It is to the great credit of the members of the 1995 1st VIII and to the qualities of Nick Weldon as Captain in particular that they managed to rise above the many problems which beset the Club and give an inspiring example for others to follow. The crew benefited greatly from the generosity of Monkton Bluefriars and from the constant interest and support of Julian Bewick in particular. Brian Mawer, unsurpassable as a technical coach, also came along to help and advise on many occasions so that the trio of coaches from the previous year combined their different approaches again on behalf of the '95 boat. Whilst the haul of trophies was ultimately less than in the preceding year, it was nevertheless a successful season and culminated in becoming the fastest-ever Monkton VIII over the Henley course.
The trialists started the Lent term with two serious disadvantages: firstly, the usual informal weight-training had not taken place in the Michaelmas Term so that a group of relatively inexperienced oarsmen had not built up the muscular endurance required for the Head' race season and secondly, two powerful colours from the '94 boat withdrew from selection. It was difficult to see how an VIII could be formed which would reach the level necessary to compete against other rowing schools. It was decided to include two fifth formers in the selection although one had to step down almost immediately because of a recurrence of an old back injury. To have an experienced stroke and cox was however a great counterbalance to misfortune and very quickly we were able to form the crew which remained the same until the end of the Regatta season apart from minor seat changes.
As in the previous year, all rowing in the Lent Term was done on the Saltford reach which had the advantage of maximising the usefulness of the two outings a week (to which the crew was limited for timetable reasons) by greatly increasing the mileage which could be covered. Landtraining was undertaken under the Captain's supervision with great commitment during other timetabled games sessions as well as at lunchtime. They coped as well as possible with the logistical difficulties caused by including a fifth former in the crew. They also discovered that Michael Minchin, thrown into the 5 seat by virtue of his size more than experience was too old for the P.E. at Henley and so the crew would have to reach University rather than School 1st VIII standard in something under six months: quite a tall order! Early outings showed that whilst the crew had great spirit, it was clearly deficient in a number of important ways: concentration throughout an outing is essential and it took some time for this to be established in everyone's mind; bladework was very erratic and slide control non-existent in some cases whilst pain was also a new phenomenon for some. LAAR agreed to the purchase of the Club's first set of 'cleaver' blades and whilst this decision met with disapproval in some quarters I think that ultimately they served the crew well and were always popular with those actually handling them. The weather soon went from bad to deplorable so that even the Saltford ducks looked amazed when they saw the crew boating in driving rain and a heavy stream which kept other crews at Monkton off the water for weeks. Rowley Douglas was invaluable since there were many occasions when only a cox with his experience could have been allowed on the water this raises the question of how future 1st VIII coxes can easily learn the necessary skills lower down the school. Rowley was able to take over as coach whenever the unmanoeuvrable launch was either inoperable or caught in a bank some two miles adrift of the crew. JMB came to have a first look at the crew on a cold, windy, wet February afternoon on the Bristol Ariel stretch of the Avon - it proved to be a nadir of morale, technique and power that the two bedraggled coaches in the launch looked at each other and wondered how anything half decent could ever emerge from the sight before us. Never under-estimate the Monkton spirit however! - the determination of the crew to train and improve soon brought visible signs of increased speed and better technique.
The Bristol Ariel H.O.R. was the first open event of the '95 season and was rowed in fast but acceptable conditions. The crew used this as a contolled piece of training and kept the rate to a steady 24 throughout apart from a rather rushed start. To come 3rd overall and over a minute ahead of the only other school VIII was an encouraging start to the season and this was followed by very promising rows at the Avon County and then the City of Bristol Heads, achieving 10.23 over the Saltford course to finish 3rd. overall behind U.W.E. and winning the Sch/J pennant. In appallingly slow headwind conditions the following day in Bristol Docks, the crew still managed to record the third fastest time overall and win the Senior 3 trophy. These achievements boosted the morale of the crew considerably and prepared them for the much tougher competition on the Thames where the majority of opponents would have been training on the land and on the water consistently from September, building up huge reserves of stamina and endurance over long distances. Once again, the crew failed to produce the pace required to reach the first twenty in the Schools Head but 35th was by no means a disgrace in what proved to be a very competitive event this year. At Kingston, the VIII moved well over the first two miles, held on well over the third mile but slowed considerably over the final mile. It was a good achievement though to hold onto the high position won by the previous year's crew in what they had considered one of their best rows of the Head season and it completed the term's events with the regular VIII. Maintaining a long tradition, a Bluefriars VIII competed in The Head of the River Race (the Boat Race course in reverse) with Julian Perry from the '94 boat substituting for Justin Ormand in the number two seat. Once again the Perry family looked after the crew before both the Schools Head and HORR with the latter event being a disappointment but showing that a 30 second improvement over the course would have moved the crew up almost a 100 places from a rather disappointing 231st out of a field of 407 mostly senior men's crews. In a way it was good to finish the Lent Term on a note of realism, realising that a lot of fitness and experience would have to be gained if the crew was to make an entry for the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley.
After some considerable soul-searching, it had been agreed not to go to France with the Girls' VIII for Easter training but to concentrate a high mileage into the four days immediately prior to the Summer Term and so, basing ourselves at the Douglas residence in Bath, the crew began by travelling to Worcester and rowing over the longest reach of the Severn (Worcester - Tewkesbury) as an initial exercise. All seemed well on the outward journey of some 16 miles but the return from Upton-on-Severn to Diglis Lock, Worcester was gruelling to say the very least. Anthony Prince had moved to the stroke seat to rest the Captain and to give him more of a feel of how the crew was working. Anthony not only survived that ordeal but also went on to stroke the crew with considerable promise right through to Avon County. The coach's strategy of putting the hardest work at the start of the training camp seemed to work as thereafter on the Monkton reach there was a pace which had been lacking at the end of the 'Head' season and a strong mood of optimism in the boat as a whole.
The crew had survived the Lent term with virtually no illness but after his first race at Wallingford an extremely close one against a strong Magdalen College, Oxford 1st VIII Justin Ormand was declared too ill to compete in the Schools' event and Tom Mildinhall (who had barely recovered from his back injury and certainly not from sculling against the stroke of the Isis VIII in the first round of Novice Sculls) found himself rowing against King's Chester 1st VIII at a very high level of competition. It was a pity that the Wallingford performance was affected by illness but it was clear to everyone that Monkton was still a force to be reckoned with and that tremendous progress had been made since the Tideway Head. After another two outings Tom Mildinhall, who substituted with great promise, was temporarily too exhausted to carry on but by then half the VIII had the same 'flu bug and only four members of the crew were racing fit two days before Avon County where we had expected to win the event. On the Saturday of Avon County it seemed that everyone was at least 'on the mend' and so the crew decided to race. They held up well in the first round to win their race from Pangbourne 2nd VIII but in the Final the lack of fitness, even over the short course, meant that Monkton were never really in contention. The crew was pleased to be back together though and despite being put back a fortnight in its preparation, determined to train as hard as possible for National Schools Regatta. It was decided to reshuffle the crew for Nottingham, bringing the experience of Nick Weldon back to the stroke seat but retaining the much-improved Anthony Prince in the middle of the boat at four. This combination worked well but although the crew became very fast in part courses it was rare for them to maintain power for a whole 2,000 metres: hardly surprising given that the preparation had been far too curtailed. The chief aim was to strike a long, powerful 36 mid course with an ability to 'burn' for twenty strokes at around 40 two or even three times down the course. In the event, the VIII found itself in a very tough semi-final of the Child Beale Cup against Eton 2nd VIII, KCS Wimbledon, Winchester and The Oratory. Going off at a rate of about 45, the crew were only a shade behind Eton at 500 metres but then failed to get into a powerful stride as had been hoped. The consequence of this was that despite challenging Winchester repeatedly down the course Monkton were unable to get in front of them and The Oratory, who had had a very slow start came up from a length down to a length ahead of Monkton at the finish. That the crew tried hard was never in doubt (as it had been after the HORR) but it was clear that only after rather than during the race did the less experienced members really understand how essential it is to keep to an agreed formula rather than be 'phased out' by the big event.
The crew made the long journey to Monmouth School where they were kindly put up in a boarding House overnight to compete early the following morning at Monmouth Regatta, regaining confidence in a convincing win against Kingston RC in the 1st round of Senior 3 and going on to beat Lensbury before losing to Marlow RC by a canvas in an exciting semi-final. Thanks to the Douglas family and a later start at Hereford Regatta on Bank Holiday Monday it was possible to relax a little before travelling to defend the Senior 3 event won by the '94 crew. Suddenly everything went right and from the tentative, inexperienced crew of a few months before emerged a tall, confident, powerful Monkton crew which dominated the event winning both the heat against Furnivall reducing the rating and still pulling away to the finish line and the Final against Lensbury with much greater ease and control than the previous day. Understandably, it was a tired but elated crew that returned from Hereford to enjoy the remaining 36 or so hours of the half-term holiday.
It had been decided early on that BSM and JMB would coach the crew in the latter stages of the Summer term so that whilst GWB moved around other crews in the Club, the 'old team' went to work to bring their particular expertise to bear, with JMB helping to maintain the Henley tradition at Monkton which stretches back seventy-five years. BSM's use of the tank to teach boys and girls to row 'properly' was followed up by some outings to calm the crew down. Their performance at Reading Amateur was solid and purposeful against an Oxford University crew. The entry at Marlow was cancelled so that by Reading Town the crew had a rhythm, length and power which would stand them in good stead for Henley. Despite frightening examination schedules and complications the crew soldiered on, making a good impression at Reading Town despite having to face a very dubious Senior 3 Oxford college combination and rowing beyond themselves at the Henley qualifying races in Temple Challenge Cup to become the fastest-ever Monkton crew over the Henley course (6 min 47.1 sec) and respectably well up the long list of crews failing to get into the event proper at Henley itself. How good it was too that last year's Captain earned himself a Henley medal, rowing at six in the Oxford Brookes crew that won the Temple Challenge Cup so convincingly.
The performance of the '95 crew will be remembered for overcoming adversity through sheer determination. The JMB interview on BBC Radio Oxford or the sight of the '94 Monkton crew boating at Henley on a Channel Four documentary screened in July '95 all gave good publicity, but the success of this, as every other crew, lay in a belief that by always trying to row better they ultimately would ... and, of course, they did. It is to be hoped that the foundation has been laid for continuing success and I thank all who made sacrifices to ensure that the '95 Monkton 1st VIII left its mark. It was particularly encouraging to see how much cooperation and mutual respect existed between the boys' and girls' 1st VIII's and this was highlighted at what proved to be a highly successful 1st VIII picnic at Henley. The enthusiasm and enjoyment continued into the holidays with Bluefriars crews appearing at Llandaff, Gloucester, Bristol and Ross on Wye regattas.