The Editor's absence from school this year, compounded by his trip to America in October, has delayed the publication of this Newsletter. We trust that this lateness will be forgiven.
Perhaps this edition will make good reading by winter firesides, and it comes with Christmas greetings to members of Bluefriars and their families, to members of M.C.S.B.C. and their families, and to many rowing friends of Monkton .
We were honoured with the presence of Garry Herbert (cox of the Olympic gold medal winning pair) as our guest at the Boat Club dinner, which was held at the end of the Lent Term.
The cover photograph by Marc Aspland of Jeremy Hepworth and Peter Alvis appeared in The Times, and is reproduced with permission. The caption was : Heat Stroke: The Oxford Brookes University crew eases off after beating Trinity College, Dublin to lift the Temple Cup at the third attempt at a sweltering Henley Royal Regatta yesterday.
The photograph of the Oxford Brookes crew winning the final at Henley was taken by Frank Coppi, and is reproduced with permission. The photo the Octuple scull, taken by Gary Prior, appeared in the Daily Telegraph, and is reproduced with permission.
Year after year, we mention our gratitude to parents and others who have given us hospitality during the the season. Once again, we have been most grateful to hosts who have put crews up during the season. This year, we have been overwhelmed with help, and thank parents of several crews, and the Pitt family and the Murison's, who put up the 1st VIII for Henley, as well as Lionel and Dorota Girard and members of the University of Nantes Rowing Club who welcomed us to their homes at Easter time.
Julian Bewick is not working in school for this academic year and Lindsey Reynolds has taken over the adminstration of the Boat Club in his absence. James Penny, who has recently rowed for the Cambridge University Graduates has joined the coaching team.
This section is as always a bit sketchy, because it is based on grape-vine information, rather than on more formal and efficient ways of communicaton! OMs who are still rowing are asked - urged! - to write in and say what they are up to.
This year, Tom Wigram rowed at Henley, Peter Alvis (Captain) and Jeremy Hepworth won the Temple Prize. Justin Mumford (1st VIII) and Mark Norrish (2nd VIII) have been rowing at Reading. Ben Webb is Captain of Boats at the Royal Agricultural College. Let's hear from more of you...
New members are always welcome. There is no subscription, but many members give annual donations by Bankers Standing Order. Oarsmen and oarswomen who are still at school are invited to join the club after their first race rowed out of term, when school crews always row under Bluefriars colours. They are not expected to contribute to club funds while they are school, but it is always hoped that those who benefit most will think it right to donate to club funds after they have left. Parents of oarsmen and other friends of the club are also very welcome to join.
The new 1st VIII colours tie is now available. It consists of wide silver and blue stripes, like on the traditional colours tie. These stripes are separated by a narrow red stripe, and small Bluefriars are woven into the silve stripe. Those who have bought the tie already have said how appropriate it is. The staandard Bluefrairs tie is still available, but this new one has a more adult look about it, and is suitable for everyday use.
Please remember that the Bluefriars shop holds good stocks of items mentioned on the list in the centre of this newsletter.
As always, we were very grateful to those who gave us Henley tickets for use by present members of the school Boat Club. Bluefriars were particularly kind this year, and we were able to take not only the 1st VIII but a few other members of the Boat Club into the enclosure during the regatta.
An article appeared in a recent edition of Rowing Magazine - or was it Regatta? I didn't write it, but it did echo one of my worries about the way some crews are coached to win.
The 1st VIII lost a race last summer after the opposition had done what I considered a false start, when they went on the word 'Set'. Students have sometimes told me that it is quite all right to false starts, because everybody does it. Everybody does not do it, and I say that after many years experience as an umpire and starter. Some will try it on, and some will get away with it, but gamesmanship is not part of our sport, in which we expect people to be scrupulously fair. Street-wise oppostion might not be put off by these tactics, but the Monkton VIII certainly was during 1993.
One of the temptations which faces ex-school oarsmen when they go to university is to forget the points they have earned through victories at school, so they can row in lower classes at college. I have even known of an experienced oarsmen claiming to be a Novice when he had more than one point to his credit! These men do neither themselves nor their sport any good.
It is worth recording that the Octuple sculling event at the National Schools Regatta was instituted after representations to the Regatta Committee from MCSBC - indeed the initial sounding of opinion at schools was carried out by Monkton. The 1992 Monkton J14 crew was one of the six competitors in the race at Nottingham. A natural successor to the NSR race was the first ever J14 8x race at the Schools' Head Race this year, which was won by the 1993 Monkton J14 crew. The photograph of the crew which appears elsewhere was taken by the Daily Telegraph photographer from the traditional spot near the second lamp post on Hammersmith Bridge. It was perhaps no coincidence that JMB was standing within a few paces and spent some 40 minutes or so successfully suggesting to the photographer that he took a photo of a particular crew, which went on to win the event.
This is not the first time that a Monkton crew has won at the Schools' Head Race. Some years ago there was a worthy win in another event introduced at the request of Monkton. We had two girls' eights willing and able to race, so the first Girls' Eights event was put on for them and a few other crews. The Monkton crew won, and the record they set up survived for one or two years. It still stands, because the course has since been changed.
As usual, Bluefriars funds were used to support rowing expeditions undertaken during the year. A 1st VIII squad had a few days training before the start of the Lent Term; and the VIII also trained at half term in both Lent and Summer as well as in France at Easter time. Two members of the 1st VIII went to Chester for long distance trials in February in a boat borrowed from Bradford-on-Avon Rowing Club (for which many thanks). The J16 four trained at Kingston at the end of the Easter holidays, and they (together with junior crews) had a successful expedition to Ironbridge Regatta in the Summer. All these trips were supported by Bluefriars funds.
We have now held three successful dinners at Leander Club on the evening before Wallingford Regatta; the 1994 dinner will be held on Friday 29th April.
Last year, about 30 members and friends gathered at Leander and enjoyed a pleasant evening together. Our guest was Peter Kirkpatrick - Old Monktonian and Olympic oarsman. His talk after supper told us a little about former times at Monkton, and gave us a glimpse of the single-mindedness which makes Olympians. This year, we have invited Peter Alvis and Jeremy Hepworth to be our guests. We trust that their training schedule will allow them to be present at the dinner, They were both members of the Oxford Brooke's University crew which won the Temple Prize at Henley this year.
We would like to see more young Bluefriars at the dinner, but realise that they find the £30 cost beyond their means. It is not the intention that the dinner makes a profit, so the surplus earned last year (about £120) will go towards subsidising the cost of tickets to student OMs who would not otherwise be able to come to the dinner.
We have often asked OMs who no longer need their blazers to donate them to the club so they can be used by current oarsmen who find the cost of new blazers is too great a burden. Thank you to all those who have responded. The majority of the crew used these blazers this year, they and their parents were grateful for them. We could still do with some more, so we can fit people out properly.
One or two OMs have asked me if it is possible to buy new blazers. The answer is yes - just get in touch with me and I will let you know how to proceed.
This newsletter is usually published just before the small boats head race, so it has never been properly reported here before. The race was founded in 1970, and was one of the first small boats head races (as opposed to sculling heads) in the country. We have just held the twenty-first race in the series.
One race was cancelled when there were not enough entries to make an event, and in that year we held an informal race for local clubs. Two races had to be cancelled because of flooding. Entries for some years were confined to small boats (lx, 2-, 2x, 2+), but in recent years rowing in fours at this time of year has become more popular. The entry this year was fairly typical of recent years: there were 29 scullers, 7 doubles, 3 quads, 6 coxless pairs, 2 coxed pairs, a coxless four and 33 coxed fours. We also timed seven eights over the course on an unofficial basis. The race is held on the Saltford stretch, and we rely heavily on the hospitality of our friends at Avon County Rowing Club and the University of Bristol Boat Club. We give these two clubs have free entries, and in their turn they open their facilities to competitors for the day.
The performance of crews from the school was not of a high standard this year, but as usual the organisation of the event depended on the help given by coaching staff, boys and girls from school and other friends. Peter Chorley helped with the timing for many years, and this job has been taken over recently by Liz Ball, who works in the computer lab at school. We have in the past had OMs rowing in the race, and are always glad to see them either on the river or helping on the bank.
Profits from the race go directly into Bluefriars funds. Next year's race will be held on Saturday 19th November.
Provisional Regatta Calendar - 1994
Sat 26 Feb Henley Schools Head; Worcester Head
Sun 27 Feb Bristol Ariel Head
Sat 5 Mar Reading Head
Sat 5 Mar Avon County Head
Sun 6 Mar City of Bristol Head
Sat 12 Mar The Womens' Head Race
Sat 19 Mar Kingston Head
Sun 20 Mar Gloucester Head
Wed 23 Mar The Schools Head Race
Sat 26 Mar The Boat Race (am)
Sat 26 Mar The Head of the River Race (1545)
Sat 30 Apr Wallingford; Evesham
Sun 1 May Wallingford;Evesham
Mon 2 May City of Bristol
Sat 7 May Avon County (Swindon) (or 14th)
Sat 21 May Coate Water (Swindon)
Sat 28 May National Schools; Worcester
Sun 39 May National Schools; Monmouth
Mon 30 May Hereford
Sat 4 Jun Walton; Docklands
Sun 5 Jun Docklands; Weybridge Ladies
Sat 12 Jun Bridgnorth; Reading; Cardiff Bay
Sun 13 Jun Bridgnorth; Reading
Sat 18 Jun Marlow
Sun 19 Jun Thames Valley Park
Sat 25 Jun Reading Town; Richmond
Wed 29 Jun-
Sun 3 Jul Henley Royal Regatta
Sat 10 Jul Burton; Kingston
Sun 11 Jul Burton; Kingston
Sat 19 Nov Bluefriars Head Race