First and Third Trinity Boat Club
Log In

The Club's Results

Pembroke Regatta, Lent Term 2008

1st men's VIII (1st division)

Coxed by: Emma Salgård Cunha

1st round
Beat Emmanuel by 4 lengths
Time: 3:28
Waking up at 0600h did not help the race preparation, and coupled to the freezing conditions the two crews who lined up at 0815h were feeling a bit sorry for themselves.

We were pretty confident but determined not to have a 'Clare Scare' like Pembroke Regatta 2007 - the start was to be ridiculously unsustainable, through to a ridiculously unsustainable finish.

Emma had a bad start and we had a pretty fair one - much splashier than in practice now we had a crew alongside. Nevertheless we hit about 50, sustained at 44 and strode down to 39 - at which point we were length up and cruising far, far faster than the oppo.

We didn't sit back on the lead and Leadbetter mercilessly called for a legs push to double the clear water before the 500m point. Job done - we sat on them at about 34ish.

In fairness to Emma, FaT are notorious for their poor starts and this race took them by surprise. We wouldn't have this advantage in later races. (Dan)
2nd round
Beat Fitzwilliam by 1 length
Time: 3:16
Fitz were big, and had blatantly been making the use of their shiny new boathouse - every time I went to the boathouse in the evenings I'd always know that there would be some poor bugger pulling his guts out in Fitz BH.

We're not a massive crew so pulling up alongside them would have felt a bit daunting if this sort of thing hadn't been happening for eight years. They wanted it, so did we. Bring it.

Our start was messy and there was a whiff of panic (possibly from the other crew, but equally possible from us) as neither crew pulled away. The fact we knew we would have to unleash hell meant the stride had to happen quite a few times before the rate finally came down to 38. This didn't help with finding length at the front, and was not our most efficient rowing.

Nevertheless, we stuck to our pattern and trusted in the training plan (e.g. the technical pairs work at the Nene). We didn't make any massive moves; were just a bit sharper and fitter and it began to tell as we came under the railway bridge.

Although this was no indication of their fitness over the course, I feel very, VERY sorry for the poor crews being chased by Fitz this bumps. (Dan)
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. (Tom C)
Quarter finals
Beat Robinson NRO
Apparently one of their guys has broken his hand. Not good; hope it's better for the Mays. (Dan)
Semi finals
Beat Christ's by 3 lengths
Time: 3:24
These guys had watched the previous races and knew a massive start was required. The adrenaline kicked in and we both hammered off the start.

Both crews a little splashy - bow pair in FaT doing their own thing, as usual - but both found a good racing speed. We pulled away under the bridge, which led to some spectacular rate 36 rowing once we were in front: just tapping it along, no effort whatsoever. What a pity for an extra mph or so we have to kill ourselves, eh? (Dan)
Final
Beat Clare by 3 lengths
Time: 3:18
That's Pedros Hat Trick sorted... Pretty good days racing, lot of work still to do for bumps. (C.S.Dunleavy)
We wanted to see what we were capable of, and killed ourselves. Main things to learn were that rate 40 is sustainable for an entire kilometre, and that emptying the tank in the first 500m doesn't lead to a fast 2nd 500m.

Congratulations to Pedro, as this is his third consecutive win at this Regatta. (Dan)
This was Iain's first chance to see our controversial but 'fun' racing start. He didn't approve. (BJ)
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. (Tom C)

1. The speed coach was ...
2. Ming examining the r...
3. Still level at halfway
[more...]


Facebook Instagram Youtube LinkedIn
If you have any comments or suggestions please email the webmaster. Click here to switch between designs. If you log in as a First and Third member, you can set a preference for a color scheme on your profile.