Torpids 1976

BUMPS CHARTS

STANDINGS Start Finish Pos College Pts Pts College 1 Oriel 91 98 Oriel 2 Christ Church 58 58 Balliol 3 University 57 56 Christ Church 4 Balliol 56 56 University 5 S.E.H. 45 46 Keble 6 New College 43 46 S.E.H. 7 Keble 43 46 New College 8 Worcester 43 42 Lincoln 9 Lincoln 38 31 Queen's 10 Jesus 36 30 Worcester 11 Magdalen 30 29 Magdalen 12 Queen's 28 28 Trinity 13 Wadham 28 27 Wadham 14 Trinity 26 27 Pembroke 15 Pembroke 23 23 Exeter 16 St John's 22 23 Jesus 17 St Peter's 21 21 Brasenose 18 Brasenose 21 19 Corpus Christi 19 Exeter 19 18 Merton 20 St Catherine's 18 17 St John's 21 Corpus Christi 15 16 St Catherine's 22 Merton 15 15 St Peter's 23 Osler House 12 11 Hertford 24 Hertford 7 10 Osler House 25 Wolfson 7 7 Wolfson 26 Mansfield 4 4 Mansfield

STATISTICS College All Crews [ ]=ranking Crews Bps Avg Corpus Christi 4[ 2] 12[ 1] 3.00[ 4] Oriel 5[ 1] 11[ 2] 2.20[ 6] Merton 2[ 8] 9[ 3] 4.50[ 2] Balliol 2[ 8] 7[ 4] 3.50[ 3] Queen's 3[ 3] 7[ 4] 2.33[ 5] Hertford 1[22] 6[ 6] 6.00[ 1] Pembroke 3[ 3] 6[ 6] 2.00[ 7] Keble 3[ 3] 3[ 8] 1.00[ 8] Mansfield 1[22] 1[ 9] 1.00[ 8] Exeter 2[ 8] 1[ 9] 0.50[10] Lincoln 2[ 8] 1[ 9] 0.50[10] New College 2[ 8] 1[ 9] 0.50[10] Wolfson 1[22] 0[13] 0.00[13] Trinity 2[ 8] 0[13] 0.00[13] Brasenose 2[ 8] -1[15] -0.50[15] Osler House 1[22] -2[16] -2.00[19] S.E.H. 3[ 3] -3[17] -1.00[16] University 3[ 3] -3[17] -1.00[16] Christ Church 2[ 8] -3[17] -1.50[18] St Catherine's 2[ 8] -5[20] -2.50[20] Wadham 2[ 8] -5[20] -2.50[20] Worcester 1[22] -5[20] -5.00[24] Magdalen 2[ 8] -7[23] -3.50[22] Jesus 2[ 8] -7[23] -3.50[22] St Peter's 2[ 8] -12[25] -6.00[25] St John's 2[ 8] -12[25] -6.00[25]

Notes

• Wed 25 – Sat 28 Feb 1976
• Multilane racing
• Divisions at 30min intervals from 1:30 until 4:00.
• A women's division was introduced into the Cambridge Lents for the first time.

• The Daily Telegraph Wed 25 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Oriel's pace should keep them head

  In spring-like weather yesterday, the river at Oxford was a pleasant spot, with the 57 crews who today start their battles in the Torpids putting in their final practice.

  But for some of the lower crews there was clearly room for something better.

  Even if the standard generally is rather low, there is every prospect of some tight racing at the top of the first division.

  Oriel, starting head, seem likely to stay there because neither Balliol not Chist Church have quite enough pace to catch them. Balliol are a rugged crew and may gain off the start, but it is doubtful if they will keep it up all the way.

  University challenge

  Christ Church have more style than any other crew on the river, but their style is not exactly converted to hard boat pushing.

  Certainly, the three top boats seem to be in a class by themselves and whether there will be any change on the final day to today's starting order is a matter for double although Christ Church may have some awkward moments from a tough University College crew starting in fourth place.

  Worcester, New College and Keble are the remaining first division crews, but none seem likely to do much damage.

  In past years some women's colleges have had Torpid crews. This year, as if to prove some nebulous point in the matter of sexual discrimination, the men are having the river to themselves. [Start Order]

• The Daily Telegraph Thu 26 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  No change at the top

  The first four crews in the leading division of the Torpids rowed through in unchanged order at Oxford yesterday.

  At the university boat house Balliol had gained nothing on Oriel, but Christ Church were not much more than a quarter of a length behind Balliol.

  University in fourth place, were clearly slower than the three leading boats and New College went up a place by catching Worcester along the Green Bank. Worcester escaped being bumped by Keble by only three feet.

  Generally, there was little to excite in the first three divsiions, and altogether there were only four [five?] changes of place.

  St. John's slump

  But in Division V, only Mansfield of the 10 crews came through without any trouble. St John's II, starting second, are now at the bottom of the division, having been bumped by New College [II], who had been passed by Balliol II and then bumped by Magdalen II who had also fallen to Merton II.

  Division VI, which should have started the day's proceedings, failed to get beyond the Gut, because two crews were late at the start, another broke to the wrong side of the river and Brasenose II added to the confusion with a broken rudder.

  The umpire had no option but to order a re-row. [Results]

• The Daily Telegraph Fri 27 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Oriel half way to 5th successive title

  Oriel had no trouble in dominating the second day of the Torpids at Oxford yesterday and are now half-way to retaining their place as head of the river for a fifth successive year.

  Along the Green Bank, striking 33, they were a length clear of Balliol, who were no more than a quarter of a length ahead of Christ Church.

  It was a good day for Oriel all round. In Division VI, their fourth and fifth boats made bumps, as did their third boat in Division IV. Only their second boat failed to make any advance, though at one time they seemed likely to overtake Lincoln.

  Most of the first boats seemed to have found their level. The only change in Division I was a bump by St Edmund Hall on Worcester, who were also passed by Keble.

  In Division II, Trinity caught Jesus along the Green Bank and Exeter moved from bottom place by overtaking St John's.

  This is an important year for Hertford, as they are celebrating the centenary of the boat club. They have only one boat on the river for Torpids, but have gained four places in two days. [Results]

• The Daily Telegraph Sat 28 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Lincoln pass Worcester as Oriel keep lead.

  With two days of racing experience behind them there was considerable improvement yesterday in some of the Torpid crews and they produced some keen struggles.

  The leading boats in the First Division again rowed through in unchanged order, with Oriel quite untroubled to hold their place at the top.

  In fact, the one change in rowing order was in the bottom crews of the division when Lincoln took the lead from Worcester at the top of the Green Bank.

  In the next two divisions there was also not much change. In Division II Jesus were passed by Wadham in the Gut and were then further humbled when Queen's bumped them along the Green Bank. Also in the Gut, Pembroke overtook St John's.

  Corpus crab

  In Division III Corpus, in front of their own boathouse, were in the process of overtaking St Catherine's when one of their crew caught a crab and St Catherine's, to their great relief, were allowed to escape. Hertford, however, made no such mistake and caught University II near the Gut.

  The surprise of the day was in Division VI in which the standard is low and crews are liable to land themselves or their opponents in all sorts of problems. But yesterday, in what must be a record, there was only one change of order, when Oriel V caught Keble III. [Results]

• The Daily Telegraph Mon 1 Mar, by Cedric Venables

  Oriel survive Balliol threat and set record

  Oriel held their place at the Head of the River at Oxford for a fifth successive year to create a record in Torpids, but they had some anxious moments.

  It was their hardest race of the week as Balliol, on Saturday's showing, were clearly faster and went very near to a sensational win.

  At the OUBC Oriel had only a quarter of a length of clear water and Balliol, on the Berkshire [towpath] station, which gave them the advantage on the final bend, were closing the gap with every stroke.

  Balliol were soon overlapping, but Oriel held on to win by a quarter of a length. It was a fine finale between two outstanding Torpid eights.

  The winning crew was: [as below]. [Final Order] [Results]

• The Times coverage was mostly limited to just the bumps charts, apart from extract below. Note there is an error in the Times chart which shows Lincoln passing Worcester on the Saturday rather than Friday, as in the Telegraph headline.

• The Times Mon 1 March

  Oriel set record

  Oriel College set a rowing record on Saturday when they finished head of the Oxford University Torpids for the fifth consecutive year.

• Letter to The Times Sat 6 March

  Head of Torpids From Sir Herbert Thompson
  Sir, The claim of Oriel which you report today (March 1) to a record in rowing head of Torpids for the fifth sucessive year is inaccurate. The record is still held by Brasenose who held the headship for the ninth successive year in 1894. Nature then added a full stop by freezing the Isis in 1895. The Regius Professor of Modern History is a fellow of Oriel but, alas, there seems to be a cobweb over their famous window.
  Yours faithfully,
  Herbert Thompson

• Oriel maintained the Torpids Headship from 1972 until 1990, setting a new record of 18 years (excluding 1977 when Torpids was not raced).

• In other news ... [1976]

  Feb 26

  The Spanish Armed Forces withdraw from Western Sahara.

  Feb 27

  The Polisario Front, Western Sahara's national liberation movement, declares independence of the territory under the name "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic".

  Feb 28

  Madagascar becomes the first country to recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

  March 1

  Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.

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