Author Archives: Joe (Secretary)

Frustration for KCLBC at Allom Cup

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KCLBC had a frustrating days racing at the 2011 Allom Cup, making four finals but failing to win any medals after a controversial disqualification for the Men’s Senior VI against UCL.

The Men’s Senior VIII went out in the semi-finals to the eventual winners UCL, losing the Allom Cup, which has been held by KCL for all but 2 of the preceding 13 years.  Half of the VIII then raced in the Men’s Senior IV, against half of the UCL VIII who had just beaten them. Determined not to let get UCL get away without a fight, King’s had a strong start, and were ahead of UCL for most of the race and across the finish line. However, a disputed clash of blades led to disqualification. The Men’s Intermediate VIII got to their final, where they were beaten by ICSM.

The Senior Women’s crews reached both their finals, with the Senior Women’s VIII going out to ICSM and the IV being beaten by RUMS. The Intermediate crews reached both their semis, with the VIII and the IV being beaten by Bart’s and ICSM respectively.

Fresh from racing the UH Novice Sprints the previous weekend, the Novice squad were keen to prove themselves. However, after several crew changes and last minute scratchings, the Men’s Novice VIII lost to Royal Holloway in their semi-final, and the two women’s crews were beaten by RVC and RUMS.

Following the unusual regatta training in the depths of winter, both squads are now looking to the head season. More urgently, there is the Boat Club Christmas Dinner – one of the year’s highlights – to look forward to, not to mention the annual Christmas Pudding Races!

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Huge success at Cambridge Winter Head

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KCLBC enjoyed their most successful visit to the Cambridge Winter Head in years, winning in the Men’s and Women’s Senior IVs, the Women’s Novice IV and the Women’s Senior VIII. The weekend also saw the fresher squads gain their first racing experience, holding their own against other London Colleges.

Arriving at Stourbridge Common while it was still dark, following the usual race against time to rig the boats, the Women’s Novice IV were first down the course. Spurred on by support at the rail bridge, some remarkable overtaking was seen from crews, including the Men’s Novice VIII overtaking Girton College BC which was caught on video. In all, KCLBC raced 12 boats over the course of the day, not to mention a welcome return from the alumni crew, Juniper BC, clad in their finest racing attire, who put in a respectable effort to finish 4th in the Senior Men’s Invitational VIIIs.

KCLBC provided an overwhelming presence at the prize-giving ceremony, even remembering to clap for a winning ICSM crew. Following the presentation of engraved hip-flasks to the winning crews, there was also the announcement of the five fastest crews of the day overall (weighted according the event), in which the Men’s Senior IV came third overall, taking a cash prize.

After a hard days racing, the squad was in a celebratory mood. The squad was joined by Juniper BC for the traditional curry and social, providing a chance for the squad to bond and the fresher group to integrate with the senior squad, with the theme of ‘St Ginians’, which saw many school girls outfits (a disturbing number from the Men’s squad). Sunday saw punting on the Cam, before heading back to London.

The weekends results stand the squad in good stead for the Head season, and our placing against other London colleges puts us in a good position for upcoming intercollegiate racing at the Allom Cup.

KCLBC Women take IM3 4+ pennant at Vet Four’s Head

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KCLBC senior women convincingly won the IM3 coxed IVs at the Veteran Four’s Head of the River on Sunday in their first race of the season. The crew of Kate Horne, Amy Fanning, Emily Frost, Tom Webb Jnr (cox) and a helping hand from coach Rhona MacCallum (who bravely took on the notoriously long course twice in 2 days) beat 10 other crews to the top spot, winning their category by over 50 seconds.

Over the 4¼ mile Championship course from Mortlake to Putney the crew pushed past their competitors despite the strong headwind and choppy water to finish in a time of 23:45.01. A welcome cheer came from supporters on Hammersmith Bridge just over half way through the race to spur the crew on for the final leg.

Kate Horne, rowing in her 4th four’s head for KCLBC, said:

“This was the best four’s head I have raced in so far.”

The women’s squad now looks ahead to racing in Cambridge, and London college events later this term, with the success bringing great promise for racing in WeHORR in March 2012.

[Emily Frost, Secretary]

Fuller’s Head of the River Fours

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The Senior Mens IM2 4+ (Fielder/Halse/O’Reilly/Hetherington – cox Thompson) raced the first of the autumn/winter competitions, the FOURS HEAD over the 4.5mile Mortlake to Putney Championship course yesterday.

Unfortunately, prior to the race while marshalling, their boat picked up a tree branch which became wedged between their fin and rudder. This only became noticeable as they approached the start, by stroke Tom Fielder as the branch showed during the stroke during the build under the bridge for the first time.

It was only at Hammersmith that the branch became disentagled – from there unimpeded they completed the course as planned. Up to then they had suffered being caught by crews that would not have caught them, had they not been stuck at rate 31 which they struggled to maintain.

They ended up 49th from 65 crews in their IM2 4+ section, 1min 55sec behind winners Imperial College, who were only 1 second slower than UL winners of the IM1 4+.

Still, onward and upward! Plenty of opportunities to show our real speed at Cambridge in 2 weeks and the Allom Cup in 4 weeks.

[Richard Ayling, Men's Coach]

2011/12 Committee Elected at AGM

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This years AGM was successfully held on Sunday 5th June. Following the traditional champagne reception on the Collonade, elections were held in the Roben’s Suite of Guy’s Hospital, which was also the venue for the meal and dancing, with fantastic 29th floor views of London.

The committee were elected as follows:

Club Captain Ed Griffiths
Men’s Captain Sebastien Thomas
Women’s Captain Amber Smith
Treasurer Tom Hodkinson
Secretary Emily Frost
Secretary Joe Hetherington
Fresher Captain Elizabeth Vincent
Men’s Fresher Vice Richard Gunning
Women’s Fresher Vice Sophie Crooks
Social Secretary Anna McSweeney
Social Secretary  Zoë Aubugeau-Williams
Alumni and Sponsorship Thomas David Webb
Alumni and Sponsorship Anna Turner

The 2011/12 year also sees GKT take on the rotating captaincy of United Hospitals Boat Club. This responsibility, which sees three captains elected to oversee the organisation of racing between the UH colleges, rotates between the 6 constituent bodies of United Hospitals Boat Club. The following were elected to the position of UH Captain:

  • Anna Turner
  • Emily Frost
  • Joe Hetherington

KCL rowers looking to Bumps success

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Members of KCL boat club are looking forward to continuing their run of success at the United Hospitals (UH) Bumps, which are raced on 28th & 29th May on the Thames at Kew.

The Bumps, which have been raced since 1953, are traditionally contested between the 5 London medical schools and the Royal Veterinary College. In more recent years however, invitational crews from non-medic colleges also race. There are 8 divisions: men’s and women’s first, second and third eights for current students, and respective alumni crews. King’s, who still race as GKT currently hold the headship (i.e., are winning) in 7 of the 8 categories, and are looking to repeat this success. The men’s squad have held the head of the bumps since 2006, when they ended 8 years of dominance from Imperial Medics. The women’s squad have held the headship for 5 of the last 6 years. KCL alumni, the formidable ‘Juniper’ crew have also dominated their division racing for several years.

The Bumps are not your usual, regatta type race. Rather than crews all starting from the same point and aiming to cross the finish line first, crews are spaced out along the river at equal distances. On the starting horn, the aim is to row off as fast as possible in order to catch up with (and physically bump) the boat in front, without being caught up by the boat behind. Lucky crews will ‘bump up’ early on in the race, sparing themselves the gruelling race to the finish line that awaits if they are neither caught by, nor catch another crew.  Crews who fail to bump early on in the race have to dig deep and fight their way down the rest of the course. For the crews at the head of the race, there is no crew in front to catch, and the only option is the long slog to the finish line without being caught. To add an extra dimension to the racing, the event is staged over 3 separate races in each category, and the only results that count are the results of the final race. In 2010, GKT men’s 1st VIII were bumped by St Georges crew in the second race, and had to fight to win back first place in the final race of the event. This is what it looks like to get that place back:

Bumps racing is unusual in the rowing world, and relatively few places still hold bumps races; the UH bumps are the only ones held on the tidal Thames, and only Oxford, Cambridge, and Eton College have bumps races elsewhere in the UK. Because of the unusual nature of the racing, close finishes and clashes are common, making it one of the most exciting forms of racing to watch. The course used for the UH bumps stretches along the Thames next to Kew Gardens, finishing just before Chiswick Bridge by the University of London Boat House. Any cheers or support from Kew Bridge are welcome!

Are you a rower? Rowed at school or college but gotten out of practice? KCL Boat Club is always on the lookout for fresh talent, and in particular is looking for people to race the Bumps with us. If you’ve rowed in the past but let it drop off, why not join us for a weekends racing in May?

Any rowers who are interested in rowing the Bumps should contact edward [dot] griffiths [at] kcl [dot] ac [dot] uk. More information can be found at www.uhboatclub.co.uk

KCLBC Women success in WeHORR

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KCL Boat Club’s senior women’s first VIII placed 80th out of 315 crews in the 76th annual Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (WeHORR), the largest women’s rowing race in the world. In a race where few London colleges fielded a second crew, KCLBC second VIII put in a solid performance to finish 266th; not a bad achievement considering 6 of the 8 only took up rowing in September.  Both crews combined experienced rowers and novice rowers who have progressed to training and racing with the senior squad.

KCLBC last competed in WeHORR in 2009, when the first VIII finished 176th. Women’s captain and cox Anna Turner said “This is the best WeHORR result KCL have had in over 10 years, and leaves us in a strong position for the summer season. It’s good to see that the hours of training we’ve put in have paid off. Special thanks go to our coach, Rhona MacCullum who has overseen our new training program”.

The WeHORR is the female counterpart of the Men’s Eights Head of the River. The 4 ¼ mile course is the same as for the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, but is rowed in reverse. Rather than crews going head to head, each crew rows down the course at intervals and their times are recorded to give the results. The race is one of the longest ‘head’ style races. Crews get a welcome cheer from supporters on Hammersmith Bridge, just over halfway down the course.

Varsity rivals UCL finished in 59th place, but aside from this the KCL first VIII placed above every other UL college and medical school, with Royal Vets (138th), ICSM (184th), RUMS (195th), St Georges (216th) and LSE (291st) trailing far behind. This leaves KCLBC in a strong position for the upcoming regatta season, and most importantly, the medical school Bumps, raced at the end of May between the 6 United Hospitals colleges.

New 4+ named at Alumni Evening

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Following the day’s racing and running around in lycra at the Allom Cup, past and present members of the boat club gathered in rather more splendid attire for a special alumni evening at the Boat House. Guests enjoyed champagne and canapés in the club room, whilst listening to guest speaker Rupert Obholzer (who won the Boat Race with OUBC as president and won bronze in the coxless four at the Atlanta Olympic games whilst working as a surgeon).

Following this, the party migrated to the boat bay for the naming of the clubs new Fillipi Coxed Four. The ‘Jonny Bryant’, named after a much loved cox who spent many years at the boat club, where he even met his wife, Hannah, who he married in 2006 and was in attendance, along with budding coxswain Bryant Jr!