Univ rowers, porters and alumni staged a 24 hour charity rowing machine relay in Radcliffe quad in November last year, as part of a fundraising campaign in memory of two distinguished Boat Club alumni.

Olympic silver medal-winning cox and two-time Boat Race winner Acer Nethercott, who learnt to cox as a novice with UCBC, passed away unexpectedly from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor earlier this year. Just a few months earlier, former Men’s 1st VIII rower James Townley died while serving with the Royal Engineers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Both men were extremely well-liked and popular members of the Boat Club, and Acer often returned to encourage novices to try the sport and showed them his silver medal, which he kept in a sock. Their loss has been deeply felt throughout the Boat Club, University College and wider British rowing community.

The event was widely promoted across Oxford and to British Forces overseas, with the Cherwell newspaper covering the event and several radio interviews broadcast on British Forces Radio. One of the event's notable supporters, London 2012 Olympic coxless fours gold medalist Pete Reed, wrote, “I'd like to pass on my heart felt congratulations and thanks to the University College Boat Club for their enormous efforts to raise money in memory of your old friends Acer and James. I was a close friend of Acer as so many people genuinely were. He is still, and always will be, a huge source of inspiration for me.”

More than sixty participants – including rowers, coxswains, Old Members and the College porters Bob, David and Lee – rowed in a relay on two ergs in a challenge to raise £2000 for Cancer Research UK and Help for Heroes. After 24 hours of non-stop rowing we raised a total of £5,223.06 from Old Members, current students and the general public. This was more than double our original target, and I’d like to personally thank those Old Members who donated and expressed their support for our successful endeavour.

Edward Beard
Men's Vice Captain 2013-14

Posted on Nov 28, 2013

posted under: charity

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