SJCBC Society Newsletter Edition 1, Spring/Summer 2009 Martin Slocock naming the men s 1 st boat Welcome to the first edition of the Boat Club Society Newsletter. First of all, we would like to thank you all for your continued support of the Boat Club. It has been great to see so many familiar faces on the bank during the previous terms, and the money raised by memberships and donations will continue to ensure SJCBC can enter races on and off the Isis. The committee is also saving up towards a new Women s IV+, which, especially after the women s recent success in Torpids, would be a great addition to the current fleet. We hope you enjoy reading about upcoming events, alumni news and SJCBC s recent successes. If you have any suggestions or contributions for the next edition, please contact Sophie Carp at alumni.office@sjc.ox.ac.uk. We look forward to hearing from you! All the best, The SJCBC Society Committee
Introducing our Captains This year's captains are Martin Henstridge and Annie Honart, who together have already managed to lead the boatclub to several great results Men s Captain and Captain of Boats Martin Henstridge: I started rowing as a novice at St John's in 2005. Later that year I was part of the blade-winning 3rd Torpid, then moved up into the 2nd VIII and for the last 3 year I have rowed in the 1st VIII. After being vice-captain last year, I decided to take on the role of captain of boats so that I could contribute more to the running of the club which I have so enjoyed being a part of during my time at St John's. Next year I hope to stay on for a DPhil (fingers crossed) and should I get funding, I intend to trial with OULRC for a seat in next year's lightweight blue boat. This Torpids has seen the men's boats go up a total of 6 places: another bladewinning 3rd Torpid, an inexperienced 2nd boat unfortunate to start in front of two 1st boats and the 1st Torpid cementing its position in 1st Division finishing 9th. Next term we'll be entering boats into Oxford City Bumps and Bedford Regatta, and with members of OUBC, OULRC and even GB returning to College rowing, we are looking to make a big impression in Summer Eights too. Women s Captain Annie Honart: This is my second year rowing at St John s. I was previously a distance runner, though immediately became a rowing convert last fall when I first got in a boat. I am currently finishing an M.Phil in Medical Anthropology and will return to America this summer to begin medical school where, fingers crossed, I will be able to continue to row. While Hilary term predictably forced us to spend most of our time training indoors due to poor river conditions, we still produced three solid crews for Torpids. Notably the First Torpid won blades by triple-overbumping Merton just after Boathouse Island on the final day of racing. Looking ahead, on March 7 th the women s First Torpid looks forward to making its Tideway debut in Women s Eights Head of the River. With continued hard work and more river time now that the snow has finally melted, I am confident that Trinity term will bring SJCBC continued excellent results! Boat Race Event This year s Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race will take place on the 29 th of March, and the SJCBC Society Committee is proposing an informal get-together in The Blue Anchor in Hammersmith. The pub is conveniently located within walking distance from several tube stations, and has great views up and down the course. A large screen in Furnival Gardens a few meters down the road will show the entire race with commentary. So come down around 2pm, dress in your finest St John s kit, and raise a glass to a good row for Oxford! For directions and information please visit http://blueanchor1722.com/ or email alumni.office@sjc.ox.ac.uk
Rowing kit Staying on the subject of kit for a bit longer, Society members are able to order SJCBC branded t-shirts, hoodies, and rugby tops. A list of items and details on how to order can be found on the Boat Club website http://info.sjc.ox.ac.uk/socs/sjcbc/?page=kit Web Officer Position Although the SJCBC website is currently looking much better than before, the Society is looking to create a new position on the Committee for a volunteer Web Officer. If you have experience in web design and wouldn t mind spending a bit of time making the site look even more inviting, please get in touch with Captain of Boats Martin Henstridge at martin.henstridge@sjc.ox.ac.uk Life After SJCBC Alumni News When asked to write about my experiences since leaving St John s just over a year and a half ago, it occurred to me that not much has changed. My life continues to revolve around three key activities: rowing, sleeping and working. Admittedly, the latter is now salaried rather than academic; however, like in Oxford, I spend my days worrying about 2km scores, deadlines and when I m next going to get a lie-in. On graduating, I moved to London, taking a job with one of Europe s largest financial publishers. I also joined Curlew RC, one of the four clubs rowing in East London. The clubs around Greenwich may be less renowned than those in Putney but they are no less competitive; Curlew competes regularly at top regattas such as Henley and the Tideway Heads. the men s side is an ex dark blue lightweight, one of our excellent coaching team was a blues cox and there are representatives from St Hugh s, Lincoln and St Peters among others. Thankfully, Oxford outnumbers Cambridge and the dark blues invariably shout down the light blues on race day. There s something comforting about this familiarity and the club has been a great way to meet like minded, perhaps equally mad, people since moving to the city. Rowing with Curlew offers the opportunity to get away from the big spoke. The club has just returned from a week s training camp in Banyoles, Spain, where we rowed, rowed and rowed some more. It was fantastic fun and great preparation for the coming Tideway Head races. Of course I miss Torpids and Summer Eights. That s one of the changes I mourn, not being able to race bumps; however the thrill of the Tideway Heads does go someway to filling that void. Yes different city, different occupation, different club; same competitive spirit, same blisters, same alarm at weekends. Before I conclude, I can t avoid a little team promotion. Can t shake the rowing bug? Whether in London currently or graduating in the summer, don t hesitate to get in touch, I m always on the lookout for competitive athletes to join the club Natasha Wood still floating Training in the Docklands, London s industrial heartland, is a far cry from the idyll of the upper Thames but, surroundings aside, little about my rowing environment has changed. The squad is made up of a high proportion of exuniversity rowers with a considerable Oxbridge contingent. I am captain of our women s squad and my counterpart on
Boat Naming Auction and Ceremony As many of you know, the SJCBC Committee recently organised an auction to find a name for the new first men s boat. The auction was a great success, with many old crews clubbing together to place a bid. The lucky winners were the St John s Barge Preservation Consortium, who offered a very generous 850.00 to name the boat Martin Slocock. it only a week before the ceremony! A proud family man, he stated that Slococks and rowing go together well, his father having been Captain of Boats 80 years ago, he some 30 years ago (he also went on to row in Isis), and his son gaining a blue in 1990. He also regaled that his grandfather was part of a Varsity crew to row across the English Channel! After the ceremony, Edward Lent, current Men s Vice-Captain said that this is all rather special: it s a privilege to row in a brand new Empacher, and it s an absolute honor to have the name Martin Slocock on side of the boat. Timothy Williamson, ex-1 st boat rower and Captain of Boats in 2006-2007 said that it s excellent that St John s has provided such a hard-working crew with such a fantastic boat: to represent the college at the highest level you need the best kit. He also commented that he is sad not to have been able to row in it. On the other hand, Sian Dawson, current M1 cox, when asked how it felt to be the first the person to steer the new boat, exclaimed give me an old boat! It s like taking my Dad s Porsche out without his permission! M1 next to their new boat The shiny new Empacher was given its new name during a ceremony on the Saturday of Torpids. Martin and Shirley Slocock were present to unveil the boat and toast to plenty of future SJCBC successes. t Martin Slocock played a huge part in rescuing the St John s College barge, which once proudly housed SJCBC before the boathouse was built, when College made the decision to auction it off in the 1960 s. Anxious that the barge should be preserved and not fall into a state of disrepair like many of the other college barges, Martin and a select few dedicated others found a new home for the barge and carefully brought it back to it s previous state of splendour. The barge now adorns the Isis regularly during Summer Eights. Martin said that it was a huge honour and privilege to have the new men s boat named after him, and the news also came as a great surprise, him finding out about MMartin and Shirley Slocock All observers seemed to enjoy the ceremony, seeing it as a fitting welcome for the new boat, and current rowers jumped at the opportunity to get to meet Martin himself, all agreeing that it was indeed an appropriate name for the boat. Emily Palmer, women s captain in 2007-2008 and co-founder of the Boat Club Society, stated that the tone of the ceremony was just right. Many thanks for everyone who showed their support by bidding in the auction!
Race Reports Michaelmas Term 2008 Enthusiasm amongst new college faces had never been higher in and this saw us entering a record SIX boats into Christ Church Regatta. All of the hard work that these crews and their coaches have put in this term was rewarded with an undisrupted regatta schedule, something that hadn't happened since 2005. This enabled our new rowers to show what they could do, and they certainly didn't disappoint! All 6 crews entered Nephthys regatta, with the men's Novice A's reaching the final, narrowly losing out to a very good Exeter A boat. Combined with the slim loss of our Women's 1st boat (who treated the event as a training exercise) to St. Catz in the experienced VIII category, and our Women's IV winning their category, this performance was enough to see SJCBC win the regatta overall for the 2nd time in 3 years. Our novices took momentum from this victory into Christ Church Regatta, and despite some very tough draws all boats apart from WC (the first Women's C boat to be entered by SJCBC in well over a decade) proceeded beyond the 2nd round, with 4 boats making it to the final day. The men s A boat flew the flag for SJCBC, and were desperately unlucky to lose in the semi-final to St. Peters A, who went on to win the final. Both the men and women's development squads entered Wallingford Head - and again, for the first time in years this actually went ahead! The men put in an excellent performance, coming 5th overall in their section, and the women performed brilliantly scoring the 3rd highest time in theirs. This was certainly just reward for the countless hours of training put in. In total the men's squad consisted of over 16 members, and the women's of over 20, all training very hard towards the ultimate goal of making a big impact at Torpids. Hilary Term 2009 After a successful Michaelmas for both experienced rowers and novices alike, hopes were high as the sights of the Boat Club were set on Torpids, and places in both the 1 st boats were fiercely competed for. However, as is often the case in Hilary Term, seemingly endless rain and then a prolonged spell of snow saw the Isis put out of action for weeks. Despite this, and the looming possibility of Torpids being a washout, all crews toiled away in the gym and on the ergs and their wishes were to come true as conditions righted themselves on the Isis just in time for Torpids. A lack of water time took its toll on W3 who failed to row on, but M3 performed fantastically, looking completely misplaced in Division 5 and slicing through the opposition to win blades, finishing 6 places up on where they had started. Our 2 nd boats, both of which were placed highly, were not as successful - M2 finished the week down 2 overall, being bumped on the first two days but finishing the week off by rowing superbly to avoid being bumped again, providing much excitement for spectators at the boathouse. W1 going for blades on Saturday
placing them among the elite of college rowing at 9 th in Division 1. Our lovely supporters! W2, on the other hand, will have every right to feel hard done by as they saw their hopes for success ruined by some dubious decisions made by the race committee: after bumping on Wednesday, they had a seemingly fine bump taken away from them on Thursday and were then stripped of another bump on Friday due to confusion in their division outside the boathouses. It is therefore unsurprising that their spirits had been crushed by Saturday and they succumbed to pressure from behind, getting bumped twice and ending the week one place down, after such a promising start. M1, in their shiny new Empacher, looked good and rowed very well to finish the week up two places, W1 capped two terms worth of training off with a blade-winning performance, and in what style! Bumping before the gut on Wednesday and then showing just how hard they had all been working by overbumping on Thursday and Friday by the boathouses and TRIPLE-OVERBUMPING (catching the boat that started the race 4 places ahead of them) on Saturday in front of their families, friends, and admirers just beyond boathouse island. Most impressive about their performance over the week was how they had managed to make up so much ground on the boats in front of them any boat in Division 1 would have been more than happy to look as good as they did. Overall, St John s finished 5 th in the college rankings, a result which ensured spirits were very high at Torpids Dinner! W1 will be the last boat from college to compete this term, racing in Women s Head of the River on Saturday 7 th March, which will hopefully be a unique and exciting experience for everyone in the boat. Following this, all eyes will look ahead to the summer which should again see some very competitive St John s crews taking to the water, especially M1 which will boast a star-studded lineup...
Beyond SJCBC Rower s Profile Benjamin Rosenberger Where, when, and why did you learn to row? I learned to row at St. John's in my first year practicing in a novice boat for Christ Church Regatta 2005. I thought I'd be alright at rowing, because I was fairly tall and quite sporty - the result of being a competitive swimmer and triathlete for most of my life but I was about the lankiest person you could imagine! What level do you row at now and what's in the pipeline - any ambitions? I have been a member of OUBC this academic year. I was very close to getting a seat in the second boat, ISIS, sitting at 4 early this year after the winter training camp. A stress injury on my rib seems to have put an end to my hope of making this crew and I am currently one of the 4 spares but I have been cycling instead of rowing for a while now. What's your personal rowing highlight? My biggest rowing "achievement" was probably being in the winning trial VIII "Bear" last December. It was certainly the only time that I was in a race that was being followed by an ITV camera crew, which made us all feel pretty special maybe I will be able to catch a glimpse of myself if they show the trial VIIIs video on TV as part of the coverage on Boat Race day! I've also been incredibly lucky that despite my limited rowing ability I have been training with world champions and Olympic medalists, and I thought it was pretty inspirational how much they care about the progress a college rower like me is making over the year. Having encouragement shouted at me by some of the best rowers in the world certainly kept me going during some hard training sessions. St John s College, Oxford OX1 3JP