— By our Men’s Captain Calvin Cheng

Summer 2022 The men’s rowers experienced a competitive summer Eights in 2022. Our M1 crew made two bumps and rose to the fifth position in Division I, which is our joint highest-ever position in Summer Eights. They were only mere centimeters from bumping Pembroke on the last day. The Wolfson M2 crew showed dominance in their division and proudly won blades. Unfortunately, our M3 and M4 crews weren’t lucky and lost 4 and 3 positions respectively. 

As summer came, we maintained regular training and actively participated in the city- and national-level regattas. A composite crew with four Wolfson rowers and four Univ rowers won their band at Marlow Regatta (beating many crews that pre-qualified for the Thames Challenge Cup) but missed out on qualifying for the Temple Challenge Club among many overseas entries. We also entered Henley Town & Visitor Regatta with a number of crews, though unfortunately did not bring back any pots. At Oxford City Royal Regatta, our 8+ won their division, and 4+ came second.

We were lucky to have two experienced coaches, Natasha Oughton and Rachel Cannon, joining the Men’s coaching team. Together with Rory Copus and Philipp Schaefer, the coaching team planned thorough training plans and organized more mixed training sessions during the summer. We saw huge improvements in strength and techniques in both junior and senior squads. 

Michaelmas 2022 As the summer ended and a new term came, we started to recruit novices as well as experienced rowers to join the club. For novices, we organized a couple of taster sessions which were a great success and attracted more than a hundred students from both Wolfson and St Cross colleges. Also, Experienced rowers were individually scheduled for senior training sessions with our head coach. As a result, we welcomed a handful of competitive senior rowers and more than fifty talented novices joining Mens’ team in the new term. 

In Michaelmas term, our senior crew (M1 and M2) were rewarded for their hard work over the summer by winning the ISIS Winter League IWL-A. And in the Novice Regatta (formerly Christ Church Regatta), we entered two talented novices 8+. The novice A-crew lost only in the quarter-finals to the eventual 2nd-placed crew, while Novice B-crew’s race was unfortunately cancelled after the repechage because of the weather.

Winter training and preparing for Torpids We continued training over the Christmas vacation, even though sometimes it was under -5 degrees on the river. Our coaching team also prepared a detailed Christmas training plan, including stretching, weights, and alternative cardio, like running or cycling, for people to keep fit when they were unavailable for water sessions.

The Hilary terms began with the flooding season, where high rainfall and rapid current made the river temporarily unrowable. As alternatives, we organized more land training and tank sessions, focusing on strength building and technique polishing. We went back to water outings as soon as the flag turned to Amber and started systematically preparing for Torpids. In IWL-D, our senior crew again won the race, with M1 putting down the fastest time by 16 seconds and M2 the fastest time of any M2 by 10 seconds. 

With four of the strongest crews of recent years, we are now in a very exciting position for the upcoming Torpids. We are looking forward to making history for WCBC in the bumping race.

— Calvin Cheng, Men’s Captain

Crews entered into Torpids 2023

M1: Last year’s three bumps (including two overbumps) saw M1 rise to fourth on the river, the joint-highest position of the Wolfson Men in Torpids ever. This crew is filled with Wolfson veterans, including five members of last year’s M1 and only one who has never rowed for Wolfson in a Bumps race.
The crew’s dominant performance in the IWL, in which M1 remains unbeaten, has put St Catherine’s, Christ Church, and Oriel on notice and promises some exciting racing ahead.
Get ready to cheer on this crew, which includes five returning members of last year’s M1, as they look to break the Wolfson record and finish at the highest position for a Wolfson Men’s Boat ever!

M2: This crew is a force to be reckoned with. One of the largest senior men’s squads in recent history has produced a crew whose skill, experience, and raw power is the envy of many colleges’ M1s. Currently the third-highest M2 on the river, the latest IWL races have shown this crew to be in a different league to other M2s.
Will this crew manage to clinch the coveted M2-headship, or will the vagaries of Bumps racing keep that prize just out of reach?

M3: Last year, a strong M3 on for blades tragically believed they had bumped out on the last day, leading to the crew dropping down seven places and out of the fixed divisions. This year, with a balanced blend of experienced seniors and talented novices, M3 is poised for a strong comeback.
Get ready to cheer for M3 as they strive to reclaim their deserved spot in the fixed divisions!

M4: The strength of the upper-boat squads has cascaded down to make M4 a seriously competitive boat this year. This crew has successfully rowed on and will be one of the very few fourth boats, aiming to join M3 in proving Division 6 to be fertile hunting grounds for the Wolf.

Michaelmas 2022 As the summer of racing drew to a close we looked ahead to the coming intake of novices who started arriving pre-term in September. Our taster sessions were a great success with 108 attendees including both men and women from Wolfson and St Cross. Our Novice A boat raced Nephthys Regatta where they were very narrowly knocked out by St Hilda’s novices who went on to win the event. A couple of weeks later we entered two Novice Women’s Eights in the Michaelmas Novice Regatta run by Linacre this year, named Adalwolf and Beowolf. Both crews won their first two races and then were knocked out in their third. Adalwolf won against Wadham and Linacre before losing to the eventual winners, St Anthonys. Beowulf won against Corpus Christi and Jesus College, before losing to Brasenose by half a length.

Our senior women spent Michaelmas training for Wallingford Head by going through the locks with City of Oxford women’s crews each weekend. Sadly Wallingford Head was cancelled due to extremely high stream before the 8+ got a chance to race, but the long miles of training certainly prepared them well for the coming term. We also started a coached weights program for seniors this term led by Gareth Ardon and Head women’s Coach Thomas Chapman, hosted in City of Oxford Rowing Club’s new gym. We saw huge improvements in strength and functional movement through these sessions, producing newfound power both on the water and on the ergs. Zhaoying Ma joined Anna Jones as Women’s Co-Captain after previous women’s captains stepped down.

Winter training and Quintin Head Over the Christmas vacation we continued to train and began to integrate the novices into the senior squad. We spent several weeks battle paddling matched 8+ crews of mixed novices and seniors, although this was briefly hampered by the river freezing as temperatures dropped to near minus ten celsius. Those not in Oxford kept up training off the water across the globe, including skiing, hiking, rock climbing and running.

As 2023 began, high rainfall led to rapid flow rates on the river and flooding. With the river on “red flag”, the captains rose to the challenge of finding somewhere for the women to train on the water and organised weekend outings at Dorney Lake, Upper Thames Rowing Club in Henley and Radley College’s Rowing Tank. These trips allowed us to continue our preparation for Quintin Head on the Tideway in London where we raced two matched 8+s, this time named Hati and Skoll after the Sun and Moon chasing wolves in Norse Mythology. Both crews were made up of half seniors, half novices and this was their first race on the Tideway for many of the women. Hati the Sun chasers won, with a time of 14:03 against Skoll who completed the course in 15:09.

After gathering insights from the Michaelmas battle paddling, 2k tests and Quintin Head our coaching team (Thomas Chapman, James Marsden and Philipp Schafer) have selected our Torpids crews and training is now focussed on Bumps preparation.

— Anna Jones, women’s captain

Wolfson College Boat Club had a strong start to the year. In 2019, we celebrated two major achievements: our 50th anniversary milestone as a club and the success of years of steely determination and hard work from our women’s top boat (present and past), as they achieved the highest college rank, Head of the River!

The success of our club continued throughout the summer as we entered our crews in external regattas, such as Molesey Regatta where our men won their division and the women came second in theirs. Continuing on with incredible successes at Henley T&V and Oxford City Royal Regatta. Our women won both their 8+ event and the “super-sprints” during Oxford Royal, and at the same event saw a Wolfson – Wolfson Final with our 4+ crews. Two of our rowers also won the prestigious Mixed Pairs Head competition on the Thames, the Pennant for which is displayed alongside the Head of the River and Most Improved Members Trophy in Wolfson College.

Unfortunately, tides changed dramatically with the beginning of the academic year. It began with country-wide flooding closing our beloved river for most of Michaelmas and Hilary Terms. This was quickly followed by the global coronavirus pandemic, keeping us in lockdown in our homes.

But as the proverb goes, where there is a will there is a way! We were determined to stay sociable and active as a club throughout these trials and tribulations.

The annual Oxford-wide race for beginners, Christ Church Regatta, was cancelled by the floods and replaced by an ‘Ergatta’. We entered two women’s crews in this gruelling relay on ergometers, requiring not only strength and endurance but also agility to achieve quick changeovers between rowers. All this with bellowing encouragements from their captains. Both teams (photographed in the photo below) did extremely well in their divisions, with one losing only to Balliol.

Despite difficult river conditions our squads managed to squeeze in a few external regattas; during Michaelmas term a Womens 4+ and a Men’s 4+ attended Upper Thames Autumn Head and Fairburns Cup respectively. A W4+ then competed at Fours Head of the River Race in London, where WCBC member Miriam Stricker also raced in an Oxford Lightweights crew that won their event. Our last race was Quintin Head, which saw our women compete in two matched VIIIs.

Torpids, our end of winter regatta, was sadly cancelled, and Pembroke organised a tug of war ‘Warpids’ event in its place. During the competition, two WCBC teams of eight huffed and puffed through a couple of challenges next to our overflowing river, with one unfortunately losing to the other and the victors not quite making the finals.

That was the end of our group activities as the global pandemic was afoot only a few weeks later. However, we have not been idle. Our captains have been organising weekly virtual yoga, ballet and circuits sessions, as well as competitions in cycling, running and home sports to keep us challenged and good spirited in spite of the constraints.

During the year, with the club’s three-tier purpose of access, social and performance, my focus was also to increase accessibility for more people, reallocating funding to reduce costs and increase available support for individuals at all levels in the club. In the coming year the club is continuing its efforts in this area and has created a new sub-committee to work on improving inclusivity and diversity in the club.

I am delighted to say that this year’s sponsor, a Wolfson Boat Club alumnus, has kindly renewed his support for this coming year! To our sponsor, the incoming committee and members, I hope that the club’s successes will be plentiful.

As for each year, many of our members graduate from their courses and go on to do wonderful things, to them, I wish the very best of luck and I hope that they will return to Oxford every once in a while to cheer and support new WCBC members racing, and maybe for a Boat Club Alumni Reunion, whenever that may be.

For now, it would seem that the British Rowing is slowly re-opening rowing activities, to those who can, enjoy the river.

To all of you out there, stay safe, for you and others.

I was a second year undergrad at St Peter’s, where I had been the First Eight cox for two Torpids and a Summer Eights, getting a few bumps. However, for the 1969 Eights, I had been sacked after some differences with the coach. A couple of scratch crews used to ask me to take them out, but I was otherwise unemployed.

At the start of Trinity, a man from Wolfson approached me to cox their boat, and I was happy to do it. We were, of course, in the lowest division. I cannot remember the man’s name (although I can picture him), nor how he lit on me (was he ex-SPC? Did he have a friend or contact there?).

Anyway, we had a good time, and a while later there was a very civilised dinner at Wolfson at which one of the dons advised me that strenuous exercise should be avoided as leading to long term damage!

Having effectively lost contact with Oxford for so long, I had no idea of Wolfson’s prowess at rowing. I am delighted to see that things have advanced so far.

Women’s novice boat competes in Christ Church Regatta 2013. (Left to right: Laura Hawkins, Mickaela Nixon, Anny Li, Kim Wilkinson, Irene Milana, Kelsey Murrell, Amelie Hartmann, Katie Rickard, Claudia Vadeboncoeur. Photographer: Akash Verma)

Unfortunately difficult weather conditions in Hilary term resulted in limited training time and the cancellation of Torpids 2014. Once the river conditions improved, however, our novices and seniors continued to train hard and several rowers were able to compete in a number of external regattas in our preparation for Summer Eights, including Worcester Regatta, Oxford City Bumps, and Women’s Head of the River.

WCBC men’s first boat win pots at Worcester Regatta. (Back row, from left: John McManigle, Thomas Aarholt, Jasper Barth, James Simpson, Gido Van de Ven, James Kirkbride; front row, from left: Neil Dhir, Stefany Wragg, Jack Hornsby; photo credit: Jack Hornsby).

The boat club managed to field six strong boats in Summer Eights 2014 and gained a net total of 7 places. The highlight was M3 getting blades in men’s division five – the result of many years of investment on the men’s side of the boat club – by bumping St Benet’s Hall, Queen’s II, Wadham III, and Pembroke III. M4 and W1 got an impressive three bumps each, W2 bumped up twice, and despite strong performances from M1 and M2, they were bumped down two and three places, respectively, by very powerful crews behind them.

The men’s third boat celebrate winning blades in Summer Eights. (Back row, from left: Wybo Wiersma, Mark Nixon; middle row, from left: Matthew Chang, Duncan Palmer, Nan Liu, Jan Ahrend, Giovanni Mezzano, Maurits Kroese, Matteo Gianella-Borradori; front row, from top to bottom: Oscar Yang, João Sousa Pinto; photo credit: Thomas Quartermain).

The women’s first boat race in Summer Eights. (From left to right: Heather Harrington, Laura Hawkins, Sofia Hauck, Alexandra Bridges, Nicky Huskens, Elo Luik, Cynthia Eccles, Miriam Driessen, Sarah Johnson; photo credit: Glenn Wong).

WCBC was also wonderfully represented at the university level this year, with a total of eight trialists. Alexandra Bridges, Cynthia Eccles, and Nicky Huskens rowed with the Oxford University Women’s Lightweight Rowing Club; Lea Carrot coxed with the Oxford University Women’s Lightweight Rowing Club; Miriam Driessen and Elo Luik rowed with the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club; and James Ellison rowed with the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club. Of those members, Nicky Huskens, Lea Carrott, and James Ellison competed with the first boats of their squads in the Henley Boat Races.

Some of the other highlights of the year include securing a three-year sponsorship deal from Investec worth £5,000 per year; hosting a naming ceremony for our new single scull, Bernard Henry II, last summer; and purchasing a new women’s eight, which is yet to be named.

Thanks so much to everyone who has made this incredible year possible. I would particularly like to acknowledge all the committee members and coaches who carried out their duties flawlessly. With the high levels of dedication and commitment shown this year, we can all look forward to another successful rowing season next year! You can continue to follow our progress by joining our Facebook page, ‘Wolfson College Boat Club, Oxford,’ or via our website, www.wolfsonrowing.org.

Laura Hawkins
WCBC President 2013-14

The Women’s and Men’s 1st VIIIs for Sumer VIIIs 2012

WCBC, now more commonly known as the Wolfpack, is made up of students from both Wolfson and St. Cross colleges. In recent years we have gone from strength to strength. In Summer Eights 2012, Wolfson crews got 7 bumps and gained 3 net places overall, tying for 9th place out of the 35 boat clubs. This is a fantastic achievement as the Men’s 1st VIII retained their highest-ever position of 4th in Division I, and the Women’s 1st VIII bumped New College, moving up to the Head of Division II. A massive congratulations to everyone who was involved in another incredible Summer Eights, and thanks to all of our dedicated supporters, many from overseas, who created the amazing atmosphere at the boathouse.

WCBC is keen to welcome everyone, and caters for a wide range of abilities. Many of our best rowers learnt to row at Wolfson and have never looked back! Rowing is a fantastic sport, and nothing beats the thrill of bumps racing, but it is also a brilliant way to meet new people and get involved in a great team: the Wolfpack.

The success of recent years would not have been possible without the dedication of the rowers, coaches and committee, but most importantaly without the arrival of novices. If you are new to Wolfson or St Cross, we hope that you can take a bit of time to have a look around the website, and start to get a feel of the atmosphere of WCBC. Hopefully you will then decide to sign up and give rowing a try!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact our committee. We look forward to welcoming you to WCBC.

Katherine Henson, WCBC President 2012-2013

We then returned to the Isis for the beginning of the academic season, and the long-awaited arrival of the new freshers. As usual the rowing taster day during Freshers’ Week was a great success, and over 40 novices joined us for the term. The novice women entered Nephthys Regatta and Christ Church Regatta, and won two of their races. The novice men also entered two crews into Christ Church Regatta, but were unfortunate in being drawn against strong crews, so didn’t make it past the first round. All crews, however, showed fantastic determination and team spirit, and we knew we had a great set of novices ready to join the senior squad after Christmas!

Michaelmas Term was by no means a quiet term for the seniors either. Both the men and women trained hard and entered crews into Upper Thames Small Boats Head, where they all raced exceptionally well, beating some university squad crews, and where we saw the epic battle between our two men’s fours – ‘Strength and Honour’ and the charmingly nicknamed ‘Fatties’. Both then went on to race on The Tideway at Head of the River Fours, with both squads again performing very well in surprisingly clement conditions. The seniors completed their first term of racing by entering Isis Winter League B on the Isis, in which both the men and women came in second place. Michaelmas Term was overall a great success, and we all went home for Christmas excited at the thought of what was to come in the following terms’ bumping races.

WCBC women performing strongly at the Head of the River Fours race, November 2010 (From bow to stern: Aurélie Cuénod, Judith Scheele, Nanda Pirie, Megan Robb, cox Lamorna Newcombe)

In the new year, the seniors and novices combined into a single squad, and WCBC began stamping its mark firmly on the Isis. The men recorded the fastest times at the remaining three Isis Winter League races, and the women came in top at IWLD. The second boats also raced at these events, and with each boat getting to race multiple times, we all became well experienced on the bumps course. The highlight of Hilary Term came in the form of Torpids, into which we entered two men’s and two women’s crews. M1 performed exceptionally well, bumping up into Division 1 on the first day, and then going on to achieve blades, moving up a total of six places. M2 also had a great week, moving up four places, despite being bumped on the first day due to an unfortunate technical failure. W1 enjoyed three great bumps, two of which came before Donnington Bridge, and moved up two places. W2 suffered a week of extreme bad luck (including an absent poleman on day 1) and were unfortunately bumped down into Division 4, but showed fantastic resilience and persistence throughout the week!

The Easter break was also an exciting time for the club. Shortly after Torpids, W1 took a trip to London to race in Women’s Head of the River, described at the ‘largest women’s rowing race in the world’. The girls raced well and were ranked 157 out of 297, and 5 members of the crew had their first experience of rowing on the Tideway. The men then followed suit and raced in the Head of the River race a few weeks later, and despite having a slightly different crew from the Torpids VIII, still managed to come top of the Oxford colleges. Both current and past members of WCBC enjoyed a day trip to Henley at the end of March to watch the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races, and to support the three Wolfson girls who trialled with OUWLRC this year (Amanda Reiner, Ilektra Apostolidou and Jill Betts). Although the result sadly did not go in their favour, the club was proud to see Ilektra in the three seat on race day, along with Jill in the seven seat.

Easter weekend then saw our annual training camp, which was once again held on the world-famous stretch at Henley-on-Thames. As usual, we were very fortunate with the weather and had beautiful sunshine, allowing us to enjoy long days of training and a barbecue on the Saturday evening. Our hosts, Henley RC, provided us with fantastic indoor facilities in which to spend the night, which was a great addition to the weekend. We all came away having trained hard, but also having enjoyed the opportunity to get to know our squad mates a little better.

Squad members enjoying an evening trip to the pub during training camp in Henley-on-Thames (Left to right: Aurélie Cuénod, Megan Robb, Gregers Bangert, Michael Lutteropp, Chris Prosser, Miriam Driessen, Valerie Gorman, Jill Betts, Raffaella Facchini, Morgan Di Rodi, Susan Graham, Dieuwertje Kooij, Katherine Henson, James Kirkbride, Danny Parton)

M1 and W2 went on to enter Oxford City Bumps in late April, a tough day of racing in which the usual four days of bumps racing are crammed into one! The men combined the forces of their two fours into a new team, ‘Fat and Honour’, and performed very well, bumping four times to win (miniature!) blades. The women were unfortunate in being bumped by a blades-winning crew in the first round, before racing three very solid row-overs. The men then completed their Easter campaign by sending two eights to Bedford Amateur Regatta. Both crews enjoyed a great day of racing, with M1 posting the fastest time in the first two rounds before being forced to scratch from the semi-finals.

The crews rounded off the season with a fantastic Summer Eights week. W2 unfortunately continued their astounding run of misfortune and had their races klaxoned on three out of four days, meaning they moved down one place overall. W1 had their hopes of blades dissolved on day 1 when their race was klaxoned, but then went on to achieve three great bumps and finished on bungline 3 in Division II – the highest the women have been in 10 years. The men fielded a record four crews, although M4 sadly missed out on qualifying by a few seconds. M3 moved up one place over the course of the week, and in some nail-biting races, M2 narrowly missed out on blades but achieved three bumps and secured a well-deserved place in Division IV. M1 had an outstanding week and bumped Balliol, St Catherine’s and Hertford before testing all of our nerves and saving their final bump on Univ for 10 strokes from the finish line on the final day. The crew won well-deserved blades, almost unheard of in Division 1, and ended the year on bungline 4, which is the highest position the men have held in the history of the club!

M1 win blades once again and enjoy a swim! (Left to right: Chris Prosser, Duncan England, Philipp Becker, Nanda Pirie, Mario Recker, Cliff Sofield, Cory Kampf, Paul Kelly, Jeremy Howick, Christian Bell)

As well as the great successes of our crews on the river, the 2010-11 season has been very successful behind the scenes. In September we welcomed our new Senior Member, Christina Redfield, who has been a wonderful addition to the club and invaluable in providing advice and guidance throughout the year. We also added a new position to the committee, the Media/PR Officer, which has been instrumental in the advancing of our alumni network and our search for a new sponsor. We have held several alumni events over the course of the year, and have increased our database of contacts almost exponentially, as well as forming an alumni committee. We have also made major updates to our website, including the addition of an alumni section. Anyone reading this who would like to get back involved with the club, or indeed who would be interested in sponsoring us, please do get in touch!

We have had an unfortunate year in terms of equipment, with the other colleges seemingly intent on destroying as many of our boats as possible. Tara, Weapon X and Phwoarsome all underwent repairs (some somewhat significant), and some of our members went for a surprise swim along the way. Following an unfortunate trailering accident and major refurbishment, a generous anonymous donation saw ’Nice Pair’ renamed ‘The Wolf’. The Wolfson erg room also underwent major refurbishment at the beginning of the year, and we now have a great facility within college with some magnificent artwork on the walls, thanks to our very own Aurélie.

Members of the committee gather for the grand opening of the newly refurbished Wolfson erg room (Left to right, standing: Chris Prosser, Valerie Gorman, Amanda Reiner, Rebecca Schneider, Jill Betts, John Dale, Belinda Platt; seated: Aurélie Cuénod, Christian Bell, John Fluharty, Michael Lutteropp, Iana Alexeeva)

I would like to thank the members of the committee for their hard work and dedication throughout the year – without them, the club would not have seen the success it has. Many thanks also go to both Wolfson and St Cross, and in particular to Tracy Fuzzard, Ed Jarron, Bryan Sykes, Hermione Lee and Christina Redfield for their continuing support and assistance. I would like to finish by thanking each and every squad member for showing the enthusiasm and team spirit that sets us apart from all the other clubs on the Isis. ‘The Wolfpack’ has become a force both feared and envied across the university, and it is one of which I have been very proud to be a part.

Jill Betts
WCBC President 2010-11

The season started with summer rowing. We toured the English countryside and local waterways, braving the rainy English summer. A composite crew with Linacre came home from Dorney Lake with pots after winning the final of the 500m Maidenhead Regatta W8+ S3 race by over a length. A bedraggled crew returned from Cambridge Autumn Regatta having won pots in a more unconventional style – for making it to the finals of W4+ S2 before being defeated by thunderstorms. But perhaps our most significant win of the summer was legend cox Lemon, who became an invaluable member of the Wolfson women’s rowing family.

And suddenly it was all about planning for the academic year ahead. Over much cake and tea, we talked to returning rowers about the aspects of the previous year that could be improved upon. With this feedback in mind, Coach Lindsey and assistant-Coach Katja were instrumental in putting together an ambitious training plan that carried the senior rowers through the first term, towards Wallingford Head, and onto Torpids.

Iana and Rae became fondly known as the Munchkin Mamas as they spearheaded our recruitment drive and turned new recruits into enthusiastic rowers and coxes. Two crews, Dastardly and Muttley, put in strong performances in the Wacky Races (formerly known as Christ Church Regatta), with one crew going all the way to the finals. The exceptional depth of our women’s squad this year is a testament to the patience and dedication of all of our coxes, to all the senior rowers who spent hours on the riverbank coaching novice crews, and to the hard work and energetic enthusiasm of Rae and Iana in bringing everything together.

Wolfson novice women compete in Christ Church Regatta

From the end of Michaelmas Term, the weather became colder, novices were novice no more, and the crews came together to work towards Torpids Revenge. We were determined to improve on our Torpids 08 performance, where our only women’s crew was bumped five times. Coach Joe came on board to make our crews faster and more lethal to fish, as Lindsey travelled to Australia for some cycling. We trained through hail, snow and ice: even Dorney Lake was frozen over and had to be replaced by impromptu consumption of hot drinks and baked goods. But the hard work was worth it. Three crews qualified for Torpids, with Vengeance (W1) and Retribution (W2) winning blades, and Cake or Death (W3) also putting in a strong performance.

The week following Torpids, Wolfson entered Women’s Eights Head of the River (WEHoRR) for the first time in WCBC history. We rowed well, and placed ahead of many other University and College crews. Our entry in WEHoRR represented the achievement of not only our goals for the year, but of a goal envisaged by Katja over two years prior. We achieved something that must have sounded, even a year earlier, as an incredibly ambitious dream for Wolfson women.

Into preparation for Summer Eights. As the days got lighter and longer, Coaches Zoë and Lindsey worked closely with W1 and W2 crews in preparing for the event. W3 adopted the crew name Flaming Dragons, in honour of their inspirational Boat Captain Megan D. Not to be outdone, W2, wonderfully Captained by Bel, became known as the Winged Sparkleponies of Destruction. And sparkle the Wolfson women did! W1 bumped up one place in some very competitive rowing. The Sparkleponies bumped up four places and one division, to finish as the second-fastest W2 boat on the river. W3 rowed on in 13th place out of over 40 boats, beating some W1 and W2 crews. In Eights, after some minor bank difficulties, their row over on the final day of Summer Eights was superb.

The Sparkleponies celebrate after a triumphant Summer Eights

The success and spirit of the Wolfson women’s crews over the past few years is a testament to the hard work and dedication of amazing coaches, coxes, rowers and supporters (photographers, caterers, cooks, drinkers, lycra-wearers, filmers, other BC Captains…) that have been involved in the team. Sincere thanks go to each and every one of them – you know who you are!!

As season 09-10 begins, I know my successors, Jill and Iana, will continue to reach new heights as they build on the strong foundations that we have collectively established as a women’s crew, and will continue to make rowing with Wolfson challenging, fun, exciting and memorable. I’m looking forward to it!

Amy McLennan
Women’s Captain 08-09

Nanda surrounded by Wolfson’s victorious M1: Summer VIIIs 2009

The rest is icing on the cake, and I can describe plenty of it in from just one season’s coxing for the men’s first eight: steering my crew down the Tideway at the prestigious Head of the River; the well deserved post-race beers, cake and camaraderie; the summer morning outings on a river bathed in sunshine; watching the crew go from strength to strength and the individuals determinedly improving technique and training records; the mad evenings in the bar; the glorious four races at Bedford regatta; elated exhaustion and more pots at Oxford City regatta; and, of course, Summer Eights 2002…

After years as a rower I thought coxing might be frustrating, that I’d sit there wanting to be pulling an oar. But the cox’s role is something else, a big responsibility. You have to be alert to everything that is going on, to steer, to encourage, cajole, admonish, to say the things that matter. And you have to be cool in a crisis, which brings me inevitably to Summer Eights, the highlight of the Oxford rowing year. The first day was every cox’s nightmare: Somerville steam up on us from behind, they are half a length away, a quarter, a canvas: stay calm, we haven’t done a push yet, we’ll do it in a bit and do it well: “in two, in one …”; a bit of nifty steering through the narrowest part of the river and Somerville are now a length down, they won’t get us now. And they didn’t. Of course, they tried again the next day, and the next, but on the third, buoyed by earlier successes we started nipping at the heels of Oriel II, half a length ahead, a quarter … By now we were approaching the finish, passing the boathouses, the cheering was deafening. I don’t know what I said to the exhausted crew, what they heard, we were all just in it together, one crew, a single determination that we would get our bump. The Oriel cox weaved across the river to avoid our bows, I chased him down, the finish line was approaching: “they’re there; we’re on them”, and then we were, the cox’s hand went up and the crew collapsed, jubilant.

Of course, most of this is a reason for rowing as much as coxing, but a cox can win it and lose it for her crew much more easily than an individual rower. If you like to take charge, to organise and direct, to be quietly authoritative, then coxing is for you. It helps if you have rowed, but it is by no means essential and there will be opportunities at Wolfson to do both. If you want to get fit you can train with the crew and they will appreciate it. If you are small and authoritative, if you want to be part of Oxford’s most exciting sport and a member of one of its most sociable boat clubs, then get yourself into the cox’s seat. It is the place to be.

Nanda Pirie

Hilary term continued the wet winter trend but the boat club would not let the dreaded red flag ruin our Torpids training and we spent many weekends rowing at Dorney Lake. This specialist rowing lake near Eton is famous for being the future rowing venue for the 2012 Olympic Games but is best known to our members as the coldest, windiest place on Earth. After five months of indoor rowing, travelling to Dorney and checking the weather forecast our weather beaten rowers were relieved when Torpids finally arrived. The men entered two crews and both were tipped to see plenty of action. Men’s 1st boat bumped three times to finish 9th in Division 2 while the 2nd boat also bumped three times but was caught on the last day and moved up one place overall. The women entered one boat featuring just a single experienced rower and although they were bumped each day to finish 11th in Div2, it was valuable experience for a novice crew and cox and they were eager for another shot.

March saw the boat club descend on mass to Henley and London to support Wolfson rowers Katja Bier and Paul Kelly represent Oxford’s reserve crews against Cambridge. Katja stoked the Osiris boat to an emphatic win over Blondie while Paul returned at bow in the Isis boat to defeat Goldie. Meanwhile, Wolfson sent a men’s crew to the Head of the River Race in London and they finished an admirable 275th out of 410 crews. The Easter break also saw the boat club migrate to Henley for our fourth annual training camp. This is the perfect way to start Summer Eights training with its winning combination of camping in freezing conditions, barbecues and rowing on the beautiful Henley stretch of the Thames.

Wolfson crews entered Summer Eights on the back of punishing training regimes devised by our returning university squad rowers, which promised to provide us with the strongest crews Wolfson has seen in many years. Indeed, competition for places was so great that we were able to enter six crews for the first time in ten years and each got their share of bumps. Women’s 3rd boat were over-bumped on day one but bumped back twice to finish down one place. Women’s 2nd, sporting the traditional ribbons and war paint combination, bumped twice and made a brave attempt to jump up into Div3 but were eventually caught on the last day and moved up one place overall. Women’s 1st welcomed back three university squad rowers making it the quickest women’s boat for some years, they bumped three times and rowed-over once to finish 7th in Div2.

Meanwhile the men were unbumpable. Men’s 3rd boat bumped twice to move up two places and scared everyone with their pink Indian outfits. The Men’s 2nd boat bumped three times including an impressive over-bump, moving them up five places and out of the qualifying divisions for the first time in eight years. Men’s 1st crew took to the water in the newest member of our family, Tara. Our first new boat in five years was named by our Senior Member, Prof. Bryan Sykes as part of the new sponsorship deal between the boat club and his company, Oxford Ancestors. Tara certainly made an impression as the Men’s 1st boat bumped each day (Brasenose, St Anne’s, St John’s and Trinity) to win Blades and finished 4th in Div2, which may be the highest ever placing for the Wolfson men (at least since records began in 1980). Moreover, the Men’s 1st boat has now gone three years without being bumped in either Torpids or Eights.

Summer Eights ended with Wolfson College Boat Club ranked 3rd out of all Oxford’s colleges and this is now the third year in a row we have made the top five. Our run of success has been made possible by the continuing support from Wolfson College, which has allowed us to invest in coaching, equipment and to move into our new home in the University College boat house. In addition, we are very grateful to St. Cross College who have increased their support for the boat club and we are now proud to have their colours on the blades of our Men’s 2nd boat. Wolfson crews are already training for the next rowing year and a new boat club committee is in place to help steer them to further success, so watch this space.

Phillip Tait
Captain of Boats 2007-2008