Archive

Video: Lent Bumps 2014 - Men's 1st VIII Blades

Submitted by James Wagstaff on Wed, 01/10/2014 - 21:16

A few months late, but here is a video showing how our week went. Great memories!

Getting involved with SCCBC

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 12/09/2014 - 20:44

Soon to arrive at Catz, recently arrived, or just looking to get involved with the boatclub?

Check out our getting involved page here!

Most people rowing at Catz started out as complete Novices, and learn throughout their time here - but those who have rowed before are also more than welcome. Find out more at the above link.

Make sure to have a look out for our stands at the Freshers Squash, where you can find out more information, sign up to the mailing list, and have your try at sprinting on a rowing machine.

We'll also be having a BBQ at the Boathouse at some point over the first weekend of term (11th or 12th October) - pop down for a burger, some tuition on the ergs, and hopefully a trip onto the river in our tub (a really stable boat for learning in).

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Michaelmas Boat Club Dinner 2013, photo courtesy Adrian Pel.

George Nash - Olympic Medallist, CUBC Captain... now World Champion!

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 12/09/2014 - 20:25

Slightly belated, but massive congratulations to Catz Alumnus, George Nash, who can now add a World Championship Gold medal to his list of accomplishments.

He rowed in the mens 4 at 3 position, along with Alex Gregory (bow), Mohamed Sbihi (2), and Andrew Triggs Hodge (stroke). It was a tight race with the Americans in the first half, but they easily pushed ahead to win in 5:40.24, with USA finishing with silver and Australia with bronze.

Nice one George!

Left to right: Alex Gregory, Moe Sbihi, George Nash and Andy Triggs Hodge.
Photo from the British Rowing Website.

May Bumps 2014 M3 Day 3

Submitted by Dan Potter on Wed, 18/06/2014 - 12:31

We didn't manage to catch Caius on Thursday, so we wanted to fix that on day 3. We knew we were fast off the start and the plan was to push for an early bump before Darwin could get too close.

Our start was good, and as on the first two days, we gained immediately and got a whistle just as we moved into the stride. We were determined to not let them slip away again, and we did continue gaining this time. The second whistle came as we were approaching grassy, but by this point Darwin were getting dangerously close behind us and getting whistles. We continued pushing hard but Caius weren't coming any closer and Darwin soon had overlap. Some excellent steering held them off for a bit longer, but they bumped us just as we were coming into Ditton corner.

This was obviously a disappointing result, and the first time anyone in this crew had been bumped, but we got much closer to Caius than on the day before and didn't row a bad race. Credit to Darwin for being the faster crew on the day.

May Bumps 2014 M3 Day 4

Submitted by Dan Potter on Wed, 18/06/2014 - 12:56

After a solid start, our rowing got a bit sloppy after we entered the stride, allowing Wolfson to gain on us. In front of us, Darwin quickly bumped Caius as we had expected, so we were chasing the overbump on Fitz 2. As we came past the plow, Wolfson were within a canvas of our boat and we knew we had to react. We pushed hard, managed to stop them from gaining more and held them at a canvas all around Ditton. Coming onto the reach it looked like we had cracked them. We began pulling away and they were now in danger themselves from a St Edmund's boat that seemed to come out of nowhere. Meanwhile the gap between Fitzwilliam and us was closing quickly. We didn't get there in the end but we came within 2 lengths of the overbump.

Overall, a tremendous performance from the whole crew. We reacted when we had to and rowed well, especially in the second half of the race.

The results may not have been as exceptional as in recent bumps campaigns. But we rowed some fantastic races this week and finished level with strong crews around us. Congratulations to Glenn and Matt for rowing their first set of bumps races and huge thanks to Chris Eddy for being a great coach.

May Bumps 2014 M4 Day 4

Submitted by Josh Gibson on Tue, 17/06/2014 - 15:04

Today, finally, we bumped! Our start was far from perfect as nerves mixed with fatigue caused by yesterday’s heroics meant we didn’t get composed start we usually produce. Yet despite this, we soon gained on Homerton, getting a quick bump by second station (we started at 15). This, as I mentioned yesterday, was our reward for a great fight back the day before. Indulging in the bizarre custom of putting bits of foliage in our hair – no one has explained why crews do this – we cruised back to the boathouse to the applause of a swelling crowd. We perhaps didn’t get the results across the four days we deserved, but it was great to go out on the up. Thanks for everyone involved in the M4, especially our coaches, Simon Wright and Alistair Nelson, and the captains, Chris Eddy and Chris Quarton. FTW.

May Bumps 2014 M1 Day 4

Submitted by Chris Eddy on Tue, 17/06/2014 - 10:12

After the disappointments of the last 2 days, all we wanted from today was a solid rowover to prove that we could do it. If we were to gain on FaT, naturally we wouldn't say no to bumping back, but the rowover had to be the priority. In the end, we didn't gain at all, but we did achieve the main goal - Queens never came closer than just inside station, despite being pushed hard by Clare behind.

Overall this week, obviously we didn't get the result we wanted, but as Josh put it - "there's no shame in anything at the top of the first division". Given that only 3 of the crew (plus cox) had experience of the first mays division, and one noviced this year in Michelmas, we've achieved an incredible amount, and proved on day 4 that we deserved to be where we are on the river. Huge thanks to the whole crew for all their hard work, and to coach Lianne.

May Bumps 2014 M1 Day 3

Submitted by Chris Eddy on Tue, 17/06/2014 - 10:04

I don't really know what happened on day 3, which I'm sure will be upsetting for those of you from the message boards looking for answers. The plan today was a combination of the plans from day 1 and day 2 - go off hard after Pembroke, whose start looked somewhat ropey on day 2, then if no gains were made, settle in to a solid rhythm at grassy, and concentrate on sending FaT (who we rowed over on station with on day 1) off into the distance. Part 1 went reasonably, and we made some gains, though not quite enough for a whistle, and after a third of the reach were sitting comfortably on station with FaT. Somehow it all went wrong from there, and they bumped shortly after the railway bridge.

Maybe fitness was to blame, maybe FaT suddenly found a lot of speed between days 1 and 3. Maybe we just had the wrong mindset and didn't give them enough respect, who knows. We'll look for a solid rowover tomorrow.

May Bumps 2014 W1 Day 4

Submitted by Sarah Lucas on Sun, 15/06/2014 - 10:23

Rowed-over.

Another well-executed race. A fast second minute saw us gain a whistle on Peterhouse ahead and we remained inside station down the course, pushing Churchill to over four lengths behind us. We finish 14th in the divison.

Down 2 isn't the result we might have hoped for, but the attitude and approach from the crew this year has been fantastic. If we can build from this platform we could hope to go far next year. Watch this space.

May Bumps 2014 M2 Day 2

Submitted by Simon Wright on Sun, 15/06/2014 - 14:04

After Corpus failed to bump into the second division, we were chasing them again, with Emma II behind us. After another decent start, we moved slightly on Corpus again, holding Emma behind us. However, after the first 30 strokes we failed to settle onto our rhythm, instead rating higher and rowing shorter than desired. As a result, Emma strongly moved up onto us, reaching half a length by the plough.

At this point, at the fourth time of asking, Alistair got us to lengthen out to our rhythm at 35. However, Emma had their tails out, and pushed up to a canvas at the spinning posts. The next two minutes saw us hold there, moving the rate up 2 to keep our stern clear. This continued to just before the railway bridge, where a further push saw us spring out to half a length, and we continued to move away from a blown Emma boat. This push brought us back onto station with Corpus, which we held to the finish, crossing three lengths clear of Emma.

To push off from a canvas against a strong crew is testament to the character of the crew, and the amount of work that's gone into the land training. However, Emma will be back with renewed vigour on Friday, and another strong performance will be required.