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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...)
5th Mar '07	Back Where We Belong	by elt
Congratulations to the 1st Men and 1st Women, who ended Saturday's racing with commanding rows over as Head of the River in their respective divisions. The 2nd Men and 2nd Women also won their oars this week with a fine display of dominance lower down, each bumping on every night of racing. Race reports here. (33 replies...)
25th Feb '07	Lent Bumps 2007 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. Please note that the number for our various SMS services has changed to 60300 and that the charge for receiving a results SMS has been halved to 12p. The Lents begin at 2pm Tuesday - the full division times are as follows: Division Times Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Men's 1 - 4:40 4:40 4:40 4:40 Men's 2 4:40 - 3:20 3:20 3:20 Men's 3 3:20 3:20 - 2:00 2:00 Men's 4 2:00 2:00 2:00 - 12:40 Women's 1 - 4:00 4:00 4:00 4:00 Women's 2 4:00 - 2:40 2:40 2:40 Women's 3 2:40 2:40 - 1:20 1:20 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! (25 replies...)
23rd Feb '07	W3 and M5 row on	by ELT
Congratulations to M5 and W3 who succceeded in gaining their places on the River with two storming rows in the Getting-On Race today. M5 have by default also gained themselves the 5th eight Headship, as the only 5th eight to row on, beating several third and fourth eights in the process! W3 will take a place in First and Third history as the first (hopefully of many!) third women's crew to take part in the Lents. Good luck to both crews, and those with permanent places, in the Bumps next week.
13th Jun '06	May Bumps Racing News	by mcp
The May Bumps run this week, from Wednesday to Saturday. Here on our website, we are running our traditional results services and our new bumps prediction game, BumpIT. Follow the links from the front page for all the info! The Bumps are superb for spectating, so even if you aren't rowing it's well worth making the effort to get down to the river! Here are the division times: Division Wed-Fri Sat M 1 19:45 17:45 M 2 18:15 16:15 M 3 16:45 14:45 M 4 15:15 13:15 M 5 13:45 11:45 M 6 13:00 11:00 W 1 19:00 17:00 W 2 17:30 15:30 W 3 16:00 14:00 W 4 14:30 12:30 W 5 13:00 11:00 We have directions for how to get to the river on the site and also some tips on where to stand which can be found in our guide to the bumps - again follow the links from the front page! On this thread on the message board will appear whatever news is posted from mobile phones during the week, and hopefully various other bits of news and banter as the racing unfolds. We very much hope that you will enjoy the First and Third site during the Mays and that the mix of results, reports, pictures and predictions conveys something of the excitement of this truly fantastic event. And our thanks must go to all the members who put time in to update it with their accounts and pictures of the racing. All the very best to everyone who is rowing, coxing or coaching - and of course especially to First and Third. Row hard. (28 replies...)
11th Feb '07	Clean sweep for FaT	by bjg
The recent Robinson Head was very successful for First and Third, with the club winning all four categories (men's and women's eights, men's and women's lower eights). This made the prizegiving ceremony very enjoyable, even if lacking in variety. Until recently, this was considered to be the best indicator of bumps performance, but the tide of opinion has recently turned, so let's hope for similar successes at Pembroke Regatta!
8th Dec '06	Mich term round-up	by ELT
The term started well with training beginning before lectures had even started and consistent coaching laying the groundwork for success in fours. The first weeks were very hectic with novice tubbing schedules running all day every day. The Autumn Head provided the first indication of our form relative to other crews. The women's first IV showed their strength by winning outright, and the men's crews all put in creditable performances; notably the Light IV, second to LMBC by a tantalising 2s margin, and the Second Coxed IV who (even handicapped by a considerable amount of extra weight in the cox's seat) won their category by a very long way! The men's first VIII also showed they were on the pace, trailing the winners by just 6 seconds. In the University Fours, the men's fours were unlucky to be knocked out relatively early on, although the difficult draw certainly provided some good racing. The women's second four were taken down by Emma II in an eventful race which was not decided until very late. The first women then demonstrated their loyalty to the club, taking revenge by promptly thrashing Emma I in the final with a three length margin. A further set of university medals which confirms First and Third's continued dominance of the women's fours. Meanwhile, the lower boats captains and a group of dedicated coaches had been working their (gold) socks off to bring a new set of novices up to scratch in time for the Novice Regatta season. After fantastic results from the women who came third in Queens' Ergs (not to mention one All Time Queens' Ergs Record from Corinne Vannatta), and the gruelling training schedules endured by the men, we were expecting great things and were not to be disappointed. Emma Sprints and Clare Novice Regatta saw our finest men, women and penguins in action on the river with their spangly new JP Morgan club tshirts. This culminated after several days of eventful racing with the First Novice Men bringing home the prestigious Clare Novice Regatta Cup. An awesome result and very well deserved. The last event of term, Fairbairns, a 5k head race for senior eights and shorter distances for fours and novices, saw no fewer than 17 entries from First and Third and Black Prince. The novices were first up to prove they could go the distance and did so in style, the men's Second Novice eight winning their category and coming sixth overall, just 30 seconds behind the First Novice Men who came third. Both crews then raced again the following day as new seniors, beating various (real) senior eights in the process! The First Novice Women rowed well to come tenth and the lower boats also did very well, including one composite eight with Homerton, an unusual but highly successful initiative. Again, the First Novice Women took on the challenge of Senior Fairbairns and rose to it, beating Newnham II as the only third eight in the race. Good fours results earlier in term led to a double victory for First and Third in the men's and women's Fairbairn Fours, but unfortunately both first eights missed out by a margin of just 10 seconds to the eventual winners, Jesus. Nevertheless, both defeated the crews ahead of them in the Lents and will be looking forwards to maintain and extend this lead next term. The second eights, both a little beset by issues with availabilities and the flag, raced well and beat several other second eights (and the men several first eights!). All told, it has been a very good term of racing and I look forward to seeing what we are capable of next term. Well rowed, First and Third!
5th Dec '06	Scullers Head	by SJB
Congratulations to Jon Davies who came 5th overall, and won the S3 pennant, at the Scullers Head in London at the weekend. In unusally flat conditions, Jon was posted a faster time than that of the S1 and S2 winners, only 1 minute outside the course record.
4th Nov '06	Women win University IVs	by ELT
After a week of racing the women's first coxed four have proven themselves considerably faster than all opposition - their smallest margin of victory an impressive 3 lengths. Full race reports available on the Results page. (2 replies...)
22nd Oct '06	Head of the Charles	by bjg
Honey Duan, who left Trinity at the end of last year, is in action at the Head of the Charles today. Honey is coxing the men's Harvard Varsity VIII, who are starting 12th in the Championship VIIIs division. A live webcast is available - Harvard are starting 12th in the Championship VIIIs, scheduled to start at 21:10 our time. CUBC are starting 2nd in the same division. (10 replies...)
26th Feb '06	The Lents - news updates	by mcp
Welcome to FirstandThird.org's Lent Bumps coverage. Messages sent from the towpath will be posted below, as well as the latest charts on our Lent Bumps page and available by WAP and SMS. The Lents begin at 2pm Tuesday - the full division times are as follows: Division Times Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Men's 1 - 4:40 4:40 4:40 4:40 Men's 2 4:40 - 3:20 3:20 3:20 Men's 3 3:20 3:20 - 2:00 2:00 Men's 4 2:00 2:00 2:00 - 12:40 Women's 1 - 4:00 4:00 4:00 4:00 Women's 2 4:00 - 2:40 2:40 2:40 Women's 3 2:40 2:40 - 1:20 1:20 We hope you enjoy our results service again - and of course the new predictions game! Entries for the 4-day game close as the first results roll in - so get guessing! Good luck to everyone in the racing. Go First and Third! (13 replies...)
4th Nov '05	Men and Women win IVs	by mcp
First and Third have won 2 of the top 3 competitions in the University IVs competition. The men's coxless IV (known for historical reasons as the 'Light IV') beat LMBC and Jesus to take the coveted Light IV title. And the women's 1st IV won the women's competition, beating Newnham in a cracking race - a fine achievement, particularly for a crew beset by injury woes for the entirety of the preceding two weeks! The wins are the first in the historic University IVs since 1997 and have won the oarsmen University Medals and their oars. The club entered 6 crews and details of all the racing (including the 4 wins over LMBC!) can be found on the Uni IVs results page.
3rd Nov '05	2 crews in Uni 4s finals	by SJB
The men's IV- and the women's 1st IV+ have both reached the finals of their respective divisions in the University Four Oared races. Your support on Friday afternoon between 3pm and 4pm would be appreciated; directions to the river are here. Good luck to everyone racing! (And please could someone on the tow path text me the results, as I'll be in a meeting. Thanks!)
5th Jul '05	May term roundup	by ALC
The term started out on a high with a series of wins in the CUCBC Small Boats Regatta, with Tom Coker and Dan Holland winning the men's Foster-Fairbairn pairs, with Erica Thompson and Lilie Weaver jointly winning the women's Foster-Fairbairn pairs with Amelia Russell and Catherine Aiken in an amazing dead heat, in the FaT-dominated final. In addition, Graham Sills and Andrew Lea-Cox won the Lowe Double Sculls, adding to a spree of University medals. 5 men's VIIIs and 4 women's VIIIs competed in the May Bumps this year, with the Fellow's VIII narrowly missing getting-on, together with the 7th men's VIII. The 4th women stayed level, whilst W3 put in a sterling performance, winning their blades. Unfortunately W2 went the other way, getting spoons. However, building on their superb performance in the Lents, the 1st women went up 4 into the 1st division - their highest ever in the Mays. Despite being slightly lower on numbers compared to last term, the men's lower boats still put in some commendable performances, with the 5th VIII going up 2 through the carnage of the 5th division. The 4th VIII, half of whom only started rowing this term, managed to avoid spoons, going down 2; whilst the grads proved themselves worthy of rowing as the 3rd VIII by going up 2 after holding off a powerful Emma crew on the first day. Due to a large shortage in oarsmen trialling for the top 2 boats, the 2nd VIII trained as a IV for most of the term, with 4 super-subs jumping in towards the end of term. With only a few outings as a full crew, they then rocketed up to knock Caius II off the 2nd division headship and then bumped Peterhouse to secure their position in the 1st division as highest 2nd boat. The 1st men, including 4 of this year's novices, put in a spirited performance, managing to hold off a powerful Queens crew (eager for revenge after last year) on the first day by bumping Robinson. However Queens managed to achieve the bump on the 3rd day, leaving M1 exactly where they started at 7th - a fine achievement given the inexperience of the crew. It is extremely encouraging to see the improvements in the club since the beginning of the year, notably in the women's squad and the lower boats. Along with other changes, for the first time ever, we have two females as men's and women's captain next year. Hopefully the female touch will work wonders. (3 replies...)
13th Jun '05	May Bumps results	by mcp
The May Bumps start on Wednesday! Below you will find the latest updates and gossip as the drama unfolds. If anyone posts any, that is! Also the full bumps charts, updated from mobiles on the towpath, are at the bottom of our main May Bumps page. First and Third have a total of 9 crews - 5 men's VIIIs and, for the first time, 4 women's. The 1st men are starting 7th in the first division behind Robinson, whilst the women are Head of the 2nd division and looking to launch themselves firmly into the 1st. The 2nd men also have a chance of great glory, starting directly behind Caius II at the top of the 2nd division chasing them for the 2nd boat Headship. Ra Ra First and Third!! (35 replies...)
11th Jun '05	Women's 4th VIII row on	by mcp
Congrats to the 4th women's VIII for rowing onto the bumps for the first time ever, beating 3rd VIIIs from Christ's, Corpus, Fitz, Magdalene and Trinity Hall in the process. They join three other 4th boats in the bumps, from Jesus, LMBC and Newnham. Of the 10 successful women's crews, only Fitzwilliam II and Peterhouse II were in the bumps last year, so fingers crossed for a lucky draw! The men's club did not fare so well, neither the Fellows (rowing as the 6th VIII) nor 7th VIIIs were successful. I believe it is at least 50 years since just 5 FaT men's crews rowed in the Mays, but this is largely due to the smaller number of men's boats today (a total of 94 in the Mays compared with a peak of 129 in the 1970s). LMBC are the only club to have 6 men's VIIIs this year. The May Bumps begin this coming Wednesday. Encourage all your friends to come and watch - it is the best opportunity to show what amazing fun it is to row! Helpful information on this site include directions to the river and our famous bumps guide. We will also be running our usual full bumps charts results service from the towpath, full details to follow early next week. (3 replies...)
27th Apr '05	Small boats wins	by mcp
This afternoon has seen superb success for FaT in the CUCBC small boats regatta!! In the men's events Dan Holland and Tom Coker have won the men's Foster-Fairbairn pairs and Andrew Lea-Cox and Graham Sills have won the Lowe Double Sculls. There was drama in the women's Foster-Fairbairn pairs - the FaT on FaT final was declared a dead heat! Amelia, Catherine, Erica and Lilie are all being awarded the win. No doubt more details will follow under Results. (1 reply...)
5th Mar '05	Alumna wins WeHoRR	by SJB
Congratulations to Steph Richards who coxed Leander Club to victory at the Women's Eights Head of the River in London. The crew won by just 0.38 of a second in a 19 minute race. Steph novice coxed with First and Third in 1999 and was cox of Goldie in 2002. (5 replies...)
3rd Apr '05	Lent Term roundup	by ALC
First and Third entered a very impressive 6 men's VIIIs and 4 women's VIIIs into this year's Lent Bumps. The 5th and 6th men's VIIIs unfortunately didn't get on, but the 5ths were the fastest non-qualifiers and were very unfortunate to just miss out on being the only 5th boat in the Bumps. The 3rd and 4th women also put in a valiant effort, but didn't get on. W2 got on comfortably and were all set for an exciting Bumps, but due to a series of unfortunate circumstances beyond their control, things just didn't quite go to plan and they rowed over. W1 really stole the show, going up a tremendous 6 places to their highest ever place on the river. Some fantastic rowing leading to some well-deserved blades! Many thanks go to Iain Law for all his efforts in coaching them. The men's lower boats were fantastic last term, showing a superb level of training and commitment. The 4th VIII were unlucky to go down 2, whilst the relatively experienced 3rd (gent's) VIII narrowly missed out on blades, going up 3. This year we tried a new idea of keeping the majority of the 1st novices as a crew through into Lent Term, and they raced as the 2nd VIII. These guys really showed a great attitude towards their training, and with the help of Tom Rose, came through as an excellent team. Come the races, they were unfortunate to get caught up in Wolfson's misshaps. Clearly the stronger crew, Wolfson bumped them, then had equipment failure the next day, causing us to unexpectedly 'row past', only for them to bump back on the last day. The 2nd VIII also went on to put a very repectable performance in the HoRR, coming 286th overall and 15th in the novice division. The 1st men once again started behind a Caius crew which had been looking a little unsettled throughout the term, but had suddenly made 2 substitutions a week before Bumps and were therefore a bit of an unknown quantity, as were Downing. It was quickly clear that the subsititutions had really helped Caius and that Downing were never going to pose much of a problem. It is dissappointing that we couldn't get Caius in the end (particularly for those members of the crew for whom it was the 2nd or 3rd year they'd tried), but all the hard work and commitment showed by the crew was definitely worth it. We certainly reinforced our solid 2nd place on the river and will be ready and waiting for Caius next year.
17th Mar '05	STCS	by jrts
The weather was perfect for the Challenge Sculls this year - cool, sunny, and with a firm head-wind adding interest and pain down the Reach. FaT put on a good show: forming 2/3 of the Clinker division (sadly the lower 2/3); entering every event (even the ladies doubles without having been out together before); and Graham Sills stroked his way to 3rd in the Mens Singles in 12:11. Whether or not people took the traditional scenic route, I hope 'twas all good fun :p
28th Feb '05	Lent Bumps Results	by cema
Up-to-the-minute news from our correspondents on the towpath.... (21 replies...)
25th Feb '05	W2 get on	by KSS
W2 get on
21st Nov '04	BIRC 2004	by gf
Have spotted the following FaT people on the BIRC results page. Apologies if I've missed others or should have used some cunning part of the website's results service to register these... 6:36.3 S Robson (3rd of 25 in 35-39 Lwt) 6:45.7 S Blackburn (79th of 158 in Open) 6:45.9 G Sills (11th of 47 in BUSA Lwt) 6:51.3 A Hogley (93rd of 158 in Open)
7th Nov '04	Head of the River Fours	by jpd
First and Third men came 249th in 21:40, making them the fastest Cambridge college crew ahead of Clare by just over a second and beating a Granta crew in the process. First and Third women came 447th in 23:39, placing them second of the Cambridge college women's crews behind Magdalene (who beat three Osiris crews!). Black Prince men came 213th in 21:22 whilst Black Prince women came 488th in 24:27. Elsewhere, the first three coxless crews belong to CUBC whilst the first two coxed crews belong to OUBC so all bets are off for the Boat Race, although Cambridge have a slight early edge for the reserve race; CUBC V won S1+, whilst Isis IV won S2+. CULRC and CUWBC both have work to do as their Oxford counterparts put on a strong showing; Osiris crews won WS2+ and WS3+ academic pennants. Black Prince also have work to do as Boar's Head won the W3+ club category. (26 replies...)
2nd Nov '04	Queens' ergs	by cema
Both novice men and women will be in action at Queens' this evening. This is the first big event for most novices and any club support would be welcome. The event is held in the Fitzpatrick Hall at Queens' from 16.30 until 23.30 (1 reply...)
31st Oct '04	University Fours week	by mcp
We have five crews racing this week in the University IVs. For the crews and the results through the week check out our Uni IVs results page. The CUCBC website gives full details of the draw (pdf file) and timetable. Our crews would be delighted to have support for their races. The 1st women and 2nd and 3rd men's IVs begin tomorrow: 1st women, 1st division: 1.40pm vs. Trinity Hall 2nd men, 1st division: 2pm vs. Wolfson 3rd men, 2nd division: 2pm vs. Downing II The 2nd women's IV's first race is against Emme II on Tuesday (2.30pm) and the 1st men, racing in the Light IVs, competition start on Wednesday. The 'Light IVs' is a small but prestigious division for IVs without a cox. The boats are instead steered by one of the crew via a special swivelling footplate. This is no mean feat on the narrow and twisty Cam...
7th Sep '04	Head of the Charles 2004	by SJB
Black Prince, the club for First and Third alumni, have had three entries accepted into the Head of the Charles Regatta 2004. There are two "Club" 4+ crews as well as a crew in the men's "Championship" 4+ event. The races are on the weekend of 23 and 24 October. (7 replies...)
19th Jun '04	May Bumps Round up	by DJH
The womens club had an outstanding set of bumps. Without a doubt they fielded the strongest squad we have had in a long time. The 3rd Women finished the week up 3, and were unlucky not to blade when Caius III hit Robinson II in front of them. No such problems for the 2nd Womens VIII who finished the week up 6 to earn their blades. A very good performance from the 1st Womens VIII as well saw them finish up 2 as sandwich boat in the 1st division, bumping Queens and Peterhouse in the process. The mens club did not have such a good time of it, however there were a number of good performances for them as well. The fellows VIII did very well, despite finishing down 4 for the week, they managed to row over twice holding off Downing V to retain a permanent place on the river for our 6th VIII and hence the 6th VIII headship. The 5th boat did well and finished up 2 for the week, unlucky to have crews bump out in front but never threatened from behind. They did manage to take the 5th boat headship from Maggie. The 4th boat continued a fairly poor run of form to get hit every day this year. The 3rd boat promised much but unfortunately failed to deliver until the last day and finished down 2 for the week. A few more outings together and I think they could have performed very well. The 2nd Mens VIII are truly the outstanding performers for the mens club though, finishing 2nd in the 2nd division and 2nd highest 2nd VIII on the river just behind Caius. Given the number of triallists returning to Caius this is a huge achievement. Meanwhile the 1st Mens VIII had an interesting week, finishing level in the end. They were disappointingly bumped by Queens on day 2, but managed to reverse that result on day 3 and very nearly had the bump on Maggie on day 4 too - but were unfortunately undone by the robinson crew two in front. (1 reply...)
8th Jun '04	May bumps results	by ipe
The May Bumps are finally here. Keep watching this thread for updates from the towpath throughout the week. (31 replies...)
8th May '04	Concept 2 Sprint Relay	by ipe
In Friday night's Concept 2 Sprint relay all participating crews from First and Third performed well. The women's boat club entered two VIIIs, which came an impressive 2nd and 5th in their division. The men also entered two VIIIs. The 1st VIII won the 1st division, a good sign for the coming term, and the 2nd VIII won the Lower division, beating several 1st boats and, more importantly, three crews from Maggie. More information can be found in the results section.
1st May '04	Head of the Cam Results	by ipe
Several First and Third crews took part in the Head of the Cam, with the 1st Women victorious in the 'Women's Other Mays' event. See the results section for details.
23rd Apr '04	Success in Small Boats	by ipe
This week saw several entries from First and Third meet with success, in the CUCBC Small Boats Regatta. Particular mention must go to Andrew Lea-Cox, who won the Maiden Sculls event, and to Alex Summers, who won the Colquhouns. See the results section for more details.
30th Mar '04	Filfth Despondent	by jmg
Our very own JPD was in action for Goldie at the weekend, losing out to a more powerful Isis crew but holding on well through the middle of the race and coming back slightly towards the end to a margin of a length and a half in Isis' favour. The blue boat went down by perhaps two thirds of a length after Oxford's very rapid start, but some aggressive steering and equally agressive bladework on the middlesex bend gave Cambridge a lead which only ever extended. By the end it was a comfortable win for Cambridge, but a dramatic race nonetheless.
18th Feb '04	Lent Bumps Results 2004	by ipe
The FaT mobile results service is back up and running ready for th 2004 Lent Bumps - see instructions for use here (44 replies...)
21st Mar '04	Filfth triumphant	by ccsi
4 FaT members were in action today in the women's and lightweights' boat races. Alas, all four finished on the losing side as Oxford again proved stronger in all five races. All the races with the exception of the Women's Blue Boat (the only one without FaT representation) were very close but in truth no Cambridge crew looked like winning. (6 replies...)
1st Mar '04	Lent Bumps round up	by DJH
First and Third entered 5 mens and 2 womens VIIIs into the Lent bumps this year. While our 5th Mens VIII did not quite manage to get on, our 2nd womens VIII proved themselves to be quite a bit quicker than in recent years as one of the fastest of the 10 crews to get on. However they then failed to make the most of bumps by hitting the crews in front of them by the motorway bridge or just after on every day. While I am sure they were disappointed not to have the opportunity to race the whole course, they will still enjoy their blades none the less. Our 4th Men also proved early speculation to be correct as they were faster than all crews around them. They have now cemented the 4th Mens VIII as the highest on the river, and likely to be the only 4th VIII with a guaranteed slot in next years races. The 3rd Mens VIII had a bit more of a tough time of it, despite closing on the crew in front on the first day they were caught around grassy corner. This put them on a slippery slope and they were hit each day. However the final bump was a slightly dubious technical bump awarded after carnage in front, despite them reopening the margin on the crew behind to almost a length. The 2nd Mens VIII have had a tough term, with an accident just before the Head of the Nene preventing them from racing in BP2 and denying them crucial water time. However for an inexperienced crew, they did very well to remain the 4th highest 2nd VIII on the river. They were only bumped once by a very large, if somewhat unrefined, CCAT crew. The Womens 1st VIII was one of the strongest womens crews we have fielded for a while. Sadly they just missed out on capitalising on this on both day 1 and day 2 chasing a fairly quick Pembroke crew, coached by none other than our own RTT! On the 3rd day Pembroke hit a Queens crew on the slide downwards, thus denying our women the chance to correct the narrow misses on the previous two days. However Saturday the crew proved just how fast they were by bumping Queens just past the motorway bridge. So although a little disappointing, not a bad result for the women, and definitely something to build on for next term. The Lent VIII was starting 2nd on the river and had Caius in front and Downing behind. What little pre-bumps indicators there were suggested that these were the three fastest crews in the division, but no one was quite sure in what order they would finish. Nerves were running high on day 1, particularly given that the Lent VIII was such an inexperienced crew. However once that gun went the crew rapidly settled into the racing mode we had trained for. This proved sufficient to open a large gap on Downing behind but unfortunately we failed to close on Caius in front. This proved the theme of the week, although an attempt on Friday to gear up and back our early race power resulted in an entertaining finish. We had again failed to hit Caius and blew at Ditton and while we had about a four length lead over Downing their race plan was slightly different. However despite them achieving overlap somewhere near Peters Posts we managed to pull away and cross the line with a small margin of clear water. We raced slightly more conservatively on Saturday and consequently showed Downing their true place cruising home several lengths clear. Overall quite a satisfying result, leaving it all to play for again next year!
20th Feb '04	Getting On Race	by JS
W2 Got on! Didn't see the race, don't know their time, but they got on, say no more. M5 unfortunately missed out on a place, as the joint 7th fastest non qualifying crew, but did well, beating a handful of 3rd crews.
11th Jun '03	May Bumps Results	by mcp
Watch this space for news from river - the results within moments via textmessages from the towpath. Any club member can post - here are the instructions. (15 replies...)
8th Feb '04	Head of the Nene	by DJH
Not a bad result. Theres still plenty of speed to get out of this crew, but it is coming.
31st Jan '04	Newnham Short Course	by ipe
The Men's First VIII won Newnham Short Course convincingly, 11 seconds ahead of second-place Tit Hall and an encouraging 33 seconds ahead of Caius, who they chase in bumps. It was also a good day for the women, who put in an excellent performance to finish third, only 15 seconds behind the current Head boat of Caius.
19th Dec '03	CUBC Trial Eights	by ipe
First and Third oarsman Jonathon Davies was selected at 6 in the 'Roses' trial eight, which beat 'Guns' by 3 3/4 lengths in a time of 18m 39s. Full details can be found on the Boat Race website here.
5th Dec '03	Fairbairns success....	by ipe
Black Prince stole the show in Senior Fairbairns, winning the Men's Invitational VIIIs, Women's Invitational VIIIs, and also the Men's and Women's Invitational IVs. First and Third also put in excellent performances, with the 3rd fastest college men's VIII, the joint 4th fastest women's IV, and the Second VIII winning the Lower VIIIs division. Full FaT results can be found in the results sections, and complete results are available from race organisers Jesus College.
4th Dec '03	Novice Fairbairns	by ipe
The results of the Novice Fairbairns have been published, the full set of times available at www.fairbairns.com. Results for First and Third crews can be found here Once again the Novice women performed exceptionally well, realising the promise of earlier in the term by finishing as the top women's boat. Congratulations to all who took part.

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