Trinity term 2021: Getting back into rowing after lockdown
SEHBC was eagerly awaiting Monday March 29th when rowing could begin again. We had returned to Zoom workouts and socials for our Hilary term, and logged enough distance to get 2.36% of the way to the moon (9,068km). Teddy Hall had allowed students to return for reasonable excuses and this meant we had enough athletes to begin training during the Easter Vac.
We are determined to use all the water time we had and since British Summer Time has started, the men and the women are out every day on the water come 5pm. This effort has continued into term with training split into seniors and novices on both sides. It’s clear that the novices need more attention than in normal years, but there is a lot of time and determination on their part to get them up to speed. Coaching the novices on the women’s side, we have Alice Roberts, ex-blue boat rower who stroked the W1 blades winning crew in Summer VIIIs 2017, and Georgie Plunkett, ex-blue boat rower from The Other Place. With the novice men, we have Francis Stanford, who learned to row at school, continued at Bristol University where he also learned to coach. Tom Hole has returned to coach W1 for the second year in a row, having spent many years rowing at the Hall himself. For M1, we have Alice Davies, who learned to row at Bristol and is currently training at Leander.
This Trinity term, the rowing calendar is notably different. Instead of Summer VIIIs, the racing instead will be Torpids. Oxford University Rowing Clubs (OURCs) deemed Torpids rules safer than Eights rules since only one boat is dropping out at each bump. Then at the captains’ meeting, it was decided Torpids charts would be used (rather than Eights charts with Torpids rules). The racing has also moved two weeks later to 7th week and will run from Tuesday 8th to Friday 11th June to avoid crowds. Spectators are also unfortunately being discouraged so this year we will have to appreciate your support from afar. Although, OURCs is looking into ways to livestream the event so hopefully it will still be possible to enjoy the drama live.
We also have to adapt our usual charity BBQ since crowds are being discouraged. In recent years, we have raised money from Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) in the memory of Matt Greenwood. Last summer, our charity event was the 1861km day where we attempted to collectively run/cycle/erg 1861km (and we greatly supposed this target!). This year, we are currently thinking about holding a Torpids sweepstake with the money given going to BCRT and raffle-like prizes to be given, which alumni are very welcome to get involved in. Our boatclub photographer, Freddie Sørensen, is also going to be selling Torpids photos for BCRT.
With five and a half weeks to go, M1 and W1 are ramping up training and it’s clear members are determined to succeed after two years without bumps racing. Competition for those nine seats is fierce and everyone is keeping their fitness up and technique sharp to give themselves the best chance. Given the circumstances, we have a particularly large squad at the moment and the aim is to enter at least three boats from both sides. M1 are in a tricky spot, being 7th on the river. W1 are hoping to win big being 28th after a disappointing 2019 Torpids. M2 are 41st and M3 60th, meaning our M3, W2, and W3 will have to enter rowing on. We hope to round off the term with a post-June 21st event, which will be in 9th week, where we can celebrate our achievements (we hope!) and well as SEHBC’s 160th anniversary.
Jess Radley, President 2020/21