First and Third Trinity Boat Club
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The Club's Results

Lent Bumps 2014

1st men's VIII

Coxed by: Amar Patel

Wednesday
Bumped by Jesus
We did our duty for Captain and Club.

Coming on board with M1 having been 50s off Jesus in Fairbairns, I am not exactly surprised that we were bumped as quickly as we were. Indeed today was written off on day 1 of term. The more experienced members of the club have continued with their hiatus, such that we have approx 2.5 terms rowing/person in the boat, and indeed there are two novices from last term in the mix.

Closing the gap on Queens' to 3/4 of a length by the time we were bumped was a nice surprise. I've been so preoccupied with how quick Jesus were going to be that I forgot the general standard of college rowing is awful. Queens' had 30s on us in Fairbairns, and closing the gap really does speak volumes about the progress the crew has made over the past 5 weeks.

Tomorrow shall be interesting. Jesus could very well bump Queens' before First Post corner if not by Head Station. If we steer through the carnage successfully, we should have fairly clean water (sorry guys but the overbump on Caius just isn't going to happen). We seemed to be comparable in speed to LMBC so there's a good chance we will row over if we row well. Having said that, this is Bumps we're racing. Maybe Caius will lose a rudder... (mt)
Jesus were fast. They beat us by 50 seconds in Fairbairn's, and are being coached by the former CUL head coach and GB talent development coach. They also had a lot more experience than us as a crew. Excuses over- we weren't prepared to go down without a fight, so we went off fighting. . . and got bumped in the first corner. However, though we were bumped very quickly, I am not completely disappointed. This is because we were 3/4 of a length off Queens' when we were hit. Queens' beat us by 30 seconds in Fairbairn's, and we closed in on them in just a couple of hundred metres. We have got a lot faster this term.

I expect a tough fight against the red scum tomorrow, but I am thoroughly looking forward to it.

Queens', take note- we are coming for you. (R.J.C. Stroud)
It was a fairly strong start for the first day of bumps. We quickly closed the gap with Queen's in front but Jesus were just too fast from behind (unsurprising given Fairbairns times) and we were bumped fairly quickly.
I look forwards to a good row tomorrow holding off Maggie (Amar)
After an unexpected backing stroke called for our 7 man within the last 10 seconds before the gun, we set off pretty strongly. Jesus gained quickly on us and we stayed at high rate without settling into race pace. We were ultimately bumped just as we were coming to first post. Things were over quickly, but it was clear we were getting close to Queens' as there was at least one whistle directed at us. I'm excited to see what happens tomorrow. (Sean)
With an inexperienced crew, we weren't expecting great things against Jesus - we knew they were strong so our aim was to go off hard and last as long as possible. After unexpectedly watching 7 back it down (after the 10 second call had already passed), we were away and moving. The boat speed of Jesus became evident immediately and it wasn't long before they were ominously bearing down at us.

We continued pushing, and when we heard a whistle came from the bank it was a pleasant surprise to later learn that it was for us gaining on Queens. Shortly after, Jesus caught us and that was that. Nonetheless, the rowing showed promise and we look forward to having an attack on Queen's later in the week. (Strange)
Thursday
Bumped by LMBC
LMBC went off hard at a pace that was, simply put, greater than our max. It is somewhat unsurprising that LMBC might have gone off a little lighter on the first day in an attempt to avoid the carnage of Jesus on us, and that, therefore, we were bumped so quickly. Tomorrow we are being chased by Pembroke. We know little about them, as with LMBC, other than that they are probably slower than today's adversary. They do have somebody pretty handy at stroke though. I'm confident that we will at least make it around First Post corner, and from there I am expecting a fight. I'm not, however, entirely sure how the crew will cope when, for the first time in most of their lives, their legs start to hurt in a serious race situation. (mt)
Alas, the red scum got the better of us. We went off hard expecting a battle, but they were a lot faster than we were. Our start went reasonably well, but it was pretty terrifying to have them hold us through the power ten, our secret weapon in the start, and then finish us off coming around first post corner.  

It would have been nice for them to hold it up slightly more promptly than they did, though- I had make use of my ninja-like reflexes to avoid being run through with their bow ball...
(R.J.C. Stroud)
Friday
Bumped by Pembroke
We had a decent start today and it seemed like we moved off Pembroke in our first power ten. Unfortunately, in the gut Pembroke managed to catch us up. Coming into grassy we held them with overlap for a bit. It was good to see we could hold them off even under pressure though they ultimately got the bump. (Sean)
Pembroke gained in the first few strokes of the start, but by the end the transition had been opened back up and slightly increased. At this point, the two crews seemed to be moving at fairly similar speed. In First Post, an ill recovered dodgy stroke and a wide line allowed Pembroke to gain significantly. Down the gut we again seemed to be moving at a similar speed. Around grassy Pembroke got their bows inside our stern but stuck. An initially wide line was turned into a tight exit in a gutsy if unintentional move that could have ended the race had Pembroke pushed and steered out. Out of Grassy, Pembroke sat with overlap as we pushed out of the corner. A final push from them ended the race. Had we had the best race of our short rowing lives, we might have rowed over but it's difficult to say. Once Pembroke appeared to be moving on us in First Post there was apparently a slight feeling of "that's us bumped again in 15 strokes" within the boat. Only out of Grassy was there a realisation that this wasn't necessarily the case. Tomorrow, our last day, we're faced with yet another unknown. But, once again, we know that they are slower than today's competition. Whether we end up with spoons or otherwise, I'm sure that tomorrow will be our best row of the week. I'll just be glad that this week is over so that we can get back to serious training; Catz Cardinals is but a few weeks away and Primark are stocking some seriously sexy bras this season. (mt)

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