The Head of the River
The temperature is rising and examinations are looming ever closer. It can only mean one thing: Summer Eights is upon us. For some of Oxford's students, this means Pimms by the river and a break from study. For the four men and women who met at the Head of the River pub on Saturday, the agenda is very different.
Eights, beginning on Wednesday of fifth week, is Oxford's biggest bumps racing competition. Each college enters several men's and women's crews and will be hoping to 'bump' the boat in front of them by making physical contact or have the opposition's cox concede.
Lower division boats aim to work their way up their division, but those who met The OxStu on Saturday have a harder challenge in front of them.
Representing the men's crews were Pembroke Captain, Andrew Fabricius and Oriel and Blues' 2002 Boat Race winning cox Peter Hackworth. Pembroke currently lie at the Head of the River, or first in Division One, after bumping Oriel on the first day of last year's racing. To retain this honour, they must row the entire Isis course without being bumped, for every day of the competition. They will be hotly pursued by Oriel who are intent on regaining the headship and adding to last term's Torpids victory.
Pembroke's women, represented by Kaleen Love, must complete the same task as their men's crew to hold on to their title. New College, captained by Emily Richards, will be hoping to bump Pembroke women and claim the coveted title of Head of the River.
Summer VIIIs represents the culmination of a year of training for both Oriel and Pembroke squads. Both crews have been conducting race practice away from the Isis, Oriel travelling to the public arena of Bedford Regatta last weekend, and Pembroke arranging private match races against strong crews from Abingdon School and LMH. Oriel won the College VIIIs Event at Bedford, but were narrowly turned over by Magdalen over a similar course to the Isis stretch. As far as Hackworth is concerned it should not have too much effect on VIIIs: "Bedford was an interesting day of racing. It's a shame Pembroke couldn't be there. For one thing, it showed that Oxford colleges continue to be faster than their Cambridge counterparts. Magdalen raced very aggressively, but we don't think that they will have the speed to bump up one and a half lengths over a four minute course." As far as the Headship is concerned, Fabricius recognises the dangers of being arrogant about holding it against concerted efforts from chasing crews, but is still quietly confident that this will be another pink year. Is he worried that Pembroke are missing their usual Blues contingent? "Its always good to have the guys coming back to row, but in some ways having to retain the Headship with college rowers is great motivation. You can only work with what you have, and I think we have done enough to hold the headship." Both Fabricius and Hackworth concede that Pembroke do have the advantage of rowing in clean water. Hackworth argues: "there is a huge advantage in starting Head. The cards are all in Pembroke's hands. We'll just have to see what happens on the day." Given that faster crews are not guaranteed victory in bumps racing, we discuss whether this Oxford tradition has its place in rowing. Fabricius believes the idiosyncracies of bumps racing are part of its appeal: "It's true that the bumps format can be unfair for fast crews, especially if they're stuck in lower divisions. But it's unique and I think it should be kept as a tradition. It's not just about one year - it's what the College has been able to achieve over decades. You get the responsibility of carrying on the tradition as well." Whether the boats burn in Pembroke or Oriel on Saturday night, we can be sure that the rivalry for the men's Head of the River will be as hot as ever.
The women's crews are no less driven than the men. Both Love and Richards relished the thought of facing each other on the water, but today they were restrained to friendly discussion. Love is confident Pembroke can stay at the Head of the River. Richards on the other hand sees Pembroke as a challenge, but believes New's chances of victory are good if their racing goes to plan. Both agree that their confidence lay in the fact that they were rowing with experienced and dedicated crews, each counting roughly thirty years of experience between the eight women in their boats. As Love pointed out, some of their rowers have been rowing in this kind of race for a long time. As an example she named Pembroke Stroke, Catherine Stoodley, who is looking to claim her fifth Headship. Love recalls her time in the St Anthony boat: "Bumps racing definitely develops a mental hardness. It's pretty scary when you can see a crew coming up behind you." New will be rowing with a crew who have spent the past two years training together, whereas Pembroke have a changed crew from Torpids. Love herself missed Torpids to row with Osiris, the women's second crew in the University Boat Race against the Tabs. Both women will be hoping this experience pays off this week. Richards recognises current Torpids champions Merton as a threat to their ambitions. However, she has reason to feel confident as New bumped Merton in the recent City of Oxford races. Love's tips for women's crews to look out for were Christ Church for "sheer power" and Worcester. Worcester women's first XIII contains two Blues rowers, but their College boat is currently sitting ninth in the second division. Both women recognised this as a problem of bumps racing; you can be the fastest crew on the river but if you are in the fourth division, the best you can hope for is to climb four places. However, as Pete Hackworth said, this can create a "legacy" within a College as it takes years to achieve a respectable position in the First Division. Both women echoed his sentiments. One thing is certain: whether you take XIIIs seriously or not, this will be one of the sporting events not to be missed this term.
27th May 2004