W C B C S. A newsletter for current and former members of the Wadham College Boat Club

Transcription

1 W C B C S A newsletter for current and former members of the Wadham College Boat Club Number 39 - Summer 2010 Letter from the Editor Simon Evans, 1st VIII It has been some long time since the last WCBCS newsletter for which the committee is profoundly apologetic! Pressures of daily life as always have taken their toll. However, to make up for it we would like to present a new look newsletter produced jointly for the Boat Club and Boat Club Society, and now throbbing with vibrant colour and contemporary design! We hope you like it! Inside you will find an exciting array of articles to help the current members celebrate their achievements, and to help former members stay in touch with the sport we all love so much. With the disruption of newsletter production some of the news within is a little old now but I hope you still find it interesting. Introduction Fern Langran-Goldsmith, Women s President Photo Simon Evans Hi! As an enthusiastic boatie who can see the end of her days rowing for Wadham approaching quickly, I asked myself what I thought I would need to still feel part of the rowing world when I finish my degree, and the answer was a newsletter. A chance conversation with Simon then led to the decision to introduce more detailed captains reports into his newly-vamped newsletter to bring together the activities of the Society and the current college rowers over the past year. We have had a number of individual and team successes at all levels and I hope that reading about them here will make everyone proud to be part of the Wadham rowing world. What is the Boat Club Society? For those of you who may not have heard of it, the Society is for former members of the Wadham Boat Club and their supporters. It exists to: 1. so that all crews are as successful as possible. The Society pays 50% of the Boat Club s equipment costs and so plays a vital role in supporting the success of Wadham on the river. 2. for former and current Wadham oarspeople. The Society aims to hold a number of social events during the year, the main event being the annual regatta and dinner usually held in September. If you have left Wadham and are not already a member please join the Society. Go on, it's only 25 quid a year. Do your bit to allow others to continue to enjoy the sport as you did when you were at College. See membership details on our website at 1

2 Report from the Men s Captain of Boats Paul Wikramaratna Michaelmas Term: After the still bitter disappointments and ill-luck of the season, this year saw the men s squad keen and eager to put right previous wrongs. Careful and prudent management of boat club finances over the previous few years put the squad in the enviable position of being able to pay for 2 racks at Godstow for the whole year. Coupled with a large, motivated senior squad and the arrival of a fresher from each of Westminster and York City, the result was two VIIIs easily boated on both days at the weekend with at least one VIII out on the water most days in the week throughout Michaelmas. Further, the squad put the new erg room to good use with group erg sessions for those not on the water of both the long cardiovascular variety and the infamous painassociated team sprint ergs of Andrew Brown (erg golf anyone?). Hard work seemed to be paying off with a strong set of 2k scores including many personal bests delivered in 4 th week and an impressive performance in the Isis Winter League A (IWL A) Head Race. Wadham men entered 20 senior oarsmen in four combinations that came 2 nd, 3 rd, 9 th and 12 th with the pseudo 1 st VIII heavily impeded and only narrowly pipped to victory by Lincoln but beating, among others, Oriel, Trinity and Catz. Meanwhile, the pseudo 2 nd VIII was easily the fastest 2 nd boat and, as their finishing positions attest, were mixing it up with the best other colleges could offer. Further, fresher Eliot Clark managed to make it to the final of the 1x competition in Autumn Fours. Alas, bad weather meant that this was the only racing available before Christmas with both IWL B and Wallingford Head disappointingly cancelled. Meanwhile, vice-captains Charlie Atkinson and Till Hackler worked tirelessly to organise and inculcate a healthy novice squad of around 20, with the aim of a strong performance at Christchurch regatta. Things were looking good with excellent performances from the two novice boats at IWL A, but alas, rising river levels and high wind cut short the regatta itself. Wadham men were, however, undefeated the B boat comfortably defeating Merton C, whilst the A boat s thrilling encounter with the fancied New A was cut short by a klaxon. Mention should be made here of the arrival of another new addition to the club, or rather, the fleet. In November we took delivery of the new 1 st VIII boat - a Hudson Hammerhead, purchased second hand from Shrewsbury School after minimal use by them, and thanks solely to the tremendous generosity of the Society. The squad would like to take this opportunity to express its sincere and enormous gratitude for your continued efforts to facilitate success on the water. Hilary Term: Hilary, therefore, looked promising especially with further improvement in 2k scores despite much festive gluttony. Mini-training camp took place in freezing temperatures and snow on the Isis but was nevertheless enormously productive. Unfortunately, the snow was eventually melted at the end of 0 th week by deluges of rain and the river was Red flag for 2 weeks and Amber for even longer, though the latter problem was mitigated by the prestigious senior coxing status of the ever excellent James Coe. In the meantime, two men s VIIIs were sent to Dorney Lake at the weekend and the squad became even better acquainted with the ever sweaty erg room. Incidentally, the erg room itself is now gradually being decorated with boat club memorabilia the latest addition being a rogue s gallery of summer 1 st VIII photos from the last decade. There was not much opportunity for external racing, but the 1 st Torpid was sent to IM3 at Henley Head and delivered a rollicking row that saw them narrowly behind Southampton University I and Molesey in IM3 (and ahead of the University of West England) in a time that would also have seen them very well placed in IM2. IWL C saw another collection of exceptionally pleasing results from the Wadham Torpids with the 2 nd Torpid in particular seemingly benefiting both from the squad s strength in depth and from having trained with the 1 st boat all year. Torpids this year came in 7 th week and saw 5 Wadham men s boats, although only 4 would remain after rowing-on. Given our form, it would have been typical of our recent luck if the weather, as it sincerely threatened to do, forced the cancellation of the event. Happily however, although the event was run in half-divisions, with senior crews and coxes only on the Wednesday, the program was gradually ex- Torpids M3 2

3 Mens 2nd VIII 2010 panded as the week went on meaning that all crews saw some racing. Performances were outstanding. MBeer bumped mercifully quickly in every race they were allowed to do finishing up 2 spots at 7 th in Division VI. M3 belied the fact that it was a boat of novices to hold onto the sandwich boat spot at the top of Division V despite being surrounded by 2 nd VIIIs - avenging their cruel introduction to bumps at the hands of Peter s II with a bump on SEH II on the Saturday. Further up, an imperious and exceptional M2 easily bumped Mansfield, Linacre and Magdalen II to move up 3 but could only come agonisingly close to Exeter II on the Saturday they finished 7 th in Division III and though ultimately disappointed ought to be very proud of their endeavours. M1, perilously close to the Division I trap door after last year, delivered. A comfortable row-over on day 1 with the overbump on Trinity not achieved largely due to a nerve-induced lack of true rhythm was followed by bumps before the gut on Trinity, Exeter and New. This leaves M1 up 3 and 9 th in Division I; equalling the highest position the Torpid has occupied in at least the last 30 years and at a stroke correcting last year s illness ravaged debacle. The real shame is that we were consequently not slightly higher to begin with. Trinity Term: Thus, buoyed by winter successes, 27 men returned to Oxford for the Easter training camp and eager for more scalps. Unfortunately, many of the heroes from the second Torpid succumbed to Finals but it was not too difficult to find willing and able volunteers from the novice squad. 2k testing was again very pleasing and M1 was sent to Wallingford Regatta where they performed creditably in appalling conditions missing out by feet on qualification for the final of IM2 in a time roughly a second behind Pembroke (2 nd on the river) in the other heat. Both M1 and M2 were sent to Bedford Regatta where M2 stormed into the semi-finals of the Novice category before losing to eventual winners Radley. They also managed to overcome the disappointment of being drawn against Caius in the College VIIIs competition to progress to the semi-finals of the plate where they lost respectably to St. John s, Oxford. M1 meanwhile suffered narrow defeats to HSBC in IM3 and Magdalen in the College VIIIs competition. The latter loss was slightly mitigated by progress to the final of the plate but they were unable to avenge M2 s defeat, losing an excellent race by ¾ of a length to a strong St. John s crew. The progress of the remainder of the novice squad continued in earnest as well. Indeed, M4 notably and heroically stroked by ex-m1 Torpid rower, Graham Healy-Day despite his egregiously busy schedule as SU President comprehensively outclassed the Beer VIII and pretty much everyone else in rowing on. Their menacingly quick time augured well for the VIIIs and after rowing on, 4 men s boats were again entered. With the exception of the upsettingly inclement Saturday, the weather was glorious and so too largely was the Wadham rowing. M4 blitzed the rowing on divisions moving up 5 places thanks to two bumps and an overbump and were probably denied blades by an unfortunate klaxon on the Wednesday; they finished 8 th in Division VI. MBeer regretted volunteering for sandwich boat duty 8 row-overs saw them remain 1 st in Division VI. M2, who despite the massive turnover, built on their blistering Torpids speed and were far too quick for St. Anthony s but suffered the misfortune of being about 1 ¼ lengths quicker than Univ II in front of them who were in turn about 1 ¼ lengths quicker than St. Hugh s and alas this resulted in row-overs for all until the Friday. Saturday, however, saw Hugh s with nowhere to go and much frustration was released in a textbook bump at the crossover to leave M2 2 nd in Division IV. M1 had maintained hopes of moving up this year but it was not to be. Chasing Keble on day 1, the gap was closed to a ¼ length on the exit of the gut but the bump never came and day 2 saw a familiar foe in St. John s loom large behind. Unfortunately, M1 M4 celebrating +5 places! 3

4 VIIIs 2010 M1 await the start were not able to deal with John s strategy of early attack to stop a bump by Wadham on Keble and, despite the Bedford result suggesting that John s ought not to be able to catch them and despite being close to Keble, they succumbed. Friday saw a comfortable row-over before a final crack at Keble on the Saturday. It was not, however, a case of 3 rd time lucky as Keble just about escaped once more. Touchingly though it was handshakes all round between both crews back on land. Thus, M1 dropped one to 4 th in Division II a crushing disappointment after the hard work that had gone in all year, but hopefully one that can only spur them on to learn from their mistakes and improve once more, especially with a very large group of returning oarsmen. As ever, the men need to thank some important people. Firstly, the squad owes great thanks to coaches Mark & Liz Nixon who continue in their unyielding efforts to propel us up the river and who have, as ever, committed a tremendous of amount of their time to the cause. Secondly, ex-w1 cox James Packer (2004) stepped into the breach to help M1 out when regular cox James Coe needed some time to try to revise for Finals. Finally, the squad remains ever grateful to the Society for their continued and exceptionally generous financial support. Rowing at Wadham is a remarkable experience and is one that is significantly enriched by the near ludicrous generosity of Society members. For all these things, the men are incredibly indebted. Finally, we say good-bye this year as ever to several members but four in particular stand out. President and cox-coach extraordinaire James Coe (2006) will be sorely missed as will ex-captain Tom Raynor (2006), regrettably injured powerhouse Ciaran Jebb (2006) and ex-vice captain Tom Bedford (2007). Though 2010 was largely successful, there is still more work that clearly needs to be done in order to ensure we can reverse our recent trajectory in Summer VIIIs. However, the squad has every faith that new captain John Owen will be able to report on further successes next year a view bolstered by the 4 excellent performance and potential of this year s novice intake and the fact that the club will have even more returnees next year than it managed this year st Torpid James Coe^^; Ben Reid^^, Matt Williams^, John Owen, Andy Brown^^, Paul Wikramaratna (c)^^^, Eliot Clark, Tom Hickish, Keelan Jerram. (^) denotes previous 1 st Torpid appearance st VIII James Coe*; Eliot Clark, Matt Williams*, John Owen, Andy Brown**, Paul Wikramaratna (c)**, Ben Reid**, Tom Raynor*, Till Hackler. (*) denotes previous 1 st VIII appearance. The new M1 boat The new M1 boat, a Canadian Hudson Hammerhead, reached us in November, on one of those last cloudy days before proper winter took hold of Oxford's waterways. At the time I was rowing in the 2nd boat, but every now and then the Wadham boats do some side-by-side work up at Godstow, and so M2 had ample opportunity to see the Hudson in action. The first time I came to row in it was at the Easter training camp - and I was stunned by how shallow the Hudson's profile actually is, giving you a feeling of sitting quite close to the water. The boat comes with great stability, only the rudder was apparently not designed for the winding course of the Isis - our coxes have become masters in foresightful steering. Having in the meanwhile been upgraded to M1, I am now constantly benefiting from the new boat, but the investment reaches much further - to the 2nd and 3rd crews, which all have moved up by a place - definitely in terms of their equipment. Thus, on behalf of the whole mens' side of WCBC I would like to thank the Boat Club Society for this generous investment. It is helping to keep rowing at Wadham what it is meant to be: a unique experience. (Till Hackler)

5 Report from the Women s Captain of Boats Gabriel Lambert Bungline nerves! W1 preparing to race Photo S Evans The Wadham women have remained one of the most successful squads in Oxford this year with many good regatta performances from all crews. It is often hard to appreciate just how good Wadham rowing is because all of our crews hold positions so high in the river that bumps do not come easily! Michaelmas was a term of long outings, long ergs, and as many gym sessions as we could squeeze in for the Senior squad with no direct competition until the following term. But for the fresh-faced novices it was an intensive introduction to rowing in preparation for Christchurch Regatta. It was rather disappointing to have so many freshers drop out after only a few weeks, leaving us with only one and a half boats of the hardcore keen beans, but the fresher boat we did field for the only day of Christchurch that ran due to poor weather was very tidy indeed, beating Teddy Hall B by approximately half the course! It would have been interesting to see how much further they could have gone but sadly the fast stream forced the cancellation of the rest of the event. Hilary term was characteristically plagued with bad river conditions preventing consistent training however the whole squad made great use of the time given. Sadly, the 3rd 8, a boat mainly comprised of novices suffered from the lack of water time and illness and just failed to qualify. For the 1st 8 it was a memorable Torpids, though sadly not for all the right reasons on Friday, having bumped Exeter, St Hilda s and finally Osler and on track for a bladewinning bump on New on the Saturday, there was a tragic request from race desk for a representative from our college. Even though we had bumped Osler a mere hundred metres after Donney Bridge, the external obstruction of a bungline rope which had made one of their rowers scuff the water for a single stroke was apparently enough to award both crews a technical row over. Needless to say the bump on Osler on the Saturday was a satisfyingly just one VIIIs 2010 W2 5

6 they ploughed into the bank and were overbumped by Balliol as well. Therefore we moved up 3 places to finish in 8th position. Due to the poor weather, the 2nd 8 were not allowed to race on day one but scored a quick bump on Hertford on the Wednesday. On the Friday and Saturday they sadly suffered from a recurring Wadham problem they were so high that they were among 1st Eights and while they didn t lose any ground on Lincoln s top boat, they couldn t close the gap. However, they proved their mettle at Balliol s inaugural Spring Seconds Regatta by demolishing all opposition and winning the whole women s event! At the end of the term our W1 entered Women s Head of the River and, even with a disappointingly flat row, still beat all the other Oxford colleges by a very comfortable margin. Training camp was a successful one we were lucky to have great continuity with Hilary term so an almost unchanged W1 (with the sad loss of Mary Gallagher and Xan Choraitis to finals) went out ever evening with the rest of the time being spent doing work in mixed boats. The 2km scores were extremely impressive with a W1 crew average around 7.45 after three days of intense training. The success of the whole Wadham squad manifested itself throughout the term W1 won the WIM3 category at Chiswick Borne Regatta, beating Putney Town by around 6 lengths in the final, got to the final of Bedford regatta, losing to Balliol in an extremely close race, while a W1/W2 composite brushed aside all opposition at Oriel regatta, winning the women s category easily. W1 closing in on ChCh on day 2 of VIIIS 2010 Of course the main focus was Summer Eights where all crews performed very well. The 3rd 8 did very well to qualify given the high numbers of rowing on crews but sadly could not keep pace with the numerous beer eights around them and were bumped every day. The 2nd 8 were in a painful position stuck behind LHM s top crew around the bottom of division 3 (who failed to bump for the first two days) they had three row-overs in which they beat Linacre 2nd 8 by round 8 lengths every day. Again, it was dispiriting to be in such a high position because it gave little opportunity for what was one of the top 2nd 8s on the river to show their true potential. Perhaps this disillusionment had taken its toll, because on the final day a very strong St John s crew bumped them just after the crossover after Green Bank. Down one is a result that certainly does not match the excellence of the 2nd VIII had they been in the 4th division with the other 2nds 8s they would have achieved a lot of blades. The 1st 8 were again plagued with bad sportsmanship, though this ultimately didn t affect our final position on the river. On the first day, starting in 5th position, we made contact on two separate occasions on Christ Church going through the gut and at the start of Greenbank, but failed to elicit a concession by the ChCh cox. Though it could never be used as proof, we found a series of scratches on our bow section that had not been there when we had washed the boat two days before, indicating contact. Once again, the OURCs rules let us down, and even though the umpire had stated she was as sure as she could be that it was a bump, this was apparently not enough to overturn the result of a rowover. Needless the say, W3 Crew - Eights week 2010 the following day, we made very 6

7 sure we had contact and Kate Barrett our 2 woman enjoyed slapping her blade against the ChCh stern! On the Friday, knowing the headship was out of reach but determined not to let Osler slip through our fingers we successfully bumped them just after the gut a great satisfaction to all those in the boat who had been denied blades in Torpids by the same crew. On the Saturday, in driving rain, although we closed Teddy Hall down to less than half a length along Green Bank, we didn t quite have the power to gear up for the bump, leaving us up two and third on the river, in a tantalisingly close position to the headship position best of luck to next year s squad to try and make Wadham history and take the head for the first time in over 30 years! Firstly, Rod s continued success as our coach needs to be highlighted. The superiority of his Wadham technique manifested itself again and again, from Spring 2nds to Oriel Regatta, when crews that had never rowed together could nevertheless be extremely fast because they rowed using the same, long, tidy style that Rod has ingrained in all of his rowers. The day he retires (may it never happen) will be the end of a great era of Wadham women s rowing. I had two great vice captains in Sarah Hunt and Rebekah Pawley who supported me throughout the year. But there are three other people who took on key roles too Erik Clarke as my one term wonder Vice Captain did an excellent job looking after the Senior squad in Michaelmas, Fern Langran-Goldsmith coached the novices and then the 3rd 8 in all terms making my life considerably easier, and Adrienne was an all-round extremely helpful rower, sub and coach interchangeably. Many thanks to you all. We sadly say goodbye to Mary Gallagher and Xanthippi Choraitis both of whom have made a huge contribution to Wadham rowing, both in their captain and vice-captaincy respectively last year as well as in being excellent oarswomen in their own right. They will be missed! st Torpid Gabriel Lambert^; Sarah Hunt; Lucy Ventress^^^; Esmerelda Jelbart Wallbridge; Rebekah Pawley^; Mary Gallagher^^; Xanthippi Choraitis; Fernanda Langran-Goldsmith; Jennifer Boyd. (^) denotes previous 1 st Torpid appearance st VIII Gabriel Lambert*; Sarah Hunt; Lucy Ventress****; Esmerelda Jelbart Wallbridge; Rebekah Pawley*; Fernanda Langran-Goldsmith; Kate Barrett; Cetta Mainwaring*; Jennifer Boyd*. (*) denotes previous 1 st VIII appearance. Commitment in 1985! A tired Women s 1st Torpid closing in on a bump with Marcus Du Sautoy providing the verbal encouragement! 7

8 W1 - Head of the River 2011? Rod Andrews 2011 is probably the best opportunity for the next few years that we will have to take Wadham women to Head of the River. Currently third on the river with a high proportion of this year s crew available to row again, what do we need to do to achieve this? Historically we have always been fairly strong producing some good crews, particularly 1987, 1989 challenging Osler for H of R followed by 1995 and 2005 both unlucky in Eights but produced their best rowing a few weeks later at Women s Henley Regatta. Since the mid 1990 s we have been consistently in the top half of Div 1 nearly always within a Blades run to the Headship but never quite good enough. The results of the exceptional crews of the last two years have been lower than expected and hoped for due in some part to bad luck but also the loss of the College gym and some individual commitment levels. If we include the affiliation with Harris Manchester College we do row with a high number of graduates in our boats dare I say it, by being more mature are therefore usually stronger than say first year students who have not done much sport before coming to Oxford. Also, although W2 remain one of the top 2 nd boats we do have quite a large gap in standard between W1, W2 and W3 due to the difficulty in retaining freshers within the club and lack of numbers in general, making it very difficult to maintain consistency in the lower crews, thus reducing the chances of improvement and natural progression into W1. However, regardless of background it still requires something in the order of 4-5 outings, 4 x erg program and 2 x heavy weight training sessions weekly to be somewhere near competitive either for Eights or any external event we may enter. The new eight-seat erg room supplements the river work, but the lack of a regular gym is my main concern. Thanks to Conor we can use the Combined Forces gym but this has not been well attended due to it s location on the edge of town and as it doesn t offer the same level of equipment we had before. We are fortunate in having top quality rowing equipment to use plus a new boat and blades due in January next, however we are not unique in this as most College BC s are now well funded. Balliol and St Ed Hall (the two crews ahead of us) boast top-level equipment, professional coaching and mainland European training camps! Others to watch out for with similar opportunities include Pembroke, Ch Ch, Univ, Magdalen, St Johns and Keble all of whom will be a future threat to our 1st division status. So how do we ensure future success? Commit to the Headship: I need more commitment from all those in contention for W1 and 2, both on and off the water - just a case for more forward planning and better time management from us all. This to include more outside competitions, both Head races and regattas. Rectify the gym situation: We are looking at alternatives, the use of another College gym, continuing with the Forces gym but maybe adding some more weight machines or the possibility of adding fixed weight machines to the Erg room although I m sure the DB would be keen! Close the gap between crews: We plan to work harder with this year s fresher intake and try a different approach to recruitment / sign up. This is where members of the Society can help! As much as we rely on your continued financial support we would also welcome your help on the river particularly in Michaelmas, initially to help out at weekends with the fresher crews. This would help free up more time for those involved in both rowing and coaching. I have one or two offers of help but if we can encourage a few more then time commitment would be reduced to possibly a couple of times during the term (bike and liquid lunch provided!). For those more interested we plan to hold at least one training camp around Easter next year once again any help would be welcome. Although always welcome the requirement to help coach during Hilary and Trinity is not such an issue as I usually coach both W1 and W2 at Godstow with the other crews remaining on the Isis with coaching covered by BC members. Any offers of help please contact Ez (Women s Captain) or direct to me (rod@rowrite.co.uk). Coaching tip for this issue: The first and most useful coaching course I have attended to date? The cycling proficiency test whilst in the Boy Scouts! Rod Andrews September

9 Eights Results 2010 Wadham W2 boating Bumps charts adapted from the OURC website at 9

10 The Boat Club Society Regatta and Dinner, September 2009 By Simon Evans (Some rather old news from 2009, but hopefully his article will bring back some pleasant memories for those who were there! Ed.) The sun shone gently on the dappled waters of the river and shades of autumn were bright all around as a group of intrepid rowers assembled on the banks of the Isis at 3pm to do battle for nothing but the glory that accrues to the winner of this prestigious annual event. Fuelled by tea and delicious cakes generously provided by Hannah and Katie, the glorious legacy of Wadham s great rowing past got down to the serious business of racing. Sixteen people signed up to row, and were placed by random draw into pairs, which by tradition took no account of preferences between bow and stroke side. Some felt that the course, starting as it did on the downstream side of the new Univ boathouse (on the site of the much missed OUBC) and finishing just below the Wadham boathouse might be a little long for some of us with more years under our belts, but the start marshals held firm to their task and judiciously applied some small handicaps. The crowd of spectators hushed, the starter s hand fell and the greatest demonstration of rowing prowess seen on the Isis for many a season commenced. A generous sprinkling of tourist punts and rowboats competing for space on the river added considerable spice to the races, with our intrepid crews dodging in and out of the randomly propelled pleasure craft. One of the finest moments of the day was to be when one of the crews had not seen the punt broadside on ahead of them until the last moment, and as the colour rapidly drained from the faces of all in the unfortunate craft, the ingrained skills of Wadham coxes came to the fore with a finely judged dodging manoeuvre saving the day. As is normal with this event, we had our fair share of technical problems, missing stretcher straps, riggers parting company with boats, and other forlorn excuses of the losing crews. However the rigger problem in the final race of the 1st round unfortunately ruled out one of the tub pairs, and we were reduced to time trials against the clock to decide the final positions. Razor sharp start and finish marshalling ensured perfect fairness at all times of course. The four crews in the final time trials all completed the course within 6 seconds of each other so it was a truly competitive event. The winners were Will Lindsay and Maldwyn Thornton with Skylar Paulich as cox, narrowly pushing Kate Johnson and Paul Tunnah, coxed by Paul Wickramaratna into second place. A great time was had by all and once our trusty (or should that be rusty?) boats were put away and the boathouse locked up, the tired but happy crews returned to college, some via the Head of the River, to prepare for the evening s extravagances in college which included of course the tense revealing of the winners of the Regatta! Thanks to all who helped on the day especially Hannah and Katie for their organising efforts. The draw and results (as best we can remember them after a few drinks) follow. 10

11 1) Simon Evans, Sarah Day, Katie Lightstone 2) Tally Barwani-Rai, Skylar Paulich, Paul Heal Crew 1 win Time 56sec 3) Kate Johnson, Paul Tunnah, Paul Wikramaratna 4) Alun Jones, Hannah Walker, Katie Lightstone Crew 3 win Time 54sec 5) Hannah Hislop, John Ducker, Helen Ridgway 6) Mark Aitman + Paul Heal Crew 5 win Time 57sec 7) Nick Britton, Nick Groves-Kirkby, Lucy Ventress 8) Will Lindsay, Mal Thornton, Skylar Paulich Crew 8 win Time 52sec - overall winners Roy preparing for a long piece at firm pressure at the Society Dinner! The Wadham Alumni Sports Day - March 20th 2010 By Simon Evans The current (2010) M1 crew leading the way against the 2001 M1 crew As part of the Wadham 400th centenary, the Alumni rowing day in March was a great success and afforded opportunities for a number of us who had not been in an VIII for a while to re-acquaint ourselves with rowing blisters and bursting lungs! The most serious of these challenges was between the 2001 M1 crew and the current 2010 crew. A set of spirited performances led to the conclusion that the current crew was faster - justice I think! Another scratch VIII of oldies like myself (age range 30-65) took on some of the current Women s VIII 11 and did ourselves proud (though the head start we had was *very* generous!). See over for photos and also the account later of the 1958 crew reunion! After such exertions, we were all pleased to retire to the Lodgings for a generous tea provided by the Warden, before donning suitable attire for the evening s celebratory dinner in hall where the food was excellent and the beer from the sconce tasted of metal polish as usual! Most attendees agreed that booking a room in college for the evening was a very good idea!

12 WCBC Veteran crew takes to the water! Wadham Alumni Sports Day - March 20th 2010 (Photos courtesy of Allan Hunter) The crew put up a stirling defence against the core of the current Ladies 1st VIII, though it is suspected that if the course had been any much longer, ground would have been lost! Maybe a little training before the next attempt? 12

13 Images from VIIIs Week 2010 Photos by Simon Evans 13

14 From the Archives THE TOGGER (by Peter Dann) - Originally Published in newsletter 17, 1982/83 It seemed to me, at the first Freshers' port party in 1980, that the only conceivable advantage of Oxford rowing over school rowing was that', if one rowed for a few years at Wadham, one could amass so many stories of famous bumps that one would never be at a loss for conversation. As I desperately.reached for my fifth glass of port, my eyes misted over and I saw myself in four years' time: a true veteran of the Boat Club, a real man like Nick Kirkbride, a respected sage like Sam Howison, armed with more songs and stories than Rob Cassels, with an army of admirers larger than Sally Herring's, biceps bigger than lan Harris'. Perhaps I, too, could become a graduate of WCBC of the stature of Julian Fox - they had their proud blades to display: why should I not make four bumps for Wadham? I went back to my room and did a few calculations- we could be head in a few years, which left me ample time to win a sailing blue AND get a first the year after. Yes.' Wadham rowing was for me- I would be the Vere Ducker of the future' - the first eight would catch a glimpse of my Leander scarf and a murmur would pass through the crew: "Isn't that Peter Dann? You know he rowed over head in 1983". Two years later I was sitting in the clubroom at OUBC on the Saturday of Eights, weeping with exhaustion. It dawned on me that I must have been mad - my entire experience of Oxford rowing was to have been bumped five times and to have rowed over in agony more times than I could remember. I hated anyone who had ever been near the river. But then my spirits were raised. David Levin came crawling over to the corner where I had collapsed, and in his rare spells of consciousness gasped: think it's time we had a joke eight that manages to bump something." Togger was born. The idea was that with six 1st VIII oarsmen not rowing this year we could field a fairly powerful 3rd Torpid that could almost guarantee four bumps. The only drawback was that our blades would have '3rd Torpid' written on them. This difficulty was overcome on the unwitting advice of Dr J.C.G.Lockyer, who at the WCBCS AGM, in Michaelmas showed us all a picture of his Togger. Our minds boggled until he revealed that this was a pre-war Torpid. Thus the title was fixed- Wadham College 1st Togger The next step was to start training in earnest, and so in 9th week we all sat down to dinner at the author's flat in Jericho, wine being supplied in vast quantities courtesy of the University Yacht Club. This was very enjoyable, despite having to wait until 4 a.m. for Sam's jelly to set; and after the wine was finished several philosophical and literary questions of great importance and relevance were discussed, Susan Irvine attempting to prove that "Good Food Costs Less At Sainsbury's" was a work of literary merit. Wisely deciding that such auspicious beginnings should not go unnoticed by the Western world, Sam placed an advertisement in the 'Times' birth columns, thus making the most famous piece of Togger history. The advertisement read: The world was fooled! Believing me to be the real N. Wadham, Esq., the man at the Times congratulated me and my wife and sent an extortionate bill. Angus McGill, writing in the Evening Standard in January, reviewed a survey of the most popular names in the births columns and sympathised with the poor child whose cruel parents had christened him Togger; although we had more sympathy for a real baby christened Winkie earlier in the year. Perhaps we could form a Wadham College 1st Winkie for summer eights? Training this term has been conducted in the bar and at College cocktail parties, with a few trips to O.U.B.C. To make sure that the river is still there. On Thursday, Feb. 17, the crew rowed on in 2nd place- the first time any of us had seen a rowing-on. We now start behind St. Anne's 1st VIII, ahead of Worcester IV. After St. Anne s, our bumps will be Keble IV, Oriel V and Queen's IV. We have just arranged a sponsorship deal with the local joke shop (where else?) 'Partymania', so the crew should be readily distinguished by their masks, smoke bombs and bangers. Listen for the logger war-cry: "A-HUBBA-HUBBA-YUM-YUM " The crew: Bow Alastair McDonald (2nd Torpid and Eight, 1982) 2 John Cretton (3rd Eight 1982) 3 David Jockel (1st Eight and Torpid 1982,Somerville 2nd Torpid 1983, ex-treasurer) 4 David Williams (1st Eight 1982, President) 5 Sam Howison (1st VIII ,1981,1982, ex-gardener) 6 Peter Dann 1st VIII 1981,1982, ex-secretary. 7 David Levin (1st VIII 198!, 1982, ex-captain Str Jay Whittaker (1st VIII 1979, 1980, 1981) ' Cox Warren East (1st Torpid 1981) Very Part-Time Coaches: Peter Berners-Lee (Blue Boat, 1979), John Healey (isis 1982) JaiTKiff ivfecduff (1st VIII 1981, 1982) By Peter Dann (Originally Published in Newsletter 17, Winter 1982) Results (rowing as Wadham III): Wed Feb 23rd: Bumped by the Worcester Pirates Thu Feb 24th: Rowed over Fri Feb 25th: Bumped Osler II, Sandwich Boat Bumped Keble 4 and overbumpedst Peter s III (Up 3) Sat Feb 6th: Bumped St John s III and overbumped Corpus II (up 2) Overall: Up 4 places 14

15 1958 1st VIII Reunion It is right and proper that Wadham s four hundredth Anniversary be celebrated on the river, and a number of the older members who rowed with the Boat Club felt it appropriate that they should demonstrate that, after give or take fifty years, they could climb into an VIII and prove at least to themselves that they were still able to boat on the Isis. Mutual recognition was no problem as we had all met from time to time in the intervening fifty years but a certain modesty suggested that it would be wiser to boat in the morning before the young men arrived. We therefore met at eleven o clock and with one pressed man from the present Boat Club to make up numbers found ourselves afloat on the Isis. We paddled up to the Gut and back to the Boathouse and being somewhat encouraged by our progress on the way down were emboldened to essay a racing start. We arrived back undamaged as the photograph shows and where Harry our Cox is confidently holding a photograph of the 1958 crew in Those present from left to right were Martin Hening, Alun Jones, Harry Liddle (cox), David Tinsley and Alan Netherton. Also rowing were Gavin Stewart (an Oxford Blue), Colin Oakley and Duncan Enright. Following the outing we were encouraged to consider that there could be an interest in a meeting at Wadham for dinner and overnight in College with possibly boating for those who so wished. This need not be restricted to the above group and if any other old members from the fifties or thereabout would be interested please Colin Oakley at colin-oakley@o2.co.uk Humour How a rower should take a test For those rowers out there who are now entrenched in the halls of academia after spending most of the term rowing their brains out here's a quick list of ways that crew can provide a more pleasant and successful final exam experience: Rowing at Keble: The Keble Eight coxed by the Principal Maybe Wadham should try the same approach? Did anyone notice if we took a wrong turn at Iffley weir? Original Image by Janis Miglavs Attempts at rowing with a leaky boat not entirely successful. Please support our new boat appeal (Web site caption competition - winning entry - P Berners-Lee) 1. In class, position your coach over your shoulder to correct any mistakes 2. Tell your professor you only got through one paragraph of your final paper and then you caught a crab 3. Everytime you get stuck on a hard problem, sit upright and yell: "In two, I'm taking a ten to send Hickory away" 4. Bring a water bottle with you (which, in a pinch, can serve another purpose in case your professor doesn't allow bathroom breaks) 5. Have a coxswain there to let you know how you're doing compared to everyone else. ex: "she just broke her pencil, here's where you make your move!" 6. Bring a pitch meter, clams, and a 7/16's wrench with you in the exam. The pitch meter to arrange your desk for optimal angle, the clams for your pencil so as the questions increase in difficulty you can "lighten the load", and the 7/16 for... well it's just a good idea no matter where you go. 7. If you need some more time to cram before the exam, just raise your hand to let your professor know that you are not aligned 8. Explain to the principal that it's not cheating to let your bowman with the 4.0 take the test for you since he/she is just an extension of you 9. After the test, raise your hand and protest that Maury came over into your lane 10. Treat the exam like a 2000: do only 3/4 of the first question, 1/2 of the second, and 3/4 of the third and fourth. then, settle down to your regular pace until the last five questions which you do in 1:20. 15

16 Contact Details Boat Club Website Boat Club Society Website Society Facebook Page - Contact the Editor at simon@bowfor.demon.co.uk Dates for Your Diary Boat Club Society Regatta & Dinner Sep 18th pm at the Boathouse Torpids nd - 5th March 2011 (confirm dates nearer the time!) Eights Week st-4th June 2011 Henley Royal Regatta 29th June - 3rd July 2011 Boat Race 26th March :00 Boat Club Committee Men's President: Women's President: Men's Captain: Women's Captain: Secretary: Treasurer Captain of Coxes Bargees: Men's Vice Captains: James Coe Mary Gallagher Paul Wikramaratna Gabriel Lambert Ben Ives Cormac Sullivan Lyndall Schreiner James Neale and Philippa Davies Charlie Atkinson and Till Hackler Women's Vice Captains:Rebekah Pawley and Sarah Hunt Boat Club Society Committee President: The Warden Chairman: Ben Williams (1988) Treasurer: Nick Groves-Kirkby (2002) Membership Secretary: Hannah Hislop Social Secretary: Katie Lightstone (2000) and Lucy Ventress (2005) WCBC Liaison: Conor O'Neill (2000) 3rd Torpid 1982 Rep: Gavin Stewart (1981) Coaching Coordinator: Rod Andrews Master of Propaganda: Simon Evans (1978) Boat Club Committee Men's President: Women's President: Men's Captain: Women's Captain: Secretary: Treasurer: Captain of Coxes: Bargees: Men's Vice Captains: Paul Wikramaratna Fernanda Langran-Goldsmith John Owen Esmerelda Jelbart Wallbridge Charlie Atkinson Till Hackler Gabriel Lambert Micheal Teckman and Hannah Nugent Eliot Clark and Tom de Wilton Women's Vice Captains: Lauren Pringle and Hannah Tickle Newsletter contributions As always we would be delighted to receive contributions for the next newsletter! Please send to the editor at simon@bowfor.demon.co.uk. Sponsorship Request! Do you work for a company that may be interested in promoting itself to Oxford students? If so, WCBC needs your help! This year we are hunting for new sponsorship and would welcome any connections or introductions that you have to offer. A new sponsor is vital to the success of the boat club as it enables us to race in more competitions and to ensure that we have up-to-date kit and resources. Please fernanda.langran-goldsmith@wadh.ox.ac.uk if you have any suggestions and we can either send you more information and details, or are happy to contact the company ourselves. Thank you! 16