The Three of Harts Newsletter of the Jesus College Boat Club The blades rush continues for the girls. Record breaking rainfall in Michelmas. Novices brimming with enthusiasm. In a year wrought with such heavy rainfall that OURCs had to initiate the Doom Flag, JCBC has once again been proud to raise another group of surprisingly keen novices, manage some respectable men s rowing, and of course provide the regular women s blades. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? 2013 AT A GLANCE Torpids M1 W1 M2 W2 2 2-1 +5-2 +4 No, it s more blades! The women of JCBC have continued their staggering run of form to bring two new sets of blades to the walls of the boathouse. Despite the lack of river time during Michaelmas and Hilary, the girls were able to produce the kind of rowing we at JCBC have begun to take for granted. Despite not being able to convert their Summer VIIIs performance into blades, they are now at their highest position since the year 2000 and unbumped since 2009, congratulations ladies! M1 W1 M2 W2 M3 W3 Summer Eights 3-1 +2 0 +1 +1 +5 JCBC total: +16 And 2 blades!
Men s Captain Jon Carter Reports on the Year With Christchurch meadow flooding twice and a staggering eighty five days of red flag between the start of Michaelmas and the end of Hilary, its safe to say that the past year has been a wet one. OURCs even implemented a Doom Flag. Luckily, this years new crop of freshers has been exceptionally keen. Throughout the first two terms water time was unbelievably scarce, so any opportunity to get out was grabbed with both hands. Organisation of some sessions became very last minute. On occasion, I remember making phone calls at 11pm at night before to tell the crew whether or not we were going ahead with the 6am start. The conditions on the Isis meant that the help of Tom Saunders in organizing Winter and Easter training camps became even more invaluable. Following last year, the men went to Thames Rowing Club in January and Wallingford RC in April. In both cases the camps were fantastically enjoyable and couldn t have been run without the kind help of alumni putting us up for the week. I realise I ve been making it all sounds doom and gloom. However, we did get some superb weather towards the end of the year, which allowed those still around to take up sculling (which I d recommend to anyone and everyone) and have a lovely time at Henley. Overall a frustrating but entertaining year for JCBC. By Jon Carter M1 makes full use of the ergs and shocks Univ Hilary terms training kicked off with both the men and women going to the Tideway for a training camp. In a winter of freezing, wet conditions, we fortunately (because no one likes pulling yourself out of bed to get into soggy lycra, unless your name is Oli Bentley) managed to find a dry week between the cold snaps. The camp was Tom Springbett s last week with us (he has now moved on to coach at Headington school) and with help of Thames RC head coach Tony Larkman was extremely informative and challenging. A new coach going into Hilary meant a refreshing new style of coaching. With his new drills came such brilliant motivational phrases such as cock on lads and SMASH THEM!. Sadly, the weather from Michaelmas continued into Hilary and after a week of rowable water, the Isis went red again. The crew for Hilary contained 6 of last years 8s crew. This continuity became especially important because the poor river conditions continued until 4 days before Torpids began. A very hectic 4 days, as you d imagine from a crew that was eager to get off the ergs. All of the Jesus crews were up against it going into Torpids because of the extra water time that crews training off the Isis gained. Some fantastic coxing from fresher Tom Coles to escape Univ (practically the same crew that is 4th in division one in summer eights) and ruin their chances of blades, meant that overall M1 finished on -1.
W1 s Extensive Land Training Pays Off The women of JCBC returned to Oxford filled with enthusiasm after last year's Summer Eights success. I'm happy to say that this enthusiasm remained with us throughout the year, despite one major setback; the weather. Continuous rain throughout Michaelmas resulted in what seemed like everlasting Red Flag, hence not nearly enough rowing and FAR too many ergs. Luckily, we were able to join the men in London this year for the winter training camp, where we were finally able to get some real rowing in - many thanks to Tom and Will Saunders for all their help. There was no great improvement in the weather during Hilary, and it was touch and go as to whether Torpids 2013 would go ahead. We persevered with our land training, and were fortunate enough to have 8 experienced rowers in W1 along with our cox, Lucy Harris, having just returned from a term with the OUBC women's squad. We were delighted to go up +5, win blades, and are now the highest placed JCBC women's crew since 2001. As was expected, Trinity saw us lose a few rowers to work pressure, but we had some strong rowers from the Hilary W2 to choose from and we put together a very decent 1st VIII. The rain also subsided, so we were finally able to form a few satisfactory blisters on our hands. Summer Eights came around, and we rowed over on the first day; an interesting experience for W1, who in recent years have become somewhat accustomed to finishing the race before Longbridges! Our second race consisted of about 2 strokes after St Anne's crashed magnificently into the bank. The third day was the race to watch though; after having overlap on New College for too long, Holly Edwards at bow decided that she'd had enough and took a hand off the blade, reached across and slapped the stern of the New boat, resulting in the bump we were all craving. The final day of Summer Eights gave us another row over. We came close to St Catherine's at the start of the race which was frustrating, but such is the nature of bumps racing. At least the crowd of supporters at the Jesus boathouse were able to see us row past at race pace! By Isobel Ormiston M2 Seizes Exeter in Summer VIIIs We started the term knowing that this year was going to be a challenge. Not only had the previous year s crew managed to climb up six places, but we started the term with seven novice freshers. However, under the expert guidance of Tom Coles and the legendary Mike Parry, we were still confident we could do well. Come race day we were all a little apprehensive, but spurred on by our victory over the Vikings in a race a few days prior, we nevertheless thought this could be the year that M2 got blades. Alas, it was not to be, as a disastrous start on the first day saw Merton M2 catch us before the gut. Our performance on the second day was similar, and we watched in horror as Brasenose M2 stormed towards us. Fortunately for us, however, this horror turned to relief as the Brasenose cox decided that this was a good time to get acquainted with a nearby tree. By day three the beautiful sunshine of the first two days had turned to wind and rain, but having learnt from our mistakes on the first two days, we managed to pull away from Lincoln for a row over, leaving us chasing Exeter for a gloriously sunny Eights Saturday. After the best start of the week we gradually closed down the gap to Exeter on our way towards the gut, and with a final Herculean burst of strength we caught them going into Greenbanks, confirming Jesus as the best of the Turl street colleges. By Tom Coles
W2 Builds Towards the Fixed Divisions Things looked a little shaky at the start of Trinity term for W2. Only three crew members were left from the Torpids blades winning crew. With only four weeks of training available, and there having been a staggering 12 weeks of red flag since the start of Michaelmas term, it was going to be difficult to pull anything together. Fortunately, several club members returned after a few terms off, and a crew with a good level of experience was formed. Training began in earnest, and the newer members of the crew quickly began to pick up the technical skills from the previous members, whilst all round fitness improved. Outings at the same time as W1 were productive, and the crew started to do some longer pieces and find their rhythm. We were the fifth fastest crew in rowing on, and filled with confidence by our performance, we were disappointed to discover that the crew placed in front of us in the draw, who had been atrocious during rowing on, had scratched, and that we now faced the prospect of chasing Green Templeton II (one of the four crews who were actually quicker than us) from bung line two on Wednesday. Whilst we gave it our best shot, GTC held us level all the way over the course. Frustratingly, GTC failed to bump anyone else as sandwich boat at the bottom of the division above, and we were forced to repeat the scenario on Thursday. Crucially though, GTC managed to bump as the sandwich crew, leaving us Univ II as prey for Friday. A strong racing start on Friday gave us overlap on Univ by just after Donnington Bridge, and despite some desperate avoiding action from the opposition and extremely strong winds Jesus completed a textbook bump mid-way through the gut. This left us as sandwich boat for the division above, facing our old enemy GTC II, who we once again failed to catch. Saturday dawned, with the prospect of an easy row over at the top of division VI followed by a final crack at GTC II in the division above. We completed the row over without any difficulty, and decided to really gun it off the start at Green Templeton, without going too crazy and wrenching. After a horrible three boat sandwich in which GTC managed to get their opposition despite Jesus getting very close to them, W2 wound down and rowed over with a very respectable +1 result overall, despite what might have been if we d been dealt some better cards with the draw. By Jonathon Woodward Novices Get Wet! With six novice boats, 12 coaches, an a combined expected 900+ hours of training time Jesus s novice rowers looked set for a fantastic season. Alas. Red flag, red flag, red flag. Through the wind, rain and flooding everyone showed incredible dedication, enthusiasm and motivation of which we are all very proud. Almost every session over a five week period was cancelled, leaving coxes and coaches everywhere fearful of the impending chaos. Somehow the freshers endured their many early morning ergos and got on with being told to just imagine what it feels like to be in a boat. Our six crews developed dramatically as athletes throughout the six weeks of training, and got the basics of boat technique despite having had such limited practice. So the day of Christchurch came. And despite such limited water training the crews got ready to race. After the chaos of the first few races, the ferocity of the wind and rain meant that even the Christchurch regatta was cancelled. What a term; most crews hadn t even got the chance to row! Despite all this the Boat Club was thrilled to see so many people wanting to get involved and impressed by everyone s enthusiasm and the commitment. We are sure it should have been a term of great victory! By Charlie Smart
Women s Captain Isobel Ormiston Reports on the Year The first two terms this year proved difficult as we stayed firmly on dry land and awaited the day the flag would drop. The novice crews in particular lost out due to even stricter rules for novice rowers and coxes, but we all hoped Christ Church Regatta might go ahead in 7 th week despite this. For safety reasons, OURCs decided to change the format to a head race instead of the usual side-by-side excitement, which was understandable considering the average crew had probably had two outings all term. Unfortunately, they cancelled the event half an hour in after the drizzling rain suddenly became torrential, and only one Jesus boat rowed the course. I happened to sub into this boat at the last minute when they needed an extra rower - the stream was dangerously strong, and it was very cold. I m happy to say that feeling has recently returned to my fingertips. Amazingly, this experience of rowing and regattas didn t quash the enthusiasm of our novices, and on the women s side we were delighted to welcome the novices into the senior squad and put together a formidable Hilary W2 and W3. Again, the weather was problematic, meaning we were sometimes forced to forgo snowy outings and instead stay in the boathouse with rowing machines and fitness DVDs. The week of Torpids was sunny, as was the majority of Trinity term, so both Torpids and Summer Eights went ahead and we were reminded of how exciting bumps races are. In general, the women have had a wonderful year. The total of all crews' bumps in Torpids and Eights combined have given us +16 without any crews being bumped which is a great achievement. More importantly, however, we've welcomed some brilliant new rowers into the squad, kept up the fantastic JCBC attitude, and had one more year of enjoyable moments on the river. By Isobel Ormiston W2 Overbump 4 Times for Blades! With the river being closed just after the Hilary crew had been set, we were having only a few coached sessions and a hard time keeping up the motivation. Most of the members in W2 were novices and had only ever had a few sessions on the water due to the bad weather in Michaelmas term. Our training mainly consisted of erg-sessions, but a mid-term test revealed that the hard and consistent work had indeed paid off. We started Torpids in fourth division right behind Lincoln II and despite increasingly high spirits, steadily securing bumps, and lots of cake, our way through Torpids was not without worries; due to academic commitments we needed to find a sub for two of our races at very short notice. On the first day, Sophia Clark stepped in and helped us get our very first bump. The second day saw Exeter II get bumped thoroughly by their Turl Street rivals -- first by Lincoln II and then by us -- before tumbling their way down div 4 and well into div 5. On the third day of Torpids we had a guest-appearance by Louise Privett, who to our huge relief was granted permission to join our crew only a few minutes before we had to push off. During the final push for the bump on Trinity II, the collar on Bow s blade came loose, resulting in Bow being knocked down flat. Luckily we were able to pick up speed again quickly and secure the bump with only seven rowers and a valiant effort on Bow s part to sit the boat. The bump on the final day on Torpids was on Herford II, who had caused a claxon depriving Jesus W2 of blades in Summer Eights 2011, and so this final bump for blades was our little revenge. In contrast to the weather through the term, Torpids ended on a sunny and beautiful day, and we could celebrate a fresh set of blades for JCBC. By Therese Graversen
Charles Nelson IV is No Match for M1 Trinity term began with a squad of keen beans taking the short bus journey to Wallingford for a four day pre-season training camp on one of the most beautiful stretches of river in the country. The first day began inauspiciously. Whilst preparing The Colonel we realised that one of the riggers had a large crack in it. Alex Hannington came to our rescue with a selection of replacement riggers which left us time to do a half hour erg. Once we d fixed the boat we set out for our first outing of the week. Fuelled by Gregg s sausage rolls we quickly made good progress. Two long, uninterrupted outings a day was a welcome relief from our usual outings on the short and busy Isis and meant that we could row for hours on end without having to spin the boat. Not even a vomiting bug could stop us from spending three to four hours a day on the water. Once first week was upon us we began training as a finalised M1 crew. We gradually improved our technique and built up our fitness through increasingly long pieces on the water and two land training sessions a week. In the week before Summer Eights there was a strong sense among the crew that we were peaking at the right time. The senior members of the crew even felt that this was the quickest M1 that they d been a part of. Spirits were high and we were optimistic for the week ahead. We began Summer Eights in front of a Brasenose crew rumoured to be quick, and behind Christchurch M2 who we knew little about, but who seemed to have names more suited to a crew date (Charles Nelson IV was our favourite). Unfortunately we were bumped by Brasenose, however having been a canvas off Christchurch at the time we had cause for optimism. This optimism was somewhat dampened the next day when we were slowly reeled in and bumped by a surprisingly quick Mansfield crew who finished the week on +3. Suddenly we were looking the prospect of spoons in the eyes. On Friday we finally got the luck that we were due: a mess in the gut meant that we were given a technical row over after being in a scrap with St Peter s and Somerville. This all meant that we d begin the final day behind the Christchurch crew who we d so nearly bumped. On Saturday we rowed with a fluency that we hadn t yet achieved. We quickly gained on Christchurch and bumped them before the gut. After a difficult week it was a relief to have finally got the bump that we deserved. The celebrations in front of the packed and noisy boathouse made the term s hard work all worthwhile and made the Pimm s taste all the sweeter. Our final result of -1 is disappointing; however considering the calibre of some of the crews around us we can be proud of our performances, particularly on the Friday and the Saturday. All in all it s been a very enjoyable term for M1 and one which we can definitely build on next year. It s been a pleasure to be a member of JCBC, the most fun boat club in the university. Bring on next year! By Hugo Manson Thank You! All this would not have been possible without the support of the ever-generous Cadwallader Club, our omniscient and patient senior coaches James Marsden and Hamish Miller, or our various keen amateur coaches. We remain thankful for the support of our long-suffering senior member Peter Mirfield, the insatiable Tom Saunders for all his advice, and our boatman, Woody, for keeping us afloat staunchly throughout the year. Thank you to the JCBC committee, whose time and efforts have proved invaluable. And finally thank you to all our wonderful rowers and coxes, may success continue for JCBC for many years to come! By Oliver Bentley