Next time I'll look over my shoulder. By the time I got clear of the bank he had overlap and was asking if he could come by. I wasn't having any of that, and carried on as fast as I could in the naive hope that he might crash at some point.

The only small consolation is that my 8.07 on Monday was the fastest time recorded. Whether I had a chance to win I'll never know, but actually I don't care. I hadn't realised just how terrible my bladework was until I watched Helen's race, and there wouldn't be much pleasure in winning purely cos I have the biggest arms.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2007 - Mixed 2x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I got a bit worried when I saw them out training in a shiny Fillipi, whereas Hambleden is really quite soggy now. We rowed a pretty good race, they were just faster. I think the margin was about 8 seconds.

My opinion is that this was the hardest event I could've entered. They were only 15 seconds slower than the fastest men's double, in probably worse conditions.

Event: Head of the Cam 2007 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Fancied another run out after the unsatisfying conclusion to small boats. This time I went solo and looked over my shoulder occasionally, which worked pretty well until the last 300 (unsurprisingly). After I'd left a reasonable gap the start marshal told me to get a move on unless I thought I was significantly faster than the chap in front. So to avoid looking like a tosser I set off. The first half was pretty smooth, but then I caught up with the wash and lost it a bit. By the finish I was only a few lengths down and thus the wind up was completely ineffectual. Anyway, I beat the 11 minute target, so I can leave pike alone for now.

Event: Poplar Regatta 2007 - S4 8+
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I thought the race was over when we had clear water at halfway. Surprisingly, it was Emmanuel College who rose from the ashes, clawing back half a length it the third 500. But they weren't able to wind for the finish, affording us a substantial winning margin.

Unfortunately conditions were too variable to allow any useful comparison with LMBC. For now I'll assume that we're faster.

Event: Poplar Regatta 2007 - S4 8+
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I reckon if we'd kept straight and pulled in the last third we could've gone 5 seconds faster. I only say this because 6:09 would've been competitive in S3, which I think is where we should be aiming. School 2nd eights and Cambridge colleges? Too easy.

Event: May Bumps 2007 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Bumps is a like a penalty shoot-out; you can't really prepare for it. So it's lucky that the first race wasn't too demanding. We suffered from a lack of focus, and struggled in rough water round the corners, but attacked like we needed to. We'll learn from this and get stronger every day.

Credit is due to Queens, they were a lot better than some people expected, and I don't reckon they'll go down much further.

[Of course, you can prepare, it's just that no-one really knows how]

Event: May Bumps 2007 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Before the race, Martin said he'd never seen a bump before grassy in the top 4. So this was one for the spectators. We went hard into the corner, the photos tell the rest of the story.

Event: May Bumps 2007 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

This was the race which would define our crew as good or bad. At the beginning of term Ming said we'd need to be much more than the sum of our parts to be competitive. Early results were good, but after an indecisive period through exams and trips abroad we lost it a bit. In the week before bumps we had some desperately poor sparring matches, losing heavily to Jesus and failing to achieve positive results against Emma and Pembroke. We clearly had some boat speed, but could we find it when it really mattered?

Resoundingly, yes. The best thing about this group is that we've always performed on the day. As soon as we were inside distance the race was over; we knew it was our day, and let our legs carry us through.

Event: Henley Royal Regatta 2007 - Temple Cup
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I should clarify that it wasn't an "air stroke" as such; in fact the water was so scared of the power I was about to apply to it that it dived out the way. Perhaps this is how Moses parted the Red Sea.

Event: Cambridge Small Boats Head 2007 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Not very good. Had problems at the catch, especially on the left. I reckon the pitch is off, but incompetence is a more likely cause. The last couple of minutes were better, perhaps because I was angry after hitting a double who made no effort to get out the way and didn't even apologise. But... the steering wasn't bad, and yet again we won the category despite mediocre rowing.

Event: University IVs 2007 - Light IVs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I was a bit worried on first post reach, it looked like we were in for a close race. What happened after that I'm not sure, maybe we were better at cornering. By my count we were 9 seconds up at Plough, so we cruised (untidily) on the reach. A fair way off our 10 minute target, but if it's less windy and we pull harder there's a chance tomorrow.

Event: University IVs 2007 - Light IVs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

We did well to save ourselves from disaster. Maintained our pace on the reach, and still at 34 when we nailed the railway bridge. By far the worst thing that's ever happened to me in a race (except the time I capsized), we lost Phil's blade badly. I was terrified, and by the time we got going LMBC had taken the lead. So the fight or flight kicked in, and we spanked it off at 36, rising steadily to the line.

According to the ratemaster the time spent rowing was at most 9:49. I reckon without the errors we would've been 9:45, or 94.5%, which should please Ming and Bryn.

Event: Head of the River IVs 2007 - S3+ (A)
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

An opportunity wasted. The pennant was winnable, and Strawson's CUBC 5 was clearly beatable. The first half was pretty good, making steady progress on the boats behind and in front. In retrospect, that we were only striking 32 should have warned us that something was wrong.

We made a mistake with the gearing. By halfway my lats and arms were burning, and soon became useless. The big turning point was when we hit a women's 4- who were unable to tell left from right when trying to get out of our way. In contrast to the day before, we restarted so sluggishly that they came back at us. From there on the boat felt so heavy that some of us were wondering if Strawson had sacked his race to try and waterski off our stern.

If we'd come down on Friday for a paddle I think we could've been 30 seconds quicker, no trouble. On the bright side, oh -- nothing.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2008 - Novice 1x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

The first piece wasn't bad at all, boat set up nicely and agreeable weather. The only problem was that my legs were burning from about the 5th stroke. The second was tough, and I wasn't able to find length or power. But I did have the rare pleasure of overtaking a crew who didn't delibrately impede me, and the bank party was top notch.

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2007 - Single Sculling Sprint Challenge
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Marcus Aurelius had a bank party when he raced, but it wasn't as good as this. I hope they aren't too disappointed by the result...

I thought it was much better than last time I raced (possibly because Iain fixed the pitches), I suppose I was a bit tired from the two earlier races. Still, as the time shows, I was more than twice as fast as the eight so I can't complain.

Event: Clare Novice Regatta 2007 - Cup
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

It's a real bonus for you guys that Dan is a pure mathematician, and hence doesn't have to abide by conservation of momentum.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2007 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

It being extremely unlikely that we could lose to a college crew, this was a race against CULRC. Our timing team called us dead level at the railway bridge, and we responded by lifting it to 35 in the tailwind. There was a little drop in power around Ditton corner, but we recovered well and never lost our rhythm in the final third.

A solid performance, nothing special. Comparison with Pembroke suggests we should have been about 5 seconds faster. I suppose this can attributed to Bryn's illness, and I felt that we were slightly over-geared for a long race.

We didn't win this on the day; we've been winning it every day since the end of September. Winning Fairbairns is huge, it's an achievement on a level playing field. Thanks boys.

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2007 - Senior IVs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

More stressful than last year. Jesus had been training a strong and fresh-legged crew for over a week. We were a tired and long-haired hotchpotch, and didn't even have time to check the gate heights. The finish timing was never perfect, and it took half the race to vaguely remember how to row in a four. I think the only reason we won was Emma's insistence that we strike 34, which I abided by despite it being entirely contrary to my ambitions.

This completes a term of winning every College race. Yipee-ki-yay motherf**ker.

(I think that is in line with website policy)

Event: Christmas Head 2007 - S3 4+
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

We didn't practise, and the finish timing reflected this. The most fun part was when we wound it to 36 at cutter ferry bridge, then went for an extra pip and completely lost it. Insufficient opposition denied us a prize, but the time translates to about 7.25 for the uni 4s course which isn't bad.

Event: Christmas Head 2007 - Nv 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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I would've said always nearly... The girls trained hard for the last week or two and I think the result is pretty good. Yeah buddy!

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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With a crew weakened by injury and holiday, I wasn't expecting to win this. But we performed well, and the wheels stayed on until the last reach, thereby completing a year of Cam winning. Yeah buddy.

Event: Head of the Nene 2008 - S3 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Good fun. It was a bit windy and choppy, the latter especially after I got overtaken by some schoolboy. Maybe I need to go out more than once a month.

Event: Robinson Head 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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Controversially, they put LMBC in front us in the draw. So our plan was to set off as close as possible behind and overtake. We didn't do a very good job of it. At one point we were almost on their stern but there wasn't much of a wind to the finish and we fell back a bit.
The other crews in range benefited heavily from a lesser stream in later divisions, but even so this ain't good enough.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

After's Emma's remarkable capitulation in the 1st round I thought the whole regatta was going to be a walkover. I certainly wasn't expecting a serious challenge from Fitzwilliam. I think we had confidence in our start and went pretty quickly, but not enough to take a lead.

Drawing inspiration from last year's boat race, we didn't panic and stuck to our plan, staying level around the outside of the reach. Emma timed a big push perfectly, seizing the initiative as the river turned in our favour. It turned out to be decisive, and we cruised the last 20 or so strokes a length up.

It's nice that the other colleges have finally shown an interest in competing.

Event: Pembroke Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

This time we were racing the clock. The effort was certainly there, but the speed started to disappear in the second half. I was quite disappointed that we were slower than in round 2, having worked a lot harder. The two possible explanations are that it'd been a long day, and maybe 38 is more efficient than 40 at this stage. I'm leaning towards the former.

Event: Sparring against CULRC 2008 - Cup
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

1) 500m off the start. They were a bit quicker in the first few strokes and went slightly ahead. Once we got going we had a bit more speed by being cleaner in the tailwind, stayed hard, and rowed through them after about a minute to win by half a length or so.

2) Middle 1000m. We clammed up for the headwind which was a good choice. They got a cheeky head start by winding up before the go. We exchanged a seat or two with our pushes, but no crew ever took a significant lead so we're calling it a dead heat.

3) Last 500m. Again they started ahad, and not much happened to start with. We began our wind for the line first and took about a quarter of a length before they responded and held us at that margin.

So we think we came off better, but they also reckon they did. Their start is a lot better than last year which is nice. I think we row a bit tidier and can rate higher, but their power advantage came to the rescue in the headwind.

It would've been more fun without the BA dinner hangover, but still a worthwhile morning which is a good exercise for next term's regattas. And go beat Oxford, yeah.

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

No worries. First few strokes were a bit messy, but we made it the corner at 42 and settled at a comfortable 36 out of grassy. We put in an effective push at the Plough which more or less ended the race. It was pretty close between Jesus, Caius and LMBC, with the latter bumping around the railings. We wound down gradually, settling at 30 by the railway bridge.

As an unexpectedly twist, some river pirates appeared at Morley's holt and tried to rob Jesus. The boys in black and red took evasive manoevures and managed to escape with their wallets, but only after some intercourse with the bank. Downing had a clear run and "overbumped" them, but the umpires bizarrely awarded a technical rowover.

We continued unperturbed, crossing the line 12 minutes and 15 seconds after the first shot was heard.

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Conditions were good so we did a time trial. Start was a bit cleaner than yesterday, and the row through the corners pretty similar. But we never found a decent rhythm on the reach, and spacked along at 35 with our faces becoming ever droopier. The wind for the finish was more effective, but too little too late.

Won't be publishing the score just now, but suffice to say it's a useful marker and we identified some weaknesses to work on in the run-up to tideway.

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Our intelligence was that LMBC were going to blast it off the start. They weren't as sharp as Jesus and never got within distance, but were only about two lengths off at the Plough. We hadn't bothered clamming because the wind didn't seem too bad on the paddle up. In the event it strengthened considerably, indeed the charts say it was worse than for any Lent race in the last 10 years. Struggling with bladework and gearing, we plodded up the reach at 32, eventually extending the margin to 3 lengths. An impromptu wind for the finish saw us extend this to 5 lengths, or 18 seconds. The clock stopped at 8:57, and we went harder than on Wednesday. Big.

Event: Lent Bumps 2008 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

A fairly average row. There was less wind and we used clams, so it felt better. As per Thursday we never found a good rhythm on the reach, but did enough to keep the headship safe. LMBC did better than yesterday and finished about 3 lengths away from us. Need to improve a lot if we're to make any impression in London.

Stroke: Height - 6'1"; weight - 13st (after BA dinner); finish position last Lents - Head of the River; highest boat before Mich 2007 - Henley VIII

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2008 - Shell
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I don't much enjoy sculling in the wind, and I don't much enjoy being ill (excessive crew bonding, apparently). Perhaps I should've gone off harder and made more of the sheltered sections.

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2008 - Men's doubles
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Laziness, illness etc meant our practise was limited to a single run to Jesus lock. This turned out to be ample. Fletch set an aggressive tempo and I steered a precise line; a devastating combination indeed.

Event: Head of the River Race 2008 - Senior3 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

A strong line-up, but not the best two weeks of training. The post-lents hangover always lasts longer than you expect, and the weather was rubbish. In particular our 15 minute practise piece was rowed into a vicious headwind, and we didn't learn much from it except that we aren't so good at keeping the rate up.

The race started well, and we weren't put off by a little clash with the crew in front (although they were keen for some "banter" at the finish). It started to go a bit wrong after we overtook Clare (apologies for the abuse, too eager to avoid another clash); we made a good surge to go past but weren't able to maintain it.

Hammersmith bridge was the crucial point. We had a fair amount of cash in the bag, but needed to attack the headwind if wanted a really good result. Maybe some of the guys were suffering. It felt a bit like the practise piece. We need to learn to force the rate when the legs aren't keen.

Given our preparation and the crap start position, we're pleased with how it went. And it was a lot of fun.

Suggestions for next year:
-Row at least one 5k race in lent term
-Do a weekend trip to the tideway
-More pieces over the lock
-Leave lents to the 2nd eight

Big thanks to JPD for coaching and support, and Sarah Jane for beds and teas.

Event: Ghent Student Regatta 2008 - Invitational VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

They klopt us good.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2008 -
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Physically and mentally drained from the doubles race, I wasn't especially keen to participate in this race, and only slightly keener to win it. Sat at 32 pretty much the whole way, and didn't cope well with the slightly choppy water. The corners were pretty tough because I was almost too tired to notice them, and even when I did there was a considerable delay before I'd start doing something about it.

BJ did a pretty good job. I made it unnecessarily difficult by slacking off every time he said I was in the lead. Presumably I would've gone about 30 seconds faster if I'd taken the impeller off, but at least I know that my 500m splits were 2:00/2:09/2:06/2:06.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2008 - Men's 2x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

I didn't intend to lose this race. But we didn't take as many strokes as them; game over.

Event: Colquhouns 2008 - Open 1x
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Not a bad row, clean and controlled. Steering was fine until Ditton which was a total mess. On top station without a bank party I misjudged the margin, thinking it was about neck and neck until I pulled away with my wind to the finish. Maybe if I'd known I was a fair way down by grassy I would've put a bit more into the middle of the race. But I don't think I've put enough effort in lately to win races.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2008 -
Posted as: Tom C
Event Link

Logistically difficult, and I had very little chance of winning.

Event: Magdalene Silver Pairs 2008 - Men's 2-
Posted as: Tom C
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Devastating. A clear invitation to concentrate on the day job.

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2008 - Men's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: Tom C
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An excellent result, considering we were missing the experience and aerodynamism of the Doctor. But I don't know what Jesus did to beat us to most impressive start; maybe we didn't shout loud enough.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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There was some feeling we rated higher than we were able to. We would've lost whatever we did.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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Lower rate, "better" rowing. Clare were able to row as a crew, we rowed like 4 crews. Minus the bad strokes it could've been close, but we took a lot of bad strokes.

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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So 2005 wasn't enough? Now I'm seeking revenge against Clare for disqualifying us at their regatta in 2002.

Event: May Bumps 2008 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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History in the making. Not since 2000 has the club gone a whole day without making a bump, and we sealed the deal by rowing really badly. It was very similar to how we raced in Lents, the difference is that now we have someone chasing us.

Event: Marlow Regatta 2008 - S2 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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We weren't very quick off the start, and had to row through Wolfson College Oxford in the last 500 to take second place.

Event: Marlow Regatta 2008 - S2 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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The cross-head combined with the awesome but inconsistent bow pair catches made the steering quite tricky. We explored the adjacent lanes but couldn't find a wind shadow, so we just slogged on as best we could. Not a great result for a crew intending to win the Prince Albert in two weeks' time, but Leadbetter has at least one more kilo to lose.

Event: Wallingford Head 2008 - S3 8+
Posted as: Tom C
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We left Cambridge an hour before dawn. The venue had been reduced to a mudbath, much like Henley last year but colder. I didn't enjoy it at all, except the mysterious dark toilet where we had to "hold it for each other".

The rowing, however, was quite fun. I don't think there was a race plan, we just set off at 32 and gradually settled into disparity. Beautifully simple. The result is pleasant enough, one might prefer not to lose to school second eights, but we did keep the colleges at bay.

It's also good practice for Fairbairns. With the heavyweights back on board we'll be shifting some. Much gratitude to the subs, especially Laff who answered the call of duty at very short notice and took 42 minutes off his PB.

Event: Novice Fairbairn Cup 2008 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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Not exactly the result we'd hoped for. After the exertions of the Clare race various illnesses, injuries, AWOLs and CUCBC rules meant that training in the last week was very limited. The crew lost some momentum and were unable to recapture the boat speed produced previously. What I've learned from the experience is that the old motto "miles make champions" applies especially strongly to novice crews, and a serious attempt to win this race would want four weeks of 50k in the 8+.

The future is, of course, more important than the past. The guys showed plenty of determination and commitment to each other, and the performance against Wolfson showed real potential. They'll be winning races soon enough.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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The course was exactly bridge to bridge, which I think is 50-100 yards shorter than last year. We didn't really attack it, the aim was to set up a platform where everyone could show the coaches how good they are at race pace.

There's a long list of injuries sustained in other sports that don't affect rowing. Bruised ribs is not on the list and I don't recommend it in any way.

Event: Fairbairn Cup - IVs 2008 - College IVs
Posted as: Tom C
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The pre-race chat was that Peterhouse had four guys pulling sub-18 for 5k. This time last year I could've achieved that with a brisk paddle; now it might be out of reach altogether. Our start was only slightly better than Jesus's, but we almost immediately renovated the rowing to car-crash standard. After a couple of minutes it felt like we'd remembered how to row in a four, and the rest of the race was fairly powerful.

Obviously the result is much too close for comfort, but no-one will remember that.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2008 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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I started training less than 3 weeks before the race, having done almost no rowing since Henley. Tendonitis set in after a few days, but luckily I was able to carry on with some technique modification (ie feathering with the outside hand) and lots of deep freeze gel. Even so, this wasn't anything like enough time to regain a sensible level of fitness, and I think the deficit accounts for the loss to CULRC 2.

Race preparation was minimal. We rowed a total of 3 minutes at race pace in training, half of which was the beginning of the Wallingford Head, before over-geared hell broke loose. I wasn't convinced that we could win the race at 32; it probably hasn't been done before. But this crew had more power and weight than finesse, so it worked a treat. It was a really good performance on the day, the crew definitely rowed to its potential.

The best thing is that there's a long way to go, improvement is much easier to find than it was last year.

Event: Sparring against CULRC 2009 - Cup
Posted as: Tom C
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1) 2000m race. Went down a bit off the start but held it level for a minute or so. By 1k we were maybe 3/4 of a length behind. The rest is history, suffice to say we lost by a considerable margin.

2) Middle 1k. This time we rowed properly and there was no noticeable difference between the crews.

3) First 500. An abomination which didn't end soon enough.

4) Last 500. Good until the wind, where they left us behind.

In summary it was about the opposite of last year; they knew how to race and we didn't. At 34-36 there wasn't much difference, but they had an extra gear or two whereas our cruising speed was also our maximum speed.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. The weather was good, and it's fun having lots of people around - thanks for the support.

Things went massively pear-shaped about ten minutes before the gun, when we sat around for ages rather than paddling to the start. The 4 minute gun went off in the gut, and we pulled in with less than two minutes to go. Then the real disaster: I didn't have time to put my racing shirt on, so the photos will be ruined just like Fairbairns. We had a long chat about this after the race, and I'm confident that this won't happen again this week.

In fact the shirt incident was a mixed blessing. Not wearing the long sleeves gives me a slightly increased range of movement which I estimate is worth a length for every 500 metres. LMBC were about 2 lengths behind when they were bumped around the railings. An easy calculation shows that it could have been a real treat for the spectators, but rather worrying for us.

Once again we spent the first minute of the race demonstrating that our maximum useful rate is no greater than 36. By Plough reach we had found a rhythm with sensible numbers, but it didn't survive the onset of the headwind so we sacrificed length for rate and plodded on as best we could.

Downing were inside station on us when they bumped LMBC, so we expect an exciting race tomorrow.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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Contrary to expectations, the drama kicked off early today. I had left my shirt hanging up in the drying room after the morning paddle, but when I turned up in the afternoon it was gone. My immediate thought was that it was a conspiracy invoked by someone more concerned with winning than pretty photos, but it was soon found elsewhere in the 'shed. An honest mistake, perhaps, but I wouldn't recommend owning up to it if there are sharps in the vicinity.

The rowing up to the start was shite so I wasn't expecting an easy race. However, the logistics were perfect, and I was ready to go wearing the correct racing kit for the first time in many years (gold socks, black shorts, Fairbairn top, not necessarily in that order). As remarked yesterday, this slightly reduces my power output, but it really inspired the other guys to lift it up a "nodge" or two.

Downing were about on station in the gut, 2-2.5 lengths down at the Plough, and adhered to a gentlemen's agreement thereafter. Our stern crossed the line at 8:25, their bow followed a third of a minute later. Tomorrow we'll reduce the rate cap to 16 to really test the guns; no need for technical pairs at this stage.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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At the beginning on the week I was hoping that Jesus would have made it to 2nd place by today. Then we could have asked them where our Fairbairns medals are, and enjoyed the captains shouting at each other in what I can only assume is a foreign language.

The race was a definite improvement. We found a smooth rhythm on the reach for the first time, but shortly before the railway bridge we were knocked over to bowside by the crosswind and mysteriously never recovered. The finish time was 8:19, 15 seconds clear of Downing who appeared to row at a more even pace than yesterday.

Later we discovered an explanation for the strange happenings in the last third of the race. Hannes has been using Fordy's over-geared gimp blade, affording him 2cm less inboard than everyone else. The effect is similar to Commodus stabbing Maximus before their duel; victory is still assured, but at what cost?

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2009 - Shell
Posted as: Tom C
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Clammed up for a headwind which didn't materialise. As a result the rate was much higher than I expected, maybe around 34. I've no way of telling if this is good or bad, but I got a lot of work down and it was pretty consistent. The result may or may not inspire me to take up sculling again.

Event: 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls 2009 - Men's pairs
Posted as: Tom C
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A combination of tiredness and incompetence may explain why I didn't notice that the boat was rigged stupidly, in that my finish height was at least 6 inches higher than I'm used to. In spite of this handicap it was good fun, and we're grateful to Gonzalo for giving us the opportunity.

Event: Head of the River Race 2009 - Senior3 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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Conditions were excellent, calm water and very little wind. It felt more like the Cam than the Thames, which really boosted our confidence. We started with some schoolboys right on the stern, but moved away fairly easily. In the middle of the race we suffered from being in a competitive vacuum, and maybe didn't work quite as hard as was needed. On the plus side, there was enough in reserve to really attack the second half. The push off the bridge was almost too big when combined with the extra adrenalin imparted on us by the cheering crowd, but no-one actually blew up. We met some rough water from crews ahead around the football ground, but were rewarded with the opportunity to overtake Glasgow University just before the line. For me it was a very well balanced row, with the legs, lungs and forearms suffering just about equally.

The result is a good step forward from last year, reflecting the term long focus and the extra week after bumps. Unfortunately we just missed out on the top 50 target, but it was always a tall order, especially with the strong overseas contingent this year. Compared with recent college results we did pretty well. For the record, the best results by other college crews in the last ten years are: Oriel 55th in 1999, Emmanuel 71st in 2000 and 80th in 2001, Christ's 74th in 2002, Goldie 68th in 2005 and 56th in 2006.

How fast can a college go? With the whole crew training from September and 50% increase in volume (ie similar to top universities), I reckon top 30 is doable. But with the Temple so far out of reach it would be rather pointless.

We also won a trophy. Apparently it's more because of technicalities than speed, but then the whole notion of awarding prizes to lots of crews that didn't come first is quite ridiculous, so we might as well enjoy it.

Event: Lent Bumps 2009 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
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Many good stories, and lots of terrible ones, have a twist in the final chapter. This campaign has been a good story of that ilk, and the twist manifested itself as two middle-aged pedestrians whose imbecilic meandering across Victoria Road caused me to ride into a bollard. While the bike was unscratched, considerable bleeding and swelling was caused to the finger which absorbed the impact. I wasn't at all sure I was fit to row, but any potential subs were still racing or already on the lash.

The practice starts on the way down weren't good, with my ability to feather declining sharply. To remedy the situation I spent the minute before the gun shouting loudly in the manner of Ron Coleman, hoping that some adrenalin would dull the pain. It worked a treat, and the start was great.

The race was more exciting than previously. Downing had a three minute race plan, but our Head focused training had effectively imposed a rate cap of 36. The only option we had was to assume that they weren't quite fast enough and dig in; there was no extra gear to use if they got too close. Luck was on our side, and they faded at Ditton. We finished in about 8:10, with Downing at least 20 seconds behind but still outside station on LMBC.

The times are quite slow compared to last year, but the winning margin is about the same. Whether this reflects a decrease in quality or an increase in stream, only Marcus Aurelius knows. And, sad to say, that burden eventually killed him.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2009 -
Posted as: Tom C
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I was a fair way ahead of this guy at STCS so I was hoping this race wouldn't be too hard. I didn't feel I'd made much progess on first post reach so I stayed on a relaxed 32, cornered well, and then found myself with a substantial lead at the Plough. Coming onto the reach I thought I might take it up a nodge to break 8 minutes, but a lapse of concentration resulted in a shrimp and then I plodded home. The margin at the finish was 45-50 seconds which apparently counts as easily. Pleasantly surprised to record the fastest time of the day at this rather conservative pace.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2009 -
Posted as: Tom C
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I had no idea how quick this chap would be, and after yesterday's experience I wanted to keep a bit in reserve for the final. I kept him about on station for the first half of the race, but then he lost a bit of speed, allowing me to stretch the margin without killing myself.

Event: Fairbairn Junior Sculls 2009 -
Posted as: Tom C
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On the basis of earlier results, I was pretty sure I would win if I didn't do anything stupid. I started cleanly enough and settled to about 1:56 pace, and observed that he wasn't getting any closer, so I stuck on that with some modest pushes on the straights. At the start of the reach I was maybe a second behind, so I tanked it up to 36 and did just enough for the clear win. In retrospect this was a silly race plan because I hadn't practised winding for the finish, it would've been safer to row my own race rather than watch the opposition. I'm a bit disappointed with the time, maybe I didn't push hard enough in the first 500. I reckon with fresh legs I can do this course in <7:50, but the schedule didn't allow me a proper attempt.

Very happy to finally win this event at the fourth attempt (although two of them weren't very serious). Thanks to everyone who helped me out from the bank, especially Emma and Alex. Rum all round!

Event: Colquhouns 2009 - Open 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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A very tight race. I closed slightly in the first 500, and coming out of grassy I felt a bit more wash so I thought I was up a bit more. In fact the wash was caused by him sharply increasing his rate and boat speed. Consequently we were level at the Plough, and we stayed level until about 100m before the line when I was hit by a gust and missed a stroke.

Not really disappointed because John's a very good rower, and I would've been very slow in the final having already raced 3 times.

Event: Colquhouns 2009 - Open 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Jim is considerably more powerful than me so I didn't take any chances. The row to the Plough was the fastest I did this week.

Event: Lowe Double Sculls 2009 - Men's 2x
Posted as: Tom C
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We were quicker on the straights, they were more quicker on the corners.

Event: Head of the Cam 2009 - IM2 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Based on my result two years ago, I wanted to row 10:40 here. The plan was to set off at 1:55 and move it on a bit on the Reach. Up to Ditton it was going well, but then my legs completely died and it was like rowing in treacle. The second half of the race was 30 seconds slower than the first, whereas it should be 10 seconds quicker given the location of the corners. Too many hard sessions lately.

Event: Cambridge Head-2-Head 2009 - College 1st
Posted as: Tom C
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Not done any training at race pace yet so this was a rather sedate affair. First leg we rowed a slightly rushed 33, second leg a more comfortable 34 despite the headwind. The result isn't great but we improved steadily over the 4k so it was a useful exercise.

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2009 - Men's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: Tom C
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With emergency sub Fletch getting in the boat at Ditton we barely managed a stroke all eight before the race. Good length at the front but finishes a bit untidy. The start wasn't bad and attacked Ditton well but then the effects of the previous night's Maharajah Ceylon came into play and I had to cap the rate at 35 to avoid shitting myself.

Event: Metropolitan Regatta 2009 - IM3 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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This line up didn't have an outing before race day. Some crews would have tried to counter this disadvantage by having at least 6k of warm up, but we chose to enjoy the sunshine and boat so late that we were very close to being disqualified. Power and length were traded for rate off the start, but by 500m we'd settled into something reasonable, got into second place by a length at halfway, and thus avoided serious exertion.

Event: Metropolitan Regatta 2009 - IM3 VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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The Maidstone crew, in spite of geographical logic, was stacked with some decent juniors from Evesham and well ahead of the field. With a full strength first eight we might have beaten Brookes, and it wasn't a terrible row by any means.

Event: Metropolitan Regatta 2009 - IM3 4+
Posted as: Tom C
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Our start sequence was fairly solid, but didn't really get us in front. I can only assume that the other crews had a one minute race plan, because at that point they started going backwards very quickly and allowed us to warm down without turning.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Wednesday
Posted as: Tom C
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A good row to get under our belts. The finish margin was 28 seconds which I believe is our biggest yet, but LMBC may have front-loaded or eased off in the later stages with no pressure from behind.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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They must've thought you were bluffing. Blazed.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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Didn't do a great job in the first two minutes, if anything we were slower to the Plough than yesterday. It looked like LMBC were trying to outsprint Caius, and were on station with us at the exit of Grassy. From there the margin increased exponentially, and Caius, without the flair to overtake, followed them to the meadow. In case anyone at home is feeling worried, I'll record that Downing were closer on the first day of Lents.

The second half of the course was uneventful. Jesus were well out of contention for the overbump, so we wound down to a comfortable 32 at the railings and finished 35-40 seconds clear.

Event: May Bumps 2009 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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A good race, finished a length and a bit clear.

Event: Peterborough Summer Sprint 2009 - IM3 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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We'd entered a mixed eight but it didn't happen because of oversubscription, so I went back to Cambridge on Saturday night, therefore avoiding immense lash. I did have a few beers and about 4 hours' sleep, but must have been in better shape that the TSS guy who capsized immediately after pushing off.

Fordy had left the footplate higher than I prefer, but it was set like you would on an ergo for 500m so I figured it would be ok. It probably wasn't, in that I couldn't get past 3/4 slide or clear the blades on the recovery. After an average start I was surprised to be in the lead, but it was close and my attempts to go faster failed. I'd wanted to come second so I could get an extra race in the rep, but there wasn't space between the other two so I pushed to the line for first place.

Event: Peterborough Summer Sprint 2009 - IM3 1x
Posted as: Tom C
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Some lively folk had sunk a weed cutting boat on the finish line on Saturday, which meant the course was moved to the far end of the lake and no times were taken. So I had no idea what to expect in the final. I moved the footplate to a more comfortable position and opted to trade rate for length and power. The Rob Roy sculler who had been close in the heat was left well behind, so it's possible that I went a lot faster.

Steering was poor in the first half, and I had some worrying encounters with buoys. Eventually I found my lane and the second half was quite good, allowing me to win by about a length from Molesey.

Event: Fairbairn Cup 2009 - Senior VIIIs
Posted as: Tom C
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I think you meant to say "Price cold, baby".

Event: Champion of the Thames Eights Head 2010 - Men's 1st Div. Mays
Posted as: Tom C
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Unfortunately the only other serious college scratched, so we were left to race against the clock. We kept the start light and loose rather than unleashing our full power, crossing the timing line at a crisp 48 strokes per minute. After the Wallingford disaster, we had agreed that Natasha would practise getting us round Ditton without using the rudder. Her hands were a little small and unwebbed to secure the best coxing prize, but there was never any danger of hitting the outside bank.

So far so good, but our clock-shaped nemesis hit back on the reach by delivering a sturdy headwind. We didn't quite maintain the precision at the front end, but the aggression was there, and we never let the rate drop below 40 except briefly when Fordy caught a boat stopping crab. Apparently this was due to a progressive rounding error in his optimal blade depth calculations which caused him to attempt to place the top of the spoon 1964.3mm below the surface on stroke 130. This wasn't anticipated in our simulations of the method, the most likely explanation being that we misunderestimated the parameter of thundering awesomeness.

When the results came in we were disappointed to find that we had narrowly missed out on the course record by just 12 seconds, but given that we were a scratch crew with a sub who hasn't rowed for ages and the crab and we hadn't even tried rating above 32 until the day before the race it really isn't too bad, and I'm 110% confident that come bumps we'll be breaking the record and killing their dreams.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2010 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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This was an exciting race for us; Downing achieved "Champs" status last weekend and seem to be the crew to beat. Again we were on the meadows side and started well, but in the second half of the reach they established a solid lead. We came back a bit when the river turned in our favour, but never got within striking distance.

We were pleased with the improvement between the two races, in spite of tired legs, and the result is rather better than last year's sparring.

Thanks are due to Mr Gray for subbing, and to Downing and Magdalene for getting involved.

Event: Cambridge 99's Regatta 2010 - 1st division
Posted as: Tom C
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This race, being our first outing of the year, was the real acid test of the revolutionary weight training and "nutrition" programme that we've been following since September.

The first stroke, often cited as the most important of the race, was excellent, fully connected yet remarkably explosive. This, combined with some judicious bow pair tapping between "attention" and "go", gave us a 3/4 length lead. For the second stroke, we pushed for clear water. We drove the heels into the footplate and literally catapulted our stern clear of their bow. By the third stroke, the boat was moving quickly enough that we were able to stride into our "power clean" rhythm at rate 28.

After 20 strokes we had increased our lead to three lengths of clear water, and Natasha called a three stroke push to extend this to "a considerable margin". It felt good, but we heard a passer-by remark that we looked to be "some five lengths" ahead, so we put in another three stroke burn to remove any possible doubt that we were completely dicking on them.

At this stage, it became clear that our lack of aerobic conditioning could cost us in the second half of the race, so we conserved some energy by halving the stroke rate. This wasn't quite enough, so we easied at the railway bridge and allowed the boat to drift across the finishing line, leaving Mordling to flounder in our tsunami.

Event: May Bumps 2010 - Thursday
Posted as: Tom C
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Our start was a bit tidier, and we settled to a sustainable pace a little earlier. We were still the best part of three lengths clear by Ditton, and had a solid but unspectacular row up the reach.

Event: May Bumps 2010 - Friday
Posted as: Tom C
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Complacency Is Devastating.

Event: May Bumps 2010 - Saturday
Posted as: Tom C
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That'll learn 'em.
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