Worcester College Boat Club

After many blistering performances this year by Worcester’s finest, we only have good things to report. Here’s to next year!

Annual Report 2008-2009

Thanks for everyone’s support today – it was huge!

So finally a quick run down of day four….

M5 and M4 – kicked the day off with a very early klaxon – shame, but quickly followed up by a four way drag race…. May well have lost Craig his coxing licence but worth every penny none the less!

M3 – BLADES enough said! Well done guys

M2 – yet another very rapid bump – three in four days – quality guys…. good stuff to come next year me thinks!

M1 – a close run affair haunted by a rampant Wolfson behind and an o so nearly bump on Exeter…. next year!

W1 – a massive row over – well done girls

W2 – what a bump – I expect that was pretty sweet – take it on for next year…. once you have one you want plenty more!

So another eights comes to a close – and what a spectacle its been. 10th overall in the bumps stats, 3rd in the mens – its been epic…. I can’t express enough how impressed I am

What a day!

Disaster kicked it off – FrontRunner out of action and M4 reduced to Lady Briggs – rowing feet out they valiantly fought off Lincoln until the gut, until finally succumbing! Bump them back tomorrow boys!

Things went far smoother from then on….

M3 bumped (hard) and now challenge for blades tomorrow – come and support at 10.55am

M2 bumped under Donny and look set to bump a crew tomorrow that only took 9 strokes to be bumped by Trinity today – 2.30pm

M1 – yes the big news of the day (trumpets spring to mind here and blowing my own) BUMPED KEBLE TO GO DIV 1 please please come and support M1 tomorrow – racing at 5.45pm its going to be huge. There is going to be a very fast crew behind… but having bumped three times already the stakes are high!

W2 – took a hard line of the start, charged down on the boat ahead, held off an ambitious crew behind – until everything was klaxoned! Good row even if it was only as far as the gut all the same!

W1 – sped past the BH at the head of div 3 – painfully getting caught on the line by Hughes…. Even more support needed for them tomorrow so EVERYONE please come and watch them at 3pm

So there we go…. get down the BH tomorrow – finals or no finals this is a day not to be missed – two crews with it all to be made…..

Okay so what a day at the river, four bumps, a boat racing in div one and some sweet sweet sunshine…… Here’s the roundup!

M1 – Cruised up on the back of Wadham at the head of div 2 and nailed them going into the gut – they claimed one of their rigger’s broke but excuses spring to mind! Sadly a mid race klaxon in div 1 prevented a second bump of the day, but tomorrow is M1’s day in div 1

M2 – after a hard fought row over yesterday, M2 made short work of Balliol II, bumping out before the gut

M3 – another decisive bump from the gun boat, storming up on the back of St John’s III and bumping just before Donny Bridge – one day these guys will see life on the otherside of the gut – maybe on a short stroll on a summer’s eveing!

M4 – took one of the most deserved bumps of all time, looking good in pink and black, looking good in the water, they ate into Lincoln IV inch by inch taking the textbook bump out of the gut – beautiful! Now looking at a scrappy Hilda’s crew ahead with glee….

M5 – avoided trees, banks, and alas other crews! Held off Univ IV and serenely rowed over…. still looking on for the V eight headship…..

W1 – okay so some days it just isn’t meant to be! A rower down (she was replaced they didn’t actually row with 7), and still smarting from a cruel bump yesterday, a less than perfect line from the boat man, saw too much of the bank and Mansfield row up behind…. Tomorrow’s another day as they say!

W2 – closed in on LMH II at the top of a highly competitive div 5 to about half a length going into the gut… tight action saw LMH, Worcester and Keble separated by just 2 boat lengths… unfortunately Keble got the bump on W2 before they got the bump on LMH – a bump that was surely just around the corner!

So after that, all boats are intact, Worcester are two up on the day and most importantly the bar is open in the BH tomorrow! I expect a massive turn out tomorrow – the sun is shining and there will be ridiculously cheap Pimms and San Miguel at the BH – far cheaper than the college bar, so come on down, support is amazing – M1 will promise a bump infornt of the BH if the crowd is big enough.. don’t let us down!

So one eventful day out the way….

M4 and M5 both competed bravely in Div VII. Sadly M5 had their race cut short after about 15 strokes when some bloody trees got in the way, and broke the end off our boat! A couple of rowers had to get out and push us back into the river. Bit of a shame, but apparently tomorrow the team are planning on teaching those trees a lesson by ramming them twice as hard. Those trees will rue the day they started mixing it up with M5

M4 were gaining on the boat ahead of them, but sadly their race was klaxoned halfway through (not by M5, I might add) just when they had caught up most of the distance. This does mean, however, that a bump could well be on the cards tomorrow. You should all come and watch it.
I didn’t see M3’s race, but from what I hear I didn’t miss much - it only took 40 strokes for them to bump. Definitely a good bet for success this week.

W2 rowed bravely despite being chased by a Balliol boat packed with experienced rowers. A bump could well happen here as well tomorrow though, as Balliol then went on to knock LMH out of Div 5, so the girls have a nice slow boat to take out tomorrow.

M2 were gaining on Trinity when, alas, they bumped out and we were left chasing a boat which started 3 places ahead of us. Although the crew were left temporarily disheartened, giving Hertford the opportunity to get overlap on them, they then decided to pull themselves together and row over. Good job M2

I did not see W1, but I heard that they put up a brave fight despite being bumped by a Blues infested boat. Although they will be up against it trying to bump tomorrow, no doubt they will grit their teeth and make sure no one gets an easy ride

M1 picked up a not-too-difficult bump on Queens, taking them out before reaching the gut. Tomorrow brings tougher opposition in Wadham, but I’m sure everything will turn out alright in the end

So anyway, come and support everyone down by the river tomorrow. The weather promises to be better and all the rowers would grealty appreciate it. Race times are the same as tomorrow:

M4 & M5: - 11:55
M3: - 1:10
W2: - 1:45
M2: - 3:30
W1: - 5:15
M1: - 5:45

See you tomorrow

After a solid Torpids in the spring of 2009, the Worcester’s M1 decided it would be fitting to end Hilary Term on a high by gracing the Head Of the River Race, the most prestigious head race in the world, with our presence. A head race is essentially a time trial, as opposed to a side by side race, and HORR would be 20 minutes of gruelling rowing, a completely different prospect to the 5 minute races that we were used to.

Sadly, the crew had to do without two of its most powerful rowers, with coach Craig Leaper on his elective somewhere exotic, and captain Tom Levick windsurfing abroad, probably in Egypt, although it is difficult to be sure as Tom is the most vacant person I have ever met. You’d get more joy talking to a tomato. Anyway, fortunately substitute rowers were on hand in the form of Tony Newland and a rather portly Slovenian, ex Men’s captain Karel Kac, who brought with him plenty of experience, and plenty of weight.

After a few training sessions on the Isis we were raring to go. Although the crew had taken time to gel, we were now confident enough to hope we wouldn’t embarrass ourselves, and so met on the morning of the race bright and early in our best lycra. I called my parents to tell them to watch us race from Hammersmith Bridge, and to tell them how to find their way to meet up with me after we had finished our racing, but as was left with the distinct feeling that something would go wrong with their plans somewhere along the line. Worcester’s resident powerhouse, Max Wigley, was in charge of driving the minibus, now packed full of rowers, down to London, and from the steely look in his eyes we could all tell that he was determined to do his job well.

The drive was fairly uneventful, although at points I felt we were on the verge of getting lost.

After reaching Cygnet boathouse, we were joined by CJ, a cox at Worcester who was here with a crew from his rowing club, and an ex-Worcester rower, Nils Pfullmann, who had travelled over from Hannover, Germany with an eight from his local club. Sadly both crews were more talented than us, and both were hoping to finish in the top 100. We didn’t have any specific aims other than beating other Oxford college crews, but had been given a lowly starting position of 341. Watching Nils and Karel embrace as they were reunited, surrounded by the pieces of a semi-dismantled eight, I was reminded of the time when they first met and had a lengthy argument about whether Germany or Slovenia made the best spanners. However, there was no time to spend reminiscing, before long we had to get out onto the river into our marshalling position.

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Worcester College Boat club had a great showing of support today for all of the crews. The illustrious Worcester M3 were able to secure their spot as “crew who rowed longer than anyone else on the river” by rowing over at the bottom of Division VI. W2 caught a bit of a tough break, being caught by an already bumped Wolfson crew. Worcester W2 held off a very strong Wolfson crew for most of the course, but eventually got caught. Worcester M1 continued their pursuit of Hertford and pulled to an extremely exciting canvas, but Hertford were able to change their line ever so slightly to take back the advantage.

As Worcester M2 moved towards the bunglines, Dai let us know that his friend (from Lincoln) would be chasing us while we chased Pembroke, so they wanted to bump as quickly as possible to give Lincoln a chance for the overbump. The canon fired and the race was over within 40 strokes. Right in front of Craig’s parents they were able to secure the final bump to complete their blades. They pulled in tight to the bank around bungline 3 and celebrated the end of Torpids. Trinity (who was 4th in the division) were able to bump Corpus for their blades, so the two boats rowed down the river for a victory pass. Trinity paused just in front of the boathouses to give a race start, and Worcester was certainly not going to be outdone. The race start took M2 down towards the end of the course, where they found a friend who had showed up late but brought a fantastic banner. Cheeky as always, they rowed all the way back to the boathouse in sixes so stern pair could hold the banner.

A fantastic close to an amazing term of rowing!

Today began with Worcester M3 at the bottom of the rowing on division, having been bumped by the two fastest rowing-on boats the days prior. They were unable to catch Corpus Christi in time, but put in a great effort. W2 was chasing the head of their division for the length of the course but in the end were unable to catch them, but ran heartily away from St. Hildas. Worcester M2 continued to power up through the division, taking down a startled Brasenose crew before bungline 6, with plenty of excitement and cheering on the towpath. W1 were caught by a very fast St. John’s crew, while M1 rowed over in pursuit of Hertford.

A great day of racing, hope to see you all tomorrow!

Thursday started with M3 rowing over at the bottom of Division VI, unable to catch a very fast St. Peter’s III. Hopefully there’s some driftwood floating downstream and they’ll have better luck chasing Corpus II tomorrow.

W2 had a really strong showing, holding off Wadham II until they were exiting the gut. They were pursued pretty heavily from behind, but were able to hold them off for the rest of the course. They looked quite strong and in their element.

Worcester M2 came off like a rocket and caught Oriel II within 25 strokes, sending them running from Wadham III. Wadham got their bump to secure a spot in Division IV and will be chasing M2 tomorrow as they pursue Brasenose II.

Both M1 and W1 will be chasing Hertford tomorrow, the men having bumped Queens to move up a spot in Division II and the women rowing over in a very strong showing.

Good luck to all the crews tomorrow!

Today saw the opening of Torpids 2009 with WCBC in the following positions:

M1 - 3rd in Division II
M2 - 1st in Division V
M3 - 12th in Division VI (rowing-on division)

W1 - 5th in Division II
W2 - 10th in Division III

M3 qualified for a spot in the rowing on division, but the random draw saw them placed in front of the fastest rowing-on crew, and behind the second fastest. Soon after the start they were bumped by St. Peters III, but they rowed strong through to the end.

Up next was M2, successfully rowing over at the top of their division. Worcester was chasing Oriel II at the bottom of the division, who caught St. Benets soon off the start. Unfortunately for St. Benets after they conceded they rowed into the bank, giving M2 an easy bump.

Worcester W2 put in a strong showing, but was unable to hold off the crews behind them, taking them down to the top of Division IV tomorrow.

Worcester W1 had a really impressive start, and when they wound up 10 strokes in they quickly caught Univ W1 for a clean concession.

Worcester M1 started in a really strong position near the top of Division II, where everyone successfully rowed over. Hertford came of really quick at the start chasing LMH, but Worcester was right behind, widening the gap between them an Brasenose.

Thanks to everyone that came down to the boathouse today, the support really helped!