SCCBC - Captains' Reports MT2007

Women's Boat Club

Lucy Rowland, Women's Captain

This term Catz has managed to recruit some very committed and highly enthusiastic novice women. We easily made two crews that were eager to give Christchurch their best shot. Both crews were extremely strong and showed the potential to do really well in Christchurch regatta very early on.

As well as an impressive commitment to their novice crew six of the novice girls took on training with the senior boat. The senior boat has been training hard all term both on and off the water. This paid off when we entered Isis winter league A and came second in the women's senior division despite the fact that the crew consisted of 5 novices. As well as Isis the girls also entered two crews in Nepthys regatta in order to gain experience for Christ church. Unfortunately despite an excellent effort the novice first boat caught an early crab against Balliol A, but made an excellent effort at fighting back once they restarted. Unfortunately the other novice crew had to be entered in the senior division when two senior rowers had to sub in at the last minute. However they made an excellent attempt at racing Balliol senior boat, which went on to win the event.

Although the weather was kind to us all term it was not to last; the heavens opened just before Christchurch and day after day came the e-mails cancelling racing. This was a huge disappointment for the girls who had put in so much time and effort into training. However as we all know it doesn't stop here! All girls training with the seniors have got their sights set on headship and will be training hard over the holiday to give it their best shot. Also the second boat is set to get blades as they start from a rowing on position in Torpids.

I want to say a huge thank you to all the girls that have given me 100% this term as well as to all the people who have helped me out especially Alex Zdravkovic, Malcolm Spencer and Jan Herzog. Also as always a thank you is owed to Rob Hollis who has trained us all term and will hopefully stick around to take us all the way to headship in Torpids.

Men's Boat Club

Tim Monger-Godfrey, Men's Captain

The term took a very positive start this year for the men’s squad, with very successful turnouts for both the trial water sessions, and the rowing BBQ. Helped by the run of good weather, we were able to put forward for training a squad able to fill three novice eights. Every member of the squad was keen to play their part in preparation for the upcoming Christ Church regatta.

It was not only the novice squad who were active this term, with dedicated senior boat training for early preparation in anticipation of Torpids. Many of the novice rowers were prepared to sub in for outings and join in with land training, and this has shown in their quick development within the boat club. Although the vast majority of the rowing has been training in eights, we were still able to put forward a crew for Autumn Fours. After only one training session, the crew, over several knock-out races reached the final, losing only to Brasenose A, achieving a hard-earned second place result.

The novice rowers had trained at levels which would not be uncommon for a senior squad, and this had shown in their constantly improving ergo times, and the quick advancement of their ability to row out on the water. We had been able to enjoy several weeks of good weather for training, and this water time was invaluable. However, the weather eventually turned against us (and the rest of Oxford), and the crews were not able to prove themselves in Christ Church regatta. However, although the novice men could not prove themselves on the water, they were more than able to prove themselves off it. The men's novice A boat entered New College Indoor Regatta, and won the event (by a considerable margin); a brilliant result.

The training for this year has taken a very positive start, with everyone dedicated to developing both themselves as rowers, and achieving success for the boat club through hard work and commitment. Everyone shared a genuine disappointment in the outcome of Christ Church regatta, but this has only spurred many of the rowers on in expectation of Torpids. With the men’s first boat starting in 6^th place in Division I, we have the ability to achieve a podium finish.

Finally, many thanks to everyone who has been involved in their support of the boat club, including the committee, the coaches, and most importantly, the rowers themselves. Everyone has played their part in helping achieve what was a very successful term, and I am sure that this success will continue into the New Year