The Club's Results

It’s a good thing that NW1 is generally a high spirited crew seeing as our time spent in the boat prior to racing was nearly two hours. The extra time turned out to be a bonus as the crew had to relearn how to row on our way to the starting line, in the words of our coach ‘ the crew that rowed downstream wouldn't have had much fun racing at all’ but the good news is that the crew who raced upstream had a lot of fun. 

Our morning started strong with us learning to pick up the correct blade after pushing off and discovering that bow and stroke did not know which way round ‘1’ and ‘8’ are in a boat. Crisis averted and we did manage to push off in the end, with M2 not particularly pleased that they had to hold their boat above their heads as we got the correct blades. Unfortunately it did not turn out to be our ‘one mistake’ as it was so helpfully put. 

It was discovered on the way to the start that we did not know how to start a race, and there was no prospect of any real practice, but surprisingly enough we started (mostly) in time. This was after we had to spin and nearly crashed into the bank, resulting in us having to be pushed off to prevent us from crashing into the bank… dragging our coach into the Cam in the process. Somehow we made it to our position where we spent a considerable amount of time observing the sheer amount of detritus in the river as well as some wildlife, whilst trying not to drift too far. It kept our spirits up and we discovered that, as a crew, we have the ability to be disconcertingly cheerful at all times.

After all of this, and probably some things that I have blanked from my memory, we set off and were surprisingly in time and during the actual race, few mistakes were made. Turns out it is possible to get said mistakes out of your system and leave them behind the starting line. The fact we only had one previous outing as a full crew made our ability to put it together more impressive- that is if you ignore the rating which was a solid rate 20. Great on a Tuesday morning as it means you are actually moving rather than stuck in traffic, but less than ideal during a race. Still, lessons learnt and next time the boat is almost guaranteed to go faster as ‘race pace’ has entered our vocabulary.

Victory tastes sweet and champagne at 2pm tastes sweeter. 

Even as the resident pessimist of the crew, I have to say that went incredibly well and the only words that come to mind are ‘yeah FaT’. Winning our division of Emma Sprints will continue to feel very, very good for quite some time. The crew has come together incredibly well- especially since Winter Head last week and it’s safe to say that all the effort we have been putting in paid off today.

Race One:

Row through because Christ’s NW1 failed to show up. Thank you guys for giving us some extra practice time and the ability to practice another race start before we had to face actual opposition. It was much appreciated, even if the Marshals did not look best pleased. 

Race Two:

Facing Fitzwilliam in our second race initially felt quite daunting, and kudos to Fitz for their costumes fitting with their college logo, and an extra thank you for providing some opposition. Our race started well and we managed to stay in a straight line, which was our biggest concern (other than our coach remaining dry, more on that later). Following on from there our rowing only got better and we stayed in time, pulling comfortably ahead to the point where we were able to start winding down the rate before the race was over and conserve some energy for the next one. 

Slight negative was forgetting that we did need to keep rowing in time after we passed under the railway bridge, but no harm done. 

Race Three:

Facing off against King’s, we were prepared for the fact that this was only going to get harder. The splashiness factor increased in this race but it didn’t seem to matter, the strokes were strong and we pulled ahead of King’s remarkably quickly; helped by the fact that they caught an early crab and appear to have stopped rowing to sort it out. Unfortunate for them, but a major positive for us as we stayed calm and kept rowing. Some crabs were caught (I think? The races are a bit blurred together), but as a crew we always recovered well and stayed positive. The fact that our cox has become increasingly more assertive and willing to shout at us helped massively. 

Crossing the line it suddenly dawned on us that we were in the division final, and that there was a very real chance we could actually win our division. 

Race Four:

There was very little time between the semi-final and the final, which at least prevented us from getting too cold or the adrenaline from wearing off. When spinning we had a repeat of last week and our coach ended up in the Cam to protect our bow. Sorry Neil. We will get better at spinning we promise, and as I type this I notice your heroics are already on Rowbridge. As a crew, we also hope you are now warmer and drier (and will not make this a habit).

We knew Corpus would be a challenge and the fact that their costume was so well coordinated hinted at their cohesion as a crew. Still, we stayed calm and focused, trusting in our own abilities and being willing to just. Keep. rowing. Which we did, and whilst it was (obviously) the hardest race of the day, by halfway through we were a length ahead and did not let up or get complacent, we stayed strong until the last and ignored the fact that our oars were pushing half the Cam into our boat and onto us. 

The feeling of winning cannot truly be described and it is safe to say that the entire crew is strongly looking forward to Clare Novices next Saturday, and is very enthusiastic to get back out on the water. An overwhelmingly positive day for us, and proof that we do listen to coaching (except when spinning) and can improve day to day.

Other Notes:

Some of our rowing on the way home was described as ‘terrible’ which felt harsh but was probably fair. At least it showed that we gave our all? Unfortunately it was not quite the lap of honour of a winning crew, and more a limp back to the boathouse rowing in sixes most of the way… 

Brunch after the race was made particularly fantastic by the announcement to the entire hall that we had won and the fact we were given a bottle of champagne. The entire crews’ hearts have been won and I have never seen so much smiling, which says a lot as it is rare that we are not smiling when together as a crew. 

Special shout-out to the weather for being good and the forecast for changing. I did not want to row in three layers and I’m glad I did not need to. I also did not need gloves when waiting around which for those who know me, is quite a feat. 

All in all, fantastic day and we eagerly await next week. 

Another week, another race and another round of fun. 

High praise must be given to the sub (Clare) from NW2 who rowed with both NW2 and us today; the rest of us could not be more grateful and I hope she got some rest after our races because she deserves it. 

Our morning started with a bit of chaos as it was realised that we needed to be at the boathouse about 45 minutes to an hour earlier than planned and so rounding the crew up was eventful, but manageable, and nothing went seriously wrong. We still marshalled on time so no harm done. 

We learnt after the races that strokes’ gate was set too low and that’s why seven got drenched. To be fair, the whole boat was splashy but it was definitely worse in the stern and I for one was glad to be in the bows. 

Race One: Murray Edwards

This race gave us some confidence and it was nice to start with a comfortable win and a bit of energy conserved; the rowing was smooth and our starts keep getting better and better. Our spinning also is getting better as nobody ended up in the Cam today to save our bows, and due to the towpath being shut, most of the spinning was done without instructions from the bank. 

Race Two: Newnham

Navigating through the absolute chaos that is a regatta is quite entertaining and hats off to our cox, James, for some expert steering and alertness to keep us out of trouble. Probably a good thing as when I glanced at our coach on the bank, his body language was that of pure anxiety and at one point I genuinely did not think he would be able to take not being in control of us. I would say he should have more faith but after last week, perhaps not.

Racing Newnham was more of a challenge, we won by two lengths in the end but it did not feel comfortable in any way, shape or form. They gave us a good challenge and the atmosphere in the boat was a lot more tense.

Race Three: Trinity Hall

Now, I’m not entirely sure what happened here but we did not realise we were racing Trinity Hall until about a minute before we were, as we thought we were racing Jesus for some reason. As a result, none of us were able to de-kit and there was a fair amount of confusion going on. 

Congratulations to Trinity Hall for beating us by what was apparently two lengths (thank you Clare College for the spreadsheet) but I cannot confirm or deny as my eyes were firmly in the boat. We gave it our all and the pressure situation has taught us a lot to take into Novice Fairbairns.

Novice Fairbairns

Finally what we were all waiting for: Novice Fairbairns. Approximately 2700m to prove that a term spent being cold at 7:00am was worth it, and without a doubt it was. 

We rowed well in a very strong division, as a crew it is the best we’ve felt. Shortly after Railway Bridge we caught a boat-stopping crab, but it did not demoralise the crew and we set off at a higher rate and with more power than before- demonstrating the mental toughness of the crew. 

A pre-race paddle at 07:30 gave us a better warmup than the five strokes to the starting line, and every last piece of practice was worthwhile as we prepared for the culmination of two months’ of effort. Thank you to Neil for making that possible- and for everything else this term. 

Unfortunately a time penalty has left a bitter taste as without the extra seconds on the start line we would have caught the crew ahead, but regardless the actual rowing was fantastic and would not have been possible without strong support from the bank and throughout the term.