The Club's Results

woohoo! a rhythm! we moved fast. and our main regret was missing the division record. (Jacob)

wank! no rhythm! we rated fast. and our main regret was getting beaten by a schoolboy 2nd VIII. (Tom C)

(Jacob)

A marked improvement over our first race (in S4)! The start was actually decent, there was rhythm, we weren't rating 157 throughout... We remained ahead throughout (I think) but Lea was right on our tail the whole time. Good solid row, and what I thought was the best of the day. (Mika)

This was probably our best row of the day - we were pushed hard all the way, but wanted it enough, and pushed right through to the finish. It took a lot out of us though, and probably contributed to our loss in the final.
Worth mentioning that after the heats, we were the fastest women's crew there, including S2 for the time we posted in this race :D (Lilie)

Well, some of us were a bit knackered by the time we got to the start of race... We remained more or less with the other crews until the last 250, when they took a push, and we mentally took one. Unfortunately, pushing with the mind alone is not a very effective way of increasing boat speed. Perhaps in full-form we could have given them a better run for their money.

Thanks to Iain for his surprise visit (especially after spending an unanticipated morning at the boat house with the police) and to Lilie's dad for towing us, our many disasters and half of Sainsbury's out to Peterborough and back! (Mika)

The strong tail wind that dominated the lake all day might have been the only reason we got to the other end of the course, because it certainly wasn't good technique, timing or general rowing that did. (Lack of a cox box didn't help either.) Luckily, none of our other races were quite as horrendous as this first one, and we were considerably calmer and more controlled for the rest of the day. Surprisingly, our spack managed to set a new course record, and our time was the fastest of all 3 heats. (Mika)

Much more solid and committed than the heats. Still spacky and finishes weren't great, but there was definitely a solid rhythm at times. The other crews were close for most of the race, but when they died around 750m, we didn't (quite so much) and managed to gain some distance into the finish.

Another course record, and the only crew without matching kit. Mwa ha ha... (Mika)

We lined up in lane 1, with a quite big looking Birmingham Uni crew in lane 2, and a York Uni crew in lane 3. The crew in lane 4 failed to show up. The "attention, go!" call caught all 3 crews a bit by surprise, as all 3 coxes still had their hands up, but despite this, our start wasn't bad at all. At the end of the lengthen calls, we were rating 34 and were already a good distance clear of Birmingham, and slightly up on York. By 250m, we had a convincing lead over both crews, and pulled away well over the next quarter of the race. The rating dropped gradually to about 28 over the next hundred metres as the result looked inevitable. The last 250m was pretty relaxed and we cruised across the line in a time of 3:36, 16 seconds clear of York, and 32 seconds clear of Birmingham. (Richard)

We were in lane 2, with Star Club in L1, Leicester Uni in L3 and another crew in L4, althgouh I can't remember who it was. Our start was again quite good, and after the stride, we were rating quite a controlled 33. By 250m, we'd moved to about 2 seats up on Leicester and Star Club. Leicester had a better 2nd quarter than we did, and started to move back through us, and had taken between a quarter and half a length by the 500m marker. Star club stayed at about 2 seats down on us by this point. The 4th crew had fallen back by about 2 lengths. We had quite a good 3rd quarter, and pushed Star club away to over a length, and moved back level or slightly ahead of Leicester. Our push for home wasn't that together, and the balance of the boat suffered. Seb was struggling a bit through the last 15 strokes as well. The combination of the two saw Leicester cross the line a few feet in front of us, but we were safely through to the final, clocking 3:29 for our semi. (Richard)

The 4 crews through to the final had all posted times within 4 seconds of each other in the semi-finals (we had posted the 3rd quickest time of the 4, but were only 2 seconds off the quickest). It was clear that the final could be very close indeed. The final was moved 50 minutes earlier than planned, due to a clash with another division, and Seb said that he was still feeling a bit iffy by the start.

We lined up in lane 4, alongside St. Cuthbert's Society, who had posted the fastest time of anyone in the semi (and apparently outweighed us by over 15kg per man). In lane 2 was the Leicester crew that had just pipped us in the semi. We found ourselves slightly down after the start, and St. Cuthbert's and Leicester started to slowly open the gap on us. At 250m to go, we had quite a good lift, and the boatspeed did increase, but it wasn't enough to avoid coming 4th in the final. St. Cuthbert's and Leicester both posted times of 3:25 (with St. Cuth's just pipping Leicester to victory), leaving us 5 seconds down on the overall winner.

It was nice to hear cheers of support from other Cambridge crews as well as the men's and women's 1st VIIIs, so thanks for that.

Overall, a good bit of racing - a bit disappointing to come 4th in the final, but nice to have made it to the final, and a world of improvement on our Cam Sprints performance! (Richard)