Lent Term 2015 FCBC Lent Bumps Edition Dear Billygoats,

Due to the stresses of exam term I can only apologise for the delay in this Lent term report but we hope the success of our crews this term is worth the wait. Fitzwilliam Boat Club had a very successful Lent term with some fantastic results from both the men’s and women’s sides of the club, especially in Lent Bumps.

Here is a quick summary of LENT term’s activities for each boat written by the respective coaches or captains. The edition wi ll follow in a couple of weeks.

Will Marks FCBC Alumni and Publicity Officer 2014 -15

M1 Coached by Antony Moule, Alex Markham and Robert Doe.

Lent term saw some of the greatest success on the Men's side of the club for many years. M1 competed in 6 racing events; coming 15th overall in the Winter Head to Head and 5th in the Newnham Short Course. The real beginning to our success was, however, getting to the s emi-finals of Pembroke Regatta; having beaten FaTs M1 in the first round, and Emmanuel M1 in the second, we lost by only half a length to Jesus M1 who went on to maintain their 3rd position on the Bumps table. Following this, we entered both the novice and IM3 divisions of Bedford Head and placed 8th overall, winning the novice division and some very attractive pots!

The Lent Bumps saw our climb back into the first division. Starting from the second position of the second division, we bumped Selwyn 1 to be come sandwich boat, and then Magdalene 1 to secure our place in the first division, and it was all uphill from there. With a bump on every day (Tit Hall, Emma and Clare) we gained 5 places and the first Men's blades since 2006.

To finish off the term, we took to the Thames to compete in the Head of the River Race. This was a great experience for the whole crew and despite boat -stopping winds and rain throughout, we managed to place 183rd out of 327 competing crews. The biggest triumph of the day was finally being able to race the course! After 2 years of the event being cancelled, we actually managed to compete!

All of the men's crews have grown closer as a squad. With socials and crew pastas galore, there has been an incredible atmosphere of camaraderie. This, coupled with some friendly rivalry to push each other to achieve our best, has meant that we have loved training with each other; as is clear from the fantastic results.

W1 Coached by Alan Marron and Mike Parrott

Lent term brought continuing improvement for W1, following on from the high standards set in Michaelmas. Competition for seats was high with an impressive number of novices keen to commit. We stepped the training up a notch, introducing an extra outing and a weekly "erg of death". Newnham short course and the head to head brought promising results, producing times comfortably faster than the crews we were set to chase in bumps.

W1 raced twice at Bedford head, making an impressive 20 second improvement, winning the IM3 division to come away with tankards. Unfortunately, when it came to bumps, the effort didn't quite pay off. Despite closing in on Magdelene and Homerton the first two days, W1 never quite managed the bump, and dropped one place overall. The team nonetheless had a brilliant 4 days and went on to maintain their position (176th) in WEHoRR.and motivational calls this term.

M2 Coached by Rob Doe and Alistair Hamilton Lent term proved successful and enjoyable for M2. Five of the eight rowers were novices from the previous term whose enthusiasm allowed the crew to rapidly develop a united rhythm. We participated in numerous races including Newnham Short Course and for the first time in a long time M2 were sent on an off-Cam race at Bedford. Our Pembroke Regatta was sadly cut short after we were unfairly put against an M1 from Paris, but even then it was a close finish! M2 quickly realised their potential and their aspirations for blades drove them on. Bumps was incredibly exciting yet heartbreaking as we were denied our blades on the second day due to a crew who’d bumped ahead of us and didn’t clear the river rapidly enough. Nonetheless, M2 returned with incredible performances. In fact, we bumped on the last day after only 42 strokes and generally finished bumps not feeling very tired at all. M2 also participated in HoRR and the tough weather has surely toughened us.

W2 Coached by Anna Rosa and Matt Bergin The Women of W2 were committed and keen to row from the start. Most had noviced the previous term and were keen to improve their technique to become `senior’ rowers. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm of the crew, W2 could not compete against many of the Coached by Alistair Hamilton more experienced crews racing in the same division as us – this proved M3 catastrophic for the getting on race. As a result of the fantastic novice intake this year, we had enough people to field an M3 However, this never demoralised anyone and the ladies kept pushing in Lents, which, for the first time in many for the whole of each race every time, determined to improve their years, managed to get on to Lent Bumps. time over the course with each race. Despite not being victorious the Racing in the M4 division, the crew bumped crew remained harmonious and friendly throughout and the rate of Robinson on the first day only to be bumped improvement remained very high – even if crew drinks led to a slight back the next. Bumps from Jesus and deterioration in liver function at BCD. Peterhouse followed on the next.

Henley Training Camp

From the 16th to 18th of April, just before May Term began, the men’s side ran a training camp in Henley-on-Thames, based at Upper Thames Rowing Club, with twelve rowers and two coxes. With an eight and four out three times on each of the four days, the crew came together and put in some great training to hit the ground running in May. We were also lucky enough to be visited by numerous Billygoats including Sarah Winckless, Carole Burton and Alistair Hamilton who managed to coach us too. Having learnt a lot in running our first off-Cam training camp, next proves to even better having established a name for ourselves in Henley. Credits to Captain Sammi Tarling and Antony Moule for organising the camp.

Fitzwilliam College Boat Club – www.fitzbc.com

Fitzwilliam College Boat Club, Fitzwilliam College, University of . Find us online at www.fitzbc.com and on Facebook.