UCBC had a fantastic week at Summer Eights, with the highlight being W1 taking the Summer Eights headship for the first time in history in front of a roaring Univ Boat House. We had eight crews racing, coached ably by a team led by Head Coach Jono Cheesman, as well as 2nd VIII coaches Clare Holubowskyj and Argyris Stasinakis, with several 1st VIII rowers and Old Members rounding out the coaching line up and ushering our beer boats towards the finish line.

We fielded beer boat 4th VIII crews made up of Old Members, finalists and those new to the sport on both the men’s and women’s sides, allowing as many people as possible to get a taste of bumps racing. Our 3rd VIIIs both had challenging weeks but thoroughly enjoyed themselves, with the M3 party hats and blazers a highlight of Saturday.

M2 had a stellar week, bumping up twice to 1st in Division 4, within reach of the hallowed senior divisions 1-3 and their 5-7pm summer training slots. We look forward to seeing this crew take on Torpids and Eights next year. W2 continued to hold their own in Division 3, surrounded by 1st VIIIs but still managing a bump on Wednesday to finish at bungline 8. This was again a relatively inexperienced crew, and we cannot wait to see what they achieve in their time at Univ.

Bumps racing is always dramatic but not always fair, and this was indeed the story of M1’s campaign. The crew had put in the hours over the winter and was looking forward to proving themselves, but a variety of technical and umpiring issues meant that they finish Summer Eights 2022 at bungline 11 in Division 1. We eagerly await their summer regatta campaign as they look to lay down a marker for boat speed.

Women have rowed for Univ since shortly after their admittance to the college, with the first women’s crews rowing in Summer Eights 42 years ago. The highest position the women had held on the river prior to this week was 3rd. That record was beaten on Thursday, as W1 bumped Wadham past Boathouse Island in a gritty four-boat sandwich to go 2nd, and then again on Friday, with a bump on Wolfson as they emerged from the Gut sending Univ to the head of the river for the first time. This is a tremendous achievement for women’s rowing at the college, and our thanks go out to all the students and OMs who have reached out with good luck and congratulatory messages from around the world. We celebrated with a traditional club dinner at college on Saturday evening, welcoming OMs back for the first Summer Eights dinner since 2019.

As always, thank you to the College, the Boat Club committee, and the Friends of UCBC for making this possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Published: 31 May 2022

Explore Univ on social media