Early Michaelmas
Foreword from the President
Josh Moore
Michaelmas term has proven to be as fast-paced as always, however many times one does the ‘Cambridge term’. As president of QCBC, I am lucky to be surrounded by an excellent committee. Brian Cuce did a great job of running QErgs and the addition of the livestream was particularly impressive. I had to be rowing on the tideway on the morning of QErgs with CUBC and we all enjoyed watching the action in the minibus on the way back. It was our first opportunity to test our novices against other colleges and I’m glad to report we did well. Our LBCs have done a truly impressive job of bringing on this year’s generation novices. The club is very much indebted to the LBCs led by Jou-myu Wijnholds and Sophie Barlow for all their hard work.
The annual fireworks offered a great opportunity to welcome the college community to the boathouse. Over 150 college members came to enjoy the fireworks display on Midsummer common from the boathouse where we served hot chocolate and had a BBQ. Many thanks to Amelia Huntington and Hugo Deval for organising this event so efficiently.
As the November is now upon us, the attention turns to the Fairbairn Cup where we hope to have all our crews out in force, provided their entries are accepted. We also have a men’s alumni eight entered which will be a great chance for current members to meet alumni and get a sense of what the club has meant for former members and inspire our novices to stick with rowing through the winter months.
We are looking forward to seeing where our crews finish up at the Fairbairn Cup as we put down a marker of our hard work this term. This will provide a good chance to measure our progress against that of other colleges as we push onto Lent and May terms. We will then come together as a club to celebrate our results from the term and the welcoming of many new members at the Fairbairn’s Cocktails event that will run simultaneously to the alumni drinks on the 6th December. We are lucky to have welcomed the largest number of novices for some years. We currently have ten crews of rowers within the club.
The term has seen many improvements to the boathouse site as we are trying to modernise our facilities. This has required significant help from the college for which we are really grateful. The college maintenance team, the domestic team, the alumni office, the porters and our senior treasurer have been critical in helping us make these improvements to the club, so we are extremely thankful for all the time and energy they put in for us.
Summer Refurbishments
Making the most of the quieter period over the summer, the Erg and Gym room was refurbished. The floor was cleaned, sanded down and re-varnished for the first time in many years and the wall have been freshly repainted. New Pictures have been placed around the gym, celebrating many of the people and memories of the last year. The 2022 M1 Mays blade has also been hung up on the wall. A new set of dumbbells has also been purchased and are enjoying much use during weights sessions. Our club President Josh Moore has pushed for the refurbishments with the help of Sarah Childs and Kevin Hoover from the college maintenance team. This has proven to be a significant improvement to our facilities which has been well received by club members.
SMALL BOATS
The two second hand pairs which were purchased over summer from the Leys School have already seen intense usage. During the pre-term training camp, men’s side exclusively rowed in small boats, in preparation for Small Boats Head, on the Sunday following camp. The entirety of the men’s squad could be seen several times a day, sculling in singles, rowing in pairs – or in the first QCBC Quad in several years. The value of the time spent in small boats has already been seen the 8+, with the boat feeling more sat and confident. The technical work in the small boats will hopefully prove instrumental in making M1 as fast as possible – with high hopes for Fairbairn’s this year. Ed Parkhouse has also put significant emphasis on the use of small boats for the women’s side. Women’s captain, Freya Watts kindly offered sculling sessions for club members over the summer and has made significant improvements with her squad. W1 is now in a strong position to achieve strong results in both Wallingford Head and the Fairbairn Cup later this term. During Small Boats Head, a total of ten crews were entered; five more than the next college club. The club entered five single sculls, four pairs and a coxed quad. The quad won its category, and we hope to return to it each year for this event. Congratulations to Jou-myu Wijnholds for placing second in the O.ClubB 1x category – only three seconds off first, despite racing in a wooden shell. We may need to investigate purchasing more modern sculls in future if sculling remains an important part of our training program.
Pre Season Camp
While the men were in Small Boats, the new women’s head coach, Ed Parkhouse, coached several 8+ and 4+ throughout the week. We started the camp with a meeting of our senior squads where we laid out our plans and expectations for the year. We were fortunate to be joined by Chris Radbone who led a fascinating talk on health and nutrition. This is valuable for our squad as we seek to train and study intensively. Matt Hunt is leading our women’s weights program this term too which started off with a productive intro session during training camp. Rob Jeffrey has also set a stringent weights program for the men’s side to follow which is beginning to show signs of paying off. Keeping Chris Radbone’s advice in mind, we arranged for Tishka’s cafe on Chesterton Road to supply us lunch. They made us tasty meals for the club during the camp. Thanks to Eddie and Sandrine at Tishka’s for all their help. Overall, the Camp was a huge success, allowing the club to get in the equivalent of ten days of water sessions in only four days.
Race Reports
As well as Small Boats Head, QCBC has already rowed successfully in several races this year. The week after Small Boats Head was Rob Roy’s Autumn Head where QCBC entered four 4+ and an 8+. The two Women’s 4+ took two of the top four places, coming second and fourth. On the Men’s side, the 8+ came third among college crews, with the crew then splitting into two 4+ for the afternoon division. The 4+ of lighter rowers showed that good technique can beat power; they beat the heavier 4+ by six seconds. With the success of the fours so far, Uni 4s was right around the corner. A men’s first and second 4+ were entered, as well as a women’s first 4+. The women rowed strong, reaching the semi-finals of the competition – including beating Caius W1, who recently took Headship in the May Bumps. The men’s first 4+ drew the eventual winners St Catharine’s M1 in round one and lost. The greatest success was the men’s second 4+ who won the second division! They stormed down the river on the first day, chasing Pembroke M2, nearly achieving a bump despite starting 80 yards downstream. On the Friday, they were to face LMBC M3, who then withdrew. This allowed them to race with fresh legs against First and Third M2 in the final. They raced to victory, beating First and Third M2 by 11s in a time of 7:40 – faster than all but four College first 4+ Crews.
Given the success we have had rowing in fours this term, we are keen to invest into a heavyweight men’s four. This would complement the purchase of the G.A. Hayter 4+ which has been a great asset to women’s side since its purchase in 2019. Building up funds for this will take time but this purchase will allow the club to pursue more success in Small Boats which has proven a great way to improve our rowing skill level for the eight looking ahead to the Fairbairn Cup and bumps later in the year.
QERGS 2024
The Annual Queens’ Ergo Competition (QErgs) took place on the Fitzpatrick Hall on the 3rd November. Led by QErgs President Brian Cuce, and supported by a strong committee, the day ran smoothly. We had over 100 crews take part. The highlight of the day was the Queens’ Staff Boat which was made up of team members from the Queens’ Porters, Maintenance team, Fellows and Alumni Office. Kevin Hughes, a Queens’ Porter, captained the team and made sure his team put in an impressive performance. Queens’ President Mohamed El-Erian came down to support our event and the staff team and we’re told it’s one of his favourite days each year. Brian Cuce set up a livestream this year allowing anyone to watch the races from anywhere. This was also shown on the big screen in QBar to allow marshalling crews to watch the current race. For the 2nd year, we were very fortunate that Michael Clark, a QCBC alum (2010 M1 Blading Crew) and founder of RowingLevel and StrengthLevel, sponsored QErgs. Michael’s company allows users to compare their Erg times and lifting abilities. We’re very lucky to enjoy the generous support of Michael in sponsoring QErgs again, and that of the Queens’ College for allowing us to put on our events. We particularly need to thank Richard De Cordova for his help facilitating QErgs in the Fitzpatrick Hall. We could not run the event without him!
QCBC at CUBC
We’re proud to say that there have been five QCBC Members trialling with CUBC this term. Firstly, our President, Josh Moore, has been rowing with the lightweight men. Gigi Pezier is also trialling with the lightweight Women. They are both hoping to be rowing at Four’s Head so look out for them there. Brett Taylor (Blue Boat 2023, Goldie 2024) is trialling again this year. He recently rowed in the Cambridge Goldie Boat at the Head of the Charles. Joining him in the USA, was Beanie Spain (Blondie 2024) as she rowed in the 6 Seat of the Cambridge Blondie boat as well. Ulrika Anderson has also been trialling with the lightweight women while she completes her PhD. We wish all of our current trialists success over the next few months!
Novice Program
Every Michaelmas term brings the arrival of many new Queens’ member, many of whom will join us at QCBC. During our Novice BBQ at the start of term, over 200 students had their first taste of rowing and many sign up to continue during the term. There are now several novice crews on each side; we have a total of ten QCBC crews as it stands. Novice training started early for some as LBC David Chemaly organised post-graduate outings for MBA Students early in September. This post-graduate crew is looking to be put up a good fight in the upcoming Emma Sprints races. One of the goals for the club this year was to grow in numbers – and we’re off to a strong start. Thanks to the excellent LBCs, it is exciting to think how strong QCBC could be over the course of the year.
Moment in History
During the last year, I’ve started an informal research project into the club’s history – delving into the records stored in the college archives, the Old Captain’s Logs as well as historical editions of The Dial and The Record Magazines. I’ve been able to view the oldest remaining documentation of the club which is a set of meeting minutes dating from 1831, and have slowly been curating a history of the club. If you’d like to contribute your own stories, pictures or information – please contact me on qcbc-secretary@srcf.net . Below is one of the stories I’ve read about during my research.
Queens’ College Boat Clubs’ first success at Henley Royal Regatta was in 1912 when QCBC won the Wyfold Cup. Following on from the May 1st VIII blading, the 4+ coxed by W.N. Craigs beat Henley Rowing Club, Trinity Hall, London Hospital and London Rowing Club on the Saturday to take the win by one length following a strong sprint after Fawley. The Boat was stroked by H.W. Arden, who sadly lost his life during World War 1; 3-Seat was W.Haig. Ferguson who went on to receive the Military Cross and Bar. Bow and 2-Seat were Peveril H. Turnbull and E.J.B.M Kennett – the latter going on the become a Vicar after being wounded in battle, with Peveril H. Turnbull also becoming a member of the Clergy.
Written by Joshua Prince
Distributed to Club Members and Alumni - November 2024
Uploaded to Website 12th January 2025