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