St Edmund Hall Boat Club

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St Edmund Hall Boat Club
Oxford boathouse 2.jpg
St Edmund Hall Rowing Blade.svg
The club's boathouse (right) and blade colours
Coordinates 51°44′38″N1°15′02″W / 51.743852°N 1.250479°W / 51.743852; -1.250479 (St Edmund Hall Boat Club)
Home water Isis
Foundedc. 1861
Key people
  • Toby Whitehead (President)
  • Cyril Schroeder and Lorenzo Usai (Men's Captains)
  • Alex Wood (Women's Captain)
[ citation needed ]
Head of the River
  • Men: 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965
  • Women: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
University University of Oxford
Colours   
Affiliations British Rowing (boat code SEH)
Fitzwilliam College BC (Sister college)
Website www.sehbc.org

St Edmund Hall Boat Club (commonly abbreviated to SEHBC) is a rowing club for members of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. It is based in its own boathouse on the Isis.

Contents

St Edmund Hall 2009 1st VIII boat, before the race on Saturday of Eights. St Edmund Hall Summer Eights 09.jpg
St Edmund Hall 2009 1st VIII boat, before the race on Saturday of Eights.

Between the wars

Summer Eights

The Summer Eights of 1934 was perhaps the most successful in SEHBC's history until that point and were the first Summer Eights in which SEHBC entered two crews. The 1st VIII first won promotion to the 1st Division, with seven bumps over the six days of racing, and the 2nd VIII started at the bottom of the bottom 5th Division and won promotion to the 4th Division also with seven bumps. [1]

The Times of Thursday 24 May 1934 reported that - "The racing in the Summer Eights was concluded at Oxford yesterday when Oriel retained the Headship of the River. ... St. Edmund Hall continued their victorious career with a bump over St. John's in Iffley Reach and this completed a record in gaining seven bumps in the six days' racing. St. Edmund Hall has been steadily gaining a reputation in other branches of sport although they only number 120, this is the first occasion on which they have ever made their way into the First Division. Not satisfied with this their second crew, which started bottom but one in the Fifth Division, also made seven bumps, which put them well into the Fourth Division. ... This remarkable achievement was equalled also by Queen's II, who, starting fourth in the Fourth Division, finished ninth in the Third." [2]


Torpids

Torpids were suspended during World War I, resuming in 1920. SEH remained in the 3rd Division for the 1920s, gradually working its way up, finishing head of the 3rd Division in Torpids 1930. Moving into the 2nd Division for the first time in 1931, the SEH VIII got six bumps in the then six day Torpids format. The rowing correspondent of The Times commented on the success of SEH "who are now taking a prominent place in every branch of sport at Oxford." [3]

Torpids 1933 saw the best SEH performance in Torpids to date, with the VIII getting six bumps and winning promotion for the first time to the 1st Division. The Times noted that "St. Edmund Hall eclipsed all their previous performances on the river by making no fewer than four bumps in the First Division, with a record of six altogether." [4]

SEHBC put out a 2nd VIII for the first time in Torpids 1935, being entered in the new 4th Division, and making six bumps and winning promotion to the 3rd Division. The 1st VIII got four bumps in the 1st Division, and finished third on the river, its highest ever place. The 2nd VIII made four bumps in 1936, with the 1st VIII dropping to fifth on the river. British Pathe footage exists of the 1936 Torpids (crews unknown) from 'News in a Nutshell' (from about 30–60 sec in). [5]

The 1st VIII regained its third position in Torpids 1937, and after being bumped on the first day, the 2nd VIII made four bumps. After an intense series of races in Torpids 1938, with the Times correspondent expecting SEH to secure the headship for the first time in their career, the 1st VIII finished second on the river after New College. The tables were turned in the 1939 Torpids. The Times records a series of close races in the 1st Division, with New College winning by only a few feet, until the 1st VIII got its bump, finishing Head of the River for the first time. The Times commented that "it was a red letter day for St. Edmund Hall, one of the smallest of Oxford colleges, who realized their ambition by wresting the Headship of the River from New College. St. Edmund Hall have always maintained their rowing traditions, notwithstanding the difficulties they have experienced in manning an eight, which on one occasion forced them to transfer their coxswain to the bow thwart." [6] The 2nd VIII bumped its way to the head of the 3rd Division, making Torpids 1939 SEHBC's most successful rowing campaign to date.

SEH 1st VIII Torpids 1939, Head of the River SEH 1st VIII Torpids 1939, Head of the River.jpg.jpg
SEH 1st VIII Torpids 1939, Head of the River

Post-World War II

Notably, the 3rd VIII achieved six bumps on the then six days in 1952, and repeated that achievement in both 1953 and in 1954 (although 1954 saw the introduction of the four race Summer Eights format, with the SEH 3rd VIII bumping on all four days). [7]

Summer Eights

Henley Royal Regatta

SEH also enjoyed success at the Henley Royal Regatta.

SEHBC at the Olympics

A number of SEHBC rowers have represented their countries at the Olympic Games. These include: [21]

· Tokyo 1960: Richard Fishlock, GB Men's VIII

· Tokyo 1960: RCI Bate, GB Men's VIII

· Beijing 2008: Scott Frandsen, Canadian Coxless Pair (Silver medallist)

· Beijing 2008, Alice Freeman, GB Women's VIII

· London 2012, Scott Frandsen, Canadian Coxless Pair

Recent Successes

The men have had notable success in Torpids over the years. Each of the Men's 1st VIII, 2nd VIII, and 3rd VIII has won blades five times or more (the 3rd VIII most recently in 1983, the 2nd VIII most recently in 2016, and the 1st VIII seven times, most recently in 2019). [22] Both the 1st and 2nd Torpids VIIIs were awarded blades in 2009. SEHBC has achieved this feat at least once before in the 1930s. The Men's 2nd VIII went on to be awarded blades in Summer Eights of the same year. [23] The Men's 1st VIII most recently achieved the impressive feat of Division 1 blades in both Torpids and Summer Eights in 2019.

See also

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References

  1. "Eights 1934".
  2. The Times, 24 May 1934
  3. The Times, 26 February 1931
  4. The Times, 23 February 1933
  5. "News in a Nutshell".
  6. The Times, 21 February 1939
  7. "Eights 1954".
  8. The Times, 27 May 1959
  9. The Times, 1 June 1959
  10. The Times, 1 June 1959
  11. The Times, 30 May 1960
  12. The Times, 29 May 1961
  13. The Times, 27 May 1964
  14. The Times, 1 June 1964
  15. The Times, 26 May 1965
  16. The Times, 31 May 1965
  17. The Times, 29 May 1965
  18. The Times, 31 May 1965
  19. http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Henley%20Regatta%201961.html
  20. http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Henley%20Regatta%201965.html
  21. "Oxford at the Olympics | University of Oxford".
  22. "Number of times gained Blades".
  23. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)