Henley Royal Regatta 2010

A number of current and past OUBC oarsmen took part in the regatta this year. 

Martin Walsh, Simon Gawlik, Matthew Evans and Sjoerd Hamburger competed in a composite VIII with Oxford Brookes University in the Ladies Challenge Plate, losing to Harvard University in the final by one third of a length, having beaten Molesey BC by 1 3/4 lengths on Friday and Imperial College London and Berliner Ruderclub, Germany on Saturday.

Congratulations goes to the 1829 crew who were victorious in the Thames Challenge Cup beating West End Rowing Club, New Zealand by 2 3/4 lengths in a time of 6.59.  The crew contained Jonny Mathews (Isis 2004, 2005, 2006) Mark Vickers (Isis 2003), Brad Mytton (Isis 2008), Robin Ejsmond-Frey ( Blue 2006, 2007; Isis 2005, 2008), Henry Morris (Blue 2003, 2004; Isis 2002, 2005); Lucas Dalglish (Isis 2007) Coxed by Pete Hackworth  (Blue 2002, Isis 2001)

Congratulations also to Nick Marriott (Isis 2007) who won the Brittania Challenge Cup with Tideway Scullers School.

Commiserations to Pete Reed (Blue 2004, 2005) and Andy Hodge (Blue 2005) who lost to the NZ pair in the Goblets - we have every confidence that they will beat the New Zealanders next time they meet!  Also to Ante Kusurin (Blue 2007, 2009) who lost in the final of the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup with Tideway Scullers School.

Marlow Regatta 2010

Martin Walsh, Simon Gawlik, Matthew Evans and Sjoerd Hamburger competed in a composite VIII with Oxford Brookes University at Marlow Regatta on 19th June, winning Elite VIIIs

The Metropolitan Regatta 2010

Martin Walsh, Simon Gawlik and Matthew Evans competed in a composite VIII with Oxford Brookes University at the Metropolitan Regatta last weekend, winning Elite VIIIs on both days.

Henley Royal Regatta 2009

After the success of this year’s Boat Races, Justin Stangel, Colin Keogh, Martin Walsh and newly elected President of OUBC Sjoerd Hamburger, formed a coxless four to compete in the Visitors Challenge Cup.

The draw saw us face our old rivals Cambridge in the first round. After a nervous start we found ourselves trailing by a length at both the Barrier and Fawley markers. With the closing stages approaching we battled hard and reduced Cambridge’s lead to ¼ of a length. In the final 100metres and the finish line insight and with the added motivation of having our rivals next to us we fought hard and won by 1 foot in a time of 6 minutes 39 seconds, which interestingly equalled the course record held by Isis BC since 1998. In the second round we were drawn against an Army and Thames composite who put up a strong challenge in the closing stages, however we managed to withhold their attack to win by half a length. In the semi final our opponents were two time winners of this event since 2003, National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). After a solid start we found ourselves trailing at the Barrier by ¾ of a length, but with a strong middle section we had reduced their lead to a ¼ of a length at Fawley. A strong push after Fawley saw us break clear of NUIG and eventually win by 3 and ¾ lengths. The final race saw us face Mercyhurst College from the USA who had held off some strong opposition on their route to the final. Giving away nearly two stone a man the Mercyhurst crew faced an uphill battle against an ever increasing headwind which suited us much more. With a strong rhythm and belief we pushed hard in the early stages of the race and went on to win by 3 and ½ lengths in a time of 7 minutes 36 seconds.

It was a huge honour for us to represent Oxford at Henley Royal Regatta, and a fantastic way to end a marvellous season for OUBC. A great deal of thanks has to go to Andy Nelder and Sean Bowden for giving up so much of their time to prepare us for this regatta, without their guidance and dedication this season would not have been the success that it was. Further thanks to Pat Lockley and Barbara Wilson for their continued work behind the scenes which are essential to the successful running of the club. Finally we would like to thank all the old Blues who supported us during the regatta, in particular Dan Topolski who continues to be an extremely influential and dedicated supporter of OUBC.

Martin Walsh

OUBC Boat Race Ball

Come and join the 2009 Oxford University Boat Race squad and Old Blue's on the 29th of March at the Hurlingham Club to recognise the achievements of this years team.

The Ball will start with a drinks reception at 7:30pm followed by a 3 course meal, including a half bottle of wine per person, with a late licensed bar and music afterwards.

TICKETS:

Full Dining Ticket: £75 per person

Non-Dining Ticket: £15 per person

Last applications by the 15/03/2009.

Seating will be in tables of 10. Please mention on application of any specific seating requests.

If you have any specific dietary requirements please also mention this on your application.

Dress Code: Black Tie

Any further enquires about this event should be directed to Barbara Wilson at admin.oubc@sport.ox.ac.uk

Time for the drinks reception begins at 7:30pm with dinner for 8:30pm.

There will be free entry with either ticket to the after-party at the Valmont Club in Fulham (5 min taxi).

Please click here to download the application form (Microsoft Word Format)

We Look Forward To Seeing You!

February Squad Report #1

Bosporos Dinner
RAC Club, London, Pall Mall
10 February 2009

Dear Old Blues, Isis, Bosporos, and OUBC Supporters,

On 10 February, current squad members and Bosporos members gathered in London, at the RAC Club in Pall Mall, for the 9th annual Bosporos Dinner. The Bosporos Dinner is a significant aspect of each season as the current squad is able to witness the momentous amount of support of previous OUBC squad members.

Driving straight to London after a training session in Wallingford, the first order of business, naturally for rowers, was to sit down and enjoy a quality meal. After the three-course meal concluded, President Colin Smith closed with a speech on the progress of the squad to this point and how special and unique a night like the Bosporos Dinner really is.

It was great for current squad members to enjoy conversations with OBI’s who were able to share their rowing experiences at Oxford. It is rare that a dinner such as this occurs in which each person has experienced the trials and tribulations of a short, yet high intensity, OUBC rowing season.

With selection close to complete, the current squad is busy preparing for upcoming fixtures as well as for The Boat Race, which occurs 29 March.

Best Regards,

Colin D. Groshong

Michal Plotkowiak BB '07 and Dan Topolski	Recent OBI

January Report #1

OUBC Winter Training Camp: Temple Sur Lot

On January 3rd, the OUBC squad packed up and traveled to a new venue, Temple Sur Lot, for the  annual winter training camp. With roughly ten weeks until The Boat Race on March 29th, the squad sought to build on fitness and technical skills from the fall term in order to set the tone for the tough weeks ahead. 

Temple Sur Lot, which is two hours from Bordeaux in southwestern France near “Tooo Louis” [Alex Hearne 2009], is a training center for the French National Rowing Team. Although the town was quaint, it was much livelier than Mequinenza, Spain which OUBC has traveled to for previous training camps at this time of the year. Unlike Spain, the town was equipped with a small café and shop to sustain the squads, aka Ante Kusurin’s, chocolate and Coke cravings.

Although in a new location, the theme of this camp was consistent to years past. With miles of flat water, the squad utilized water time to improve on the technical themes established in the Autumn as well as continued to build an on the water team identity.

Our days consisted of the following: Eat, Row, Sleep, Eat, Row, Eat, Sleep. Throw in a couple games of Scrabble and the occasional basketball warm up, and you get a sense of what each day was like.

On the second to last day of camp, a club crew from Bordeaux came to Temple Sur Lot to train with us. The crew brought a friendly face, that of Bastien Ripoll, the stroke of the 2006 victorious Blue Boat. It was a great experience lining up against a former Blue in training. Knowing the rigors of Boat Race preparation, Bastien’s boat proved a useful sparring partner each outing.

The squad will be back in Oxford to resume training on 13 January.

Happy New Year.  May 2009 be another year of the Dark Blues.

Best Regards,
Colin Groshong

December Report #2

OUBC TRIAL EIGHTS: Bear mauls Bull

On December 11th OUBC set two eights against each other to compete in the annual Trials Eights Race from Putney to Mortlake on the Tideway, covering the full Boat Race course. This year, the crews were named ‘Bull’ and ‘Bear’ in honor of the tumultuous times in the financial markets.

The crews were assembled with the goal of having two boats of equal speed. After fine tuning both line-ups, the two boats were ready to put their speeds to the test. In training both crews had their moments of success, as such, uncertainty filled the air on the starting line.

On umpire Boris Rankov’s “GO!”, both crews propelled off the starting blocks just upstream of Putney Bridge. Off the line, ‘Bull’ on Surrey, stroked by President Colin Smith, rating higher, ultimately took a slim lead coming towards the Black Buoy. As the two crews found their base rhythms, ‘Bear’ on Middlesex, stroked by Ante Kusurin, began to pull back level around the beginning of the Fulham bend. As this first bend came to a close, ‘Bear’ used its advantage to garner a 1/2 boat length advantage over ‘Bull’.

Over the next three to four minutes down the Mile Post straight, past Harrods, and on to Hammersmith Bridge, ‘Bull’ charged to regain the margin it had lost in the first three minutes of the race. Through Hammersmith Bridge, with the crews fighting for the best share of the stream, ‘Bear’ stole the advantage away from ‘Bull’ by pushing out to a bit of a lead on the outside of the bend as the crews passed St. Paul’s School and on towards the Island.

Coming down the Island stretch and passing Chiswick steps with an increasing lead, ‘Bear’ gained a full length advantage by the Chiswick Pier. As the race seemed to come to a crucial knock out point for ‘Bear’ to break for open water, it caught a crab and almost brought the boat to a complete standstill. In this brief moment, ‘Bull’ attacked and found itself on level terms with a little over a mile left to row in the race.

In shock, spectators thought that ‘Bull’ would now have the advantage on the final portion of the Surrey Bend; enough to mitigate the advantage of the final bend towards Middlesex. In professional form, however, ‘Bear’ rebounded from this setback instantaneously and furiously clawed its way back onto terms with ‘Bull’ and proceeded to use the next two minutes passing the Bandstand to push back to a length lead. With the final bend in its favor, ‘Bear’ looked prime to hold off any late charges from ‘Bull’.

As the boats approached Barnes Bridge, ‘Bull’ was still clinging to the stern deck of ‘Bear’. With a near collision underneath the bridge and close side by side racing, in which oars were close to clashing, the race was still up for grabs. Using the inside portion of the turn, however, ‘Bear’ pushed out and began to open up 1/2 to 3/4 of a length of open water with the final 1:30 minutes remaining.

‘Bear’ held onto this lead and crossed the finish line downstream of Chiswick Bridge 1 1/2 lengths clear of ‘Bull’ with a time of 18 minutes 37 seconds.

Crews:

Bear: Ante Kusurin (s), George Bridgewater (7), Tom Solesbury (6), Alex Hearne (5), Martin Walsh (4), Mike Valli (3), Ben Rosenberger (2), Tim Farquaharson (b), Adam Barhamand (cox)

Bull: Colin Smith (s), Sjoerd Hamburger (7), Ben Harrison (6), Aaron Marcovy (5), Dave Hopper (4), Michal Plotkowiak (3), Doug Bruce (2), Colin Keogh (b), Phil Clausen-Thue (cox)

C. Groshong

December Squad Report #1

Dear Old Blues, Isis, Bosporos and OUBC Supporters,

It is my pleasure to present the newly created OUBC website. After eight weeks of designing and fine-tuning, we at OUBC are very pleased with the new site and are certain you will too. It was President Colin Smith’s goal to recreate an OUBC website for the 21st century and I believe that we have succeeded. We will be updating the site frequently as well as adding at least two squad reports each month to let everyone know how our training is progressing towards The Boat Race on March 29th.

My particular vision for this website is to reconnect members of previous OUBC squads. From my experience as part of the 2007-2008 squad, as well as with the current squad, I know how much I will remember this experience and I know that I will keep in touch with the squad for years to come. I know it can be difficult to remain in touch as ones’ time at Oxford fades from distant memory, but utilizing the website to reconnect with your squad mates from years past would be a great thing. As such, we will add an “update your details” section to the Bosporos page so that we can have up to date records of all previous squad members. I would also encourage old squad members to send any updates and/or words of wisdom and support for the current squad to Barbara.

It was not until the Trial Eights dinner a year ago until I realized what it actually meant to be a part of this boat club. From the worn Blues and Isis blazers to the ones which looked as if they were purchased from Walter’s last week, I was in awe of the unity amongst a group of athletes spanning the ages. The support from and interactions with old boys is such a unique facet of OUBC and I believe that this group is integral to the success of the squad year in year out.

Please explore the site and enjoy the build up to the 155th Boat Race with us.

Best Regards,
Colin Groshong

November Report #1

November brought the 2009 OUBC squad to the Tideway for the first time. On 8 November we raced in the annual Fullers Fours Head of the River regatta in London, our first public race as a squad. The conditions this year were more classic Tideway as opposed to the sun and flat water the squad encountered a year ago. Fighting the cold, rainy, and blustering conditions the OUBC fours got a good taste of how brutal and unforgiving the Tideway can be.

OUBC entered four coxed fours, under ISIS Boat Club. The first three boats raced in the Elite 4+ event while the final boat raced in the Senior 1 category. ISIS II, stroked by President Colin Smith, finished the course in a time of 19:35.65, earning them 15th place overall. The next OUBC entry in the rankings at 36th position was ISIS IV, which rowed the course in 19:56.96 and was stroked 2008 Isis stroke and club Vice-President Justin Stangel, Nearly two seconds and five places behind ISIS IV was ISIS III, which placed 41st in a time of 19:58.56. This boat contained 2008 Blue Aaron Marcovy at three and 2007 Blue Boat stroke Ante Kusurin at two. The last of the OUBC entries, ISIS V completed the course in 20:48.25 earning them 136th position overall. This crew was all first time squad members with no Tideway experience, but all of whom up to this year have been successful college rowers in their respective boat clubs.

 Cambridge also entered four coxed fours in this year’s event and demonstrated their desire to win on March 29th. Their top elite 4+ was very fast this year, earning a place in the top 5 for the entire race. Overall, each Cambridge boat entered fared better than our respective boats. Ultimately, Cambridge was better than Oxford on the day. The Cambridge squad is comprised of talented and seasoned previous Blues and Goldie members and has shown that their squad will be a very tough adversary come March. However, all is not lost. OUBC will continue to come together as a squad and fully transform many talented athletes into a powerful unit in the coming months.

Although the results from this particular weekend were not quite to the level we hoped for, our relatively inexperienced Boat Race squad will take valuable lessons and experiences from this weekend forward on the path to March 29th.  Racing on an unfair and wildly inconsistent body of water side by side with an opponent will test the nerves of even the most successful international oarsmen and coxes. The weekend’s results illuminated the skills that the squad as a whole need to develop in order to achieve success in the coming months.

 Since the Fours Head, the squad has responded well in the face of a defeat to Cambridge on November 8th. Due to a flooded Wallingford, the squad has periodically traveled to Caversham to train. After a hard three days at Caversham a week ago, the squad returned to action on November 18th for a 5k ergo test with which the squad proved its toughness and resilience to push their scores to higher levels. As a cox I relish the experience of watching the rowers respond to such challenges, and I was very encouraged to see everyone step up to the plate and perform in less than ideal conditions.

In other news, although highly relevant to the current squad and Old Blues, Sean Bowden became a father to son Frank on the 17th of November. We are all very happy for Sean and cannot wait to see Frank in Oxford Blue.

OUBC will be back in racing action on 11 December 2008 at 11:10 in the morning for the annual Trials Eights race on the Tideway. Please come and enjoy the day if you can.

Best Regards

Colin Groshong

 Fours Head Crews

13th Place;19:35.65 Isis II: Colin Smith (s), George Bridgewater (3), Sjoerd Hamburger (2), Alex Hearne (b), and Phil Clausen-Thue (cox)

36th Place; 19:56.96 Isis IV: Justin Stangel (s), Michal Plotkowiak (3), Martin Walsh (2), Dave Hopper (b), and Alexandra Girard (cox)

41st Place; 19:58.56 Isis III: Ben Harrison (s), Aaron Marcovy (3), Ante Kusurin (2), Colin Keogh (b), and Adam Barhamand (cox)

136th Place; 20:48.25 Isis V: Ben Rosenberger (s), Ben Mansfield  (3), Joe Medioli (2), Tim Farquaharson (b), and Mike Floyd (cox)