Joint Captain’s Report As the Women’s and Men’s Captains for 2021-22, we
are thrilled to be writing our first Joint Captains Report for CCBC.
Christ’s College Boat Club Michaelmas 2021 Newsletter This term has seen the CCBC return to its ambitious pre-pandemic schedule which has included no less than five races, several CCBC social events (of which one involved our captains in chicken costumes) and a preterm rowing camp. Needless to say, our newer rowers have finally gotten to enjoy the full experience of being a member of the CCBC. This Michaelmas 2021 edition contains: -
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A joint captain’s report from our new captains, Rich and Katy. They will also provide an overview of our race results and experiences from Michaelmas. A description of one of the social highlights of this term: our brand-new and highly entertaining event, “Où est le poulet?” An introduction to one of our new training initiatives this term; a pre-term rowing camp for our senior rowers. This comes amidst other great initiatives such as mixed crew land training. A mention of our Michaelmas Boat Club Dinner which we were able to host without COVID restrictions for the first time in almost two years. A summary of Fairbairns, the most important race on the Michaelmas calendar. Featurespace’s ‘Featured Space’, a segment from our wonderful sponsors advertising some truly exiting internships and graduate programmes.
As always, if any of you wish to share rowing news or stories with the rest of the CCBC community, you are more than welcome to contact me to be featured in the Lent 2022 edition. Many thanks, Christina (Publicity Officer) chrl2@cam.ac.uk Follow CCBC by searching the account handles below to keep up to date with our activities: Facebook: @christsbc Instagram: @christscollegeboatclub LinkedIn: @christscollegeboatclub Website: christscollegeboatclub.co.uk
We came into Michaelmas in fantastic form, starting Term with two senior men’s VIIIs, two senior women’s VIIIs and a women’s IV. This is certainly the most boats we have had to start an academic year in a long time, at least since Kate became boatwoman in 2013! This success came off the back of a successful summer of rowing for those who remained in Cambridge, and a pre-term rowing camp on the Cam that quickly allowed Seniors to sharpen up ahead of term starting. The enthusiasm of the Senior Crews has only been matched by that of our novices. Once again, we were phenomenally successful in our recruitment, having over 60 novices give either rowing or coxing a go at the start of term. Importantly, we retained enough to field outings (and coxes!) for 5 novice boats: NM1, NW1, NM2, NW2 and a NM3. Thanks to the efforts of our Lower Boat Captains, we have seen some real talent develop and plenty of natural skill refined. Ultimately, it has been truly encouraging to see just how quickly our novices have become involved in both the rowing and social sides of the Club. On the subject of socials, perhaps to compensate for many months of lockdowns and disrupted socialising over the past couple of years, it has been fantastic to see such high turnouts throughout the term. Notably, for swaps with Emmanuel and Corpus Christi, “Où est le poulet” (more on that later), and for novice, women’s side, W1 and M1 formals. We are not only growing larger but also closer and more integrated too!
With novice recruitment comes novice races, including Qergs, Emma Sprints and Clare Novice Regatta. Due to tight restrictions around the event, only 1 novice men’s crew and 1 novice women’s crew per college were allowed to enter Qergs, but our NM1 and NW1 did a great job in representing the novice side, coming 9th and 11th respectively. We entered 3 crews into Emma Sprints - NM1, NW1 and an NX1 crew, with NM1 coming 4th overall and NW1 and NX1 each winning and losing 1 race. Unfortunately, Clare Novice Regatta was called off due to bad weather, but there are plans to hold an alternative next term, which we are sure our new seniors will triumph in.
Senior races kicked-off with Uni IVs, where W1 fielded a crew that unfortunately lost their first race to Pembroke W1A who ended up winning the event and as an VIII, came 3rd in Winter Head soon after. For Winter Head, our M1 saw a great deal of success, coming 5th out of the men’s college crews (and who, as gluttons for punishment, went on to do 4x8’ pieces OTL after the race ended). Our W2 also did amazingly, who with a concerted effort came 10th out of 22 college W2s. Despite the slowly increasing COVID restrictions, we were delighted to see Fairbairns go ahead as normal, with CCBC entering three novice crews and four senior crews. Notable results include both W1 and M1 coming 7th in their respective categories, putting them in a strong position to contend with next term. Despite having to enter a last-minute scratch crew, the W2 IV put in an excellent race to come 5th out of the women’s second IVs, and M2 also managed to come 10th in their category, despite limited training due to injuries. The novices also had some great racing, with results including 9th for NM1, 5th for NM2 and 12th for NW1 in each of their respective categories. We ended the term with a wonderful BCD, including plenty of wine, rowing-themed songs and eggs (more about that later on in the newsletter). While most have returned home for the holidays and are cracking on with winter training, those lucky enough to stay in Cambridge are making the most of additional outings and training whilst they can. Unfortunately, for both COVID related and financial reasons (owing in part to the increased costs associated with Brexit and the pandemic), we are unable to hold our usual January training camp in Lac d’Aiguebelette. However, we hope to hold a UK based training camp in the Easter holidays, with final details currently being negotiated. Also in the works is another pre-term rowing camp, which follows the success of the pre-Michaelmas training camp on the Cam (which we hope will become a regular feature). We look forward to welcoming our senior side back and seeing what they can do next term. We hope you enjoy the contents of this newsletter and urge you to get in touch if you have any interesting comments or stories to share! Finally, on behalf of all on the Steering and Student Committees, we hope that you stay safe, have a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year. All best wishes, Katy and Rich klh76@cam.ac.uk and rjt87@cam.ac.uk
Pre-Term Rowing Camp One of our new initiatives this year was our pre-term rowing camp for our senior members. The camp was held in the week before Michaelmas and saw impressive participation from both the men’s and women’s side. Due to COVID, many members had limited experience prior to this term, so the camp was an excellent way of catching up on some on-water training. The crews were different every day, so the camp simultaneously provided a great opportunity to become better acquainted with fellow rowers. Following this success, we hope to host a similar camp prior to Lent term!
Christ’s Armada
Où Est Le Poulet? For one night this term, our captains, Katy and Rich, switched out their AIOs for chicken costumes at “Où est le poulet?” (“Where’s the chicken?”). The concept of this social event was that the captains had to walk to a mystery pub while CCBC members, split into teams, competed to find the chickens as fast as possible. Our chickens braved the cold November evening and ventured into the night in their chicken costumes, much to the astonishment and entertainment of the residents of Cambridge. A little while after they left the boathouse, the teams followed suit. The chase was aided by clues given by Katy and Rich on social media. A beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) had to be consumed at every pub the team visited in their pursuit of the chickens. After an entertaining chase, all teams ultimately found the chickens at Pickerel. Once everyone was together, our members were able to continue the fun and socialize with their fellow CCBC members. The event certainly provided much laughter and entertainment, and we hope to repeat the event again next year!
Michaelmas Boat Club Dinner Once
again, it was time for our termly Boat Club Dinner. The fact that BCD was back without COVID capacity restrictions could be heard by the merry chatter and laughter throughout the dinner. The evening was kicked off with prosecco and mingling in the OCR followed by an outstanding four course meal in Formal Hall. The return of the infamous “ents” was inaugurated by our W1 who performed an entertaining, yet informative rowing song and dance (which will hopefully teach us all to catch at the same time). M1 had planned to challenge W1 to a rather disturbing raw egg drinking competition. Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) the college had to ban this ent from going through due to health concerns. Likewise, the tradition of writing messages on each other’s menus was once again a part of the BCD program. The dinner itself was followed by drinks and dancing in the MCR, concluding an absolutely brilliant night!
Fairbairns Race Report CCBC participated in several races this term, including Winter Head and Emma Sprints, but the culmination of the past few weeks of training was Fairbairns. Held on the 2nd and 3rd of December, our members were eager to see whether their hard work had paid off. The CCBC were well-represented this year with four senior boats and three novice boats. Despite a slight drizzle and a bit of waiting time during marshalling, all of our crews put in a great effort and got some impressive results at the 4.3-kilometre race. Both W1 and M1 came in 7th in their categories, both of which are an improvement since Fairbairns 2019. We were especially happy to see the Crustaceans and their partners at the boathouse again! Three alumni Christ’s crews participated in Fairbairns which shows how incredibly strong our alumni community is – something we truly appreciate at CCBC. Our M1 extended the largest ever margin of victory over the Crustaceans M1 since Bill Aldridge started keeping records, much to their chagrin. To rub salt into the wound, prior to the race a bet had been placed between the Crustaceans and our W1: If W1 managed to beat the alumni crews on time, the Crustaceans would buy them a round of drinks at the BCD. With a race time difference of only 11.6 seconds to the fastest alumni crew, W1 managed to snatch the victory. The Crustaceans followed through and gave an impressive £90 to W1 for which they extend their gratitude!
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