Boat Race Build-Up: CUBC Triumphant over British U23s in Tideway Fixture

Camrbidge take the lead (Photo: Iain Weir, www.iainweir.info)
With the Boat Race just over three weeks away, the Cambridge Blue Boat showed that they have been making the best of Winter training, racing a crew of British U23 triallists at the weekend and winning both of the pieces in convincing fashion. The President of the Light Blues is American Derek Rasmussen (7 seat), who was a member of the 2008 IRA Champion Wisconsin Varsity VIII, and the 2008 US VIII that won gold at the U23 World Championships. The first piece of the fixture began at the traditional start of the Boat Race (Putney), and saw the Light Blues, racing in their brand new Hudson (having opted for the Canadian manufacturer instead of the traditional Empacher), moving away consistently throughout, until they reached the Chiswick Eyot (just past the half-way point of the course) over fourth lengths in front of the GB crew.

Cambridge approach Hammersmith Bridge (Photo: Iain Weir)
Before the start of the second piece, it was agreed that the U23 crew should be allowed a length at the start, and this made for a much more interesting race. The two crews clashed several times, each coxswain grappling for the tightest line along the course, with Cambridge again finishing in front, but only by 1/2 length this time. This will be very useful experience for CUBC come race day, as the competition is always fierce, and often the crew that manages the clash best takes the race. Cambridge coach Steve Trapmore was suitably pleased with the result, as the day benefited CUBC with respect to their mental toughness as well as their experience on the Tideway.

Cambridge cut into the U23 lead at the outset of the second piece
(Photo: Iain Weir)
The umpire for the fixture was Matt Pinsent. For full coverage of all things Oxford v. Cambridge, check out the official site of the Boat Race. We will have continuing coverage and analysis of the race itself in the weeks to come.

In other racing, Imperial College BC defeated Goldie (Second VIII from Cambridge), and a London Rowing Club men's Lightweight VIII took on Cambridge University Lightweight RC, which featured an as yet unidentified rower (5 seat) donning a Princeton all-in-one. The London crew (with GB internationals James Lindsay-Finn in 7 and Stephen Feeney in the 5 seat, and three-time Henley finalist James Young in 4) won the piece, which ran from Hammersmith Bridge to the LRC flagpole in Putney. While there is no official margin, it appears that LRC won by three to five lengths.

Many thanks to Henley Winner and old LRC teammate, Iain Weir of www.iainweir.info and www.rowingphotography.co.uk for the great shots of the racing. Weir is a professional freelance photographer, and recently had an exhibition at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, England.

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s up before 4:30am. So, wh
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

Image
This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland.  As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just ove
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor
Read more