Eights 1987

MEN'S BUMPS WOMEN'S BUMPS

STANDINGS Start Finish Pos College Pts Pts College 1 Oriel 194 208 Oriel 2 New College 182 193 New College 3 Keble 175 169 University 4 University 168 166 Christ Church 5 Christ Church 168 160 Keble 6 Worcester 159 152 Worcester 7 S.E.H. 137 147 Pembroke 8 Lincoln 135 142 Wadham 9 Pembroke 132 140 S.E.H. 10 Wadham 128 131 Lincoln 11 Balliol 123 121 Balliol 12 Osler House 116 111 St Hugh's 13 St Catherine's 115 111 Hertford 14 Magdalen 108 108 Osler House 15 St Hugh's 107 107 Brasenose 16 Exeter 101 107 St Catherine's 17 Brasenose 100 104 St John's 18 Jesus 97 95 Magdalen 19 Hertford 96 93 L.M.H. 20 Trinity 94 92 Queen's 21 St John's 92 91 Trinity 22 Queen's 88 89 Exeter 23 L.M.H. 85 83 Jesus 24 Corpus Christi 84 79 Wolfson 25 Wolfson 80 75 Corpus Christi 26 Somerville 75 73 Somerville 27 St Hilda's 67 60 St Anne's 28 St Anne's 66 59 St Peter's 29 Merton 66 58 St Hilda's 30 St Peter's 52 56 Merton 31 Mansfield 29 33 Mansfield 32 Linacre 22 25 Linacre 33 Regent's Park 5 5 Regent's Park 34 Templeton 3 3 Templeton

STATISTICS College All Crews Men's Crews Women's Crews [ ]=ranking Crews Bps Avg Crews Bps Avg Crews Bps Avg New College 7[ 2] 20[ 1] 2.86[ 3] 5[ 2] 14[ 1] 2.80[ 3] 2[ 6] 6[ 3] 3.00[ 3] Hertford 7[ 2] 16[ 2] 2.29[ 6] 5[ 2] 14[ 1] 2.80[ 3] 2[ 6] 2[ 7] 1.00[11] Oriel 8[ 1] 16[ 2] 2.00[ 7] 6[ 1] 7[ 5] 1.17[11] 2[ 6] 9[ 1] 4.50[ 1] St Peter's 4[23] 14[ 4] 3.50[ 1] 3[18] 11[ 3] 3.67[ 2] 1[21] 3[ 6] 3.00[ 3] St John's 7[ 2] 10[ 5] 1.43[ 8] 5[ 2] 8[ 4] 1.60[ 7] 2[ 6] 2[ 7] 1.00[11] Mansfield 3[28] 7[ 6] 2.33[ 5] 2[24] 5[ 6] 2.50[ 5] 1[21] 2[ 7] 2.00[ 6] Wadham 5[15] 7[ 6] 1.40[ 9] 3[18] 0[16] 0.00[16] 2[ 6] 7[ 2] 3.50[ 2] Linacre 2[32] 6[ 8] 3.00[ 2] 1[30] 4[10] 4.00[ 1] 1[21] 2[ 7] 2.00[ 6] Templeton 2[32] 5[ 9] 2.50[ 4] 2[24] 5[ 6] 2.50[ 5] Wolfson 5[15] 5[ 9] 1.00[10] 2[24] 1[14] 0.50[13] 3[ 3] 4[ 5] 1.33[10] L.M.H. 6[ 8] 4[11] 0.67[11] 4[ 9] 5[ 6] 1.25[ 9] 2[ 6] -1[18] -0.50[19] St Hugh's 5[15] 2[12] 0.40[12] 5[ 1] 2[ 7] 0.40[16] Brasenose 6[ 8] 2[12] 0.33[13] 4[ 9] -3[18] -0.75[19] 2[ 6] 5[ 4] 2.50[ 5] Christ Church 6[ 8] 1[14] 0.17[14] 5[ 2] 2[13] 0.40[15] 1[21] -1[18] -1.00[21] St Anne's 3[28] 0[15] 0.00[15] 2[24] 3[11] 1.50[ 8] 1[21] -3[26] -3.00[30] Osler House 3[28] 0[15] 0.00[15] 2[24] 1[14] 0.50[13] 1[21] -1[18] -1.00[21] Worcester 7[ 2] 0[15] 0.00[15] 4[ 9] 5[ 6] 1.25[ 9] 3[ 3] -5[28] -1.67[27] Queen's 5[15] -1[18] -0.20[18] 3[18] 0[16] 0.00[16] 2[ 6] -1[18] -0.50[19] Somerville 3[28] -1[18] -0.33[19] 3[ 3] -1[18] -0.33[18] S.E.H. 6[ 8] -2[20] -0.33[19] 5[ 2] -3[18] -0.60[18] 1[21] 1[14] 1.00[11] Trinity 5[15] -2[20] -0.40[21] 4[ 9] -3[18] -0.75[19] 1[21] 1[14] 1.00[11] Pembroke 4[23] -2[20] -0.50[22] 3[18] -4[22] -1.33[21] 1[21] 2[ 7] 2.00[ 6] Exeter 5[15] -4[23] -0.80[23] 4[ 9] -6[25] -1.50[22] 1[21] 2[ 7] 2.00[ 6] Corpus Christi 4[23] -4[23] -1.00[25] 2[24] -4[22] -2.00[27] 2[ 6] 0[17] 0.00[17] Regent's Park 2[32] -4[23] -2.00[29] 1[30] -3[18] -3.00[30] 1[21] -1[18] -1.00[21] St Catherine's 6[ 8] -5[26] -0.83[24] 4[ 9] 3[11] 0.75[12] 2[ 6] -8[33] -4.00[32] St Hilda's 4[23] -6[27] -1.50[26] 4[ 2] -6[31] -1.50[26] Magdalen 5[15] -8[28] -1.60[27] 4[ 9] -7[26] -1.75[24] 1[21] -1[18] -1.00[21] Merton 4[23] -9[29] -2.25[32] 3[18] -5[24] -1.67[23] 1[21] -4[27] -4.00[32] Lincoln 6[ 8] -10[30] -1.67[28] 4[ 9] -8[29] -2.00[27] 2[ 6] -2[25] -1.00[21] Jesus 5[15] -12[31] -2.40[33] 3[18] -7[26] -2.33[29] 2[ 6] -5[28] -2.50[28] Balliol 6[ 8] -13[32] -2.17[31] 4[ 9] -7[26] -1.75[24] 2[ 6] -6[31] -3.00[30] University 7[ 2] -14[33] -2.00[29] 5[ 2] -9[30] -1.80[26] 2[ 6] -5[28] -2.50[28] Keble 7[ 2] -18[34] -2.57[34] 5[ 2] -19[31] -3.80[31] 2[ 6] 1[14] 0.50[15]

Notes

• Wed 27 – Sat 30 May 1987

• The Times Wed 27 May, By Jim Railton

  Americans return to action

  All the top American Olympic and world medal oarsmen, who opted out of this year's Oxford University Boat Race crew, compete for their colleges in the Oxford Summer Eights which start today.

  Dan Lyons, the world champion in coxless fours, strokes a very talented Oriel crew. The new Oxford president, Chris Penny, who is an Olympic silver medal winner, competes for St John's, with Chris Huntingdon aboard the Mansfield eight and the Pan-American medal winner, Chris Clarke [Clark], in the University College first eight.

  Oriel look poised for the headship. Apart from Lyons, the Oriel eight have on board the Oxford Blues Tony Ward, Richard Hull and Peter Gish together with two Isis oarsmen. That is a good line-up for a college crew. The talent available at Oriel is such that their captain of boats, Jeff Austin, cannot find a place in the boat.

  New College, who start head today, will attempt to hold Oriel off with the Blues Rob Clay and Tom Cadoux-Hudson on board and will not sell their lives cheaply. But New College have a formidable task to hold onto their headship. The starting order of the top six crews today is New College, Oriel, Christ Church, University, Worcester and St Edmund Hall.

  The first race today is at 11.25 a.m. with the top women's division at 6 p.m. followed by the men's first division half an hour later. Somerville lead off the top women's division immediately pursued by Osler House and St Hilda's.

• The Daily Telegraph Wed 27 May, By Geoffrey Page

  Star-studded Oriel are favourites for Headship

  Oriel are hot favourites to regain the Headship in the Oxford Summer Eights, which begin today. Head for seven consecutive seasons before being toppled in 1985, they were foiled in their attempt to regain the title last year.

  This year, starting second behind New College, they have a star-studded crew stroked by their American 1986 world champion, Dan Lyons, one of the leading dissidents in this year's Boat Race rebellion.

  Also in the Oriel crew are the new OUBC secretary, Richard Hull, Tony Ward and a second American, Peter Gish, all of whom rowed in this year's winning Oxford crew, and two Isis oarsmen.

  As Oriel are coached by another American international, John Fish, who dropped out as Oxford's originally selected cox, it is hard to see them failing to catch New College, despite the presence of two experienced Blues in the latter crew, Rob Clay and international Tom Cadoux-Hudson. [Starting Order]

• The Times Thu 28 May, By Jim Railton

  Collision shock for New

  The first day of the Oxford summer eights started yesterday with a rich harvest of bumps, but it opened in near-chaos when the men's head crew, New College, collided with Worcester during the warm-up

  The New College boat was damaged, and they indicated that they wished to postpone the top division until this morning. Their crew looked pretty shaken up, and their bow man, Mal Smyth, was lucky to escape serious injury.

  At first the senior umpire, Anu Dudhia, ordered New College to row in a borrowed boat and racing was delayed by an hour. However, the decision was then changed, and the top division eventually went off without the top two crews, New College and Oriel, by agreement, apparently, with the rest of the division. New College and Oriel will hold their two top positions at the start of racing today.

  Christ Church, who were scheduled to start third, led off the men's parade, but were bumped by University. Other gains in the first division were made by Pembroke and Lincoln.

  Somerville cruised over at 32 to retain their headship of the top women's division a length-and-a-half over Osler House. St Hugh's, Wadham and Brasenose made gains at the top of the women's division. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Thu 28 May, By a Special Correspondent

  Collision puts New College out of race

  Both the bow and bow-oar of New College's first eight were damaged in a pre-race collision with Worcester College on the first day of the Oxford Summer Eights and racing went ahead without them.

  University deposed Christ Church, who were head of the remnants, and Worcester rowed over in third place, oblivious of the upsets they had caused to New College, who were defending head position and challengers Oriel.

  Somerville resisted a last-minute challenge from Osler House and finished Head of the Women's divisions. St Hilda's, in third place, offered no threat. [List of Bumps]

• The Times Fri 29 May, By Jim Railton

  Oriel take grudge race

  The real battle for the Headship began yesterday evening on the second day of the Oxford summer eights, when New College and Oriel joined the fray (Jim Railton writes). These two top crews had been excused from the competition on Wednesday after New College collided with Worcester during a warm-up.

  Oriel sportingly offered not to row either, but in effect, they were also saving their energies for last night's grudge match with New College.

  The race was one to savour. New College, stroked by the Blue, Rob Clay, had conceded half a length by the Gut. Dan Lyons, the American world champion, aggressively stroked Oriel in pursuit, Oriel progressively wore down the head crew and New College surrendered gamely, having given everything in defence of their headship.

  The only other bump in the men's top division was Pembroke overhauling Magdalen. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Fri 29 May, By a Special Correspondent

  Oriel lead the Eights

  Oriel went head of the Oxford Summer Eights when they caught New College at the end of the Green Bank. Pembroke took Magdalen down another notch, but St Edmund Hall escaped Keble by two feet.

  Somerville dominated the women's divisions with Osler House making no impression behind them. St Hugh's moved up into third place with a bump on St Hilda's. [List of Bumps]

• The Times Sat 30 May, By Jim Railton

  Oriel to face Italians in unique challenge

  Oriel, who went head on Thursday at the expense of New College, rowed superbly yesterday, stroked by American world champion Dan Lyons and with three blues on board (Jim Railton writes). They opened up more distance on New College, who concentrated on University. Oriel now look well set for the headship today.

  Somerville, at the top of the women's first division for the third day running yesterday, were stroked by the new Oxford lightweight president, Erica Othen. Osler House, who started second, were bumped by St Hugh's and then appealed. Osler claimed that the Somerville bung line was left trailing in the water and impeded their progress. The appeal was not upheld, but had it gone against Somerville they would have received a technical bump, losing their headship to Osler, which would have been an injustice. Somerville, for their transgression, were fined £10.

  Whoever finishes head crew today in the Oxford Summer Eights — and that looks like Oriel — will face an unprecedented task. As soon as the men's top division finishes, the head crew will spin round and go back down to the course to race against a top Italian university crew.

  Pavia University flew in yesterday afternoon with four world lightweight world champions specially for this race, but someone had forgotten to lay on accommodation and the Latins are, not unexpectedly, far from pleased. At the request of the new Oxford president, American international Chris Penny, the organizers yesterday asked several times over the public address system for students to offer accommodation and matters were being sorted out velocemente. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Sat 30 May, By a Special Correspondent

  Oriel keep in top spot

  There was no change in the order — Oriel, New College, University, Christ Church, Worcester — at the head of Men's Division One in the third night of the Oxford summer eights.

  The margins between the crews as they passed the University boat-house were so well pronounced that a bump was not in prospect. If the same order finishes tonight's race, the head crew, in an unprecedented manoeuvre, will immediately row back to the start of the course and race against Pavia University, Italy, who watched yesterday's races.

  They arrived in Oxford, to return a challenge, one half of which had been rowed last year, and were considerably disappointed to find that no provision had been made for their accommodation.

  St Hugh's moved into second place in the Women's Division by a bump on Osler House but Osler made the most of an appeal for picking up the head crew, Somerville's bung line. [List of Bumps]

• The Times Mon 1 June

  The splendid Oriel crew, who went head on Thursday, predictably finished as the top Oxford college crew in the Oxford Summer Eights on Saturday. Oriel, who with New College were excused racing on Wednesday (after the latter had collided with Worcester during a warm-up), finished in style on Saturday actually racing twice.

  Oriel flashed down the course with their American international world champion Day Lyons stroking on bowside up to 36 to defend the head title they took on Thursday. Half an hour later, in front of a large crowd, Oriel raced Pavia University of Italy over approximately 500 metres and came home three quarters of a length ahead. Lyons had behind him three Oxford Blues, two Isis oarsmen supplemented by two outstanding college oarsmen. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Mon 1 June

  Oriel easily top eight

  Oriel and Somerville rowed over as men's and women's Head crews on the last night of the Oxford Summer Eights on Saturday.

  New College in second place posed a realistic challenge to Oriel's supremacy, but it was not sufficiently taxing to stop the Head crew paddling straight back to the start of a short course race once the bumps were over.

  There they beat Pavia, an Italian University crew reputedly of world lightweight class. The winning margin was three-quarters of a length. Pembroke and Hertford earned their blades. [List of Bumps] [Finish Order] [Head Crews — as below]

• The Times Tue 2 June

  Somerville and Oriel finish first

  Oriel, who never seemed likely to be caught after going head on Thursday, duly finished as the top Oxford men's crew in the summer eights over the weekend. Somerville successfully defended their title as the top women's crew. [Bumps Chart]

• Review from the 1988 Eights Programme

  The weather for Eights Week last year was generally pleasant, though something of a deluge took place towards the evening of the Saturday; it coincided with a long delay to the Men's Second Division, but in spite of this the number of spectators did not greatly diminish, and the sun came out before the end of racing.

  There looked to be a splendid contest for the Headship: New College, defending, had two Blues, an Isis man, a lightweight, an American of high standard, and one other who has since made Isis; Oriel, in second place, had three Blues, two Isis men and the American World Champion, Lyons, at stroke. Furthermore, Oriel had performed well at Elite level in various regattas, not losing a race. On the first day of racing, however, spectators were denied a chance to see these crews race because of a collision during the warm-up period between New College and Worcester, which put the former's boat and bow-man temporarily out of action. After much discussion, it was decided to row the First Division that day without the two top crews: the logic behind this was not faultless, but it was hard to see what else could be done. On the second day, however, Oriel bumped New College with a swift burst at the top of the Greenbank, and thereafter held the Headship.

  University, after several years of hard work, were rewarded when they moved into the top three, by bumping Christ Church, who were then to find themselves under severe pressure from Worcester. In sixth place finished Pembroke, who won their blades with some ease: ther reverse fate was undergone by Magdalen, being bumped every day.

  In the second division, Hertford won blades: they managed to stay together and train properly for Henley, where they performed well in the Thames Cup, beating a selected crew and recording a fast time before losing in the third round.

  The Women's Headship was won with some ease by Somerville, the holders. St Hugh's were also impressive, moving up from fifth to second place; but they were unable to make an impression on the Head crew. In the same division Wadham won their blades.

  After normal racing had ended on the last day, a surprise was in store: an Italian lightweight crew under the name of Pavia University, containing four World Champions and others who made a part of the 1987 World Champion Italian Lightweight VIII, was present to take on the Head crew. So Oriel lined up to race them from Tims' to the top end of the Boathouses, producing their best row of the week, they won by nearly a length, and revealed themselves the best college crew for many years.

• Head crew details from the photo captions in the 1988 Eights Programme.

• In other news ... [1987]

  May 27

  In one of the densest concentrations of humanity in history, a crowd of 800,000+ packed shoulder-to-shoulder onto the Golden Gate Bridge and its approaches for its 50th Anniversary celebration.

  May 28

  Eighteen-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained (released on August 3, 1988).

Somerville
B:	Sophy Dodd
2:	Sian Wareing
3:	Babs Carter
4:	Gosia Grzyb
5:	Debbie Rogerson
6:	Helen Newsam
7:	Carys Cassidy
S:	Erica Othen
C:	Sarah Holmes
Coaches:	Jamie Elwin
	Steve Walter
	Nick Upton

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