Univ saw a great turnout this term with 3 men’s novice crews training and competing in both the Nephthys and Christ Church regattas.

MNA trained very hard, having 3 water sessions a week on top of their land training. The benefits of this could be seen in the weeks leading up to the regattas, when 5th week saw 4 members of MNA be part of the winning team who competed in the New College Indoor Regatta. This consisted of a 4x500m relay in a knockout style competition and showed just how strong MNA were.

After disappointingly being knocked out in the first round of Nephthys Regatta, it was great to see that this did not affect their spirits in the run up to Christchurch. MNA went on to win the first 3 rounds of the competition, of which 2 of the races were won very convincingly by over 3 second margins! They were eventually beaten by Balliol A who, daringly racing in an Empacher, went on to come second place in the regatta.

MNB's term started slowly but they soon got used to rowing in eights. Their technique on the water was cemented during the land sessions on the ergs where they were also able to work on their fitness, which improved very quickly.

During Nephthys regatta, MNB started strong, beating both Lincoln B and Wolfson B. In the next round, MNB were up against Balliol B but sadly lost in a very tight and exciting race. Christchurch regatta was equally as exciting, beating Green Templeton A after being a length and a half down going past Univ boat house, and then going on to defeat St Hugh’s B the following day. MNB sadly lost to Queen’s A, cutting their Christ Church campaign prematurely short.

MNC, or the MNChampions as they've become affectionately known, had a strong season this Michaelmas. After being promoted from D's to C's, they commendably stepped up to the demands of their new status by taking on extra erg sessions. Despite various slips and stumbles -holding the boat was not their forte- MNC approached their regattas with reason to be confident.

Despite rowing in sixes for Nephthys regatta due to a last minute drop-out, the crew performed admirably, losing out to Hertford A by four lengths. In Christ Church regatta, MNC found themselves up against St Johns A in the first round. Due to more unfortunate circumstances, they had to enter Christ Church as a friendly boat. This was more than made up for however by the efforts of the 2 substitutes, Alex Rowe-Jones and Ben Norbury. MNC only lost by a length to St Johns A on the first day but went on to a great win against Queens B with a lead of over a length and a half. MNC had a very strong novice season and are said to be, "thoroughly hyped by the promise of senior rowing next term".

Everyone showed a great amount of commitment this term and it looks like we have a strong set of rowers as we start looking towards Torpids and Summer Eights.

Finally, I would like to thank all the coaches and anyone who subbed in over the course of this term. Without you this could not have been as successful as it was and we are all grateful.

Tom Davis
UCBC Men’s Vice-Captain

Posted on Dec 12, 2014

posted under: racingnoviceschrist churchterm report

back to News and Results