Eights 2019

Summer VIIIs 2019 marked a good week for BCWBC. W1 continued their strong performance from Torpids and climbed +3 into div one, which is the biggest net gain since the glorious headship days. The girls started out on top of div 2 on Wednesday but got bumped by a strong Jesus W1 only a few metres from the finish-line after a tough fight. Thursday was a better day, and the girls bumped Somerville W1 and rowed as sandwich boat in div 1 which resulted in a revenge bump on Jesus. On Friday the girls bumped St John’s before bungline 6, followed by a bump on Magdalen W1 just after Donny Bridge on Saturday. This is a strong performance, especially considering that several of the girls have been rowing for less than a year. BCWBC is happy to conclude the year with a return to div 1 for both Torpids and VIIIs! Unfortunately we were not able to enter a W2 due to academic commitments, however a few girls competed in a mixed M3/W2 boat.

Mina (Incoming Women’s Captains)

Credit for all photos below: Stuart Bebb

BCBC performed well under tough circumstances this Summer Eights. M3 entered a composite boat with W2, and were sadly bumped everyday. Despite this, the crew had an enjoyable few days of racing! M2 had a strong showing at the top of Division IV. They were caught by Green Templeton M1 on the first day, but recovered to get a bump on Jesus M2, and nearly caught New M2 who were unfortunately saved by a klaxon. An impressive result for a crew that mostly started rowing this year! There were also many from the novice intake who made great improvements to take up seats in M1. The first boat trained hard this year, but had a difficult few days of racing. We closed Wolfson down to a canvas on the first day, but ran out of river. A gut-wrenching second day saw us hold off St Edmund's Hall until 50 metres from the finish line. We were then bumped by Trinity on the third day, leaving us in 9th place overall. An unfortunate result, but we are still in a strong position and looking for revenge next year!

Saad (Incoming Men’s Captain)

Picture Credit: Gareth Ardron