Sports & Societies THE EAGLE
The coxed IVs did not fare so well, all were knocked out in the first round by ‘higher’ crews. We decided to remain in University IVs for Autumn Head and this saw us coming fourth in the college category. The squad responded to the University IVs’ results well, continuing to use the IVs as a technical base for the term. We fielded an VIII for Fairbairns along with the IVs. The Third IV+, the only Third boat entered, finished only three seconds behind the fastest Second IV+ and less than a second behind our First IV+. The VIII struggled due to a lack of time together, but used the improved technique from the small boats to push through for eighth place. Lent Term 2010 The Lent term started with training camps both at Henley and on the Cam. Two VIIIs of seniors and former novices spent a week training hard on and off the water in Henley under the supervision of Lance Badman, Tom Edwards-Moss and Nick Pye. Despite some snowy weather and tricky conditions that resulted in frozen boats and frozen rowers, the opportunity to row uninterrupted on the world famous regatta course enabled improvements in fitness and technique. We are grateful to the LMBCA for their continued support of these camps, without which many athletes would struggle to attend.
All of this racing proved excellent preparation for Lent Bumps, where the crew started third on the river. On the first three days we pulled away from Pembroke behind and crept up on Downing in front. Our plan to use our hard earned fitness to grind down Downing was working. On the third day however we lost our previous composure and allowed Pembroke to close in on us. We permitted them overlap for a large part of the reach until they blew up and our fitness saw us through to finish level over the four days. With Lents completed, the crew resumed training for the Head of the River Race on the Tideway in London under the supervision of Marcus de Grammont. The crew made frequent trips to the Tideway for matches against Cantabrigian RC
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SPORTS & SOCIETIES
Back in Cambridge four crews were selected for the Lent Bumps. The First VIII benefited from coaching making steady improvements in boat speed. The crew raced both on and off-Cam, narrowing the gap between us and Queens’ (the fastest Michaelmas crew) substantially at the Head to Head race to finish in third beating all crews around us in Bumps. There was success at Peterborough Head with Will Gray being the fastest sculler at the event. The VIII also performed well moving up on the First and Third.