The winter months gave the SECOND EIGHT some of their most satisfying rowing of the season. In the Worcester head of the river race they rowed well for the first three miles but slowly slid thereafter into a rigid and tiring style, misjudging their final spurt, and ended with little improvement on their starting position. At the Schools' Head, however, it was a different story: under ideally smooth conditions and over a distance that suited them well, they raised their position from last year's rather dismal 70th to 36th in a satisfyingtime of 8:19. Two days later was the Avon County Head Hace on local water: a sedate start led up to a storming finish, and the award of a pennant for their class. With a slightly changed crew for the Head of the Hiver Hace after the end of term, the crew finished 199th. The achievement which gave possibly the greatest pleasure, however, was clipping four seconds off the internal record for 2nd VIIIs on our home waters.

In the summer term we had several hard-fought races but regrettably no tankards. At Wallingford, the crew went down to Canford 1st in choppy conditions against a fast stream. Over half term, the stern half of the crew competed at Worcester as a four and did well to reach the finals. Our major disappointment was Coate when we lost by two feet to Keble: finishes seemed to lack finesse and that competitive instinct which successful crews must show under pressure. With an amended crew we returned to the same water on 14th June: we lost the first race with rushed, splashy entries under gusting conditions, but came back into the race with a splendidly fought repechage; the third round (against Radley) was a triumphant success, but we were too tired to do better than bring up the rear in the finals. Bryanston 1st won the event, but the 2nd VIII had acquitted themselves with great credit. At Reading, they achieved the rating they wanted and stuck to it with controlled perseverance, but Bedford Modern 1st had the edge over them in both style and power, and drew ahead to win by lengths. A fortnight later, on another stretch of the Thames, at Heading Town Regatta, we put up a respectable showing against school and university crews in an event won by Christ's College, Cambridge.

Second eights, rated Senior C, are bound to face stiff competition from university and school 1st VIIIs, and it was no disgrace not to have won a summer regatta. We can look back on a pennant, a record, a much enhanced head of the river position, and the memory of competing in some good races with courage and skill. It is a young crew: all but two members have another year ahead of them here. Their skill and competitiveness owed much to the captaincy of Andy Carruthers - and the high morale of a cheerful and determined crew. A superb picnic at Henley in the highest standards of cultivated taste ended a memorable season in the most satisfying style.