W1 celebrate bumping Pembroke for headship

After a competitive round of seat racing and selections, Trinity term got off to an exciting start for W1, as we headed to Bedford regatta to race in the Women’s VIIIs and Women’s College VIIIs categories. After a tough loss against Jesus College, Cambridge in the College Eights division, our spirits were picked up by a close side-by-side race against Bedford Modern School, which we won by a foot. With such an exciting race in our pockets, we kept up our energy for another very narrow race against Pembroke College, Cambridge in the final, losing by just 1/2 length.

It goes without saying, however, that the highlight of the term was Summer VIIIs. Spirits were high as we approached the week of racing: we had picked up many hours of land and water training throughout the term and year and had a strong crew, welcoming back Liv Pegge and Phoebe Forward from strong Boat Race campaigns in the Lightweight and Osiris crews. On the first day of racing, we bumped Wadham on Greenbanks after a close escape from a three-boat-sandwich, securing our spot on bungline 2. To our great disappointment, Friday saw us narrowly miss the headship bump on Pembroke, who rowed over strongly.

With one more shot at headship on Saturday, the crew was fired up. Within the first few hundred meters of the race, we pulled away from a strong Balliol crew behind us, shifting the focus onto the Pembroke crew in front. After a strong shift on Greenbanks, where we closed the distance on Pembroke, the cheers from supporters along Boathouse Island gave us all the final push we needed. As we rowed past Univ, with Pembroke boathouse in the distance, shouts from bow pair confirmed that we had overlap, and the Pembroke cox conceded, securing our place at the Head of the River.

W1 jump a burning boat to celebrate headship

If only the feeling of relief, pride and elation that could be felt throughout the boat in the minutes after the bump could be captured. What followed was an evening of well-deserved celebrations at VIIIs dinner, as Amber Ford wrapped up their exceptional year as captain with a very thoughtful speech. The headship celebrations continued far into Trinity term, including a Headship Formal Hall that culminated in the traditional burning of a wooden boat specially made by the Univ Works Department.

Once the excitement of VIIIs had cooled off, and after some rest and recovery, we got back into the boat, this time a four, to train for the Frank V Harry Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta. It was a strong performance from the Univ crew, narrowly missing out on qualifying by only 2.3 seconds and placing as the 3rd-fastest non-qualifying crew. It would be remiss not to also mention the many Univ rowers that have spent much of Trinity term rowing with OUBC and OUBC Development Squad, achieving brilliant results at Reading Amateur, Henley Women’s and Henley Royal regattas.

The next academic year looks to be very promising for the Women*s side, as we move into the bicentenary year of UCBC, and begin the hard work of defending our VIIIs headship, aiming to collect Torpids headship along the way, with what promises to be a very strong crew! I can’t wait to see the Women*s crews, across the depth of the squad, go from strength to strength.

Matilda Devlin
Women*s Captain 2026-27

M1 heading to the bungline, Photo by Luigi Marini

Trinity term began with a seemingly endless series of 800m seat races. But after a gruelling week, M1 was finally constructed. On our first outing, in the warm glow of a Friday evening sun, it quickly became apparent that all the seat racing in fours had unlocked something special. The tone was set.

At Bedford Regatta, M1 came out on the losing side of two nail-biting finishes against Jesus College Cambridge in the morning and Abingdon School in the afternoon. Both races were great opportunities for us to build our composure at high rate and realise that large gains were within reach.

Daily water sessions and a never-ending stream of five-stroke starts flashed by and suddenly it was Eights Week.

On Thursday, we sat on the bung line feeling prepared and excited. Much of that feeling dissipated as soon as the wash hit. Nevertheless, we got the job done, securing the bump on Christchurch that oh so many had been dreaming of for over a year.On Friday, Univ M1 lined up on bung line 4 for the first time since 2014. The race itself was less exciting. Pembroke sailed away, while Christchurch behind us was quickly caught by an assertive New College boat. The stage was set for Saturday – a defensive battle against New.

Alas, a rapid start from our boat on Saturday wasn’t enough to escape New, who kept eating away at the gap before bumping us after Longbridges. But any sense of dismay at returning to fifth position quickly vanished a half hour later with the euphoria that gripped our side of the Isis as we watched W1 bump Pembroke for headship.

Having defended our position as 5th, we now look towards training up for Michaelmas – to improve further the fitness of the incredible squad depth we’ve amassed this year and prepare for the longer races of Fours Head and Fairbairn’s.

Thank you to our coaches Jono Cheeseman and Mark Probets, as well as to our outgoing Men*s Captains Rory Proudfoot and Charlie Towle,

Oskar Grenmark-Pittaway and Sebastian Collins
Men*s Co-Captains 2026-27

W4 on Saturday of VIIIs, Photo by Kira Baughn

It has been an incredible term for the whole of the women*s side with four full boats preparing for Eights.

After the cancellation of Torpids, many of W3 and W4 were facing their first proper races. City Bumps and Bedford Amateur Regatta gave many of us some excellent experience.

At Rowing On, our W3 qualified in first place and W4 also qualified easily in 30th thanks to dedicated training from all involved. Combined with W2 defending their second boat headship, we were set up for a brilliant week of racing.

Wednesday saw incredible results across the women*s side. W2 bumped St Antony’s, W3 achieved a double overbump on St Peter’s II to become the sandwich boat in Division 5, and W4 bumped Exeter III and then achieved an overbump on Pembroke III to secure their place in Division 6.

W3 after achieving blades, Photo by Kira Baughn

At the end of Friday, W2 had gone +2, W4 had gone +3, and W3, with +7, was the highest climbing boat on the river and on blades watch.

In a perfect end to an incredible week for our lower boats, all 3 crews achieved bumps against St Peter’s, Regent’s Park, and St Peter’s II, respectively.

W2 easily retained their status as the highest second boat on the river in 28th, their highest position ever with +3 positions in the week. W4 is the highest fourth boat on the river, having gained 4 places. W3 secured blades for the first time ever at Eights this year and climbed the highest of any crew with +8 places.

W2 at Summer VIIIs dinner, Photo by Kira Baughn

We had much to celebrate at Eights dinner, not limited to these incredible results. The encouragement, support, and commitment shown by everyone has made this term exceptional, and we know that this will only continue to develop next year.

We are so grateful to everyone, especially to Jocasta for coaching W3 and W4 and Argy for coaching W2, who put so much time and effort into these crews, and we cannot wait to see how UCBC will continue to amaze us in the coming year.

Esme Hallam and Naomi Nemickas
Women*s Vice-Captains 2026-27

M3 after achieving blades, Photo by Kira Baughn

The Men*s lower boats have done incredibly this term, despite the setbacks of such a wet Hilary. We started off the term strong at the BUCS regatta.

On Saturday we had three fours entered – the A boat came 21/43 in the time trial before coming 3rd in the D final, B boat 27/43 and 3rd in the E final and C boat 41/43.

The main cause for excitement came on Sunday, where the novice Eight had a stand-out performance, coming 14th in the Country (2nd C-Final) and beating rowing programmes such as Oxford Brookes University and Newcastle University in one of the most tightly fought finals that day.

In the middle of the term, we had Bedford Amateur Regatta where the boats raced against various high quality crews from around the Country and City Bumps, where M2 went +4 over the day.

M4 lead a three-boat-sandwich, Photo by @humbleharris56

In Rowing On all of the entered men*s crews rowed on, bringing Univ’s total number of men’s boats to 5 – the highest on the river! In rowing on M3 topped the charts by over 2 seconds to the next fastest crew and during the week M3 were the stars of the show, getting +6 and blades and solidifying their spot as the top M3 on the river.

M5, the beer boat, was in division 7 and managed to bump on the first three days before narrowly missing out on blades due to a klaxoned raced.

M2 narrowly went -1, rowing on three times with some extremely intense racing – including a four boat sandwich lasting almost the whole length of the course. On the first two races they brought Mansfield to canvas, but guttingly just missed out on the bump.

M4 got bumped every single day of eights, getting spoons.

Ned Osborne, Finbar Thomas and James Backhouse
Univ Men*s Vice-Captains 2026-27​

The social life of UCBC in Trinity Term is usually marked by pre-Eights drinking bans, followed by celebrations. This year was no different, with the whole club coming together to celebrate the Women’s Headship. This marked the success enjoyed by the whole club at Eights, but was also a chance for everyone to cut loose for the first time in weeks.

The term kicked off in 0th week with City Bumps, a fun occasion before the real work began. Alcohol-based socials were limited until Eights, but there were highlights, such as the Men’s Meat Social and Women’s Clubroom Cocktails.

The highlight, however, was the Summer Eights Dinner. We were glad to welcome back many old members, several celebrating 20 years since their last Eights. The hall was packed, with nearly 100 attendees proving UCBC’s status as one of Oxford’s biggest clubs. Speeches from *** Welsh and Michael Collins kept us all entertained, with their rousing speeches – delivered standing on High Table – emphasising the success of W1 and the positive position the entire Club is in. I am told the dinner was followed by a lively bar and a well-attended Park End, but memories are hazy.

Usually, socials fizzle out after Eights as attention switches to exams, but the term finished on a high with the Headship formal in 8th week. W1 were guests of the Master on High Table and the hall was full of UCBC blazers. Special thanks go to our new Senior Member (?), David Land, for his help in organising this, and to the Master for her ongoing support as she comes to the end of her tenure. It is greatly appreciated.

Looking forward, Michaelmas promises to be an exciting term, with more socials to look forward to. Members should get excited for crewdates, bar crawls, and communal meals, particularly as we welcome an incoming group of Freshers. We look forward to seeing familiar and new faces alike as we celebrate all that makes UCBC so special.

Robert Mylne and Lauren Chang
Social Secretaries 2026-27 

Congratulations to UCBC members competing at Henley this year:

• Paolo Cicuta made the semi-finals of the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, having won Metropolitan and BUCS regatta Intermediate 4+
• Phoebe Forward qualified for the Borne Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta, having won BUCS Championship 4-
• Olivia Pegge qualified for the Colgan Foundation Cup

• Friday 4 December – The Fairbairn Cup (Cambridge)
• Saturday 23 January (TBC) – Dinos and Cassies dinner
• Wednesday 24 February – Saturday 27 February – Torpids
• Saturday 10 April – 200th Anniversary Dinner
• Wednesday 26 May – Saturday 29 May – Summer Eights
• Sunday 30 May – Martlet Regatta