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Top Stories
May Term 1999
Latest UK and international rowing news from The Rowing Service
Maddy Britton and Louise Jones raced at the National Rowing Championships on 17-18 July in the CUWBC Development Squad A crew. They finished fifth in their heat, and did not advance to the final.
The minutes from the Annual General Meeting are available in Microsoft Word format [108KB]. A free viewer for Word 97 files is available from Microsoft.
Men's First Boat had a successful and enjoyable term. The Lent crew was reshuffled considerably, with Nick Guillard returning from injury, and Andy Gribble moving up from the Lent Second VIII. The crew started the term well, finishing as second fastest College crew in the Head of the Cam. After a bad performance in Nottingham, the First VIII were determined to race well in the Bedford Amateur Regatta, and they scored victories over Caius II, Jesus II, University of East Anglia and Exeter College to win the Senior 4 competition. The crew also raced the next day in the Cambridge Sprint Regatta, where they narrowly lost a semi-final against Emmanuel after two re-rows. Unfortunately, Nick Guillard developed a serious back strain, and was forced to sit out the rest of term; David Sampson returned from "retirement" to replace him.
So on to Bumps, with Men's First Boat starting in 11th place... Chasing Magdalene on the first night, Churchill made up ground steadily and completed the bump at Ditton Corner. Day 2 brought a row over, as the crew never really settled and was unable to close on Trinity Hall ahead. On the third day, the crew rowed much better, and were well inside a length from Trinity Hall when they were bumped by a speedy Fitzwilliam crew. In miserable conditions on the fourth day, Churchill fought gallantly to hold off Christ's, who were just a canvas down at Grassy Corner, but completed the bump in the second half of the reach.
A heavily revised First VIII travelled to Henley Royal Regatta for the first time since 1996, but were unsuccessful in their attempt to qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup.
The Men's Second VIII also had an encouraging and enjoyable term. The crew featured a number of changes from the Lent Second VIII. Second Boat finished fifth among College Second Boats in the Head of the Cam, but their races at Nottingham were cancelled due to bad weather. They finished 9th overall after two good rows in the Cam Head to Head, but were knocked out by Selwyn I in the first round of the Cambridge Sprint Regatta.
Starting 11th in the second division in Bumps, Second Boat scored a satisfying bump on Trinity Hall II on the first day. The crew rowed over behind King's on the second day, and, like the First VIII, they were bumped on the Friday and the Saturday, by Emmanuel II and Jesus II respectively.
The men's lower boats were poorly organised, and a Men's Third VIII was patched just a few weeks before Bumps. Several members of the crew were very experienced and competent, but a lack of training and racing meant that the crew was always going to struggle.
Starting 5th in fourth division, Third Boat's Bumps campaign got off to a slow start when they were bumped by Clare III and 1st & 3rd IV. They managed to row over ahead of Trinity Hall III on the third day, and they scored a somewhat comical bump on Queens' III on Saturday after Queens' failed to appear at the start!
The MCR (Fourth) VIII trained consistently and improved appreciably through the term. The crew focused equally on the sporting and social sides of rowing... they had organised their first formal hall with a Trinity women's crew before they had organised their first outing!
To say that Bumps did not go to plan for the MCR VIII would be a masterpiece of understatement. They were bumped by Trinity Hall IV, Darwin II and Caius III on the opening three days, and reached their nadir on Saturday when they were overbumped by Homerton II.
A Rugby VIII trained spasmodically during the term, but did not compete in the getting-on race to qualify for Bumps.
May Term 1999 was moderately successful for Churchill's senior men's crews, with the First VIII's victory in Bedford the obvious highlight. The lower boats suffered from a lack of leadership, but they remained cheerful and dedicated. A number of experienced First VIII rowers are now moving on from Churchill, but the remaining rowers from the First and Second VIIIs are well placed for continued success next year.
Women's crews
Women's First Boat enjoyed a strong and successful term. The crew featured two changes from the successful Lent First VIII, with Susan Alexander replacing Zoe Jones, and Colin Bell returning to the cox's seat. They started a little slowly with a 9th place finish in the Head of the Cam, but improved appreciably to finish 2nd in the Cam Head to Head three weeks later. They claimed "victory" in the Cambridge Sprint Regatta after the only other crew in their division scratched, and had to work harder for an excellent win in the 99's Regatta, where they defeated Magdalene and Darwin.
Starting 10th in Bumps, Churchill put in a steady but uninspiring performance on the first day, never challenging Queens' ahead and narrowly escaping from Downing behind. The second day, in contrast, was superb, with Downing never in contention, and Queens' hustled all the way to the finish. Churchill rowed over again on day 3 after Queens' bumped Clare. Churchill was unable to threaten Clare on Saturday, but they once again held off Downing to retain their 10th place.
Women's First VIII rounded off their term at the Henley Women's Regatta, where they lost to 1st & 3rd Trinity.
The Women's Second VIII have enjoyed incredible success in recent years, rising ten places in May Bumps during 1997 and 1998, and they continued to climb up the Bumps rankings in 1999. The crew's first race of term was the Cam Head to Head, where they finished 6th overall and 2nd among lower boats. The next day in the Cambridge Sprint Regatta, they defeated Queens' II and New Hall II, but lost in the semi-finals to New Hall I. In their final lead-up race before Bumps, they were beaten by Caius II in the 99's Regatta.
Starting Bumps in 3rd place in the third division, Churchill rowed over on the first day after Queens' II ahead had bumped Homerton II. The crew bumped Homerton II on Thursday, and then hit Trinity Hall II on Friday. Unfortunately Churchill were unable to make the jump to the second division, rowing over behind New Hall II on the final day to finish at the top of the third division.
Women's Third VIII, who had failed to qualify for Lent Bumps, improved enormously through May Term and finished May Bumps as Churchill's most successful crew. They finished 8th overall and 3rd among lower boats in the Cam Head to Head, and they beat 1st & 3rd III before losing to Girton II in the Cambridge Sprint Regatta.
Third Boat rowed very strongly in the May Bumps getting-on race, and earned a place in the fourth division. The first day of Bumps started disastrously when a gate popped open and a blade worked loose, but the crew recovered and still completed a bump on Girton III. Churchill easily disposed of Caius IV in First Post Reach on Thursday, and bumped Jesus V at the same point on Friday. Chasing blades on the final day, Churchill had their best row yet, and caught Clare III just after the motorway bridge to complete their fourth successive bump!
May Term 1999 has been high successful for Churchill's women's crews, who scored six bumps and six row overs. Although the First and Second VIIIs will lose half their personnel for next year, hopefully another talented and enthusiastic group of novices will again rise to the challenge.
Churchill's Madeleine Britton and Louise Jones have been selected for the CUWBC Development Squad, and will train with CUWBC coaches on the Cam for a month. Maddy and Louise will also race at the National Championships in Nottingham.
Nick Guillard and cox Olli Martin plan to trial for CULRC next term.
Churchill's most recent representative in a University crew was Martin Hoather, who rowed for CULRC in 1997 and 1998. The last Churchill woman to row for Cambridge was Helen Maudslay (Blondie, 1996), although Helen Rutkowska was spare for Blondie in 1997. Churchill's most recent men's heavyweight triallist was Stefan Butlin, who narrowly missed out on selection for Goldie in 1996.
The women's Henley crew consists of May Boat rowers Maddy Britton, Louise Jones, Helen Cooper, Angie McConnell, Carmen Berg and Susan Alexander, plus Zoe Jones (from the Lent First VIII) and Ruth Lucas; Colin Bell is the cox.
The men's Henley crew comprises May Boat rowers Ewan Main, Richard Gregory, Adam Candy, David Sampson and Niko Loening, plus Andy Jardine (from the May Second VIII), former May Boat rower Rob Thatcher, and Cory Sutela; Caroline Winn is the cox.
Men's Second VIII
Starting: 11th in Division 2
Chasing: Trinity Hall II
Chased by: Corpus Christi I
Form: Head of the Cam - 5th M2; Cam Head to Head - 4th M2; Cambridge Sprint Regatta - lost to Selwyn I
Men's Third VIII
Starting: 5th in Division 4
Chasing: Trinity Hall III
Chased by: Clare III
Form: No races this term
Men's Fourth VIII
Starting: 7th in Division 5
Chasing: Jesus V
Chased by: Trinity Hall IV
Form: No races this term
Women's First VIII
Starting: 10th in Division 1
Chasing: Queens' I
Chased by: Downing I
Form: Head of the Cam - 9th W1; Cam Head to Head - 2nd W1; Cambridge 99's Regatta - beat Magdalene I, Darwin I, winners W1
Women's Second VIII
Starting: 3rd in Division 3
Chasing: Queens' II
Chased by: Jesus III
Form: Cam Head to Head - 2nd W2; Cambridge Sprint Regatta - beat Queens' II, New Hall II, lost to New Hall I; Cambridge 99's Regatta - lost to Caius II
Women's Third VIII
Starting: 14th in Division 4
Chasing: Girton III
Chased by: Downing III
Form: Cam Head to Head - 3rd WL; Cambridge Sprint Regatta - beat 1st & 3rd III, lost to Girton II
Links:
Women's First VIII defeated Magdalene I comfortably in the opening round of the Mays First Division competition. They then beat Darwin I by a canvas to win the final to take Churchill's third overall victory of the term. Women's Second VIII lost out to Caius II in the final of the Mays Third Division category.
Full results are available.
Men's First VIII raced three times against Emmanuel I to settle the final of the Mays First Division competition. The first race was declared a dead heat, and a re-row was called after a serious clash of blades second time around. Emmanuel managed to win narrowly at the third attempt. Men's Second VIII lost to Selwyn I in their first race in the Mays Second Division competition.
Women's First VIII were declared the winners of the Mays First Division competition after the only opponents, Selwyn I, scratched. Women's Second VIII defeated Queens' II and New Hall II before losing to New Hall I in the Mays Second Division category. Women's Third VIII beat 1st & 3rd Trinity III in the opening round of the Mays Lower Boats category, but lost narrowly to Girton II in the semi-finals.
Full results are available.
Men's Second VIII finished in 19'11" to take 9th overall and 4th among Second Division crews.
Women's First VIII clocked 21'07" to finish 2nd to Emmanuel (19'30") in the women's event. Women's Second VIII's time of 22'11" took 6th place overall and 2nd among Lower Division crews, while the Third VIII were 3rd Lower Division crew and 8th overall with 24'08".
Full results are available.
Full results are available.
Results are now available.
Men's First VIII finished in a time of 9'10" to take 6th place overall and 2nd among Cambridge College crews. Men's Second VIII covered the distance in 9'56" to earn 17th place.
Women's First VIII's time of 11'06" earned the crew 9th among Cambridge crews and 37th overall.
Churchill's alumni and alumnae crews, competing as the Free Press Shovellers and Shovellettes respectively, completed the course in 10'15" and 11'23".
Results are now available.
Note: Nick Guillard was injured in the Cambridge Sprint Regatta, and was replaced by David Sampson for the rest of the term.
