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8th Apr '08	Lent term round-up	by bjg
Following on from good progress in Michaelmas, there was a lot of hard work still to be done if we were to repeat the successes of last year's Lents. We had a double headship to defend and lower boats looking to improve on already strong positions. The Cambridge Head-2-Head provided the traditional start-of-term shock to the system. The 2nd women's VIII, including several ex-novices, put in a strong performance, the 1st women's VIII maintained their rate of improvement against the other colleges, losing by only a second, and the 1st men's VIII completed their unbeaten year against college crews. Next up was a trip to Peterborough for the Head of the Nene. In their first race of term the 2nd men's VIII carried the mantle of First and Third, following the 1st men's VIII's aborted attempt due to injury, and showed straight away that they were competitive even for a 1st VIII. The 1st women's VIII came in second fastest college crew, beating Jesus for the first time - good news, as Jesus were starting second in bumps. Meanwhile, the Gents stayed at home to win the lower boats division of Newnham Short Course comfortably, not far behind the overall winners, with the 2nd and 3rd women's VIIIs recording solid and entertaining rows respectively. At Robinson Head, the 1st men's and 2nd women's VIIIs retained their titles, with the 1st women's and 2nd and 3rd men's VIIIs just missing out. A couple of days later, the 2nd men's VIII were again racing as FaT's top crew at the Bedford Head where, in a strong field, they missed out on the college victory by just four seconds. Pembroke Regatta was the last chance to practise before bumps itself (a chance that only the Gents turned down), and the club had plenty of reason for optimism. The 2nd men's VIII competed in the 1st VIIIs' division and lost a close battle in the quarter finals, yet again showing their speed to be comparable to that of the quickest 1st VIIIs. The 2nd women's VIII won two races but lost to a very strong Jesus crew at the same stage. The 5th men's VIII lost to LMBC IV in the first round and the 4th men's VIII had an impressive run but couldn't quite go all the way, losing to LMBC III in the final. The 3rd women's VIII won their category, as did the 1st men's VIII for the third year running. However, the result of the day came from the 1st women's VIII, who won their first title of the academic year at the perfect time, beating a field containing all of their rivals for the headship. The bumps campaign started disappointingly, with the 5th men's and 3rd women's VIIIs narrowly failing to get on in the Lent Bumps Getting-on Race. They were certainly both crews who would have been sufficiently strong in previous years. Fortunately, this proved to be the last disappointment of the week, with the Lent Bumps themselves surpassing even the most optimistic of expectations. The 4th men's VIII went up 2, leaving them 16 places ahead of LMBC IV, the only other 4th VIII in the bumps, and with only three 3rd VIIIs ahead of them. The Gents VIII won their blades and a place in the second division. The 2nd women's VIII went up 3, having been left with nothing to chase on the third day, putting them within touching distance of the second division. For the second year running, the 2nd men's VIII proved to be much too quick for their position in the bumps charts, and five quick bumps earned them blades, the 2nd VIII headship and a place in the first division. The two headship crews were aiming to slog it over the course for four consecutive days. The 1st men's VIII did this in unspectacular fashion, never putting in a devastating performance but never being threatened from behind. The 1st women's VIII left Jesus for dead on the first two days and held off Emma without too much difficulty on the third day. On the final day, Emma gave it their all but our women put in the effort of their lives to row over a canvas clear. By any measure, this was a phenomenally successful set of bumps. This is only the third ever double headship and the first time that any club has retained one. It is the first time that a First and Third crew has ever retained a Lents headship (although 1st Trinity retained Lents headships in 1902 and earlier years) and the first time that a First and Third crew has retained a headship of any sort since 1967. The last time that any crew was higher than it is now was in 1987, and this was the first Lents since 1944 that no Trinity boat was bumped. The men's club now holds headships at all levels in the Lents (and indeed, with the exception of the 1st and 6th VIIIs, in the Mays). First and Third earned more Michell Cup points from the Lents than any other club, which is a remarkable feat for a large club in an already strong position. There was still time for a few post-bumps afterthoughts of varying degrees of importance. The next sporting event after the Lents was of the non-rowing variety, with the second annual FaT v BPBC Football Challenge. Black Prince made up for last year's defeat in emphatic style, with captain Neil Talbott scoring the first hat trick in this fixture and leading his team to a comfortable 3-0 victory. Three days later were the 2nd Trinity Challenge Sculls, run by first-year Peter Ford. We met with limited success in the singles, but the combination of Tom Coker and Richard Fletcher was enough to win the doubles competition. Cardinal's Regatta saw four crews entered and the 'Fun IVs' division won by the Formal Dinner Brigade, and left Iain with some work to do on Titan over the holidays. In the last event of Lent term, the top two men's VIIIs, each with only two subs since the Lents, went to London for the annual Head of the River Race. As new entrants, both crews were low in the starting order, but came in 88th and 263rd, the best results recorded on this website for the 1st and 2nd VIIIs. The 1st VIII beat all college opposition, while the 2nd VIII beat six college 1st VIIIs (as well as both the other 2nd VIIIs). This was an appropriate end to an outstanding term's work by the whole club. Many thanks to all those who have contributed their time to coach and support the club; your efforts are appreciated by all involved. These results leave the club with plenty of momentum to take into May term. Let's hope that the next term is as successful as this one has been! (2 replies...)
7th Jun '08	May Bumps Updates	by bjg
Welcome to FirstandThird.org's May Bumps coverage. Messages sent from the towpath will be posted below, in addition to which you can find the latest charts on our May Bumps page. These are also available by WAP and SMS. The Mays begin at 1pm on Wednesday - the full division times are as follows: Division Wed-Fri Sat Men's 6 13:00 11:00 Women's 5 13:05 11:05 Men's 5 13:45 11:45 Women's 4 14:30 12:30 Men's 4 15:15 13:15 Women's 3 16:00 14:00 Men's 3 16:45 14:45 Women's 2 17:30 15:30 Men's 2 18:15 16:15 Women's 1 19:00 17:00 Men's 1 19:45 17:45 We hope you enjoy our results service again - and of course BumpIT. Entries for the 4-day game close as the first results roll in, so get guessing! Good luck to all First and Third crews in the bumps! (33 replies...)
21st Feb '08	Lent Bumps Updates	by bjg
Welcome to FirstandThird.org's Lent Bumps coverage. Messages sent from the towpath will be posted below, in addition to which you can find the latest charts on our Lent Bumps page. These are also available by WAP and SMS. The Lents begin at 2pm on Tuesday - the full division times are as follows: Division Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat M1 - 16:40 16:40 16:40 16:40 W1 - 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 M2 16:40 - 15:20 15:20 15:20 W2 16:00 - 14:40 14:40 14:40 M3 15:20 15:20 - 14:00 14:00 W3 14:40 14:40 - 13:20 13:20 M4 14:00 14:00 14:00 - 12:40 We hope you enjoy our results service again. Good luck to all First and Third crews in the bumps! (65 replies...)
4th Dec '07	Mich Term round-up	by bjg
Michaelmas term saw the men's and women's boat clubs facing different challenges. The men's squad was unusually experienced for this time of year but, with the main goals still many months away, had to maintain commitment and rate of progress despite the opposition being a bit slow out of the blocks. Also playing the long game, the women faced the task of rebuilding after the loss of several key squad members. Looking back on the term, both sides of the club have acquitted themselves impressively well, with the novices also showing touches of real class as they look forward to strengthening the senior squad next term. The Autumn Head was the first chance to see how we measured up against the other clubs, and strong results across the board suggested that we were reasonably well set up for the rest of term. However, University IVs still surpassed expectations, with First and Third winning all three men's categories: the light IVs and 1st and 2nd men's coxed IVs. The 1st women's IV proved to be among the quickest crews in the competition, but were ultimately not quick enough to retain their title. The following day's Fours Head results were disappointing, perhaps affected by post-Uni IVs lethargy but definitely a result of the rowing being too slow. Meanwhile, the novices had taken to the ergometers in the traditional mindless destruction of four weeks' painstaking technical tuition known as Queens' Ergs. The 1st novice men and women got off to a flying start, coming 5th and 2nd respectively, and everyone enjoyed the unique Queens' Ergs atmosphere. The week after came the Winter Head, the first chance for the novices to give it a go on the water and the last chance for pre-Fairbairns race practice for the seniors. It served both purposes adequately, highlighting that there was still plenty of work to be done all round. The day after, Emma Sprints was called off early on due to high winds, depriving the 2nd and 3rd novice women of their warm-up for Clare Novices. Clare Novices was the first major race for the novice squad. The 1st novice men showed the progress they had made since the Winter Head, winning three rounds before losing in the semi final. The 1st novice women were out-sprinted in the quarter finals by a determined Lucy Cavendish/Hughes Hall composite. The 2nd novice men were unlucky to come across one of the stronger first boats in their first round, while the 2nd novice women and 3rd novice men had decent runs to the quarter final stages of the plate competition. Novice Fairbairns was particularly eventful for the men's club. The 1st novice men was the only First and Third men's crew to make it down the course from start to finish in one attempt with more than six people rowing for at least half the race, and came a strong 4th place. The 4th novice men's (first) attempt was, fortunately for posterity, captured on camera. The women's novice crews all recorded solid results, coming 8th, 31st and 45th. The final event of term, Fairbairns, saw the usual high turnout of alumni, with Black Prince Boat Club entering a total of five men's and women's crews and beating all college alumni opposition. The Black Prince women won the Fairbairn IVs invitational category for the second time, maintaining their 100% record in this event. The 1st women's VIII finished 5th, but looking at this over the course of the term they are making rapid progress on the colleges ahead of them, none of whom are out of touch. The 1st novice women finished as the 5th fastest 2nd VIII. The 1st women's IV were disappointed to lose their Fairbairn IVs title to a quick Emma crew, but the 2s margin of defeat over the 3.2km course is another reminder of the progress they have made when compared with the 7s defeat to the same crew over 1.3km in Uni IVs. The men's boat club underlined its dominance of Cambridge college rowing past and present with all nine crews entered by First and Third and Black Prince the fastest in their class (including victories for the novices as the fastest 3rd and 4th VIIIs), picking up five trophies along the way. These included our first Fairbairn Cup victory since 1997 and the retention of the Fairbairn IVs title, with three rowers surviving from last year's crew, and was a fitting end to a term in which the senior men had suffered only one defeat in seventeen races on the Cam. Congratulations to all involved this term, and a huge thanks to all who have coached us. This is a great time to be at the club, and things look good for the future. The biggest challenges are still to come, but the club is in a strong position to meet them head on. (1 reply...)
12th Nov '07	University IVs	by bjg
A little over a week ago, First and Third met with great success at the annual University IVs competition. For the first time recorded on this website, and for the first time that anyone readily available could remember, the men won all three men's categories. There are five events in total: for the men, the coxless fours (known as 'light fours') over 2.8km and first and second coxed fours over 2km and, for the women, first and second coxed fours over 1.5km. The men's races are run in a chasing format with the two crews starting and finishing 100m apart, while the women's are raced side by side. The 1st Women's IV put in a couple of strong rows but had an unlucky draw and, having beaten Queens' by 11s in the heats, went out in the quarter finals to Emmanuel, with times showing that they were probably the third fastest crew in the competition. The Light IV were one of only three in a disappointingly unpopular light fours competition. They enjoyed a comfortable semi final victory over Clare and a victory over LMBC in the final that could have been comfortable had it not been for the steerer's inability to avoid moored boats and bridges. This was the second time in three years that First and Third have won the light fours. The lack of entries in the light fours meant that our first and second coxed fours, which are effectively our second and third fours, were competing against most colleges' first and second fours. This makes their achievements even more noteworthy. The 1st Men's IV raced four rounds and was never really challenged, beating Downing by 10s in their semi final and LMBC easily in the final. The 2nd Men's IV raced three rounds and was pushed only by Downing II in their semi final, but still ran out relatively comfortable winners by 5s and went on to beat Churchill (I) by 17s in the final. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the three First and Third fours were three of the fastest four crews out there, which is a great accomplishment for the club and those who have coached for us so far this term. As this is the first major competition of the academic year, it is pleasing that the club has started so strongly. It was also good to see supporters out on the river bank for the semi finals and finals, in particular the club president, Peter Brandt, who made the trip up from London specially for the occasion. Congratulations to all involved, and let's hope that we can keep this up for the rest of the year!
16th Jul '07	May Term Round-up	by ELT
After a dizzily successful Lent term the aim for the Mays was to keep the momentum gained by hard training through the winter, carrying that forward into a good summer season. We began the term with a training camp on the Cam, focused on small boats work and squad re-integration before selection of new crews took place. To a great extent this was successful although some crews would have benefited from greater shuffling of the Lent line-up. At this point various squad members were also training in small boats for the CUCBC Small Boats Regatta held just before the start of term. This was very successful, with wins in the Delafield Trophy (Helen Ralston), Men's and Women's Foster-Fairbairn Pairs (Bryn Garrod/Dan Jane and Helen Ralston/Fran Rawlins), and the Women's Magdalene Silver Pairs (Erica Thompson/Lilie Weaver) picking up a good haul of Michell Cup points along with the trophies and medals. Training camp included various social events including a very popular Easter-Egg Hunt. Several squad eights entered the Radegund Mile at the end of the week, a pub event notable more for free alcohol than for quality of racing. A good time was had by all. As term set in and exams began to loom it became more difficult to enter races due to lack of personnel; however, M2 and M3 made time for Head of the Cam and the women went to Nottingham for the BUSA Regatta - a multilane 2k regatta. The boat, a composite W1/2 crew, exceeded all expectations by reaching the Final of the Women's Junior Eights, beating a number of university crews along the way (with the support of our friendly bus driver). First and Third was indirectly represented at BUSA by Lilie Weaver, Fran Rawlins and Helen Ralston, who collected a total of 4 gold medals and a silver between them with CUWBC's WJ8, WLt4- and WLt1x. The weekend also saw the 3rd annual FaT vs BPBC Golf Challenge -men's, women's and adaptive titles convincingly won by Black Prince. The next weekend saw M2, W1 and W2 in action at the LMBC Erg Champs (winners in every category) and at the Cambridge Head2Head (winners of W1/2, 2nd in M2). Meanwhile, M1 had taken their turn off-Cam at the Poplar Regatta, winning the S4 category despite difficult conditions and some 'interesting' steering! The last well-attended race before Bumps was, as usual, the Champs Eights Head. M1 and W2 posted excellent times to win their divisions and five other crews also took the last opportunity to scope out the opposition. The large quantities of alcohol won by M1 and W2 contributed to the Boat Club Elections being at least as lengthy as in previous years (the preceding week, we had had an AGM of truly incredible efficiency). However, a new Committee was eventually elected and are already setting out their plans for continued domination next year. The first day of the Mays set the scene for another excellent set of Bumps, as the eight crews went up 7 places between them(!). This record was not quite maintained, but the club's aggregate of Up 17 is certainly an impressive achievement. M5 and M3 successfully defended their respective Headships; M4 bumped LMBC IV to gain theirs and M2 bumped Caius II to gain theirs. Bumping Queens', Catz, and LMBC in the first three days, M1 took centre stage on Saturday but were unable to take the Headship from Caius and finished 2nd on the River. A good result by all accounts and with eight of nine crew members returning next year they are well set for an assault on Caius in the Mays 2008. M2's impressive rise must also be pointed out; for a second eight at the bottom of the First Division they put in a great display of strength and commitment (we won't mention the technical skills) to bump Caius II, Magdalene and Christ's, finishing in M2's highest position since the 1950s. In the Women's divisions, W3 rowed six times, an overbump and bump taking them up four places in the first two days after which they held onto their position as Head of the Fourth Division until St Edmund's I proved the stronger crew. W2 finished the week with another set of blades to add to the Lents ones. W1 had a more exciting week, with carnage and crabs (by other crews) on days 1, 2 and 4 causing a re-row, a row-over followed by an overbump, and a very good view of some rather nasty crashes. The last club event of term was the Boat Naming, held on a perfect summer's day in the Fellows' Garden. Several boats were overdue their naming ceremonies, so a total of 6 boats were named together by club 'celebrities'. Dan Darley (Capt. 1996-7) and Martin Peck (Capt. 1999-2000) named the two new single sculls Pike and Eel. Will Thorne (Headship 2000) named the Coastal IV Leviathan as representative of our sponsors JP Morgan. Mike Proctor (Vice-Master and ex-Senior Treasurer) was invited to name the Light IV Michael Proctor in recognition of all he has done for the club over many years. The new women's eight was named Valkyrie by Peter Brandt (Club President, Capt 1956-7) and the men's eight, another regal Black Prince, was named by Tony Pooley (Capt. 1966-67, Ladies' Plate winner). Tony expressed his pleasure at seeing the Club's fine performance in the 40th anniversary year of First and Third's last Henley victory. The namings were followed by a very convivial Garden Party in pleasant surroundings. That would almost be it, but of course there is one last pair of events I must mention - the Henley Women's and Royal Regattas. Three members of First and Third were spotted at HWR racing for CUWBC Lightweights in Lt1x, Lt2-, and Lt4- categories, though they did not make it to the finals. At the Henley Royal Regatta, there was not only a crew entered for the Temple Cup but also an anniversary row-through on Saturday by the 1967 Ladies' Plate winners. The 1967 crew rowed over in splendid isolation on the course and unfortunately we must also say the same of the 2007 crew, who drew eventual winners University of California in the first round and were beaten by 'about 6 lengths'. Despite this, it was felt that racing at Henley was an excellent end to an excellent year for the Club and above all for the First Men who have raced so consistently and given the rest of the Club a very high standard to aim for. The outgoing Committee would like to wish the new Committee the very best of luck for next year, especially Men's and Overall Captain Ming-Chee Chung, Women's Captain Harriet Booker and all of the new Lower Boats Captains.
12th Jun '07	May Bumps 2007 updates	by bjg
Welcome to FirstandThird.org's May Bumps coverage. Messages sent from the towpath will be posted below, in addition to which you can find the latest charts on our May Bumps page. These are also available by WAP and SMS. The Mays begin at 1pm on Wednesday - the full division times are as follows: Division Wed-Fri Sat Men's 6 13:00 11:00 Women's 5 13:00 11:00 Men's 5 13:45 11:45 Women's 4 14:30 12:30 Men's 4 15:15 13:15 Women's 3 16:00 14:00 Men's 3 16:45 14:45 Women's 2 17:30 15:30 Men's 2 18:15 16:15 Women's 1 19:00 17:00 Men's 1 19:45 17:45 We hope you enjoy our results service again - and of course BumpIT! Entries for the 4-day game close as the first results roll in, so get guessing! Good luck to all First and Third crews in the bumps! (15 replies...)
30th Apr '07	Small Boats Regatta Wins	by bjg
This year's Small Boats Regatta saw a bumper crop of First and Third entries, with only the Bushe-Fox Freshmen's Sculls and the men's Lowe Double Sculls lacking a blue and gold presence. We also had some good wins to go with it. In the men's Foster Fairbairn Pairs, Bryn Garrod and Dan Jane were successful in what is likely to be Dan's last competitive action for the club before he moves to Rio de Janeiro 'to do maths'. In the women's Magdalene Silver Pairs, Erica Thompson and Lilie Weaver did well to combat exam pressures and a lack of outings to cover the course quicker than their opposition, just unfortunately not by enough to prevent it from being a dead-heat. This gave them another pair of university medals to add to those won in similar circumstances in the women's Foster Fairbairn Pairs two years ago. However, the most successful First and Third competitor of the week was Helen Ralston, who, in her first appearances for club, won the Women's Championship Sculls and the women's Foster Fairbairn Pairs with fellow university lightweight Fran Rawlins. Hopefully the four 'easily' verdicts they notched up between them are a sign of good things to come for this term! Away from the racing side, it was also good to see Peter Brandt in Cambridge to present his trophy for the men's Maiden Sculls. In his words, four First and Third victories 'made the trip up from London worthwhile'! Finally, if anyone would like to donate a pair to the club (preferably weighted at around 65kg), it would be a much-appreciated help with logistics next year. (3 replies...)
12th Apr '07	Lent Term Round-up	by elt
As Pedro said at the dinner, it would make this task a lot easier to simply sum up the events that First and Third did not win this term... but I suppose I'd better do it properly! Term started with the usual Lent Training Camp held in Cambridge. Attendance was excellent, with an especially notable turn-out from ex-novices, making it a very productive week. We laid down a good solid week of training that set the tone well for the rest of term. At the Cambridge Head-2-Head, the 2nd VIIIs outshone the 1sts, coming top of their respective categories while the 1st VIIIs each came 2nd. However, the 1st VIIIs then put in a stellar performance at the Peterborough Head of the Nene, taking the honours as top college crews. M1 also won the S3 category on a day notable for decidedly un-Peterborough-ish warmth and sunshine. M2 and W2 enjoyed the day out as the first off-Cam race for many. At around this time, our new boats from Janousek arrived - two new VIIIs, to be christened Black Prince and Valkyrie, and two new sculls named Pike and Eel. We are very grateful to our sponsors JP Morgan for their support, which has helped us to purchase this new equipment. The next major race of term was the Robinson Head, at which it became clear that First and Third were truly dominating college rowing this term. All crews entered won their categories - M1, M2, W1 and W2! A report followed in "The Cambridge Student" describing First and Third "in Red Hot Form". In the lead-up to Bumps, there is always a lot to be gained from the Pembroke Regatta. First and Third entered three men's and three women's eights. On this day, the men's eights really pulled out the stops, winning all three men's categories. W2 and W3 both raced three rounds and W1 were beaten by a strong Jesus crew in the final, making this the third year in a row in second place. The competition for places in the upper boats also led to some fantastic results by the lower boats this term. W3 and M5 both proved themselves credits to their Lower Boats' Captains hard work by rowing an excellent Getting-On Race and qualifying for their places in the Lents. This is the first time in Club history that a third women's eight has got on to the Lents. I'll run through the Lents results in reverse order. W3 finished the week Foot of the River despite two gutsy row-overs ahead of arch-rivals Pembroke IV (a crew which also knocked them out of Pembroke Regatta). M5 ended Up 1, many of the crew achieving their first ever bump (some after a long time trying!). M4, the "Beer Boat" whom I have not yet mentioned, rowed-over on the first day and thereafter were bumped by three faster crews on their way up (including St Edmund's 1, coxed by our own Abbi Fox). M3 narrowly missed out on claiming their blades this term, bumping up three times although a fluffed start on Day 2 left them with no crews to chase ahead. M2 and W2, however, converted their series of victories this term into another fantastic result for the club - eight smiley yellow faces and two sets of well-deserved blades. Both crews bumped extremely quickly on every day of Lents (before Grassy Corner), showing the real benefit of hard training - easy racing! Overshadowing even these fine achievements were the rises of both Lent VIIIs to their respective Headships. M1 bumped Caius at Ditton on the first day, then rowed over strongly ahead of chasing crews. W1 bumped Emmanuel, Caius and Clare, rowing over ahead of an almost empty river on the final day as many crews bumped out behind. There were enormous crowds on the bank, including a very loud delegation of bufties at Ditton! Thanks to everyone for all your support; it really does make a difference. As is traditional, the Headships were celebrated by burning a boat on the Backs. The Fair Maid of Kent met her demise under a total lunar eclipse, watched by a gathering crowd including many current and past members of the Club as well as the Master, Sir Martin Rees. We hope that this display of First and Third's dominance on the River is one that will encourage members to continue rowing at a high level and non-members perhaps to take up the sport. The results this term are the work of too many people to name here: coaches and crews alike have put in blood, sweat and tears to bring us to this point and there is no better testament to the effectiveness of hard training. Well rowed, First and Third! As I am late in writing this, I have some more results to add! The 2007 Women's Head of the River Race was rowed in lovely weather by our first and second women's eights. Fresh from the success of Lents, both crews put in storming performances. W1 were top college crew overall, even beating Blondie. W2 were 6th college crew, less than minute behind W1, and beat several college first eights including Caius and Clare. Finally, I must mention our triallists who have been working even harder this term with the University crews. Toby Garnett rowed with the winning Goldie crew against Isis on the Tideway. We also had three representatives - Lilie Weaver, Fran Rawlins, and Helen Ralston - in the women's lightweight boat at Henley, who lost in rough conditions on a shortened course. They will no doubt be out for revenge against Oxford at BUSA regatta next term.
7th Apr '07	Boat Races	by bjg
Cambridge today won both the Boat Race and the Goldie/Isis race to add to victories for the Veterans yesterady and Spare Pair on Wednesday. Particular congratulations to Tobias Garnett, who rowed for Goldie, and Peter Summers, who rowed for the Cambridge veterans. (2 replies...)

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