Torpids 1998

MEN'S BUMPS WOMEN'S BUMPS

STANDINGS Start Finish Pos College Pts Pts College 1 Oriel 178 159 Oriel 2 New College 121 131 New College 3 Pembroke 116 117 Pembroke 4 University 114 107 University 5 St Catherine's 99 100 St Catherine's 6 Wadham 95 97 Christ Church 7 Osler-Green 92 91 Lincoln 8 Brasenose 92 90 Osler-Green 9 Lincoln 89 89 Magdalen 10 Magdalen 88 84 Brasenose 11 Christ Church 85 83 Wadham 12 L.M.H. 71 82 L.M.H. 13 Trinity 67 75 Trinity 14 S.E.H. 64 67 S.E.H. 15 Worcester 62 66 Worcester 16 Exeter 62 64 Exeter 17 Wolfson 56 62 St John's 18 Queen's 56 61 Queen's 19 St John's 54 57 Merton 20 Balliol 51 51 Wolfson 21 Merton 49 47 Hertford 22 Jesus 46 44 Keble 23 Somerville 44 42 St Peter's 24 Hertford 43 41 Balliol 25 Keble 42 40 Somerville 26 St Peter's 40 38 Jesus 27 St Hilda's 39 34 St Anne's 28 St Anne's 33 26 Mansfield 29 Linacre 26 26 Linacre 30 Mansfield 25 23 St Hilda's 31 Corpus Christi 20 23 Corpus Christi 32 St Hugh's 17 20 St Hugh's 33 Regent's Park 7 7 Regent's Park 34 St Antony's 4 5 St Antony's 35 St Benet's Hall 3 3 St Benet's Hall

STATISTICS College All Crews Men's Crews Women's Crews [ ]=ranking Crews Bps Avg Crews Bps Avg Crews Bps Avg St John's 4[10] 11[ 1] 2.75[ 1] 2[10] 4[ 8] 2.00[ 8] 2[ 4] 7[ 1] 3.50[ 1] New College 4[10] 10[ 2] 2.50[ 2] 2[10] 6[ 1] 3.00[ 1] 2[ 4] 4[ 5] 2.00[ 5] L.M.H. 5[ 4] 9[ 3] 1.80[ 6] 3[ 3] 4[ 8] 1.33[13] 2[ 4] 5[ 3] 2.50[ 4] St Hugh's 3[24] 7[ 4] 2.33[ 3] 1[29] 0[20] 0.00[20] 2[ 4] 7[ 1] 3.50[ 1] Merton 4[10] 7[ 4] 1.75[ 7] 2[10] 5[ 3] 2.50[ 4] 2[ 4] 2[ 9] 1.00[11] Queen's 3[24] 6[ 6] 2.00[ 4] 2[10] 4[ 8] 2.00[ 8] 1[25] 2[ 9] 2.00[ 5] St Peter's 5[ 4] 6[ 6] 1.20[13] 2[10] 1[17] 0.50[17] 3[ 1] 5[ 3] 1.67[10] St Catherine's 5[ 4] 6[ 6] 1.20[13] 3[ 3] 4[ 8] 1.33[13] 2[ 4] 2[ 9] 1.00[11] Magdalen 6[ 1] 6[ 6] 1.00[15] 3[ 3] 5[ 3] 1.67[11] 3[ 1] 1[14] 0.33[17] Corpus Christi 3[24] 5[10] 1.67[ 8] 2[10] 4[ 8] 2.00[ 8] 1[25] 1[14] 1.00[11] Trinity 3[24] 5[10] 1.67[ 8] 2[10] 2[16] 1.00[15] 1[25] 3[ 8] 3.00[ 3] St Anne's 4[10] 5[10] 1.25[10] 2[10] 5[ 3] 2.50[ 4] 2[ 4] 0[18] 0.00[18] Hertford 4[10] 5[10] 1.25[10] 2[10] 5[ 3] 2.50[ 4] 2[ 4] 0[18] 0.00[18] Worcester 4[10] 5[10] 1.25[10] 2[10] 5[ 3] 2.50[ 4] 2[ 4] 0[18] 0.00[18] Christ Church 4[10] 4[15] 1.00[15] 2[10] 3[13] 1.50[12] 2[ 4] 1[14] 0.50[16] Pembroke 5[ 4] 4[15] 0.80[17] 3[ 3] 0[20] 0.00[20] 2[ 4] 4[ 5] 2.00[ 5] St Antony's 1[34] 2[17] 2.00[ 4] 1[25] 2[ 9] 2.00[ 5] Keble 3[24] 2[17] 0.67[18] 2[10] 6[ 1] 3.00[ 1] 1[25] -4[30] -4.00[31] University 6[ 1] 2[17] 0.33[19] 5[ 1] 1[17] 0.20[19] 1[25] 1[14] 1.00[11] S.E.H. 5[ 4] 1[20] 0.20[20] 3[ 3] 3[13] 1.00[15] 2[ 4] -2[22] -1.00[22] Mansfield 4[10] -1[21] -0.25[21] 2[10] 1[17] 0.50[17] 2[ 4] -2[22] -1.00[22] Osler-Green 3[24] -1[21] -0.33[22] 1[29] -5[27] -5.00[33] 2[ 4] 4[ 5] 2.00[ 5] Somerville 3[24] -3[23] -1.00[23] 1[29] 3[13] 3.00[ 1] 2[ 4] -6[31] -3.00[28] St Benet's Hall 1[34] -4[24] -4.00[34] 1[29] -4[24] -4.00[29] Regent's Park 2[32] -5[25] -2.50[31] 1[29] -4[24] -4.00[29] 1[25] -1[21] -1.00[22] Wolfson 5[ 4] -7[26] -1.40[24] 2[10] -5[27] -2.50[25] 3[ 1] -2[22] -0.67[21] Linacre 4[10] -7[26] -1.75[25] 2[10] -5[27] -2.50[25] 2[ 4] -2[22] -1.00[22] Brasenose 4[10] -7[26] -1.75[25] 3[ 3] -4[24] -1.33[24] 1[25] -3[28] -3.00[28] St Hilda's 2[32] -8[29] -4.00[34] 2[ 4] -8[32] -4.00[31] Jesus 4[10] -9[30] -2.25[28] 2[10] -7[30] -3.50[27] 2[ 4] -2[22] -1.00[22] Wadham 4[10] -9[30] -2.25[28] 2[10] -1[22] -0.50[22] 2[ 4] -8[32] -4.00[31] Lincoln 4[10] -9[30] -2.25[28] 2[10] -1[22] -0.50[22] 2[ 4] -8[32] -4.00[31] Exeter 3[24] -11[33] -3.67[32] 2[10] -8[31] -4.00[29] 1[25] -3[28] -3.00[28] Oriel 6[ 1] -12[34] -2.00[27] 4[ 2] -14[33] -3.50[27] 2[ 4] 2[ 9] 1.00[11] Balliol 4[10] -15[35] -3.75[33] 3[ 3] -13[32] -4.33[32] 1[25] -2[22] -2.00[27]

Notes

• Wed 4 – Fri 6 March, 1998
• Number of Men's Divisions reduced from 7 to 6, number of Womens' Divisions increased from 4 to 5.
• Last day's racing cancelled due to a combination of strong winds and high stream

• The Daily Telegraph Wed 4 March

  The Oxford Torpids, disrupted frequently in recent years by bad weather and fast streams, have benefited during training this term from unusually benign conditions and should, for once, face no problems during this week's racing.

  It is almost tradition that Oriel start Head of the River, so complete has been their domination of rowing on the Isis for a quarter of a century.

  Their immediate challengers today will be Pembroke and Magdalen, neither of whom provided a serious threat last year, but form can change considerably from year to year.

  Osler-Green, the top women's crew for the past three years, were made to work to hold their place by St Catherine's last year, but they, too, are having a good spell and should resist any challenge this week. [Starting Order]

• The Times Thu 5 March

  Oriel and Osler-Green look set to retain the headships in the top two divisions on the evidence of the first day of the Oxford University Torpids on the Isis yesterday. Osler were four lengths clear of St Catherine's in the women's first division and the following five crews were so evenly spaced that few bumps can be expected in the remaining three days. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Thu 5 March

  At the first session of the Oxford Torpids, the opening strokes of all-conquering Oriel took them hurtling into the bank.

  Osler-Green escaped St Catherine's in the women's divisions, and Trinity caught St Hilda's, who sustained rudder damage. [List of Bumps & Starting Order]

• The Times Fri 6 March

  Oriel supreme

  There were several positional changes in the men's and women's first divisions but the top crews, Oriel and Osler-Green were never threatened in the Oxford University Torpids yesterday.

  Oriel rowed over a length clear of Pembroke in the men's first division, where Magdalen, one of the fancied crews, were within inches of being caught. Osler-Green comfortably held off St Catherine's, who were under some pressure from New College. [List of Bumps]

• The Daily Telegraph Fri 6 March and Sat 7 March just contain lists of bumps and the new starting orders.

• The Times contains no coverage apart from the finishing order on Mon 9 March

• The Daily Telegraph Mon 9 March

  Fast stream conditions on the Isis forced the fourth day of Oxford University Torpids to be cancelled. [Finishing Order]

• Review from the 1998 Eights Programme, by William Breeze

  The rowers and spectators of Torpids this year were deprived of the final day's racing, providing something of an anti-climax to the exhilaration of the first three days. Oriel remain unbumped off Head for the twenty-seventh year in a row, with no threat coming from a very fast Pembroke crew, which in its turn rowed well clear of those chasing. New College moved up two places to third on the river; otherwise the top boats were relatively static. Oriel II, after last year's success, dropped four places and became sandwich boat in the process; their decline seemed almost minor beside that of Exeter II, who marked this year's biggest fall in going down eleven places.

  In the women's divisions Osler-Green dominated, rowing over very comfortably all three days.

  There was some controversy over the awarding of blades after only three days of racing; among those who might have won them were Trinity, Lincoln and St John's, all of whom moved up at the expense of St Hilda's.

• Men's head crew details taken from the photo caption in the 1998 Eights Programme

• In other news ... [1998]

  March 3

  Millennium Dome construction begin

  March 5

  NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station.

  March 6

  Closure of South Crofty, the last working tin mine in Cornwall.

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