Results and reports by Event

18th out of the Cambridge colleges, 4th fastest of the M2s. Sums up the race pretty well, We had a few bursts on the way to the start, including an impressive one crossing the river at the marshalling point.

The start was fairly solid and I think we rowed pretty well together, Ed choosing some great lines. All of us were shocked by the new (possibly improved?) aggressive Ed, whose definitive "Crew 3XX, Get Out Of My Way!" calls and constant pushes kept us going long and strong, even in the sluggish middle section. The overtakes were fairly swift, and eventually we reached the finish.

Tyne (I think) decided to show us that they too can play bumps whilst they were spinning and then we took it off with some pretty amazing pause strokes, a nice tidy row home.

Thanks Anton for subbing, and Ed for coxing, and the rest of the crew, we made it in the end.

Uploaded Wednesday 21st March, 9:35

The general consensus after this race seems to have been that it went pretty well. After some interesting marshalling, including a demonstration of Anton's innovative 'slow hands, fast slide' technique, it was a relief to get (finally) on station for the start.

Our initial aim off the start was to catch Christ's II, who were immediately in front of us, but as the race went on and their speed became apparent we switched tactics and began to move on other crews. It took a while for me to find the fastest line, which slowed us down as we pushed away from Chiswick Bridge, but once we'd found it a series of pushes over 10 brought us to within touching distance of our first crew. You all responded even better to my call than I'd expected, and rather than taking a man out of them with each stroke we took two out of them on every drive.

It was a similar story with our overtakes on St. Chads and St. Johns, Durham. Both crews pushed us a little harder here, to the extent that the marshal had to intervene to tell one crew to move out of the stream to let us through. Once we were side-by-side, the response was excellent: their cox called 'let's not make it easy for them', but we drove hard on the legs for 10 and made it to clear water within 15 strokes.

Towards the end, I was really impressed with how the technique stayed strong in the face of tiredness. The arms away stayed quick, your heads stayed up, and the boat felt light at the catch. Apart from my complete inability to estimate distances to the finish, which may have annoyed Jordan somewhat, the last part of the course from Hammersmith Bridge onwards went just as well.

Generally, then, a thoroughly successful race overall. To have gone up as far as we did is no mean feat, and we've all got a lot to be really proud of. Thanks so much to you all for your kind compliments, and thanks to Anton for subbing in at short notice.

Oh, and the balance on those pause strokes coming in to land was immense.

Uploaded Saturday 17th March, 18:32