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| Location | University College Boathouse | |||||||||||
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| Home water | River Thames (known in Oxford as the Isis) | |||||||||||
| Founded | 1827 | |||||||||||
Key people |
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| Head of the River |
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| Torpids |
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| University | University of Oxford | |||||||||||
| Colours | ||||||||||||
| Affiliations | British Rowing (boat code UCO) Trinity Hall BC (Sister college) | |||||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||||
University College Boat Club (commonly abbreviated to UCBC) is the rowing club for all members of University College, Oxford ("Univ").
The idea of inter collegiate racing was pioneered by Brasenose College Boat Club and Jesus College Boat Club in 1815. In 1827, it was decided to form a University College eight. The origins of UCBC can be attributed to one student, William Roper, who supervised the raising of £100 to build a boat and select a crew. Whilst the crew did not compete in 1829 or 1832-8 it has done so almost continuously until the present day, first going Head of the River in 1841. By the mid-1850s the Boat Club was enjoying a centrality to college life that it has not lost. The mid nineteenth century was a period of great success for UCBC being Head of the River in 1869–71, 1874–5 and 1877–8. [2] One undergraduate Charles Cree recorded the celebrations in 1871:
"Univ. Head in the Eights. Univ, though Balliol came near them were never in danger...The Eight supped with Snell and the rest of us joined them after supper, and had a glorious evening. Singing and shouting as well as our voices would let us — Everything went off well no one being drunk." [2]
Univ won the headship in 1914, the college now being in possession of an original commemorative blade from that time. Sadly, many of that crew did not live to see the end of the Great War. Stephen Hawking was a member of the club in the 1960s, coxing the Men's Second VIII. The club features on the front cover of his autobiography, My Brief History.[ citation needed ]
The Univ Women's First Eight are currently Eights Head of the River, taking the headship from Wolfson in Eights Week 2022. Univ Men's First Eight was last Eights Head of the River from 1990 to 1991. [3]
In Summer Eights, the Women's 1st VIII won the Headship in 2022 and achieved Blades in 2010, 2011 and 2015, and the Women's 2nd VIII won Blades in Summer Eights 2014 and again in Summer Eights 2018. In lower-down the divisions, the club qualified more boats for Eights 2012 and 2014 than any other college, and with 8 'Eights' competing in 2022. [4] The men's side 1st Eight is, as of 2022, eleventh on the river, with three crews in fixed divisions. [4]
In Torpids, the Women's 1st Torpid won the Headship in 2023 and achieved Blades in 2010, 2011 and 2021. As of 2023, they are in first position on the river. [5] The Men's 1st Torpid is currently 5th in division 1. [5]
Novice training is strong, with large numbers of boats entered every year for Nepthys Regatta and Christ Church Regatta. [4] Indeed, the former was won in 2012 and 2021 by the Men's Novice A crew.[ citation needed ]
Additionally, in external regattas and races, Univ Women won Novice Eights at Bedford Regatta, 56th place in Women's Head of the River and 4th place in the Intermediate Academic Coxed Fours at Henley Women's Regatta.[ citation needed ]
UCBC's boathouse is shared with the boat clubs of Somerville College, St Peter's College and Wolfson College. The original 19th century boathouse, designed by John Oldrid Scott, succumbed to arson in 1999. After eight years, a new boathouse was finished, designed by Belsize Architects. The Boathouse has been awarded a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) prize. [6] The £2.7million structure has enjoyed a favourable reception in the architectural world. Yuli Toh's article describes the structure as not just a boathouse, but "a grandstand of the first order" arguing that it represents a new age in rowing. [7] The Boathouse was also subject of a recent article in the Row360 rowing magazine. [8]
Saturday of Eights’ Week 2007 saw the opening of the new boathouse by Colin Moynihan (1974) who coxed the college and the university, won a silver medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, gained a boxing Blue, later became Minister of Sport, and is now Chairman of the British Olympic Association. The ceremony also marked the dedication of the Coleman Viewing Terrace by financial donors Jimmy Coleman (1963) and Jamie Coleman (1994).[ citation needed ]
The men's side of the boat club uses the following shells:
| Class | Make | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8+ | Empacher (2006) | Lord and Lady Butler | Named after then Master of the college, and his wife. |
| 8+ | Empacher (2008) | Norman Dix | Named after former Boatman. Name had previously been used for a wooden boat. |
| 8+ | Janousek (2000) | Michael Collins | Named after UCBC Senior Member & Mathematics Fellow. |
| 8+ | Janousek (2000) | Phoenix | ...from the flames (purchased after boathouse fire). |
| 4+ | Janousek (2002) | George Cawkwell II | Named after Emeritus Fellow. |
| 2-/2x (85 kg) | Janousek (2002) | The Two Bills | Named after then Head Porter and Chaplain. |
| 1x (85 kg) | Janousek (2002) | Bob | |
| 1x (70 kg) | Radley | Norman | |
| 1x (80 kg) | Radley | Edward |
The women's side of the Boat Club uses the following shells:
| Class | Make | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8+ | Empacher (2008) | Minnie Coleman | Named after wife of Old Member and benefactor, Jimmy Coleman. |
| 8+ | Janousek (2007) | Margaret Chamberlain | Named after the first Captain of UCWBC |
| 8+ | Janousek | Marion Screaton II | |
| 8+ | Janousek | Claire Sherriff II | Named after Claire Sherriff, benefactor and supporter of UCBC. |
| 4+ | Janousek (2002) | Marjorie Collins | Named after wife of UCBC Senior Member & Mathematics Fellow. |
| 4+ | Janousek (2014) | Acer | Named after UCBC alumnus Acer Nethercott |
| 1x | Janousek (2002) | David | Named after David Sherriff, benefactor and supporter of UCBC. |
| 1x | Stampfli | Marjorie | After wife of UCBC Senior Member & Mathematics Fellow, named following the Women's 1st VIII's Headship row in 2022 |
The boathouse gym is equipped with 8 Model D Concept2 indoor rowers, stretching/exercise mats and balls, and a full weights suite, along with changing rooms for crews.[ citation needed ]
UCBC organises several social events per term, ranging from crew dates and pub crawls through to formal dinners, held to celebrate both Torpids and Eights.[ citation needed ]
Univ members who have rowed or coxed all days of Summer Eights as part of the Men's 1st VIII are entitled to become a member of the Dinosaurs society. Members who have rowed or coxed all days of Summer Eights as part of the Women's 1st VIII are entitled to become a member of the Cassandrians society. An annual Dinosaurs and Cassandrians dinner is held (usually in January) where many Old Members return to the college to celebrate Univ rowing with current members. A related club is the Univ Dinosaurs and Cassandrians Ironman Triathlon Club (UDCITC).[ citation needed ]
| Year | Races won |
|---|---|
| 1862 | Ladies' Challenge Plate |
| 1863 | Grand Challenge Cup, Stewards' Challenge Cup, Ladies' Challenge Plate |
| 1864 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1866 | Stewards' Challenge Cup, Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1867 | Stewards' Challenge Cup, Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1868 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1869 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1875 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1876 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
| 1900 | Diamond Challenge Sculls |
| 1901 | Ladies' Challenge Plate |
| 1902 | Ladies' Challenge Plate |
| 1903 | Visitors' Challenge Cup |
Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the Saturday of the fifth week of Trinity Term. Men's and women's coxed eights compete in separate divisions for their colleges.
A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and 'bump' the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.
Torpids is one of two series of bumping races, a type of rowing race, held yearly at Oxford University; the other is Eights Week. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1,200 participants in total. The racing takes place on the Isis, usually in the 7th week of Hilary Term on four successive days from Wednesday to Saturday.
Caius Boat Club is the boat club for members of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. The club has rowed on the River Cam since 1827, and like the other college boat clubs its aim is to gain and hold the headship of the Lent Bumps and May Bumps, now held in eight-oared boats, separately for men and women.
Fitzwilliam College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Prior to the 1960s, Fitzwilliam House occupied a position near the bottom of the 2nd division or top half of the 3rd division of the Lent and May Bumps, even finding itself in the 4th division of the Lent Bumps briefly. Between 1959 and 1969, the 1st men's VIII were not bumped in the Lent Bumps, rising to Head of the River in 1969. Between 1960 and 1971, the 1st men's VIII were bumped only once in the May Bumps, taking the headship for three years between 1969 and 1971. From then until the mid-1980s, the 1st VIII held a position in the top-half of the 1st division and won both the Fairbairn Cup and the Emmanuel Sprints Regatta in the Michaelmas Term of 1982. The 1982 crew completed the traditional (1929–1989) Fairbairn course in 14.34, becoming the second crew ever to post a winning time of under 15 minutes over the original race distance.
Clare Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Clare College, Cambridge, it was founded in 1831.
Cambridge '99 Rowing Club, generally referred to as 'Nines', is based on Kimberley Road in the historic City of Cambridge, UK.
Jesus College Boat Club is a rowing club for members of Jesus College, Oxford, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. The club was formed in 1835, but rowing at the college predates the club's foundation: a boat from the college was involved in the earliest recorded races between college crews at Oxford in 1815, when it competed against Brasenose College. In the early years of rowing at Oxford, Jesus was one of the few colleges that participated in races. Neither the men's nor the women's 1st VIIIs have earned the title of "Head of the River", which is gained by winning Eights Week—the main inter-college rowing competition at Oxford.
Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is the rowing club of Brasenose College, Oxford, in Oxford, England. It is one of the oldest boat clubs in the world, having beaten Jesus College Boat Club in the first modern rowing race, held at Oxford in 1815. Although rowing at schools such as Eton and Westminster School Boat Club predates this, the 1815 contest is the first recorded race between rowing clubs anywhere in the world.
Mansfield College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Mansfield College, Oxford. It was founded in 1965 by a group of students led by Michael Mahony. It is run by the Boat Club committee. It is affiliated to Oxford University Rowing Clubs (OURCs).
City of Cambridge Rowing Club (CCRC) is the oldest 'town' rowing and sculling club in Cambridge, UK, and with about 300 members, it has one of the largest active rowing memberships in the region. The club's colours are dark blue, with a band of claret sandwiched between two bands of 'old gold'.
Balliol College Boat Club (BCBC) is the rowing club for members of Balliol College, Oxford, England. It is one of the college boat clubs at the University of Oxford.
New College Boat Club (NCBC) is the rowing club for members of New College, Oxford. The club's existence can be dated to 1840 when it first raced on The Isis in Oxford.
St Edmund Hall Boat Club is a rowing club for members of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. It is based in its own boathouse on the Isis.
Wadham College Boat Club (WCBC) is the rowing club of Wadham College, Oxford, in Oxford, United Kingdom. The club's members are students and staff from Wadham College and Harris Manchester College. Founded circa. 1837, Wadham has had success both within Oxford and externally in regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta.
Keble College Boat Club (KCBC) is the rowing club of Keble College, in Oxford, United Kingdom. The boat club is based in its boathouse on the Isis, which is shared with Jesus College. Most of the year is spent training at the boat club's second facility at the Godstow stretch to the North.
St Peter's College Boat Club (SPCBC) is the rowing club for members of St Peter's College, Oxford. Founded in 1929, it is now based in the University College Boathouse on the southern bank of The Isis. The Boat Club competes in Torpids and Summer Eights bumps races in Oxford.
St Hilda's College Boat Club, Oxford (SHCBC) is a rowing club part of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in 1911, and competes primarily in the Torpids and Summer Eights bumps races in Oxford.
Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club (LMHBC) is a rowing club for members and staff of Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), Oxford. It was founded in 1976, when a women’s division was finally established. As the senior women’s college, LMH were placed at 1st on the river for the inaugural women’s bumps races and obtained Headship in 1977. The first men’s crew was established in 1980 following the admission of male students into the previously all-women’s college.
Oriel College Boat Club (OCBC) is the rowing club of Oriel College, Oxford. Rowing at Oriel is carried out from the college's own boathouse across Christ Church Meadow, on Boat House Island.
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