The Club's Results
Mich Term 2021
1st women's novice VIII
Queens' Novice Ergo Competition (1st division)
Cambridge Winter Head (Student Beginner VIIIs)
3nd in category
Time: 12:49.1
Time: 12:49.1
NW1’s first race may have contained more crabs than an M&S seafood salad, and a clashingly close encounter with some (very slow) boys from King’s College London, yet despite these trials and tribulations, the novice crew still finished in a strong 3rd. The race was a good benchmark for NW1 to build upon, and highlighted lots of points to improve, but also showed the power that could be put down when strokes were taken together. Of course, having 12:49 mins alone to use the river was highly beneficial for putting into practice everything learnt in the previous month of training, and the crew finished the race with a strong desire to come back stronger for Emma Sprints the next day.
Emma Sprints (NW1 Division)
1st round
Beat Corpus NW1
Beat Corpus NW1
Stuffed with pasta courtesy of Daniel’s gyp (a bit cosy for 11 people), NW1 stormed through the first race against Corpus Christi, leaving the opposing boat floundering horizontally, a small speck in the distance as we comfortably paddled home over the finish line. The waits between races were short and freezingly cold, meaning that our ‘Snow White and the 8 Dwarves’ costumes had to be obscured under layers of warm kit.
Quarter finals
Beat Girton NW1
Beat Girton NW1
The second race against Girton was our best – a close, adrenaline filled struggle over the first half of the 500m course, before FaT NW1 managed to push away and win by over a length, feeling jubilant after our first really strong piece of rowing.
Semi finals
Lost to Trinity Hall NW1
Lost to Trinity Hall NW1
Sadly, despite the unwavering support and original pieces of advice (‘legs!’, ‘square early!’, ‘legs!’, ‘slow is fast!’, ‘legs!’) of the Evil Queen on the bank, the winning streak was short lived. The Trinity Hall dalmatians clawed a narrow victory over a now very cold NW1, who, morale waning, were then beaten again by Caius.
Plate final
Lost to Caius NW1
Lost to Caius NW1
As well as being a great set of races for crew bonding, Emma Sprints gave NW1 their first tastes of victory and defeat, and our early wins were a testament to the strength of the coaching we had received.
Novice Fairbairn Cup (2nd division)
2nd
Time: 12:23
Time: 12:23
It is a truth universally acknowledged that coming second to Caius equates to winning. This was certainly the approach taken by an overjoyed crew when they arrived back at the boathouse to Lee ecstatically jumping up and down. Bomber’s advice on taking longer build strokes allowed us to have a much calmer start, with the crew staying together for the majority of the race without any significant mistakes, and fantastic racing lines taken by the cox, showed just how much NW1 had improved in the weeks since Winter Head. Our jubilance at coming second was all the more pronounced as, although we knew we had rowed cleanly, no one felt that we had pulled off such a good performance.
Very cool result. Difficult to compare to Caius these days for some reason, but a solid gap between us and the rest of the field. This crew showcased some steely drive in this race as well as some clear speed, so it's exciting to see what that will add to the squad next term.
I also think Bomber really, really enjoyed Lee's triumphant scream of victory.
Fairbairn Cup (Lower VIIIs)
12th
Time: 20:43.6
Time: 20:43.6
Buoyed by our success the day before, NW1 came to Senior Fairbairns very relaxed, determined to treat it as good experience rowing so far without any queues. Of course, there were queues, at both the start and end. However, in addition to another clean row, we also put in a good performance singing ‘YMCA’ at the lock, warmed by the wonderful atmosphere and kindly provided hot chocolate and mince pies. The distance of the race was certainly a challenge, and even though our rate ranged from 18-26, legs and feathering arms were all very fatigued by the end of the race. Of course as novices we would never achieve the pinnacle of success we had at Novice Fairbairns, FaT NW1 still managed to row faster than Magdalene W1, and finished the term pleased with our performance, and deeply grateful to those that facilitated it.
Links
Full 1st women's novice VIII results archive
