MCBC Report

George King (Geography, 2018)

On paper, the past two years might seem the worst in memory for Mansfield College Boat Club (MCBC). Flooding in 2019/20 resulted in the cancellation of the Christchurch and Torpids regattas, and the Covid-19 pandemic spelt the end for the club’s Summer Eights hopes. With these apparently dire and unrelenting circumstances, there were mixed emotions going into 2020/21. Yet these gloomy beginnings made the club’s achievements in Summer Torpids 2021 all the sweeter – the perfect end to a difficult two years.

Our 2020/21 began with an unusually active summer holiday. MCBC embarked on a running challenge, raising money for the outreach work of the Oxford African and Caribbean Society (ACS). This was important to us as a way of showing solidarity with fellow students while contributing to wider attempts to address the lack of representation of African and Caribbean students at the University. The club ran a combined total of 1887km (1173 miles) and showed fantastic team spirit. Notable individual performances came from Charlotte Withyman (Materials Sciences, 2018), Martha Birtles (English, 2018), Joe Field (Industrially Focused Mathematical Modelling, 2016) and Yolanda Ameny (Engineering, 2019). A big thank you to all those who donated; the £1300 raised has contributed to the costs of the ACS Annual Access Conference and Offer Holder Open Day.

The end of summer saw an exciting addition to the Mansfield fleet with a generous donation from supporter of the club, Antonio Bonchristiano (PPE, 1984), enabling the purchase of a new four-boat. The Bonchristiano boat has served us well so far, providing flexibility and variety in training. It will allow rowers to make the most of the long holidays, perfecting technical aspects of their stroke outside of term. We are extremely grateful to Antonio for his continued support. Sadly, rising case numbers of Covid-19 in Hilary term saw a cancellation of water training and so the Bonchristiano remained in the boathouse. In the meantime, the captains, and newly appointed Head Coach Ben Evans, made the most of time off the water with training geared towards general fitness. Ben’s passion and knowledge of the sport have been invaluable for the club and have made a huge impact on the successes of the year. Zoom quizzes thanks to Social Secretary Anabel Riley (Human Sciences, 2019) ensured that the team bonded during lockdown.

As Trinity term drew closer, it seemed increasingly likely that MCBC would have a chance to put the previous two years of hard work to the test in the Summer Torpids regatta. Fundamental to the growth and development of the crews are the rowing captains. Through hard work, ingenuity and resilience, the captains’ combined efforts have built a dedicated group of committed, enthusiastic and competitive rowers. Huge efforts from Women’s Captain Emily Thornton (Jurisprudence, 2019) and Women’s Vice-Captain Luci Mullen (Mathematics, 2019) have transformed a small team with limited rowing experience into a large, well-organised, and highly competitive group characterised by its supportive team spirit. Men’s Captain Jamie Bingham (Engineering, 2019) and Men’s Vice-Captain Bailey Kavanagh (PPE, 2019) have been similarly influential, bolstering the substantial returner contingent with fresh talent and charismatic leadership. Summer Torpids was a resounding success for Mansfield. The W1 held their own against strong crews, rowing-over three times before conceding a bump on the final day of racing. This was an impressive performance and bodes well for the coming year. Despite facing misfortune with accomplished boats both in front and behind, the M1 could not have asked for a better regatta, bumping three times for a net upward movement of two places. This crew is one to watch. The second boats also enjoyed success, with two bumps for the W2 and one for the M2.

Despite the past two years being highly unusual for college rowing, MCBC has thrived. We enter the coming academic year with a stronger boat club than in recent years, making this an exciting time for rowing at Mansfield with many successes to come.

I would like to thank Charlotte Withyman, Joel While (Geography, 2018), Efa Bowen (PPE, 2019), Sara Dalzell (History, 2018) and Thomas Surridge (History, 2017) for their effort and commitment. Special thanks, too, must go to Rhys and Jillian Hedges: generous supporters of MCBC.