The Club's Results

The lads remained unfazed by seeing the twisting corners of grassy et al for the initial time minues before their first ever race. Of course, for many of them it was their first time in a boat since the week before due to the flooding. Dispite my concerns the crew concentrated as Will went over the final thoughts [including 'what to do if you catch a crab !'] and main areas to concentrate on. The sun was shining as the condemned men got into Titan, their trusty steed....!

I just hoped they'd come through over the next twenty or so minutes - and did they ever ! The rolling start saw the eight moving as a crew, and the power really did go down through the water. Special mention should probably go to all of them for a stirling effort, but to summarise: Henry and Matt for a superb grassy corner [I hope that stroke side wasn't spakking when I wasn't looking !], Ed for catching up 3 outings worth of technique without complaint after recovering from injury, Andrew for finally getting the hang of slowing the slide a bit, Mike for the incredible blade bend picture, David for keeping on rowing when Viktor crabbed and Mike had to stop, Viktor for crabbing at stroke (!), Ally for crabbing during the 'last twenty' [don't worry mate, we've all done it.] and Will for coxing at the last minute, doing a fantastic job with a novice eight during a real race, and not crashing this time... (Dan)

Thanks to Dan, there are some great pictures of the effort that went in to this! Well done, guys. 

The first men's novice VIII were the fastest college novice VIII. Unfortunately they were denied a pennant by Westminster School's beginner crew (who have been rowing a month longer). 

Gutted. The guys had fantastic boat speed but it wasn't enough... A great start saw the FaT boys quickly opening up an impressive lead, only to loose it after veering to stroke side and becoming embroiled with the bank. The mantra "keep rowing" doesn't work in such situations, and they were two or three lengths down by the time they got going. Picking up a new blistering pace they gained quickly despite being on the outside station, but on catching up Sidney, stroke side's enthusiasm was simply too great for the rudder and a heavy blade clash put us firmly out of the race.

Whilst it was extremely disappointing to loose having demonstrated their power, the ultimate goal is Fairbairns next Thursday, in which they have a lot to prove. 

After a shakey start, the 1st VIII settled in to a strong rhythm and took the corners well in the first part of the course. Everything seemed to be going fine until just before the railway bridge when a "blade clash" with a barge and a seat failure at 6 put a spanner in the works. Eventually the seat problem was resolved and the crew produced a really gutsy row to the finish, coming in 16 seconds behind the winners. 

At first it seemed like madness to enter the senior fairbairns after the novice fairbairns the previous day, but the crew were determined to show how well they could do. A last minute substitution of Victor stein for Ed Peacock meant Mike Collins was stroke - the rest of the crew wondered whether he could restrain his legendary strength and row at a rating the rest could manage. These worries were unfounded, and a sustainable pace was developed, and a respectable time of 16:46 achieved. An excellent start to our life as senior rowers. (Ed Peacock)