The Club's Results

In canonical style our first stroke as a four was the first draw stroke. It was during this stroke that it became obvious that the rig was a bit high. Over the next five strokes it became obvious that this was an understatement.

After about a minute we'd just about adapted, and Steve led a solid rhythm over the rest of the course.

As in the eight, we were close but didn't win. The Cantabs crew that won was a selection from their first eight which dominated the Winter Head, so we shouldn't be disappointed to be so close behind them. By all accounts the CULRC alumni crew looked pretty rapid as well.

Thanks to Jesus for the boat and Sonya for coxing. (JPD)

Rarely can there have been such a simultaneous post-race collapse from a crew; this was as committed a row as I've seen. The apparent result is skewed by several entries not from colleges, amongst whom only Peterhouse and Jesus were quicker, and Peterhouse hadn't already raced the VIII. (Neil T)

Despite being a scratch crew (being bow four from the VIII may have helped a bit), this turned out to be a really solid row. It took us the first minute and a couple dips of the riggers to get find rhythm, but after that we held a really consistent, strong stroke through the race. We didn't have much of a wind at the finish, but that probably turned out to be a good thing because the finish was one post past where we expected it.

In sum - solid row, awesome to beat a lot of 1st IVs. (Allen)

Very good result & especially well done for beating both crews from the Red Filth. (Neil T)

Same crew as Uni IV's but in a different crew order, for one, stroke-rigged this time. Hadn't rowed in a IV since Uni's but an amazing row altogether despite the tiredness from the morning race. (Hannah)

An excellent performance to defend the title, and what a race to bankparty, especially since after losing early on in Uni IVs you only rowed in the VIII from then on.

It was quite obvious from the Selwyn boathouse that you were slowly gaining on CUW and you continued to slowly make ground throughout the course. The rhythm was good and the strokes long and hard. Absolutely textbook. (Mark)

Well, this was a scratch crew, who had done no training in a IV since Uni IVs. I went down the course largely thinking "somebody else will have trained for this, and they'll beat us", and as such I was perhaps less aggressive with rate demands as I could have been, and hence we slightly underrated the course. But we still won, so that was okay in my opinion :). As has been said, this is not as massive a result as the VIII, however the fact that FaT can rock up and win the IVs, and the 2nd IVs, by accident says a lot for the strength of this squad. Very much looking forward to next term :)

Coincidentally, CUW. Lol. (Swords)

Classy repetition of last year's performance.

The start from backstops was slightly wobbly, not at all surprising since everyone had to get adjusted to following someone new. The plan was to row as similar to how we all rowed in the VIII as possible to make sure we find a good rhythm, and it totally worked out. After a short but efficient wind we settled into a chunky and pretty relaxed r30 which eventually dropped down slightly to r28 final cruising speed.

Despite significantly underrating CUW ahead we constantly kept moving up on them over the course. The distance to Downing behind us was difficult to guess from the boat. It looked like they were gaining on us between Chesterton and and the Railway Bridge; however, an epic final push from the kink onwards all the way to the finish obviously meant that we moved away again and eventually finished with a comfortable 7s margin.

Fortunately, Swords had done his homework after the VIIIs and steered absolutely smashing lines throughout.

We were all pretty knackered from the morning and didn't think we'd stand a chance to win this anyway, but then it felt so surprisingly efficient and well together for a scratch IV that I think at some point we tacitly and unanimously decided to really give it all again.

It was totally worth it. Beating every other crew out there means that next year FaT first Ladies IV will start ahead of CUW. Which is how it really should be! (Ulrike)

Solid row and great result, especially given that the VIII had been the sole focus of the run-up. It took several of us to shout from the bank that CUW were being reeled in before the girls believed us but they gained steadily over the first half of the course, despite rating a pip or two lower, and then dug deep for the last few minutes to hold their lead. Incidentally I understand that at least one of the CUW IVs was from the upper part of their heavyweight squad. (Neil T)

The "upper part of [the CUW] heavyweight squad" is not a phrase I ever want to hear again. (RTT)

Clearly the most important win of the day! (Liz)

I think the highlight of the IVs race was the bird that crapped on Liz a couple of minutes in. I spent the rest of the race trying to stop laughing. I was not successful. (Katie)

^^^ and they still won. Blazed!!! (Swords)

Clean sweep - sweet as a nut, a great way to finish term. (Neil T)