Category: Oxford

Categories
Bumps Oxford Social

Eights Dinner 2016

Eights and Alumni Dinner

2016_ChesterWhite

Our annual Eights Dinner was, as ever, a very enjoyable way to round off the week of rowing. On top of the usual drinks reception and dinner, we celebrated the contributions of Old Mertonian Dr Chester White MBE to the Boat Club. Chester came to Merton in 1952 to read Medicine and was a keen rower. His crew mates included Harry (Hugh) Quick, after whom our men’s first shell is named. Chester has since been at Darwin College, Cantab., where he founded and is President of the boat club. Nonetheless, he has been a constant figure in Merton College Boat Club, sitting on the Friends’ Committee for many years and supporting us generously.

Chester was invited to christen the ‘Chester White’ as part of the drinks reception, the second boat in his personal fleet (the other being an eight at Darwin). The boat was purchased at the beginning of Michaelmas Term and can be rowed both as a 4- and as a 4X-. It has given the Club greater flexibility with training and is in excellent condition, after a small renovation and repainting by boatman, Mark Seal.

The dinner was rounded off by speeches from the Warden, Sir Martin Taylor, from Chester, and from the Men’s and Women’s captains, Edward Thomas and Kailan Sierra-Davison. A fantastic time was had by all.

Categories
Committee Oxford

New Committee

Annual General Meeting – Committee Elections

Tuesday evening saw our Annual General Meeting. With a successful year so far behind us, the new committee will have a chance to learn how things work and take over at midnight on Saturday of Eights Week. The Boat Club committee for 2016 – 17 will be:

Secretary – Edward Thomas
Men’s Captain – Tom Lousada
Women’s Captain – Rebecca Hardy
Captain of Coxes – Jaime Valdemoros Gomez
Treasurer – Jacob White
Women’s Vice-Captain – Sinead Duffy
Men’s Vice-Captain – Lukas Koch
Water Safety Advisor – Tyson Rallens

With thanks to the outgoing committee we are welcoming all new committee members and wish them the best of luck with all tasks ahead.

Categories
Bumps Oxford Torpids 2016

Torpids 2016

Torpids race reports

Sixth week brought Torpids and the return of the MCBC results chalkboard to the Lodge. Following a difficult term’s preparation, including several periods without water training, Merton fielded three strong crews. Huge thanks are due, as ever, to our coach Ian Smith for his efforts with all crews, and to those who came down over the course of the regatta to support the rowers.

Men’s 1st Torpid

© B. Beor-Roberts (Masterstroke)
© B. Beor-Roberts (Masterstroke)

Following a very successful Michaelmas and start to Hilary, M1 looked to build on last year’s four bumps and climb higher in Div. II. They started off with a convincing bump on Queen’s, confirming student press circulation that they were a crew to look out for. A thrilling second day’s racing, in which Merton were within a canvas of Brasenose, ended with a last-gasp bump by an excellent Mansfield crew. Pride was restored, however, with an overbump on Brasenose on Friday, the regatta ending with a row-over on Saturday.

Although the crew only went +1 over the week, they demonstrated solid technique and cohesion, and showed that Merton can compete in the top twenty boat clubs on the water. Provided the crew remains intact for Trinity term, they will be looking to work on intensive fitness training and, sitting in Division III, should aim for blades.

Women’s 1st Torpid

© B. Beor-Roberts (Masterstroke)
© B. Beor-Roberts (Masterstroke)

Merton’s women fielded a young crew, half of whom were competing in their first bumps race. That said, the other four members of the crew boast considerable experience, as did their cox, current Secretary and three-time W1 rower, Laura King. The crew were unlucky to be among excellent crews, being bumped on the first two days and again on Saturday. On the Friday, however, they showed composure and good fitness to row over and should go into Trinity looking to develop the younger members of the team. It is definitely work in progress, but next year will surely see a return to success for W1.

 
Men’s 2nd Torpid

Having come second in rowing-on, and boasting a strong crew with ability reaching novices from this year to previous first boat rowers, the crew knew that they had a good chance of blades. Having bumped up into Division V on Wednesday, they proceeded to earn blades in style, achieving their final bump on Saturday just short of the boat house. A fuller account of M2’s regatta is available in this apposite bit of Virgil: ‘Extremos pudeat rediisse‘.

Immense thanks are due to Henrik Hannemann, long-term M1 rower and former Club Treasurer, who coxed, coached and trained an excellent crew.

Overall summary for this years Torpids and crews:

M1: +1/-1/+1/row over
Start: 11th Div II
Finish: 10th Div II
 
M2: +3/+1/+1/+1
Start: 2nd Div VI
Finish: 8th Div V
 
W1: -2/-2/row over/-2
Start: 4th Div III
Finish: 10th Div III
 

 

M
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
1st Torpid
Toby Adkins
Tom Lousada
Sam Picard / Henrik Hannemann
Alex Moore
Jaime Valdemoros
Jacob White
Ben Holden
Mantas Abazorios
Edward Thomas
M
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
2nd Torpid
Henrik Hannemann
Lukas Koch
Ian Dawes
Michael Withers
Mate Kovacs-Deaks
Benedict Halbroth
Miklos Hajnal
Frederick Crowley
Oliver Pateman
W
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
1st Torpid
Laura King / Toby Adkins
Amanda Thomas
Caitlin Armstrong / Phoebe Pexton
Kailan Sierra-Davidson
Rebecca Hardy
Josie Smith
Kirsty Mitchell
Georgina Fooks
Josie Western
Categories
Bumps Oxford

M2 Torpids 2016

Merton 2nd Torpid 2016 – addition to the blades collection!

IMG_0865Only just back from the Christmas vacation, Torpids training started in earnest. With the crews selected, the 2nd Torpid boasted a wide variety of rowing experience from several years to having been roped into rowing merely a couple of months earlier. We had four weeks until we had to prove what we are made of. Despite a moody river, training progressed well on land, in the rowing tank, and on the water whenever the river level allowed us a proper outing.

Rowing On was the first time (and fortunately with hindsight the last time) we had to row over the whole course. With 3 min 7.5 sec the crew posted the second best time after Lady Margaret Hall II. With a solid performance and a clear aim ahead we went into race week, acknowledged as a very good crew, a force to be reckoned with.

On the first day, starting off bungline two, we caught up with Exeter II in the Gut, but also LMH II, who were marginally quicker than us in Rowing On, did not pose a threat at any point in this race. Having bumped to the top of the division, the sandwich race promised to be an exciting one. Before we had even reached Donnington Bridge, Wolfson III had caught up with Mansfield II while St Hilda’s I had already bumped out on St John’s III. The four crews starting in front of us had either bumped or got entangled. The Mansfield cox had not conceded in time which got the crew entangled and due to fantastic reactions from the rowers, hard rudder, and a bit of ‘hope and pray’, we managed to squeeze our eight through the gap and bump Mansfield II by row past.

After the exciting first day, we had to reschedule as we were now rowing in Men’s Division V. While lining up behind and being ready to chase down Wolfson III, yet again we were faced with crews plummeting down and others bumping out. With a clean side-to-side contact, we bumped Pembroke III who had started three places above us at the top of the Gut.

The plan for day three was rather simple: keep doing what we had been doing and bump the next crew in our way. On Thursday this was Worcester II who also had started three bunglines ahead. While St Hilda’s I had closed them down early before the Gut, Wolfson III bumped them at the beginning of Greenbanks which left us with a couple of more strokes until we had bumped them, too.

On Saturday everyone had one word in mind – blades. Having closed down on Wolfson III on all previous days but always having been denied the bump, we hoped to complete our task today. Unfortunately, once more another crew foiled that attempt, but bumping Regent’s Park in sight of the boathouses in the crossing made a glorious conclusion to a successful Torpids campaign.

Within six weeks the oarsmen came together and showed what committed training and a clear aim can mean: return to fixed divisions and gain blades while doing so!

Men’s
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
2nd Torpid
Henrik Hannemann
Lukas Koch
Ian Dawes
Michael Withers
Mate Kovacs-Deak
Benedict Halbroth
Miklos Hajnal
Frederick Crowley
Oliver Pateman
 
Coach
Boatman
 
Bumps
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
 
 
Ian Smith
Mark Seal
 
 
Exeter II & Mansfield II
Pembroke III
Worcester II
Regent’s Park
 
 

Photo by F Money

Categories
Oxford

World record

World record!

During the summer there had been rumours about a world record attempt and from the 1st until the 8th November ten Merton rowers showed what they were made of. After seven days of continuous rowing, Mantas Abazorius, Caitlin Armstrong, Freddie Crowley, Miklos Hajnal, Daniel Kennedy, Laura King, Lukas Koch, Kailan Sierra-Davidson, Edward Thomas, and Jaime Valdemoros are now world record holders. Since a mixed team attempted the record it is listed as male 20-29 heavyweight/open record.

A huge ‘Thank you’ to Lukas and Daniel for being the driving force and organising everything after originally coming up with the idea.

In the aftermath of this record we have also been informed that this the second record held by Merton, the first being rowing the non-tidal Thames (from Lechlade to Teddington) in a coxed four non-stop in 28hrs 55min 15sec. The crew was Angus Whitfield, James Brooks, Richard Crawford, Paul Roberts, and Gabrielle Higgins. We would love to hear more about the first record.

Categories
Head Race Oxford Regatta

Pots & Points – Racing success during the summer

Pots & Points – Racing success during the summer

2015_OCRR_PotsPoints

While most rowers left Oxford over the long vacations, some of us stayed around and did a bit of summer racing. Regular evening training in a composite crew led a Merton-stroked boat to Henley Town & Visitors. While this being an enjoyable three lane race format over the last 800m of the Henley Royal Regatta course, we had to unfortunately concede to a strong crew from Ariol Kensington (Tideway) by a canvas. The third boat in the heat, fielded by Quintin Boat Club (Tideway) did not pose a danger at any point.

 
 
 
 

The final regatta aimed for this summer crew was Oxford Royal Regatta and Sprints. While we managed to win the Men’s Novice Coxed Fours on Saturday, we lost the first round on Sunday against Hertford College Boat Club by a mere 1ft.

2015_OCRR_MensNov4+

Crew list: Henrik Hannemann (Merton, Stroke), Alistair Martin (GTC, 3)/ John Mittermeier (Oriel, 3), Jinwoo Leem (St Anne’s, 2), Christopher Kutarna (St Antony’s, Bow), Anna Kotova (GTC/Oriel, cox)

A further double racing success during the vacation was achieved by Caitlin Armstrong. She gathered two sculling points by beating the large field of W.Nov.1X on Saturday and also progressing to the final of W.IM3.1X on the Sunday. A very strong showing!

A month later the winning streak continued, though this time already as Head Race. Posting a time of 21min 42.4sec over the 4.5km course on the River Ouse she secured her win in the W.IM3.1X category.

2015_OCRR_CaitlinNov1X

Photos: Henrik Hannemann (Trophy), Hilary Wynne (Regatta)

Categories
Bumps Oxford Regatta Social

Final round up of the year

Final round up of the year

Summer Eights finished off the traditional rowing term, we are looking back at a fantastic dinner and great fun on the Isis. Thank you to all those who have supported the Boat Club over the last year. Same as for all previous years, both Eights and Torpids crews can be found in our crew archive. To round off, the reports below are from the outgoing Men’s and Women’s Captains and were originally published in the Postmaster

Overall summary for this years Summer Eights:

M1: RO/-1/RO/+1 [overall level]
Start: 6th Div III
Finish: 6th Div III

M2: -1/-1/-1/RO [overall -3]
Start: 11th Div IV
Finish: 1st Div V

M3: RO/RO/-1/RO [overall -1]
Start: 4th Div VII
Finish: 5th Div VII

W1: -1/-1/-1/-1 [Spoons]
Start: 1st Div II
Finish. 5th Div II

W2:
not fielded, -4 for next year

2015_EightsDinner

Men’s Rowing

Michaelmas began with a strong push to recruit novices, with rowing drinks and taster sessions. Both were a success, and the year began with almost as many novices as senior rowers. At the end of the year, half of each of the men’s first and second boats were made up of students in their first year of training. Our new coach, Ian Smith, came with high recommendations and proved to be an excellent asset. We also retained an impressive roster of oarsmen from the previous year, with 20 senior rowers – including two who trialled with OULRC in Michaelmas. The term mainly consisted of extensive technical outings geared specifically towards racing in Autumn Fours, which was the first chance for us to witness the progress of our returning senior rowers. Our men’s Four beat LMH in the first round of Autumn Fours. Unfortunately they lost in the second round to a strong Balliol crew. The other half were back in a double for more racing, sweeping aside a strong boat from Brasenose to storm into the final by three boat lengths. Sadly, they were defeated in the final by a pair of lightweight blues rowers.
In Hilary, crews were sent to the Isis Winter League D in an Eight and a coxed Four, with the Eight coming 17th of 39 in their class and the Four coming third of four in their class. Torpids brought great results for the men’s first boat. An unsatisfying first day, with a technical row over, was followed by four bumps in the other three days, bringing M1 firmly into Division II. The men’s second boat had less success, dropping from Division V into Division VI.

Trinity left us with just enough numbers for two permanent men’s boats, but sadly two rowers suffered unrelated injuries and couldn’t make the racing. M1 recovered well, bringing up an M2 rower who responded quickly to the challenge. This left M2 training up two fairly inexperienced rowers in the fortnight before Eights racing.
Errors in racing technique surprisingly caused M1 to row over on the first day and be bumped on the second day. The crew battled off a strong Linacre crew on Friday and then bumped Somerville on Saturday past Boat Club Island. The final result was no change in position; the first time Merton’s
M1 has not dropped since 2010. M2 did better than expected given the last-minute changes in crew, managing to avoid spoons. Unfortunately they still dropped from the bottom of Division IV to the top of Division V. Overall, the crews were fairly happy with their training and results this year, with the Men’s first crew moving up four places in Torpids and holding their position in Summer Eights. Our coach Ian Smith has been key to this success.
Ongoing training and recruitment should help us build on the base that has been built in the Boat Club. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve over the coming years.

Jaime Valdemoros Gomez (2013)
Men’s Captain 2014-15

Women’s Rowing

This year’s women’s boat has been made up of a great group of girls and I do not think anyone can deny the sheer amount of hard work, commitment and good humour that has been put in!
We started well in Michaelmas Term with our freshers’ boat successfully winning both their first and second races. Our most enthusiastic freshers then continued into Hilary Term and joined W1 in training for Torpids. Some icy cold stints on the water, as well as gruelling gym and erg sessions, were rewarded with great improvement. We must also thank Ian Smith, our wonderful coach, for his dedication and never ending patience. All of this combined meant that on the day itself we achieved a bump – something we were all very proud of, as for many of us, this was the first time.

Trinity Term provided more time on the water and arguably more enjoyable sessions, given that it was even occasionally sunny. This training led into a great Summer Eights’ Week, when fun was had by all. As I said in my speech at the dinner that finished the week: ‘Yes, we got spoons, but we
got spoons in style!’ I think the girls this year should be very proud of everything they have achieved; the crew was mostly very inexperienced and they performed well under pressure. I expect great things next year when, with more experience, I am sure the boat will go from strength to strength.

Sally Bolton (2013)
Women’s Captain 2014-15

Categories
Oxford Regatta

Torpids

Men’s Torpids

by Jaime Valdemoros Gomez [Men’s Captain]

M1 warming up

Despite worries about the weather during Hilary term, the wind and rain cleared up enough in time for Torpids to go ahead without restrictions. A strong term of rowing ended with brilliant results for Merton’s M1, bumping up four places over the course of the week: an unfortunate crash on Wednesday left M1 with a technical rowover, however they pulled ahead by bumping St. Hugh’s on Thursday, Exeter and Christ Church M2 on Friday (the second as sandwich boat, pushing ChCh back into Div III) and finally Somerville on Saturday, leaving them firmly in the Division II and securing the best results for Merton’s M1 in Torpids since 1999. We will be pushing hard for an equally successful run in Summer Eights next term.

Merton’s M2 was less fortunate – a good term left a well-set boat, however a series of strokes of bad luck dropped them out of ranked divisions. We will continue to work hard next term and look forward to a good set of races in Eights.

Women’s Torpids

by Sally Bolton [Women’s Captain]

2015_Torpids_W1

Day 1 – Wednesday
We started at the head of Division III and were hoping to row on into Division II later, but unfortunately a very quick Wadham W2 bumped us early on. We nevertheless rowed the full, (rather gruelling!) course and then had a good rest before day two.

Day 2 – Thursday
A well-executed bump on Exeter meant that we were head of the division once again and therefore did get the opportunity to row in Division II. We rowed over this time and therefore remained head of Division III overnight.

Day 3 – Friday
After a tiring second day, Brasenose bumped us early on and then Linacre a bit later.

Day 4 – Saturday
With nothing to lose we went out all guns blazing. As expected we were bumped by a very strong Green Templeton before the gut but then closed on Queens, who had started two bung lines ahead of us, finishing less than a length behind them. Everyone was very happy with the overall performance of the crew and we finished 4th in Division III.

Overall summary for this years Torpids:

M1: technical row-over/+1/+2/+1
Start: 3rd Div III
Finish: 11th Div II

M2: -5/-1/-1/-3
Start: 6th Div V
Finish: 4th Div VI

W1: -1/+1/-2/-1
Start: 1st Div III
Finish. 4th Div III
 
 
 
 

 
Crews:

Men’s
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
 
Men’s
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
– 1st Torpid
Frederick Money
Jacob White
Benedict Holden
Edward Thomas
Daniel Kennedy
Henrik Hannemann
Jaime Valdemoros Gomez
Lukas Koch
Tiffany Brydges
 
– 2nd Torpid
Hristian Hristov
Alexander Eperon
Ian Dawes
David Felce
Edmund Wrigley
Michael Withers
Stefan Marjanovic
Mantas Abazorius
Sven Kirkerup
W
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
– 1st Torpid
Kristina Gedgaudaite
Rebecca Hardy
Alexandra Pike
Sally Bolton
Caitlin Armstrong
Laura King
Zijun Chen
Kailan Sierra-Davidson
Toby Adkins
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
both photos by Hilary Wynne.

Categories
Oxford Regatta

Isis Winter League

Isis Winter League 2014-15

During Michaelmas and Hilary Term, the Isis Winter League allows the crews to gain a bit of head race practice on the home stretch throughout the terms. With a mix in squad sizes, returning and novice oarsmen, Merton entered various boats into several of the events. All courses are rowed from Donnington Bridge to Cox Stone.

With the women leading the charge, entering a 4+ into IWL C in late January, racing for all crews and preparations for Torpids and by extension all other regattas for the season had started. Not to be outdone, the men joined in for IWL D as well. Overall, both the men and the women fielded a 4+ and the men’s an additional 8+ and using this as a bit of race practice for Torpids. Furthermore a mixed 2X entered as well. In contrast to other occasions, the day proved to be extraordinarily mild for the time of year. It only too two weeks for the Isis and the English weather to show a very different face: low temperature, high stream and swell, paired with strong winds greeted the crews for IWL E on 22nd February. With both sides entering their first eights as well as half of the men’s second eight rowing in a 4+, this was certainly a worst case training regarding the weather. Regardless of that, all crews gained valuable experience and showcased their training efforts since the beginning of the term.

IWL C – 25 January 2015

[fastest time on the course: 4 min 52.5. sec Jesus M8+]

W4+
Bow
2
3
Stroke
Cox
Time: 6 min 54 sec (5th out of 6)
Caitlin Armstrong
Sally Bolton
Laura King
Zijun Chen
Toby Adkins
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

IWL D – 8 February 2015

[fastest time on the course: 4 min 30.5 sec Magdalen M8+]

M8+
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
 
M4+
Bow
2
3
Stroke
Cox
Time: 5 min 1.5 sec (17th out of 39)
Mark Hassall
Jacob White
Benedict Holden
Edward Thomas
Daniel Kennedy
Henrik Hannemann
Jaime Valdemoros Gomez
Lukas Koch
Tiffany Brydges
 
Time: 6 min 2 sec (3rd out of 4)
Frederick Money
Mantas Abazorius
Edmund Wrigley
Michael Withers
Sven Kirkerup
W4+
Bow
2
3
Stroke
Cox
 
2X
Bow
Stroke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Time: 6 min 51.5 sec (6th out of 8)
Kristina Gedgaudaite
Sally Bolton
Zijun Chen
Laura King
Toby Adkins
 
Time: 5min 56.5 sec (only 2X racing)
Caitlin Armstrong
Henrik Hannemann
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

IWL E – 22 February 2015

[fastest time on the course: 3 min 45 sec Pembroke M8+]

M8+
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
 
M4+
Bow
2
3
Stroke
Cox
Time: 4 min 28.5 sec (27th out of 52)
Frederick Money
Jacob White
Benedict Holden
Edward Thomas
Daniel Kennedy
Henrik Hannemann
Jaime Valdemoros Gomez
Lukas Koch
Tiffany Brydges
 
Time: 6 min 2 sec (3rd out of 4)
Stefan Marjanovic
Michael Withers
Daniel Whittle
Mantas Abazorius
Sven Kirkerup
W8+
Bow
2
3
4
5
6
7
Stroke
Cox
Time: 6 min 51.5 sec (6th out of 8)
Kristina Gedgaudaite
Miriam O’Duill
Alexandra Pike
Sally Bolton
Caitlin Armstrong
Laura King
Zijun Chen
Kailan Sierra-Davidson
Toby Adkins
Categories
Oxford Regatta

Autumn Fours

Autumn Fours

Term has started and the development squads had a first chance to show what they have been up to in the last couple of weeks training. Autumn Fours on the Isis featured two Merton fours and a double. Especially after no boats being entered last year, this year’s crews showed promise. Both fours went through to the second round (Men’s) and the Quarter-finals (Women’s). The women’s four lost against Hertford who went on to win the women’s 4+ category. The double (Daniel Kennedy and Lukas Koch) lost in the final against a very experienced crew of scullers from Oriel.

The next regattas with Merton crews will be Nephtys and Christ Church Regatta during November. This will be the chance to shine for the novices.