Teddies haul themselves to glory
The dominant force in this year’s Summer Eights, Teddy Hall’s women’s crew bumped New on Wednesday before claiming Head of the River on Saturday
Rowing Summer Eights
Poor weather with wind, high stream and rain meant that this years’ Summer Eights seemed more like Torpids than the sunny pimmsfilled festival we know and love, but an improvement in weather and exciting racing by the end of the week meant that the Saturday crowds were as large as ever. The first excitement of the week came in the women’s competition, with second-placed Teddy Hall bumping New in the gut to take the headship.
The Hall ladies, who missed out last year by a matter of inches, never looked flustered as they rowed over comfortably on the next three days, while New’s misery continued as they were repeatedly bumped, falling 4 places over the week to be awarded spoons Kerrie Barrett, the Teddy Hall women’s captain called it a “huge achievement”, the first time any Teddy Hall women’s crew had gone Head of the River, and said that the whole crew were “delighted that all their hard work and commitment had paid off”. Lower down, an epic battle between Pembroke and Christ Church saw Pembroke recovering from a poor Torpids performance to hold off a strong challenge on Wednesday, then bumping New to escape Christ Church’s clutches on Thursday. On Saturday, Christ Church were finally able to claim their bump, storming off the start to nick the Pembroke stern in the exit of the gut.
Meanwhile, both Hertford and Magdalen produced strong crews, with Hertford claiming blades to finish 6th on the river, while a Magdalen crew boasting several returning blues was denied a chance at blades when several crews bumped out ahead on the first day. For many, the surprise of the week was Somerville, who, after falling to double spoons in Torpids managed to hold their place in the order, being bumped by Osler-Green on the first day but bumping back on the second.
Queens were less fortunate. They dropped four places, while Merton celebrated wildly on Saturday when a klaxon in the women’s division two saved them from spoons with St Catherine’s inches off their stern.
Not far behind Magdalen in the race for the Head on Saturday, Balliol are jubilant after bumping Pembroke.
Magdalen blow chasing pack out of the water
As for the men, Magdalen looked to have lost the edge that has allowed them to dominate college rowing in the past two years, but nevertheless produced a strong crew that was able to hold off a strong Pembroke challenge on the Friday. On Saturday, however, they responded with a massive push to open the gap on Pembroke over the green bank, and retain the headship comfortably.
Magdalen captain Reuben Johnson congratulated all the top crews, saying that “It was great to have been challenged so well by Pembroke on the Friday, but we put our foot to the floor again on Saturday to show why we are Head. It’s great that there are only solid sporting crews in the top five now - with that kind of competition there is little room for error. It makes bumps so much more enjoyable when the self-love is taken away.
One suspects, however, that Magdalen will have been grateful to Oriel for slowing the inexorable rise of Balliol, starting 4th. In a turn that was a surprise to many, Balliol chased Pembroke to within half a length on Wednesday before Pembroke bumped out on Oriel. Friday promised an exciting competition, and the spectators were not disappointed, as Balliol pushed Pembroke to within a canvass at the line, with Pembroke only slightly further behind Magdalen.
On the Saturday, Balliol’s powerful response proved too much for the men in pink, bumping them directly outside the Pembroke boathouse. However, controversially, the bump was later disallowed due to a klaxon having sounded several minutes before the bump when several bumps lower down the division blocked the exit of the gut.
Commenting on the situation, Balliol men’s captain Justin Lewis- Oakes said that “It was frustrating not to catch Pembroke on Friday and have a chance to compete for the headship, and even more frustrating that our bump on Saturday didn’t count”. However, most of the excitement in the men’s first division was lower down the order. On the first day, third-placed Pembroke bumped Oriel, who went on to be bumped by Balliol, with Christ Church and St Catherine’s to be awarded spoons.
In division two, their women’s 1st VIII added to their misery by also falling several places and being saved from spoons by the Saturday klaxon. This was a dramatic reversal of their Torpids triumph, where both crews held the headship for the first time in Torpids history, matching Pembroke’s historic achievement of Eights 2003.
Although the Oriel men were perhaps unlucky to face four exceptionally strong crews, many will see this as symptomatic of a general decline in Oriel rowing, with their lower boats in freefall over past years. It is to be hoped that they will recover from this disappointment to produce more competitive crews in the future.
In the second divisions, Worcester men, looking like they would have been more at home at the top of the first division, made short order of the crews ahead to win blades, while Lincoln, Queens and St Peter’s all took a tumble �" Lincoln and St Peter’s getting spoons, while Queen’s were able to escape on the first day. St Anne’s also performed well, rising three, while Wolfson gained four places to finish tenth in the division.
Lower still, LMH collapsed back into the third division, while Pembroke II held their position to retain the second boat headship. Linacre and Corpus Christi each rose three places with Linacre claiming the 12th spot in division two.
Meanwhile, Balliol and Exeter women each built on blade-winning performances in Torpids to rise three places apiece, while St Hugh’s, stroked by Canadian Olympian and recent mother Buffy Williams, rose four places but were denied blades on the final day when four crews bumped out ahead of them. Lincoln, will be pleased to have held position at the expense of Brasenose, who they bumped on the final day to gain spoons.
In division three, St Anthony’s and Corpus Christi both won blades, while Wadham II climbed one place to retain the second boat headship by a margin of two places.
1st Jun 2006