Torpids 1971

BUMPS CHART

STANDINGS Start Finish Pos College Pts Pts College 1 Balliol 59 58 University 2 St John's 55 56 Balliol 3 Oriel 54 56 Oriel 4 Christ Church 51 48 Christ Church 5 University 48 46 St John's 6 New College 42 42 Queen's 7 St Edmund Hall 39 36 St Catherine's 8 Keble 33 32 Wadham 9 Wadham 30 31 St Edmund Hall 10 Lincoln 28 28 New College 11 Jesus 28 27 Jesus 12 Queen's 27 23 Worcester 13 St Catherine's 24 23 Lincoln 14 Hertford 18 23 Keble 15 Trinity 17 19 Magdalen 16 Worcester 17 15 Pembroke 17 Magdalen 14 14 Trinity 18 St Peter's 13 14 Brasenose 19 Brasenose 13 14 St Peter's 20 Merton 13 13 Hertford 21 Pembroke 13 12 Exeter 22 Exeter 10 11 Corpus Christi 23 Corpus Christi 10 9 Osler House 24 Osler House 6 7 Merton 25 Linacre 1 1 Linacre

STATISTICS College All Crews [ ]=rank Crews Bps Avg Pembroke 3[ 1] 15[ 1] 5.00[ 2] St Catherine's 2[ 8] 14[ 2] 7.00[ 1] Queen's 2[ 8] 10[ 3] 5.00[ 2] University 3[ 1] 5[ 4] 1.67[ 7] Osler House 1[20] 5[ 4] 5.00[ 2] Worcester 2[ 8] 4[ 6] 2.00[ 5] Wadham 2[ 8] 3[ 7] 1.50[ 8] St Edmund Hall 3[ 1] 3[ 7] 1.00[ 9] Corpus Christi 1[20] 2[ 9] 2.00[ 5] Brasenose 2[ 8] 1[10] 0.50[10] Exeter 2[ 8] 1[10] 0.50[10] Linacre 1[20] 0[12] 0.00[12] Oriel 3[ 1] 0[12] 0.00[12] St Peter's 2[ 8] -1[14] -0.50[14] Magdalen 2[ 8] -1[14] -0.50[14] Trinity 1[20] -2[16] -2.00[18] Jesus 2[ 8] -3[17] -1.50[17] Balliol 3[ 1] -4[18] -1.33[16] Hertford 1[20] -4[18] -4.00[23] Christ Church 2[ 8] -5[20] -2.50[19] Keble 2[ 8] -7[21] -3.50[22] New College 2[ 8] -8[22] -4.00[23] Merton 1[20] -9[23] -9.00[25] St John's 3[ 1] -9[23] -3.00[20] Lincoln 3[ 1] -10[25] -3.33[21]

• Wed 17 – Sat 20 Feb 1971
• Multilane racing.
• Divisions at 30 min intervals 2-4:30.
• First appearance of Linacre in Torpids.

• The Times coverage limited to publishing bumps charts alone

• The Daily Telegraph Wed 17 Feb, by a Special Correspondent

  Balliol likely to stay top

  The four days of Torpids begin at Oxford today, and as in recent years crews will race in two lanes with overtaking rather than bumping being the method of gaining places. This means all boats have to row the full course.

  Among the 51 crews the standard is no more than mediocre, and crews who have worked hard in training should do well. Balliol, trying to stay Head of the River for a third year, have five of last year's eight, and should have no great difficulty.

  Oriel, second last year, will probably fall to Christ Church, who are possibly nearly as fast as Balliol, but are unlikely to remove Balliol from the top. Oriel could also be caught by New College, who are well together and have some drive in their work. Starting order: [...]

• The Daily Telegraph Thu 18 Feb, by a Special Correspondent

  Balliol retain place at Head

  In the first day's racing in the Torpids at Oxford Balliol held their place at the head of the river but were hard pushed to do so.

  Oriel gained fast at the start and along the Green Bank to be a quarter of a length ahead at the Pink Post.

  At University Boat House, Balliol were level again and with the advantage of the last bend drew away to be a length in front at the finish.

  Christ Church rowed a disappointing race and there was never any suggestion that they were going to press Oriel. It was also a bad day for New College, who were passed by St John's and University.

  Start confusion

  St Edmund Hall's failure to get into position at the top of the Second Division in time for the start of that division, caused much confusion among the boats behind them.

  This required much sorting out by the umpires and as St Edmund Hall also failed to finish the course they were relegated several places for today's starting order. Finishing Order: [...]

• The Daily Telegraph Fri 19 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Balliol give no cause for alarm

  A head wind made conditions difficult for the second day of Torpids at Oxford and crews using their legs badly or not at all, or who were not sitting the boat properly, suffered greatly.

  Balliol, who had frightened their supporters on the first day, gave no cause for uneasiness yesterday — Oriel never gained on them at all.

  Along the Green Bank Balliol had a length of clear water and though they dropped their rate to 31 along the boathouses, they still held the same lead at the finish.

  Meanwhile Christ Church had been closing on Oriel and at the Pink Post were overlapping. But all the boats reached the finish with no changes from the starting order.

  St John's II bumped

  When University II bumped St John's II at Long Bridges in the Third Division, they took their place as the leading second boat. [Finish order]

• The Daily Telegraph Sat 20 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Balliol show steady pace to keep lead

  Balliol had their easiest passage in yesterday's Torpid at the Head of the River and at the University Boat House they had put a length and a quarter of clear water between themselves and Oriel. Christ Church, for their part, were looking rather heavy-handed and had made no impression on Oriel.

  Below them there was some damage when Worcester caught Keble and Magdalen caught Trinity. St Catherine's passed New College to continue a successful week.

  St Catherine's have now risen five places while the second eight's performance has been even better, with a gain of eight places.

  Osler House move up

  The medical men, racing as Osler House for the first time among the first boats in Division III, further established themselves by catching Pembroke at the bottom of the Green Bank.

  The most meteoric rise has been by Pembroke III. On the first day of Torpids they started in Division VI as bottom boat of the river and by the end of yesterday's racing they had gained 10 places and safely lodged themselves in Division V.

  This performance by a third boat is outstanding in its own class and shows how much can be done by a crew which is determined on achievement.

  It underlines also the futility of some boat clubs in putting on the river second crews which, by no stretch of the imagination, can be described as oarsmen. In such cases no service is done to the cause of future rowing at Oxford. [Finish Order].

• The Daily Telegraph Mon 22 Feb, by Cedric Venables

  Balliol just hold off Oriel challenge

  The Torpids at Oxford ended on a high note of excitement with Balliol still Head of the River but harassed all the way by Oriel on Saturday.

  At the top of the Green Bank Balliol's lead was just under a length with Oriel being on the inside of the final bend. Striking 35 to Balliol's 32, Oriel still gained and at the finish Balliol got there with a third of a length to spare.

  The upsurge of St Catherine's was halted by St John's. At the University boathouse St Catherine's had a lead of half a length but St John's, also profiting from the inside of the bend, fought back and regained the lead.

  For Queen's it has been a satisfactory week. Starting in 11th place last Wednesday, they made a daily advance to finish fifth and firmly established in the top division. The only change on Saturday in that division was a further fall by New College when they were caught by Wadham.

  St Edmund Hall hopes

  For so long St Edmund Hall have been a power in Oxford rowing that it was disappointing to see the first boat losing four places during four days of racing, but the future may be brighter as their second and third boats each made daily ascents. [Finish order] [Head of the River Crew — as below]

• In other news ... [1971]

  Monarch: Elizabeth II

  Prime Minister: Edward Heath (Conservative)

  Mon 15 Feb

  Decimal Day: The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency (see also decimalisation).

  Mon 15 Feb

  Enoch Powell predicted an "explosion" unless there was a massive repatriation scheme for the immigrants.

  Mon 15 Feb

  Protesting Belgian farmers bring 3 live cows to crash the EEC meeting in Brussels.

  Tue 16 Feb

  In Italy, a local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria; residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for 5 days because of the decision.

  Wed 17 Feb

  For the first time in 12 years, England won The Ashes, the quadrennial Test cricket tournament against Australia,

  Sat 20 Feb

  Fifty tornadoes rage in Mississippi and Louisiana, killing 74 people.

  Sat 20 Feb

  The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning across the nation's radio and television stations, meant to be a standard weekly test conducted by NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Some stations cease broadcasting until the message is rescinded, as required by federal rules, while most ignore it.

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