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Oxford Regatta

Christ Church Regatta 2016

Christ Church Regatta success!

Women's Novice A racing in ChCh2016

The start of a new academic year at Oxford means also the start of a new season for Boat Club. Keen new rowers, some with previous experience, most with no rowing background, gathered at the beginning of term for freshers’ events and decided to give rowing a go. While those who had rowed before were integrated into the development squads, the novices started training together aiming for the two regattas this term: Nephthys Regatta and Christ Church Regatta.

Only novices are eligible for the respective categories in Nephthys and for all of Christ Church, so this is a sparring between all colleges, everyone having started at zero. While all novices initially trained as mixed squad together, with the regattas drawing near the boats were set as they would enter into the respective events.

Nephthys Regatta

Nephthys Regatta somewhat foreshadowed the coming results at Christ Church a week later. With all races happening on a single day, the women’s novice eight made its way through four races, only losing in the semi-final against Wolfson, the eventual winners of the category. The men were slightly less successful with their racing being cut short after their loss against St Anne’s.

Christ Church Regatta

No novice regatta would be complete without carnage on the river, organisational nightmare, and last minute crew changes. After being very well behaved for all of summer and most of term, rain and river warranted a flag change on Tuesday of the regatta week, thus excluding novice-status coxes for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning. At this point a ‘thank you’ to Toby Adkins and Henrik Hannemann for coming out of retirement and coxing the Merton crews on those days!

Academic commitments meant that the Merton novice men had to race as a ‘friendly’ boat with one senior rower and thus were barred from proceeding beyond round 2 on Friday. Another ‘thank you’ is due to Jaime Valdemoros-Gomez and Tom Lousada for substituting into 7 seat and making sure the men can race. The novice women appeared in the assigned lane again and again progressing through the regatta. Starting off with a win against Green Templeton A on Wednesday and leaving St Hilda’s A and University A in their wake on Thursday and Friday. Then on Saturday they beat in quick succession Green Templeton B, St Hugh’s A, and Keble A. The women’s final against New College was fought hard every inch up the Isis, but Merton defended their lead for the entire race to win!

Both men’s and women’s crews were mixes of JCR and MCR members who all displayed extraordinary commitment and talent for rowing. This is the Merton’s best performance in the Christ Church Regatta ever and hopefully presages success in Torpids and Summer Eights. Congratulations to all Merton novices for their accomplishments in Michaelmas Term.

Overall summary for Nephthys and Christ Church Regatta:

M
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
Novices
Katherine Davies
Wilfred Ngia
Lukas Krone
Paul de Jong
Daniel Sherlock
Yuri Van Nieuwkerk
Edwin Lock
Thomas Murphy
Andrius Oysianas
W
Cox
Stroke
7
6
5
4
3
2
Bow
Novices
Tyson Rallens
Catherine Felce
Julia Zlotkowska
Esther Borsi
Frances Des Forges
Venla Karppinen
Jordan Maly-Preuss
Charlotte Oakes
Jessica Phillips
Results
Nephthys
easily
3L
 
Nephthys
easily
1.5L
2L
2L
 
ChCh
1/4L
2/3L
 
ChCh
1/3L
3L
easily
5L
3.5L
1.5L
1/2L

Men
Mansfield [win]
St Anne’s [loss]
 
Women
Brasenose [win]
St Anne’s [win]
St John’s [win | QF]
Wolfson [loss | SF]
 
Men
ChCh A [win]
GTC A [loss]
 
Women
GTC A [win]
St Hilda’s A [win]
University A [win]
GTC B [win]
St Hugh’s A [win | QF]
Keble A [win | SF]
New A [win | F]
Categories
Oxford Regatta

Summer Regattas

Summer Regattas

While most rowers, after finishing their respective exams, went on their well-deserved long vacations, some Mertonians were still around so the success from Summer Eights carried its momentum forward. Several regattas in relative closeness were entered and some success brought back to Oxford. Kingston Amateur Regatta, Maidenhead Regatta, and Oxford City all saw Merton boats or composites participating this year.

Kingston

A very well-organised regatta, just downstream of Hampton Court Palace drew the attention of a Merton–Oriel–GTC–St Anne’s composite. While not used to the slightly choppier waters after the training calmness on the Isis, our cox assured us the bow wash was a thoroughly well designed and necessary piece of equipment. In our first round we faced Maidstone Invicta. A young crew which, unfortunately so, was hampered by their own steering and equipment. The umpires did not wave the race off, despite Maidstone veering strongly into our station and even crossing it into the navigation lane due to steering problems.

In the final we faced a home crew from Kingston and a further one from Parr’s Priory. Despite having to start on the inner lane with the furthest stagger back, we had a good and strong race. Kingston led the way for the first few hundred meters off the start until we had found into our race rhythm, striding every stroke and eventually moving past them. A very well timed push, as it was to be expected from a crew on their home turf, reeled our lead back in slightly, leaving us to win by 1 ½ lengths to Kingston and 5 lengths to Parr’s Priory. Winning IM3.4+ at Kingston Amateur in glorious summer sunshine.

Maidenhead

Maidenhead
Successful boat and pot

Summer being always the top sculling season (not least for the reason if things go wrong it is a little less unpleasant than at other times of the year) Merton fielded a novice single and a composite novice double with St Anne’s at Maidenhead. While the training had gone reasonably well in the weeks prior, the first start nearly went catastrophically wrong. Despite the start crab, the first round was won against Team Keane by 3 ½ lengths. The final was a bit tricky as it turned out to be Merton vs St Anne’s, or the double for the afternoon. The win went to Merton by 4 lengths.

The afternoon was slightly less successful. Having been given a bye to the semi-finals, we were faced with a strong home crew who not only got off the start considerably better but also steered a very admirable line compared to a near-miss steering crab in the last 50m. A sprint along the enclosures could unfortunately only reduce the loss to the tightest of margins but not prevent it from happening. Maidenhead won the semi-final, though in turn lost against Guildford in the final.

Crews:
1X – Henrik Hannemann
2X – Jinwoo Leem (St Anne’s, S), Henrik Hannemann (B)

Oxford Royal Regatta and Sprint

No summer rowing would be complete without competing on our own home turf at the regatta organised by CORC. Unfortunately, the weather was significantly more of a mixed bag than in previous years. Merton fielded two members: Catilin Armstrong, a recent alumna, rowing a single scull, and Henrik Hannemann rowing in a New–Oriel–Merton–Univ composite four.

Due to demand of entries, only Caitlin secured an entry spot for Saturday, racing in W.IM3.1X unfortunately losing to Cambridge 99 by 4 lengths. It has to be noted though that the ’99 sculler won the event and with all other margins being given as ‘easily’ the first round was the best result against her. On Saturday morning, sculling started the day for Merton. Despite a bye into the second round of W.IM2.1X, a loss by 2 lengths against City of Oxford cut Caitlin’s regatta time once more short.

2016 OCRR
Four college composite 4+ for IM2 Oxford City

The afternoon gave the composite four a chance to show what a week of minimal, but dedicated training could do. Considering one crew member had arrived only on Tuesday morning from overseas and Niamh, our cox, only on Friday from the States, the training was less long-term than what we knew of our opposition. Nonetheless, the first round was won against City of Oxford by 1 ½ lengths. Slightly scrappy, but efficient on the rhythm. Followed by a well-rested Putney Town crew as they did not have a first round to race, we found our rhythm more quickly and crossed the finish line 1 ¼ lengths in front of them. While these races had happened in the warmth of the summer sunshine, the final had the other weather option reserved: torrential rain! Having seen the City of Cambridge crew in their semi-final against Llandaff, we had predicted that due to their height and strength, as well as the start stagger, they would lead us. Exactly this unfolded in the race, but our race plan held and with an earlier stride and having never given away more than half a length, we crossed the finish line with a ¾ length lead.
Officially two crew members were considered ‘novice’ due to lack of points, but a sharply progressing training curve and superb coxing lead to a finish of the summer racing with a win in IM2.4+

Crews:
4+ – Jack Parsons (New, S), John Mittermeier (Oriel, 3), Henrik Hannemann (2), Jan Stöckmann (New, B), Niamh Broderick (Univ, C)
1X – Caitlin Armstrong

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)

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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.

Categories
Oxford Regatta

Summer rowing – sunshine on the Isis

Casual paddles and regatta racing

Summer. The rare time of the year when you can actually row on the Isis in the sun, but also the time when coxing and manoeuvring around punts, cruisers, tourist paddle boats, and all other kinds of river traffic becomes the challenge of the day.

2014_SummerRowing

Summer rowing was taken up by all three common rooms and we fielded a mixed NOV4+ at the Oxford City Royal Regatta on 17th August. The crew consisted of Tiff Brydges (Cox, JCR), Charles Alexander (Stroke, SCR), Robert MacLaren (3, SCR), Ryan Burke (2, MCR), Verena Schenzinger (Bow, MCR). Despite a strong showing, the ad-hoc crew complement fielded did not progress through the ranks, though valuable regatta experience was gained. Further two Mertonians rowed in an IM2 4+ (Alex Moore in 2 seat and Henrik Hannemann in bow seat) fielded by the OULRC Development Squad. This boat had to strike its colours in the final against Hertford College.

The continued rowing over summer as well as regatta experience gained is promising for the coming terms and Merton Boat CLub branching out into more external events again.

Categories
Oxford Regatta

SCR rowing success

SCR fields successful crew in Summer Eights

A long-term goal of the Boat Club has finally come to fruition – getting the SCR out on the water again. ‘Again’ because legend has it an SCR 8+ was fielded for rowing-on in the 1970s though not much is known of any success thereafter. It has also to be mentioned that this venture did apparently not outlast the rowing-on stage of the regatta.
After a few sunny moments of training, the SCR successfully fielded a boat in this years Summer Eights. Initial obstacles of a swim test were soon overcome (one member opted for performing a live drill during training aided by an ejector crab…) and Merton was fielding a third eight after successful qualification. It is important to note that all three common rooms were represented on the river in Merton’s 750th year! Even better: the crew went on to bump up twice in the following four days, although one might argue a klaxon on Saturday robbed them of their third bump.

2014_SummerEights_SCR_M3

Crew:

Cox: Sara Wehlin (4th year undergraduate)
S: Alan Barr (Physics) 7: Simon Hooker (Physics) 6: Charles Alexander (Finance Bursar) 5: Robert MacLaren (Medicine) 4: Simon Draper (Biochemistry) 3: David Llewellyn (DPoP) 2: Jonathan Prag (Ancient History) B: Ralf Bader (Philosophy)

Categories
Oxford Regatta

Torpids wash out

Torpids rained off

Unfortunately Torpids which were due to take place this week have been called off completely. With continued rain over the last days and the overall flooding around the Thames and the heavy rain falls in the upper catchment, even red-flag racing under contingency plans are to dangerous. The SUs have decided not to risk the safety of everyone just to get in one or two days of racing in at the most.
As much of a shattering news that is to our crews who have been through a gruelling ordeal of land-based training, we have to accept the safety concerns. On the bright side, a substantial head start on the fitness levels for our Eights crews may pay off later in the year so the term might not have been a complete loss after all.