Posts by mpb52:
CUWBC at BUCS Regatta
May 18th, 2012CUWBC put in another strong showing at BUCS this year, taking home three medals, two of them gold. Six crews raced over the three days of the regatta, in what were (for Nottingham!) perfect conditions.
The highlight of the weekend was undeniably the Lightweight Championship eight race, a straight final. After a last-minute substitution of Emily Maw for captain Charlotte McClean, the lightweights were eager to prove their speed on a national scale and put their disappointing defeat in Henley behind them. This they did in style, dominating the event right from the start. They created a comfortable 3s lead over the field in the first 500m, and continued to extend this lead all the way to the line, eventually finishing 10s clear of second-placed Reading. Theirs was a well-deserved victory and a fitting end to the season.
On Sunday, four members of the lightweight crew raced again in the lightweight coxless four category. They managed to hold off strong competition from a University of London crew to win their heat and go straight through to the final. Unfortunately, in the final a controversial umpiring decision about steering saw them disqualified.
The Championship eight (this year’s Blue Boat, with Blondie rower Ellie Wigham in for Izzi Boanas-Evans) also raced on Sunday. They qualified straight for the final from their heat, coming in second behind Reading. The crew recognised that the heat hadn’t been their best row, and so hoped to go one better in the final. However, Reading stepped it up a notch in the final, as did Newcastle, who had been the fastest qualifier in the other heat. The Cambridge crew stayed right up with Reading and Newcastle in the opening stages of the race, and fought hard to hold more or less level with Newcastle until the 1000m mark, trading the silver medal position back and forth between them. But in the second half of the race, Newcastle started to move away. The crew did their best to respond over the rest of the course, and also convincingly held off a late charge from Durham, but ultimately had to settle for a bronze medal. Although not quite the result the crew had hoped for, it was nevertheless a solid row against two very strong opponents.
Monday saw CUW race again, this time in coxed fours – half of the Blue Boat made up the Championship four; the remaining four entered as an Intermediate four, while four lightweights made up another Intermediate four. With time trials replacing heats and repechages, the pressure was on for all crews to qualify for the category’s A final. This they managed without any trouble.
The Championship four faced a very tough category, including familiar faces in the Reading and Newcastle crews from the previous day’s eights race. They stayed very much in the pack over the first half of the race. In the second half of the race, a real battle developed between Cambridge and Imperial for the bronze medal; however, in the closing stages, Imperial were able to inch ahead, leaving Cambridge in fourth place by just under a length.
The Intermediate fours A final consisted of the top six qualifiers from over 40 entries, and so had the potential to be a very competitive and exciting race. The heavyweight four had posted the fastest time in qualifying, but a less-than-speedy start saw them in third place at the 500m mark, with the lightweight four in second. However, the heavyweight four began to move back through and opened up a convincing lead over the rest of the course to take the gold medal. The lightweight four managed to stay with the heavyweight crews throughout the race, and in fact were in medal contention for much of it. Only in the last 500m did they begin to slip back, finishing in a creditable fourth place.
Overall, it was a successful weekend for CUWBC – the few disappointments tempered by some really competitive racing, some great results, and a fun way to end the season.
Lightweight Championship VIII: Harriet Marsh (cox), Martina Lagatierra-Wellington, Emma Copham, Emily Day, Hannah Morgan, Lenka Veselovska, Emily Maw, Christabel Lines, Olga Kasyanova
Championship VIII: Kate Richards (cox), Cath Wheeler, Fay Sandford, Anna Railton, Holly Game, Ellie Wigham, Rebecca Pound, Caroline Reid, Sarah Moir-Porteous
Lightweight IV-: Martina Lagatierra-Wellington, Emma Copham, Emily Day, Hannah Morgan
Championship IV+: Kate Richards, Cath Wheeler, Fay Sandford, Anna Railton, Holly Game
Intermediate IV+ A: Kate Stevens, Rebecca Pound, Ellie Wigham, Caroline Reid, Sara Moir-Porteous
Intermediate IV+ B: Harriet Marsh, Christabel Lines, Emma Copham, Lenka Veselovska, Olga Kasyanova
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Junior Committee 2012-13
May 17th, 2012CUWBC are delighted to announce the election of the new junior committee for 2012-13:
Helena Schofield, President, rowed at bow in Blondie in 2012. She is studying medicine at Trinity Hall.
Emily Day, Vice President, rowed at 6 in the 2012 lightweight crew that went on to win gold at BUCS. She is studying natural sciences at Emmanuel College.
Annie Elkington, Honorary Secretary, rowed at 7 in Blondie in 2012. She is studying history at Clare College.
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Henley Boat Races 2012 Race Reports
March 31st, 2012Spectators at this year’s Henley Boat Races were treated to a day of exciting, and at times nail-biting, racing.
Blondie started the day off with a dramatic race full of warnings, blade clashes and, unfortunately, a crab that saw them finish 3 1/2 lengths adrift. The Lightweight crew had a solid race but struggled to recover from their opponents’ fast start, and crossed the line with 1/3 length of clear water between the crews. However, a victory from the CUW Blue Boat (the first in five years) and the Lightweight men saw Cambridge win the Francombe Cup for the Victor Ludorum for the first time in eleven years.
Read on for race reports from CUW President Izzi Boanas-Evans. Read the rest of this entry “
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Race Week addresses
March 16th, 2012This Sunday, the CUWBC crews leave Cambridge for Henley. With just a week to go until race day, they will spend this week away training and putting the final touches to their race preparation.
The crews’ addresses for that week will be as follows:
Blue Boat:
Riverway
Remenham Lane
Henley-on-Thames
Oxon
RG9 2LR
Lightweights:
The Inness Family
32 St Andrew’s Road
Henley-on-Thames
Oxon
RG9 1JB
Blondie:
Mr and Mrs Coleman
The Mount
Rotherfield Road
Henley-on-Thames
Oxon
RG9 1NR
Spares:
Mrs Rachel Berry
Swan House
St. Mark’s Road
Henley-on-Thames
RG9 1LW
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Lightweights 2012: Crew Blog #2
March 6th, 2012Introducing (a little more about) the Lightweights of 2012!
It’s Sunday 4th March and there are exactly 3 weeks until we line up against Tethys in Henley. That’s 21 days, 6 x 5.55am trains, 4 more exhausting weights sessions, only one more weekend in Ely and NO MORE 3x6ks! If it wasn’t real yet, it most certainly is now…
We’ve used the three weeks since Henley wisely. Together with help from our coach – photographer/procrastinator extraordinaire – James Appleton, we have composed a ‘Day in the Life’ presentation that showcases the more important moments in a Lightweight’s life – look out for that being posted in the next couple of days. We’re also now on Twitter (follow us @CUWBC_lwts) and we’ve even written some tweets, although I still don’t understand the #tag thing (such social media is beyond my Grandma-dom). The Lent Bumps provided the opportunity to fly our college flags and facilitated some friendly rivalry with many of us making our way down to the riverbank each day, in support. We went for dinner with some of the girls from last year’s lightweight crew who marvelled at the amount of food Harriet was consuming. Oh, and we’ve done lots of training. I’m currently tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle, ‘working’, happily tired from a good weekend with lots of progress made. We took advantage of an empty river and boathouse yesterday to idle the hours away, more of them in the boathouse chatting, drinking tea and laughing at our ‘pain faces’ on the video than on the water. Then today, the Blue Boat and Blondie were back ready to play, full of beans after some solid racing and results at Eight’s Head. A good weekend had by all, and a great atmosphere in the squad as we head into the final few weeks.
But who, I hear you ask, are the Lightweights of 2012? When they’re not rowing, comparing their height and previous rowing experience and fantasising about food that is….
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CUWBC at the Women’s Eights Head of the River
March 6th, 2012The Blue Boat and Blondie had a successful day’s racing at the Women’s Eights Head of the River on Saturday.
Starting in 8th place, the Blue Boat knew they were in for a tough race with fast crews around them and stiff competition for a top-10 finish position. However, the crew felt they coped well with the pressure, finding a strong race rhythm that carried them over the course in a time of 20:38.71. The last painful section of the race from Hammersmith Bridge to the finish was made more exciting by having crews ahead to overtake and crews behind to push off, including the eventually 2nd-placed Belvoir Zurich crew who raced them to the line. Fay Sandford in the 7-seat sums up the race: “We rowed over solidly, holding our own against the top crews surrounding us, responding to the lifts and pushes along the course. We came off the water with a lot of positives and a few improvements to make back in Ely as we fine tune our training over the next three weeks.” The crew finished 9th and won the IM2 pennant for the second year running.
As a new entry this year, Blondie had to start way down in 194th place. Even so, they didn’t let their long marshalling time put them off, and instead had similarity strong row over. A fast start allowed them to set up a solid rhythm, which took them through several crews in the middle section of the race. They held their nerve in the final stages of the race and managed a good push off a London crew closing from behind all the way to the line. Blondie finished 44th in a time of 21:35.70.
Both crews will take plenty of positives away from their races, as well as improvements to make over the coming weeks. With less than three weeks to go until we line up on the start line in Henley, every member of the squad is focussed on building boat speed and making those final mental and physical preparations for the race to come.
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Blue Boat 2012: Crew Blog #1
March 5th, 2012Hello, hello and welcome to the first Blue Boat blog of 2012! Betwixt and between clocking miles training on the water in Ely and on the erg back in Cambridge, working on the gunshow in the weights room and testing ourselves at sparring fixtures in Henley and Ely; time has been flying by since crew selection. This weekend heralded the Women’s Eight’s Head of the River Race on the Tideway in London. It is a gruelling but brilliant event as nearly all the women’s crews in the country make the journey down and race along the 4 ¾ mile course from Mortlake to Putney. Needless to say, it brings out the very best of British rowing and so the competition was going to be stiff, especially as we were starting 8th due to the fast time posted by last year’s crew.
We had an early start and a quick outing before the river was closed for the race to familiarise ourselves with the river again and the various landmarks we would pass later in the day. We collected our thoughts at Imperial (where we were boating from) and before we knew it, we had marshalled and were turning back into the stream to race! We rowed over solidly, holding our own against the top crews surrounding us, responding to the lifts and pushes along the course. We came off the water with a lot of positives and a few improvements to make back as we fine tune our training over the next three weeks as the Boat Race draws nearer. Particularly poignant was the knowledge that whilst for us this is another part of the build up to the Boat Race, in 2015 our successors will be racing their Boat Race on this stretch of historic water, a very exciting prospect for all the girls that will be involved. We finished off the weekend back in Ely with some strong whole squad training. Undoubtably the solid results from WeHORR topped the weekend – we placed 9th with a time of 20.38, retaining the Intermediate 2 Pennant for the second year running.
3 weeks…and counting!
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Lightweights 2012: Crew Blog #1
February 26th, 2012Last Saturday morning we set off from the Arctic for a weekend away in Henley. With the Cam and the Ouse both frozen and Henley Head cancelled, this was an ideal opportunity for us to have some time getting to know the course and getting a feel for what it might be like on race day. The day got off to a dodgy start when I managed to miss the train, but soon we were all sat in the snowy car park of Leander, snuggled up in Harriet’s luxury land rover (complete with heated seats!) waiting on the arrival of the trailer. A quick rig and we were ready to go; for some of us this was our first time at Henley, for others it was the first time back since last year’s race. We spent Saturday doing some solid paddling, and getting to know some landmarks along the course. Then it was home chez Hannah for a delicious (lightweight friendly) dinner, and on Jimmy’s recommendation we completed our day’s training by watching/enduring all 3 hours of Braveheart!
Suitably inspired we arrived on Sunday bright and early, ready for some competitive paddling with Blondie and the 1927 alumnae crew. Some low rate pieces in the first outing got us all fired up and then, after a quick caffeine refuel in Spoons and a very subtle kit change in the car park we were ready for some race pieces. The crew came together, finding some good boat speed and moving through on the other crews. There was plenty of technical improvement, both as individuals and as a crew, and we returned to training in Ely with increased confidence and even more drive to win. Never the type to give up, the 1927 crew returned for more sparring this weekend on a very windy day in Ely. Some more very close racing saw us able to sit up and dominate in the tough conditions, and with less than 5 weeks until HBR we’re looking to build on that form. A huge “thank you” to the alumnae for giving up their time to give us some side by side racing experience, and bring on HBR!
… “would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!”…
Emily Day
CUWBC sparring with 1927 alumnae in Ely.
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Exciting times for CUWBC lie ahead…
February 8th, 2012CUWBC are delighted to announce some significant and exciting developments for the future of the club.
BNY Mellon has been confirmed as the new title sponsor for the men’s Boat Race, and Newton, a BNY Mellon company, will continue their sponsorship of the openweight women’s clubs and the Newton Women’s Boat Race. Furthermore, commitments have been made to bring greater equality to one of rowing’s most iconic events, the men’s Boat Race. From 2015 the Newton Women’s Boat Race will move to the Tideway to be raced on the same day and on the same course as the men’s Boat Race.
Head Coach Martyn Rooney is cautiously optimistic about the change: “The security of funding at a level equal to the men and the move for the women’s race to the Tideway in 2015 is very exciting. However, there will be a lot of work to be done to build an infrastructure to support this and to attract experienced female rowers to bring the level of the women’s race closer to the men’s.”
The full press release can be found here at Newton.co.uk
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2012 Henley Boat Races crews
February 5th, 2012CUWBC is excited to announce the crews for the HBR 2012.
The crew order for each crew will be finalised over the coming weeks, but the crews will get their first test when racing next weekend at Henley Head. Click on each crew to find out more about the crew members, and look out for crew blogs in the near future!
Newton Women’s Boat Race crew (Blue Boat):
Anna Railton
Caroline Reid
Cath Wheeler
Fay Sandford
Holly Game
Izzi Boanas-Evans
Rebecca Pound
Sarah Moir-Porteous
cox: Kate Richards
Find out more about each crew member here.
Lightweight Women’s Boat Race crew (sponsored by KPMG):
Charlotte McClean
Christabel Lines
Emily Day
Emma Copham
Hannah Morgan
Lenka Veselovska
Martina Lagatierra-Wellington
Olga Kasyanova
cox: Harriet Marsh
Find out more about each crew member here.
Newton Women’s Reserves Race crew (Blondie):
Annie Elkington
Christine Hoyer
Eleanor Wigham
Fran Knight
Helena Schofield
Lucy Griffin
Marthe Kloecking
Rose Tallon
cox: Christopher Clark
Find out more about each crew member here.
Spares:
Christina Pettit
Emily Maw
Lizzie Gorton
Lousie Gale
Sarah Knight
cox: Priya Crosby
Find out more about the spares here.
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