Sports Review 2013

OXFORD I 1

SPORTS REVIEW 2013

 HERE COME THE GIRLS  ONCE A DARK BLUE, ALWAYS A DARK BLUE  PETE REED INTERVIEW  CLUB SEASON ROUND-UP  CUPPERS & VARSITY RESULTS  BUCS SEASON REPORT

Supported by

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

2 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

/BNYMellonBoatRace

THE BNY MELLON BOAT RACE 06.04.14

FOLLOWING YET ANOTHER EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL AND EVENTFUL YEAR OF SPORT AT OXFORD, I AM IMMENSELY HAPPY AND PROUD TO PRESENT THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF SPORT 2013.

CONTENTS

The sportspeople of Oxford were evidently still riding the Olympic wave of success this year after the inspiring summer of 2012. None more so than the Oxford women’s teams, who experienced a fantastic year of sport following the Olympics – arguably the greatest celebration of female athleticism the world has ever seen. In the same spirit, it really has been the year of the girls here at Oxford. Netball, women’s basketball, women’s rugby, women’s lacrosse and women’s rowing, along with many others, all won their Varsity Matches, reflecting the nationwide demand for wider inclusion, and recognition of female athletic prowess. Turn to page 6 to read more about Oxford sportswomen’s success.

02 News in Brief

I am pleased to announce that Oxford came 11th out of 149 Universities in this year’s overall BUCS ranking, an outstanding result for such an academically rigorous institution. I am confident that, with hard training and the determination that is so unique to Oxford, we will be able to climb back into the top ten universities of the BUCS ranking this year. Find the detailed BUCS report on page 14.

The passion, pride and ambition that are so specific to Oxford, shared and experienced by every Dark Blue, are second to none.

Such emotions, which everyone who has played in a Varsity Match can relate to, are captured by the ‘View from a Blue’ article on page 12. Following the success experienced by the Boat Club this year, with the men’s and women’s Blue Boats and second team boats all winning their Varsity Matches, we interviewed Pete Reed, multiple Olympic medallist and former Dark Blue. He speaks of his build-up to the World Championships, rowing in the Blue Boat at Oxford and the Varsity Match. Turn to page 10 to read the interview in full.

On that note, the Varsity Match is the pinnacle of any sportsperson’s career at Oxford. This year, with some very closefought matches, we narrowly lost to Cambridge 47–56. Find the results in full on page 16. This result is one that can definitely be turned on its head next time, especially with the support of the home crowd – most Varsity Matches will be held in Oxford next year! Preparations for Varsity 2014 are well under way and we are all extremely excited to have the Varsity Matches back on our own turf next year.

I would like to wish all teams the very best of luck for the 2014 season. Important dates for 2014 can be found on the back page.

I hope that you enjoy this year’s Annual Review and are impressed by what the sportspeople of Oxford have achieved this year – I certainly am!

Madeleine Sava Sports Federation President 2013–14

06 HERE COME THE GIRLS

A celebration of Oxford Women in Sport

10

AN INTERVIEW WITH PETE REED

Multiple Olympic medallist, World Champion, and former Dark Blue

12

VIEW FROM A BLUE

Once a Dark Blue, always a Dark Blue

14

BUCS REPORT

16 VARSITY RESULTS

19 CUPPERS RESULTS 21 A–Z CLUB REPORTS 48 IMPORTANT DATES 2013–14

‘A huge thanks to all of the Annual Review contributors, and to Vincent’s Club and the Development office for their continuous support!’

Funded by: Oxford University Sports Federation Oxford University Development Office Vincent’s Club Atalanta’s Society Cover photo: Andy Dyson at the Cycling Criterium Varsity, which took place on St Giles, Oxford.

Credit: Matt Henderson Editor: Madeleine Sava, Oxford University Sports Federation President 2013–14 Contributions: James Taylor, Charlotte Cole, Andrew Willett, Caroline Demetriou, Linda Loder, Robin Leonard Design: Andrew Harvey www.harveygraphic.co.uk Printing: Lynx DPM Ltd www.lynxdpm.com

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

2 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

NEWS IN BRIEF

Coach of the Year, Mark Thomas (Athletics) Matt Henderson

The Annual Sports Awards, held on 15 November, saw over 220 Oxford athletes come together to celebrate Dark Blue sporting achievements over the past year. The night started with a very fitting champagne reception in a marquee in the grounds of OURFC; serenaded by a string quartet and surrounded by fairy lights and blue and silver balloons, members from over 20 clubs mingled and shared tales of Varsity triumph. A three-course dinner preceded the long awaited awards presentation. The evening was kindly supported by Jaguar Land Rover, BP, Nike, Kitlocker, Walter’s, Vincent’s and Atalanta’s.

There was a lot of talent to choose from so deciding on the winners was a difficult affair this year.

Matt Henderson

The Oxford University Annual Sports Awards

The Award Winners were as follows: Nike OUsportshop Club of the Year Triathlon Jaguar Land Rover Team Performance of the Year winners, Modern Pentathlon Matt Henderson

Walter’s Sportsman of the Year Tom Lees, Modern Pentathlon BP Sportswoman of the Year Layla Guscoth, Netball Coach of the Year Mark Thomas, Athletics Jaguar Land Rover Team Performance of the Year Modern Pentathlon Cuppers Trophy St Catherine’s College Atalanta’s Teammate of the Year Naomi Webber, Cross Country Vincent’s Norman Bryce Smiley Trophy David Phillips, Squash

Atalanta’s Team Mate of the Year, Naomi Webber (Cross Country), with Atalanta’s President Rebecca Preece @oxfordunisport

Vincent’s Norman Bryce Smiley Trophy winner David Phillips

I 3

Sport Scholars for 2013/14 selected I am extremely pleased to announce that we are increasing the number of Sport Scholarships this year due to extremely impressive applications from the top athletes of the University. This means that we will be providing financial support to five top athletes who have excelled in their sport. The scholarships are in place to help athletes improve and gain further success in their chosen discipline. Each Sport Scholar receives a £500 bursary to assist with training and competition expenses, in addition to complementary membership to the PULSE gym, Powerlifting gym and Rosenblatt Pool.

Vincent’s Scholar – Jack Marriott, Swimming

Jack is in the top 25 in the world for 50m butterfly and is the British Record Holder in 4x100 Medley Relay. He just missed out in the 2012 Olympics, but has high hopes for Rio 2016. This year will see him gain his fourth Full Blue for OUSC.

Eliza Blackwell Scholar – Matt Henderson, Fencing

Matt is this year’s Fencing Club President, has ranked consistently in the top ten British Senior Rankings for over a year and is in the Great Britain Senior squad (2012 and 2013), competing at several international competitions including the 2012 Olympic qualifier. One of his aims for this year is to achieve a top 50 place in the European U23 rankings.

BP Scholar – Matthew Langton, Archery

Matt has gone from beginner, to Half Blue, to very successful men’s Captain in 2011–12 and OUCofA President 2012–13 in just three and a half years. He was the top scorer in Oxford’s British University Team Championships win. His long-term aim is to achieve a top ten national ranking and be selected for Team GB.

BP Scholar – Sophia Saller, Triathlon

The only woman to receive a scholarship this year, Sophia has competed in triathlon, cross country, cycling and athletics Varsity as well as placing in the top five in British and German Junior Triathlons. Sophia is in the German National Triathlon Team, and came 19th in the European Juniors. The scholarship would help her to qualify for the World Junior Championships.

BP Scholar – Alex Smith, Archery

Men’s Captain of OUCofA, Alex is currently representing Great Britain in the Olympic Performance and World Class Squads.

He is also in the selection process for the Europa Cup 2013 and the World Championships 2013. His long-term aim is to compete in the Rio Olympics, 2016.

The new appointment of Robin Leonard Head of Development - Sport Robin Leonard joined the University in March 2013. As Head of Development, he directs the University’s fundraising programmes for sport, focusing on securing philanthropic income from Oxford’s alumni and friends. His current priority is to raise £60million to transform the sports facilities at Iffley Road into a world-class multi-sports complex that will benefit all 87 of our sports clubs and provide a new home for Oxford Sport. He was previously at the University of Warwick, where he delivered a successful major capital campaign.

Robin is a former competitive swimmer and coach for the City of Coventry Swimming Club. In his spare time, he enjoys recreational swimming, playing squash and running a community aerobics class with his wife.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Iffley Road redevelopment of would like to make a donation, please contact Robin by telephoning 01865 611534 or emailing robin.leonard@devoff.ox.ac.uk.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

4 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

SAM SMASHES CRICKET VARSITY RECORD All who witnessed the 169th meeting of Oxford and Cambridge, in what remains cricket’s oldest first-class fixture, experienced history in the making at Fenner’s this summer. Sam Agarwal’s masterful innings of 313 not out (off just 312 balls) not only obliterated the previous record for the highest individual score in the Varsity Match (247 by Oxford’s Salil Oberoi in 2005), but also challenged the more elderly spectators to recall whether they had seen a more fluent and dominant innings in this fixture.

For Agarwal’s Oxonian team-mates, it was absorbing viewing in every sense; exhilaration at his stroke-play coupled with apprehension at what audacious shot he might attempt next (as epitomised by his daring ramp shots and reverse sweeps). Of course, no one was under any illusions that Agarwal would play any differently, with his voracious desire to subjugate the bowlers matched by the technical ability to do so.

Observers were split over the finest shot of his innings, his perfectly balanced straight six off Cambridge’s left-arm spinner perhaps surpassed only by his casual saunter down the wicket to caress the ball back past their opening bowler. The tempo of his innings remained almost constant throughout, as he consistently dispatched Cambridge’s bowlers to all parts of the ground before declaring Oxford’s innings closed at an imposing 550–7.

Agarwal’s innings laid the foundations for a performance in which the Oxford team showed itself to be more than the sum of its parts; every batsman contributed something, whether that be the determination of openers Gus Kennedy and Ben Jeffery to see off the new ball, the disciplined knocks by former Captain Ben Williams and newcomer Matt Winter, the dogged support of ViceCaptain Sam Westaway, or the free scoring of Tom Chadwick and Sam Cato as Oxford pressed on towards a declaration.

Oxford’s dominance in the first innings set the tone for the rest of the match, in which a buoyant Oxford twice cheaply dismissed a demoralised Cambridge side (119 and 245), as debutants Tom Williams and Sachin Mylavarapu both picked up five-wicket hauls in Cambridge’s first innings. For all the considerable control and threat shown

by Oxford’s array of bowlers, not least Johny Marsden, who was incredibly unfortunate not to pick up a wicket after a hostile opening spell, the catalyst for Cambridge’s collapse @oxfordunisport

313

was arguably the quite stunning dismissal of Akbar Ansari, a player with considerable pedigree in the fixture, caught brilliantly at short midwicket by Chadwick. This, some would later reflect, represented a microcosm of the professionalism and focus which imbued Oxford’s performance from start to finish, qualities which were fittingly rewarded by the third-biggest victory in the history of the Varsity Match, as Oxford completed a deserved win by an innings and 186 runs.

Oxford University Association Football Club tour

Last Easter an Oxford University Association Football Club squad of 16 embarked on a three-day actionpacked tour of Madrid, culminating in a fantastic 2–2 draw against Atletico Madrid U18. When the squad arrived they headed to the real Madrid derby – Getafe v Atletico Madrid – for a taster of some La Liga action. Despite a strangely half-full Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, the OUAFC group fully embraced their role amongst the Atleti Ultras.

The highlight, and main purpose, of the tour was a friendly against Atletico U18 at the Estadio Cerro del Espino, part of Atletico Madrid’s training ground on the outskirts of

Madrid. A highly competitive game ended all square, and both sides were satisfied with a 2–2 draw that was a fair reflection of a very even game.

After the match, OUAFC presented German Robles, Director of the Atletico Madrid Foundation, with a framed photograph of the 1874 FA Cup-winning OUAFC team, and received in return a goody bag of Atletico kit. The tour itself saw the end of many of the players’ OUAFC careers. They could not have finished their time with the club in a more stylish fashion, capping off a great tour with a fantastic result!

I 5 Pictured is Tom Codrington at a bivvy spot halfway up ‘The Incredible Orange’ on the (previously unclimbed!) Ivnarssuaq Great Wall.

Last summer a team of climbers from Oxford University’s Mountaineering Club put together a cutting-edge expedition to the craggy wilderness of West Greenland. Tom Codrington, Ian Faulkner, Peter Hill and Jacob Cook, supported by Oxford’s Irvine Fund and other national grants, teamed up with two sailors and sailed for five weeks from Canada in the Cosmic Dancer, a 30’ sailing yacht which then provided floating support. Once in Greenland, they successfully scaled five previously unclimbed cliffs rising hundreds of metres sheer from the sea. Their amphibious assaults included the 800m unexplored Ivnarssuaq Great Wall (pictured) and the renowned 1,200m Horn of Upernivik Island.

Adapting to the world of the midnight sun, their ascents blurred the distinction between days. One ascent took over 42 hours of continuous climbing in one of the most committing climbing environments in the world.

MOUNTAINEERING TRIP TO PREVIOUSLY

UNCLIMBED GREENLAND

Proposed Grandstand Complex www.sport.ox.ac.uk

6 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Netball Blues celebrating after winning their Varsity Match 2013

HERE COME THE

GIRLS

Wilma Rudolph was the fastest woman on Earth in the early 1960s and a towering inspiration for African-American and female athletes worldwide.

Her legacy could not have been more apparent than in the beaming modesty of Nicola Adams as she was awarded the first ever Olympic Gold Medal for Women’s Boxing at the London 2012 summer Games. At that very moment, an essential turning point had been reached in the public attitude towards elite female sport. Scepticism was quashed by the pure joy in the passionate young girl’s face. The demand for wider inclusion, and recognition of female athletic prowess, had been embraced. It is now in the hands of our generation to ensure that it continues to grow.

I 7

The foundations for the sporting successes of the 2012–13 academic year were laid during the ‘glorious summer’ of London 2012, arguably the greatest celebration of female athleticism the world has ever seen. Every participating national team included women, most notably including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei who had never previously fielded a female athlete at an Olympic Games. The phrase ‘the Women’s Games’ has been circulating in media spheres ever since; the real impact on gender equality in sport, however, is something that will only develop slowly.

It depends significantly on women, like our Dark Blues, taking inspiration from the Games to commit to the hard work and dedication that all success requires.

Success was in high order for Oxford’s female athletes who rowed, ran and scored their way to victory in over 15 Varsity competitions during 2013. At the 67th Women’s Boat Race, it was the Dark Blues who proved more capable of overcoming fierce winds at Eton Dorney, as they reclaimed the honours from Cambridge across the very waters that had seen Katherine Grainger finally attain her elusive Olympic Gold.

There were also double Varsity triumphs for OU Women’s Rugby Football Club and OU Netball Club, neither of whom had secured both a Blues and Seconds victory since 2004 and 2008, respectively. As an added bonus for both teams, they had the pleasure this year of rewriting the statistics on Cambridge’s home turf and will be preparing in earnest to defend their titles during the coming season.

Further ‘Tab Shoeing’ was enjoyed by Oxford’s women in Lacrosse, Lawn Tennis and Basketball, whilst the female contingent of OU Swimming Club also contributed to a record-breaking points win in Cambridge during February.

Achievements were not limited to the Varsity Matches, however. Dark Blue women enjoyed an abundance of excellent team and individual female performances at BUCS events, and in the many other leagues and competitions that athletes are involved with on a regular basis.

Beyond the podium-topping moments, which are a credit to the commitment and determination of all of the sportswomen who take pride in calling themselves Dark Blues, the growth in prominence of

Sophia Saller at the German Junior Championships 2013 women’s sport in Oxford can also be seen from other standpoints.

In 2015, the Women’s Boat Race will be held on the Thames alongside the men’s event for the first time in its history.

Although this in itself will present new challenges, it is perhaps the most visible message that the need for equality in sport is being recognised and addressed. With the BBC commissioned to televise both events, the prospect of capitalising upon this in order both to promote women’s sport at Oxford, and address the issue of the lower profile of women’s sport across the UK as a whole, is yet another exciting step in the right direction and one that will be eagerly anticipated over the coming year.

Off the field of play, Atalanta’s Society, now over 20 years old, remains at the heart of the University’s sporting framework and is continuing to grow in status as a stronghold for Oxford’s talented sportswomen. It advocates the importance of access for female athletes to financial support, targeted networking opportunities and a supportive and fun environment in order to cement the role of women’s sport firmly in the University’s social consciousness. During 2013 it has played host to an array of inspirational sporting female speakers, including multiple

A Celebration of Oxford Women in Sport

Paralympic and World Champion Tanni Grey-Thompson, and it continues in its endeavours to raise the profile of women’s sport both in Oxford and beyond the city spires.

One beneficiary of the growing support for high-performing sportswomen is the University’s only female Sports Scholar, reigning German Junior Triathlon Champion Sophia Saller. Sophia is the current recipient of a BP Scholarship, aimed to assist in the development of young, elite athletes who have proven their commitment both to University studies and participation in high-level sport. She benefits from a bursary to cover essential sporting expenses as well as complimentary membership of some of Iffley Road’s training facilities.

Her multi-discipline specialism has meant that Sophia has had a broad experience of sport at Oxford during her past three years, with affiliations to the Swimming, Cross Country and Cycling clubs. She is therefore in an excellent position to assess the standing that female sporting activities hold within this historic institution.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

8 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Women’s Football Blues On a personal level, as she has progressed through the ranks in junior triathlon, Sophia has always felt supported by the different teams and their respective coaches at the University. Whilst she thrives on a competitive environment, she is well aware that many women are more inclined towards ‘casual’ participation. Even within the University clubs themselves, not to mention the numerous college- and student-led endeavours, she highlights that there is an increasing number of opportunities out there for women to take part at all levels. Alongside this, she takes pleasure from reading about the successes of other Oxford sportswomen and is pleased that student publications are proving keener than ever to celebrate the achievements of female athletes amongst their sporting resumés.

There are still improvements to be made. Sophia would like to see a greater emphasis on the promotion of upcoming female sporting events, both at Oxford and on a global scale (the Women’s Football World Cup for example), as well as more recognition of the positive impact sport often has on academic performance.

own lives as well as bringing increased recognition to those who participate on a competitive basis. Sophia believes that her own sport has ‘. .. given me back so much, from meeting great people and making great experiences to teaching me to be determined, focus on and believe in my abilities. It’s also an amazing experience to be part of a team – for example Cross Country Varsity – and not just race for oneself, but push oneself right to the limit for the other girls and Oxford.’

Although her third-year Mathematics exams are her primary target for 2014, Sophia’s sporting success in 2013 has not gone unnoticed. She has been rewarded with selection to the German U23 Triathlon Squad for the coming season, with the prospect of more international competitions in the pipeline.

More than anything, however, she wants women themselves to see the huge benefits that sport can bring regardless of the capacity in which it is undertaken.

If more women can enjoy and feel empowered by sport, this will transmit across to so many other areas of their

A Celebration of Oxford Women in Sport

Women’s Squash Blues at Varsity Match 2013

It is undeniable that the platform for women’s sport is ready to be raised globally and here at Oxford we are no exception. Whether 2013 was a year for celebration or frustration, a new intake of freshers, to complement the remaining experienced members of each University sport club, reflects the continuing revolution of new beginnings and opportunities. Harnessing this momentum to continue the drive for female sporting success and recognition is what makes us proud to say that we are Dark Blue athletes. With Wilma Rudolph’s belief that ‘The potential for greatness lives within each of us’, collectively we are capable of anything.

Charlotte Cole Balliol College

I 9

W

e are delighted to be supporting one of the oldest sporting rivalries in the world and ensuring it remains at the pinnacle of the sporting calendar. Oxford’s performance in this year’s race, the first BNY Mellon Boat Race, was phenomenal, and helped maintain the cachet of the race as one of the most anticipated and globally recognised events.

Coupled with the success of the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club in the Newton Women’s Boat Race the sky remained dark blue in 2013!

Curtis Arledge Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Investment Management, BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon is one of the oldest financial services institutions in the world. Founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and a member of George Washington’s first cabinet, we were the first share traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, we’re a global investments company dedicated to helping our clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, we deliver informed investment management and investment services in 36 countries and more than 100 markets.

The focus, integrity, teamwork and excellence demonstrated by the crews are values that are aligned with our organisation and its commitment to our clients and our local communities across the world. As sponsors we feel highly privileged to be able to help grow the franchise of the Boat Race and make it more accessible to the public.

BNY Mellon has a long history of partnerships with institutions worldwide to bring iconic events to a broader audience.

We are pleased that our commitment to supporting The BNY Mellon Boat Race will ensure that this historic rowing

competition, now in its 160th year, continues to enthral an expanding global audience for many years to come. We are also greatly looking forward to seeing the Newton Women’s Boat Race come to the Tideway in 2015 and we are delighted that the joint investment by our Group is helping to bring parity to this historical rowing event.

We hope that you, along with our employees, our clients and other friends worldwide will follow the crews as they prepare for another exciting season.

Please enjoy the build-up to this season’s race days (Newton Women’s Boat Race 30 March, BNY Mellon Boat Race 6 April 2014), follow us on Twitter @BNYMellonRace, like us on facebook and enjoy the content on BNY Mellon’s interactive site www.whichblueareyou.com.

And, most importantly, focus your attention on answering this question:

‘Which Blue Are You?’

DARK BLUE!

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

10 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Multiple Olympic medallist, World Champion, and former Dark Blue

AN INTERVIEW WITH

PETE REED 2013 was an excellent year for Dark Blue rowers, with Oxford winning all four of the boat races (men’s, Isis, women’s, and Osiris).

This success continued on the international stage as former Dark Blues Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge became part of the first ever GB men’s eight to become World Champions. OUWBC President Maxie Scheske gives us her opinion on this summer’s amazing result and what the future holds for OUWBC.

The success of the men’s eight this summer was an incredible achievement, making history for Great Britain as our first ever men’s eight to win gold at the World Championships.

However, looking at the crew list, it was also a great achievement for both the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race clubs: half of the eight had also previously trained for and competed at the Boat Race, proving how well this extremely competitive environment can set you up for international competition.

This is something that we now want to emulate amongst the women’s squads. Whilst many OUWBC alumnae have already been successful at an international level, our current sponsorship parity with the men’s clubs provides an even greater springboard. Although the current focus is very strongly set on the 2014 and ’15 Boat Races, it will be fascinating to see how many members of the current squads will be pushing for the same levels of international success in a few years’ time.

Maxie Scheske – OUWBC President 2014

James Taylor was fortunate enough to interview multiple Olympic medallist, World Champion, and former Dark Blue Pete Reed shortly after his summer triumph…

How would you describe the attitude of yourself and the rest of the boat following the fourth place at Lucerne? Can you point to anything in particular which led to you becoming World Champion just seven weeks later?

First and foremost, the crew were disappointed with the result. As the lead British crew, we are expected to win or, at the very least, be challenging strongly for gold. After the result, you can’t change it. I keep the clinical memory (which includes specific details about the race and training) but let the emotional disappointment go.

There was no frustration, just clear, objective thinking about the strategy moving forwards.

We all left no stone unturned and it proved to be enough.

I drew on my positive experiences in the past. For example, in 2008, I came eighth in Lucerne before going on to win

Pete Reed sitting at two in the men’s coxless four at the London 2012 Olympics

I 11

To be honest, I loved the pressure and felt my crew thriving in that environment too.

After winning gold at the London Olympics, how did you re-focus and motivate yourself to keep training as hard, if not harder, for this year?

For years before London, I knew I wanted to carry on to Rio 2016; that was never in question. However, I put so much physical and emotional effort into the London Olympic cycle that I felt completely empty afterwards. I loved every experience that came my way but motivation to start training again was gone. I exercised in my time off, but only for myself and I enjoyed not having a target for once. I started loving it again and gradually found my rhythm, joining the team in January in good shape and ready for the next three-and-a-half years. Game on!

Tom and George are first-class guys – they just went to the wrong university!

the Olympics. I had my past experiences whereas some of the younger members of the eight didn’t. They drew confidence from the knowledge that it could be done and from our coach’s track record of getting the training right for the big races.

In the last seven weeks there was no hint of complacency, which is probably what separated us from the opposition. We all left no stone unturned and it proved to be enough.

At the Championships themselves, how tough was it maintaining your focus and discipline in the days between the heat and final, especially while others were finishing and off celebrating?

That is a very good question. I don’t think any other Q&A I’ve ever had has even identified that as a potential pitfall. It’s tough to be honest. The eights event has a longer break between the heat and final than any other. We arrived in South Korea completely ready and so training was for physical maintenance and technical focus.

We had a fantastic opening race in the heat.

The first half was so good, against the USA, that we had enough of a lead to relax in the last 500m and save our sprint. In the other heat Germany recorded a faster time than us, but they had to sprint. The five days off were all about maintaining that winning focus without getting scared or complacent. It was a balance that you manage with experience, but finding it with a bigger crew was new to me. Other British crews were already racing their finals and finished off their year days before our final. I was eager to get going myself, but we had to wait. We were the last boat to race for our final – the rest of the regatta had packed up and gone home. It didn’t bother me at all, I was only thinking about our challenge.

Could you describe a typical day during your build-up for the World Championships?

Every day in the year is building up to the World Championships, but the typical days differ season to season. Winter training days go like this: 7am breakfast. Drive to training.

7.45–9.30 weights. Second breakfast. 10.45– 12.30 row. Lunch. Rest. 3-4pm ergometer.

Snack. Drive home. Rest. Dinner. 10pm bed (earlier if I can). It is high mileage.

In the last couple of summer weeks, mileage comes right down. We don’t have weights. It’s normally two sessions instead of three. Intensity is high and technical crew development is the primary focus.

It’s less about individual fitness and more about boat speed. At this time, we recover from the constant winter fatigue and that is when the fire burns brightest. It’s not easy, sometimes it’s not fun but I love the challenge every day.

Two of your teammates in the men’s eight, Tom Ransley and George Nash, were at Cambridge. Was there much banter between yourselves about university rivalries?

We couldn’t be too hard on them (especially George) this year as the OUBC 2013 had already punished them enough. The rivalry never goes away, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like them. Tom and George are first-class guys – they just went to the wrong university!

With the women’s Boat Race taking part on the same day, and over the same course, as the men’s race in 2015, what effect do you think that will have on the sport, both at Oxford and for Team GB? I think it’ll be fantastic for the sport, for the universities and the event and that is bound to filter into the GB Rowing Team in a few years’ time. The excitement is already building for 2015 races in the World Rowing circuit. I support the change and think that the OUWBC/CUWBC squads will take some big performance leaps over the coming years.

Crush the Tabs, for all the old Blues that wish they could be doing it with you!

What advice would you have for rowers currently at Oxford?

Whatever level you are at, college or university, enjoy the training, the experiences and the camaraderie. They are so special and valuable. You are doing something unique, with a shorter shelf life even than international rowing. Crush the Tabs, for all the old Blues that wish they could be doing it with you! You have a dark army behind you!

What is your favourite / most lasting memory from your time at Oxford?

Far too difficult to answer, so I’ll leave it there, with my very best wishes!

James Taylor Corpus Christi College

Oxford University Men’s Blue Boat in 2005 with Pete Reed far left in the top row www.sport.ox.ac.uk

View from a Blue 12 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

, e lu

B k

r a D a a e c s n y k O wa r a al D Reading at Oxford University was never on my agenda.

It’s not just that I grew up on the other side of the world in suburban Australia. It’s probably more to do with the fact that I come from a particularly humble background. Neither of my parents went to university, nor had they ever been overseas, and whilst they worked extremely hard to create new opportunities for me, no one I knew had ever studied abroad, let alone been accepted at such an iconic institution as Oxford.

The only reason I became aware of Oxford University as a potential item on the menu of Extraordinary Things to do in Life was because Ian Tucker was a close friend of mine. Prior to his tragic death, Ian had communicated what an incredible experience he was having – he genuinely seemed to be having the time of his life. Twenty-four years of age is way too young to die, and I was deeply and personally affected by his death. Ian always fully committed to things, and I try to do the same.

It’s quite possible that our last interactions had a disproportionate impact upon me. Regardless, I will be eternally grateful that ‘Tucks’ planted that seed.

e u l

B

As fortunate and content as I was with my life, none of my previous experiences surpassed my time at Oxford. Put simply, my year or so at Oxford and playing at OURFC was the most extraordinary time of my life.

With any collection of rugby players who come together without a lot of history, there is a period of testing one another out. In most teams this involves a mix of the physical and verbal – normally pretty basic ‘king of the jungle’ stuff.

Well it’s very different and definitely not so basic at Oxford. I learnt pretty quickly that I was never the smartest guy in any room. Generally speaking in sporting environments, talent and physical prowess win the day – but it’s more complicated than that at OURFC. Off the field, the physical can often take a back seat to the metaphysical, and I can remember regularly sitting back and observing in wonder as some of the finest young minds from around the world took to a form of intellectual jousting… and all the while I’d be smiling, and hoping that they’d just leave me out of it! This intellectual capability is something quite unique to OURFC: you speak to a teammate about their area of interest and you get something exceptional from them. It’s an environment that constantly challenges and you’re always learning.

Of course, on the field things were different and events reverted to a style I was more familiar with. One has to be comfortable with the reality of both bashing people and getting bashed.

And the joy comes from doing

I 13

this stuff with, and for, each other. It’s why I play a team sport like rugby rather than box, wrestle or participate in any other individual contact sport. Whilst team performance is multi-factorial, the stronger the culture in any given team and the greater the collective character, the more likely it is that each individual will do whatever is required to get the desired result. We had plenty of what was required. In fact, I’ve never played in a team where the level of mutual respect and regard was higher and this was an excellent foundation.

On top of the enormous sense of responsibility for each other, you also feel a responsibility to the Club, and the broader University. One can’t help but be affected by the tradition and sense of history. The pinnacle is the Varsity Match, one of the most intense events I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

in life, no matter how hard you work at something and regardless of how well you have prepared, sometimes you simply don’t get the result that you want. Ultimately the journey, the contest, the mates and the shared experiences with those mates are what it’s all about.

Once a Dark Blue, always a Dark Blue Andrew Willett Merton College

Some years after playing Varsity, I was passing on some advice to a young Blues player who was about to play his first Varsity Match. Some of what I relayed was science (aspects of the psychology and physiology of optimal performance), some of it was based upon personal experience, and some of it came from the many conversations I have had with elite athletes over the years (I have worked in the realm of Sports Medicine and High Performance since graduating).

Part of what I relayed was simply my own process and went something like this: ‘When I get on the pitch I always take a moment at some point before each game to look around at the crowd and especially my team mates, appreciate the atmosphere, enjoy the intensity, recognise that this is exactly what I have worked so hard for and that this is exactly where I want to be. In that moment I think how lucky I am to be me. It’s only for a moment, but in that moment I always feel good and it always makes me smile – and then back to business.’

I still vividly remember doing this on December 10, 2002. It was a genuine privilege to represent OURFC, and the University, and to share that experience with the extraordinary group of individuals in my team. I can imagine that this feeling and overwhelming sense of pride is the same for anyone who has played for their club at a Varsity Match.

We lost, by the way. And it still hurts.

What it proves is that in elite sport, as www.sport.ox.ac.uk

14 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

BUCS Roundup Here at Oxford we have had yet another outstanding year of sporting achievements. In BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) competitions for the 2012–13 season, we improved our overall standing from 12th last year to 11th this year, when our main and only ‘true blue’ rivals, Cambridge, lost two places, going from 14th to 16th. We are also in fourth place in our region – incredibly impressive when you consider that it contains three of the top five universities in the country.

There were joint winners of BUCS points this year, Tennis retaining their first place from last year but having to share the spoils with Hockey who moved up from second last year, both clubs scoring an amazing 161.5 points. Second place goes to Lacrosse, moving up a place from last year with 151.5 points and third place to Fencing, who were just pipped from maintaining their second position from last year with 150 points.

Outstanding individual achievement

Sophia Saller – Triathlon and Cross Country Sophia’s success began with winning the 2012 BUCS duathlon, before achieving a full Blue in cross country. She got off to a flying start by coming second in the BUCS sprint triathlon, and winning the Varsity triathlon. In her first Senior Elite European Cup she came a remarkable sixth, competing against numerous Olympians. Sophia went on to win the German Junior Championships by nearly two minutes, and qualified for the World Junior Triathlon Championships in London, in which she came tenth. In addition, she placed seventh in the German Elite Sprint Triathlon Championships, coming less than 90 seconds behind ITU series race winner Anne Haug.

Max Denning – Judo Max was ranked first for his weight nationally in Judo for the first two ranking lists of this year. He has won all three Varsity fights he has participated in. He won gold in the -90kg class at BUCS, going on to represent the UK at the European Universities Judo Championship in Portugal, where he placed seventh. He has been London Universities Champion twice, and represented Oxford in the Sell University games in Finland. Max has @oxfordunisport

also made great contributions to the Judo Club in leadership roles, being President from 2012–13, and also President of the Men’s Blues Committee, demonstrating his commitment to University Sport and the Sports Federation. As if this wasn’t enough, Max was also President of the Ski Club.

Tom Lees – Modern Pentathlon Tom was ranked fourth in the country after the GB winter selection series, out-qualifying some of the London 2012 athletes. This saw Tom selected to his first senior World Cup in Chengdu, China; competing against the top athletes in the world, he finished a creditable 45th. Not just a GB competitor, Tom also claimed the BUCS title with a massive score of 5,600 points, helping Oxford claim the team title.

He was also the individual winner of the men’s Modern Pentathlon Varsity Match.

Kirstie Smith – Archery Kirstie has twice been a BUCS gold medallist, having won both the indoor and outdoor Championships. She is the only member of her discipline in the University to have ever held either position. She also contributed to team silver in both of these events, as well as victory at Varsity, in which she was top overall scorer. Outside the student circuit, Kirstie is also Southern Counties Indoor Champion.

Outstanding club/team performances Handball This year the Handball Club won its sixth BUCS title. This was all the more outstanding because the enhanced profile of the sport in the Olympics meant that over 50 teams entered, an unprecedented

I 15

number. The competition was held in Barking, where the Olympic teams had trained, which made it feel extra special.

Both the men’s and women’s teams got through to the second round with very little difficulty; the women however were knocked out at this stage. The men then sailed through the second round, only really facing competition from Manchester University; they then found little resistance in the quarter- and semi-finals. The finals vs Essex were another matter, but the team managed to maintain a slight lead throughout, finally winning 12–9.

Women’s Squash In the recently concluded BUCS Squash 2012–13, the Oxford women’s first team performed well throughout the season and attained good results, coming in third during the Premier League (South) Stage 1, fourth in the Premier League (Lower) Stage 2, and reaching the quarter-finals of the Championship, losing to Leeds Met Carnegie who were the eventual champions. Although the majority of the team were finalists, that did not distract the squad from showing dedicated commitment to the sport and under the close guidance of the coaches we observed dramatic improvement across the squad, resulting in a successful season.

Triathlon At the BUCS sprint triathlon the top male placed fifth and the top female came second. Although the score at Varsity was 2–2, the two Cambridge wins were by 41 seconds and less than 5 minutes respectively. On the other hand, Oxford stormed away with its two wins. The women’s Blues won by over 7 minutes and the men’s mob match dominated by 1 hour 25, with an accumulated time of 21 hours.

James Felce and Andy Dyson achieved podium finishes, and Sophia Saller won the women’s race.

Women’s Boat – BUCS The Women’s Boat Club has had one of its most dominant years in memory, following new governance, new coaching and a new sponsorship deal. This year the Blue Boat won the Newton Women’s Boat Race, beating Cambridge by 1¾ lengths. Osiris won the Reserve Boat Race, beating Blondie by an enormous six lengths. The club were winners of the Championship Eight, Intermediate Eight and the Intermediate Quad at the BUCS championships in May. Also, they were very proud winners of the Senior 8+ at Henley Women’s Regatta, beating the number 4 crew from the USA en route. They also qualified for the Remenham Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, were the

fastest two women’s coxed fours overall at the Fours Head in November and represented the University at the Diamond Jubilee Rowing Championships in October.

Caroline Demetriou BUCS Administrator

League Winners Women’s Badminton won Midland 2B and were promoted to Midland 1A Men’s Badminton 2s won Midland 3B and were promoted to Midland 2B Men’s Lacrosse won the Premier South League Rugby League Blues won the National South League, and were promoted to the Premier South League Women’s Tennis Seconds won Midlands 2A and were promoted to Midland 1A Men’s Water Polo won the Midlands 1C league and were promoted to the Premier South League

Teams with major contributions to BUCS 11th place nationally Archery Cricket Cycling Fencing Hockey Judo Korfball Lacrosse

3rd 7th 10th 5th 9th 2nd 7th 7th

Biathlon/Pentathlon Orienteering Rifle Rugby 7s Sailing Tennis Triathlon

3rd 3rd 3rd 8th 9th 8th 4th

CHANGE RANKING UNIVERSITY FROM

2011/12

LEAGUE POINTS

LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL TOTAL KNOCKOUT CHAMP. POINTS POINTS

 - 1 - 2 - 3  - 4  2 5  - 6  2 7  3 8  1 9  - 10  1 11 1 12  2 13  1 14 4 15

1916 1697 1509.5 1466 1549 1153.5 1301.5 1423.5 1304 1058.5 984.5 892.5 1109.5 961 1036

1062 821 672 433 635 384 582 541 380 364.5 284 468 302 279 416

Loughborough Durham Birmingham Bath Exeter Edinburgh Nottingham Leeds Metropol Manchester Newcastle Oxford Cardiff Metropol Bristol Leeds Northumbria

2521 901 953.5 824.75 483 1046.5 478 313.34 408.5 604.5 537 438.33 333 495.84 274.75

5499 3419 3135 2723.75 2667 2584 2361.5 2277.84 2092.5 2027.5 1805.5 1798.83 1744.5 1735.84 1726.75

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

16 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

VARSITY RESULTS 2012/13

CLUB

DATE

VeNUE

RESULT & SCORE

American Football 11th May 2013 Oxford Rugby Club, North Hinksey LOSS 20-13 Archery 11th May 2013 Merton Field WIN 3383-3152 Athletics (M) 18th May 2013 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge LOSS 112-98

Athletics (W) 18th May 2013 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge LOSS 104-96 Aussie Rules 9th March 2013 St John’s, Cambridge WIN 66-24 Badminton (M) 2nd March 2013 Cambridge WIN 14-1 Badminton (W) 2nd March 2013 Cambridge WIN 15-0 Basketball (M) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 93-68 Basketball (W) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge WIN 62-37 Boat (M) 31st March 2013 River Thames, London WIN Length & a half Boat (W) 24th March 2013 Eton Dorney WIN 1 & 3/4 Lengths Boxing 9th March 2013 Cambridge Corn Exchange, 19:30 WIN 6-3 Canoe and Kayak (M) 27th May 2013 Oxford WIN 4-0 Canoe and Kayak (W) 27th May 2013 Oxford WIN 4-0 Caving 24-25th Nov 2012 North Dales LOSS 3-1 Cheerleading 22/23 February 2013 Future Cheer SNF, Loughborough *LOSS* 74% - 60% Clay Pigeon 5th May Cambridge Gun Club LOSS 109-69 Cricket (M) 4 Day 2nd July 2013 Fenner’s, Cambridge WIN By an innings and 186 runs Cricket (M) 1 Day 15th June 2013 Lord’s Cricket Ground, London WIN By 7 wickets Cricket (M) Twenty20 20th June 2013 Fenner’s, Cambridge N/A Abandoned due to rain Cricket (W) 1 Day 15th June 2013 Lord’s Cricket Ground, London N/A Abandoned due to rain Cricket (W) Twenty20 20th June 2013 Fenner’s, Cambridge WIN By 8 wickets Croquet 10th June 2013 Hurlingham Club WIN 9-0 Cross Country (M) 1st December 2012 Wimbledon Common, London LOSS 42-38 Cross Country (W) 1st December 2012 Wimbledon Common, London LOSS 15-22 Cycling (M) 27th April 2013 E33/25 Bottisham (BUCS 25 mile) LOSS Cycling (W) 27th April 2013 E33/25 Bottisham (BUCS 25 mile) LOSS Dancesport Saturday 4th May 2013 Kelsey Kerridge SC, Cambridge LOSS 1984 to 1796 Eton Fives (M) 9th March 2013 Berkshire LOSS 2-1 Eton Fives (W) 9th March 2013 Berkshire WIN 3-0 Fencing (M) 2nd March 2013 Cambridge LOSS 129-110 Fencing (W) 2nd March 2013 Cambridge LOSS 133-88 Football (M) 30th March 2013 Selhurst Park, London LOSS 2-3 Football (W) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 1-1 (AET), 4-2 (PEN) Gaelic Football (M) 2nd March 2013 Oxford WIN 3-13 0-6 Gliding 31st August - 1st September Bicester Windrusher Gliding Club WIN 371-352 Golf (M) 22-23rd March 2013 Royal St George’s Golf Club WIN 8.5 - 6.5 Golf (W) 19th March 2013 Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, Kent LOSS 8-1 Gymnastics (M) 3rd March Cambridge LOSS 241.45-161.2 Gymnastics (W) 3rd March Cambridge WIN 117.6-121.35 Hockey (M) 10th March 2013, 3.30pm Southgate Hockey Centre DRAW 1-1 Hockey (W) 10th March 2013, 1.30pm Southgate Hockey Centre LOSS 0-2 Ice Hockey (W) 10th March 2013 Planet Ice, Peterborough LOSS 11-5 Jitsu 22nd-23rd February 2013 Cambridge Sports Centre WIN 115 – 90 Judo (M) 9th March 2013 Cambridge WIN 6-1 Judo (W) 9th March 2013 Cambridge LOSS 4-1 Karate (M) 9th February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 109-21 Karate (W) 9th February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 70-20 Kendo 16th February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 4-1 Kickboxing (M) 2nd March 2013 Oxford LOSS 5-4 Korfball 23rd February 2013 Cambridge WIN 8-7 Lacrosse (M) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge WIN 13-3 Lacrosse (W) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge WIN 8-5 Lacrosse (MIXED) 23rd February 2013 Cambridge LOSS 9-5 Lawn Tennis (M) 2nd - 4th July National Tennis Centre, Roehampton LOSS 12-9 Lawn Tennis (W) 2nd - 4th July National Tennis Centre, Roehampton WIN 15-6 Lifesaving 23rd February 2013 Cambridge WIN 4-1 Lightweight (M) 24th March 2013 Eton Dorney WIN Lightweight (W) 24th March 2013 Eton Dorney WIN @oxfordunisport

I 17

CLUB

DATE

VeNUE

RESULT & SCORE

Modern Pentathlon (M) Modern Pentathlon (W) Motor Drivers Mountaineering Netball Orienteering (M) Orienteering (W) Pistol Small Bore (M) Pistol Small Bore (W) Pistol Full Bore Polo Pool (M) Pool (W) Powerlifting Rackets Real Tennis (M) Real Tennis (W) Riding Rifle Indoor (M) Rifle Indoor (W) Rugby Fives Rugby League Rugby Union (M) Rugby Union (W) Ski and Snowboard (M) Ski and Snowboard (W) Squash Racquets (M) Squash Racquets (W) Swimming (M) Swimming (W) Table Tennis (M) Table Tennis (W) TaeKwon-Do (M) TaeKwon-Do (W) Trampolining Triathlon (M) Triathlon (W) Ultimate Frisbee (M) Ultimate Frisbee (W) Volleyball (M) Volleyball (W) Waterpolo (M) Waterpolo (W) Windsurfing Yacht Dinghy (M) Yacht Dinghy (W) Yacht (Fleet Racing)

5-6th April 2013 5-6th April 2013 26th April 2013 27-28th April 2013 24th February 2013 2nd March 2013 2nd March 2013 17th February 2013 17th February 2013 14th July 2013 8th June 2013 11-12th May 2013 11-12th May 2013 24th February 2013 6th April 2013 22nd March 22rd March 9th March 2013 16th February 2013 16th February 2013 23rd February 2013 8th March 2013 6th December 2012 2nd March 2013 5th December 2012 5th December 2012 16th February 2013 16th February 2013 9th February 2013 9th February 2013 2nd March 2013 2nd March 2013 17th February 2013 17th February 2013 2nd March 2013 26th May 2013 26th May 2013 23rd February 2013 23rd February 2013 16th February 2013 16th February 2013 9th February 2013 9th February 2013 23rd February 2013 3-5th July 2013 3-5 July 2013 6-7th April 2013

Bradfield College, Berkshire Bradfield College, Berkshire Rye House Kart Raceway, Herts Big Rock Climbing in Milton Keynes Cambridge Sheffield Sheffield Elizabeth Way Range, Cambridge Elizabeth Way Range, Cambridge Melville Range, Bisley Guards Polo Club Cambridge Pool Club Cambridge Oxford University Sport, Oxford The Queen’s Club, London London London Brooksby Equestrian centre Surrey Surrey St Paul’s, London Honourable Artillery Company, London Twickenham Stadium, London Cambridge Val Thorens, France Val Thorens, France RAC Club, London RAC Club, London Parkside Pool, Cambridge Parkside Pool, Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Grendon Grendon Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Parkside Pool, Cambridge Parkside Pool, Cambridge Farmoor Reservoir Aldeburgh Aldeburgh Port Solent, Portsmouth

WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN LOSS WIN LOSS WIN WIN WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN WIN WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN WIN LOSS WIN LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN LOSS WIN LOSS

OVERALL STANDINGS

OXFORD

47

CAMBRIDGE

56

30,228 - 29,020 79-61 110-180 53-35 05:00:57 to 05:10:38 04:08:51 to 05:15:33 2066-2116 1828-2045 1389 - 1488 11-3 52-38 44-10 2056.76 - 2110.21 3-0 4-3 5-1 178.3 - 111.5 1515-1514 755-690 265-176 32-4 26-19 15-5 By 2.94s By 26.72s 3-2 0-5 61-29 56-34 10-0 9-1 2-3 3-2 161.2-160.4 By 41 seconds By 7 seconds 15-12 15-8 0-3 2-3 11-10 18-4 27-36 1.5-4 4-3 7:11

DRAW

s n o i t a l u t a r cong 3 s m a e t g n i n n i w to all www.sport.ox.ac.uk

PRESENTING THE NIKE RANGE OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY ALUMNI CLOTHING

- 24/7 online ordering - Exclusive range of men始s & women始s Nike leisurewear - Worldwide shipping - Customisable with your optional 驶Class Year始

OUSPORTSHOP.COM #givingback* *alumni sales on ousportshop.com contribute to the provision of sports kit for today's Oxford Athletes

www.ousportshop.com

I 19

Runner-up (2 points)

Winner (5 points)

Alternative Ice Hockey American Football Archery (M) Archery (W) Athletics Badminton (M) Badminton (W) Basketball (M) Basketball (W) Canoe & Kayak Cricket (M) Croquet Cross Country (M) Cross Country (W) Dancesport Fencing Football (M) Football (W) Golf Gymnastics Hockey (M) Hockey (Mixed) Hockey (W) Judo (M) Judo (W) Karate Kendo Kickboxing Korfball Lacrosse Lightweight Rowing Motor Drivers Modern Pentathlon Orienteering Pistol Pool & Snooker Powerlifting Riding Rugby Rugby (Mixed Touch) Rugby Fives Rugby League Ski & Snowboard Squash (M) Squash (W) Swimming Table Tennis Tennis Triathlon (M) Triathlon (W) Utimate Frisbee Volleyball Water Polo Yachting Torpids (M) Torpids (W) Summer Eights (M) Summer Eights (W)

Oriel Keble Braesnose Balliol New Magdalen St Catherine’s St Catherine’s New Balliol St Edmund Hall St Hugh’s Oriel Queen’s Green Templeton St Edmund Hall St Catherine’s Queen’s St Edmund Hall St John’s St John’s Trinity New Magdelen Worcester St Catherine’s St Catherine’s Somerville Keble Trinity University Christ Church Worcester Wadham St Catherine’s Foxes Balliol Queen’s Worcester St Peter’s Trinity University Keble St Catherine’s Queen’s/St Hilda’s New/Pembroke Balliol Mansfield Oriel Balliol Wadham Corpus Christi Green Templeton Green Templeton Trinity Lincoln New Wadham Lady Margaret Hall Lincoln St Peter’s Trinity Magdalen Pembroke Queen’s Wadham Exeter Lady Margaret Hall University Merton Balliol St John’s Lincoln St Catherine’s Trinity St Edmund Hall Keble Oxford University Netball Club Pembroke Oriel Brasenose St Hugh’s Lady Margaret Hall St Anne’s Keble St John’s Queen’s Green Templeton Jesus Hertford Corpus Christi/Jesus Worcester Kellogg Worcester St Catherine’s Queen’s Oriel Worcester St Anne’s St John’s Brasenose Zoology Department Wolfson St John’s/Keble St Cross/St Catherine’s Pembroke Balliol Pembroke Magdalen Magdalen Wadham Pembroke Christ Church St John’s Wadham

Overall College Scores St Catherine’s St John’s Worcester Oriel Keble Wadham Queen’s Green Templeton New Balliol Trinity St Edmond Hall Pembroke Magdalen Lincoln Brasenose University Lady Margaret Hall St Anne’s St Hugh’s St Hilda’s Hertford Merton Jesus Corpus Christi St Peter’s Foxes Christchurch Somerville St Cross Kellogg Exeter Mansfield

35 32 30 22 21 21 20 20 19 18 18 17 14 13 12 9 9 9 7 7 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2

Cuppers ResulTs 2012-13 www.sport.ox.ac.uk

I 21

CLUB REPORTS AIKIDO

our members’ participation in BUAF national courses and to pay their grading fees.

The Oxford University Aikido Club had a very successful 2012–13. Freshers’ Fair was once again a great opportunity to recruit new members, with over 300 people joining the mailing list. New sign-ups to the club continued throughout the year, with record numbers of graduate students taking advantage of practice sessions that continue through the vacations.

The OU Aikido Club continues to train alongside the Oxford City Aikido Club. This opportunity to train with experienced Aikido practitioners is invaluable and provides a real incentive to new members, demonstrating mastery of this martial arts form.

We continued to offer quality instruction during five sessions a week and we are very excited about plans to organise one more weapons-only lunchtime session on Wednesdays next year.

ALTS continued to prove a popular club with upwards of 100 people a night attending during Michaelmas. This culminated in our biggest Cuppers event ever, which involved staggering 33 teams and went on until 5.15am. At the end of the 5½-hour event the winners were the Oriel Lions, with Keble Komets coming second and the Pelicans (from Corpus Christi) in third. Exactly the same result as last year!

We are proud that Peter Megann – one of the highest-ranking instructors in the UK – continues as our senior local instructor.

As always, we thank all our instructors for donating their time, energy and enthusiasm.

Monday beginners’ classes were taken over

by Nick Belshaw this year and were an opportunity for our new members to enjoy Nick’s detail-focused and technical approach to Aikido.

Regular weekend courses were directed by the UK’s most eminent Aikido teacher and Technical Director of the British Aikido Foundation (BAF), Minoru Kanetsuka Sensei, and offered club members an opportunity to advance in gradings. This year the club’s financial condition enabled us to subsidise

ALTERNATIVE ICE HOCKEY

Due to continuing increases in rink hire prices this year we were forced to raise the price per session by 10%. Increasing numbers over the years have allowed us to keep our prices down, but there was a particularly large increase in the cost of rink hire this year and we were unable to maintain our finances at the current level. However, as is evident from our attendance, the new price has not put people off.

Our support of KEEN has continued. ALTS representatives attended three successful

sessions this year, which helped children with special needs to keep active and have fun.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL The Oxford University Lancers withstood a testing season in the inaugural BUCS American Football competition. Established in only 2010, the young team found itself consistently outnumbered and outgunned in a campaign that disappointingly saw them finish without winning a single game.

Despite this the club continues to expand in terms of player and coaching-staff numbers, and has had a fantastic year off the field, securing funding from both Sport England and the Vice-Chancellor’s Fund.

None of this could have been achieved without the continued support of the Sports Federation, especially considering their generous loan for safety equipment, including helmets and shoulder pads, in September.

The season culminated in another closefought Varsity Match against the Cambridge Pythons. With last year’s game ending in a 13–13 draw, both teams arrived with something to prove. After going behind early in the game, Oxford’s resolve strengthened and with an improved defence and strong rushing attack they led 7–6 at the half. Over the full four quarters, however, Cambridge’s increased experience was telling as they were the eventual victors at 20-13 www.sport.ox.ac.uk

22 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

With the end of the academic year the Lancers bid farewell to Guy Edwards, who had held the position of President since the club’s founding, and Gareth Johnson, Captain and Social Secretary – a pair of Lincolnites who have been integral to the club’s continued growth over the last three years. Linebacker Elliot Neale, the 2013–14 President, will lead the Lancers in the upcoming year and with over 20 returning players and enough club-owned pads, helmets and uniforms for all, the club finds itself in a much stronger position than it ever has previously. While the continued recruitment of new players remains a priority, especially those with the physical size to play the demanding positions of offensive and defensive line, there certainly appears to be a bright future for American Football at the University of Oxford.

ARCHERY 2012–13 has been another strong year for OUCofA. After winning back the Varsity trophy last year we have managed to retain it this year by a very clear margin, despite awful weather conditions.

We built on the strong performance in our local BUTTS league last year and came overall second this year. The novice team unfortunately came last, but there were very good individual performances by both novice and experienced archers, with many medals being won.

Our experienced team won the British University Team Championships in an exciting head-to-head match against the previous champions Edinburgh, and then went on to come second at BUCS. The novice team also did well at BUCS, coming seventh out of the 31 clubs represented. We also had individual success, with Matthew Langton finishing sixth in the highly competitive men’s recurve category, and Kirstie Smith becoming BUCS champion in women’s recurve.

The club has seen another year of high membership and a large number of committed novice archers. We have invested in new equipment and begun regular coaching sessions for intermediate and experienced archers, greatly improving provision for our members.

Participation in non-university tournaments has also been good, as we hope to strengthen our contact with the wider world of archery in the UK. Archers from OUCofA have won medals in local field and target archery tournaments. Matthew Langton is now men’s recurve champion for Oxfordshire County, and Kirstie Smith women’s recurve @oxfordunisport

champion for the Southern Counties. One of our members has even represented OUCofA in the United States while away from Oxford. The annual Oxford University Indoor Tournament, open to all comers, was a success again and is widely viewed as having a very friendly atmosphere.

ATHLETICS With most of the previous year’s squad having left we were fortunate to have an excellent group of freshers. The men’s team, with GB Junior javelin thrower Aidan Reynolds – who lit the Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony – clocking four victories, and Craig Morten three, duly dominated the freshers’ match, winning 14 of 18 events.

The Field Events and Relays match saw the first overall win since 2006, with the men winning the Relays 5–1 (George Gundle on first leg setting up strong victories in the 4x200 – an indoor match record – and the 4x400) and drawing the Field 4–4. The women drew 3–3 on the track, including a 60m record from Nadine Prill, and lost narrowly 3–5 on the field.

Easter marked the Oxbridge USA Tour, to face combined Penn/Cornell and Harvard/ Yale teams. Given the greater funding these universities have, defeat was always a likely outcome but the team remained competitive. Reynolds, Prill and 1500m runner Tom Frith all achieved the rare feat of winning at both matches, while at Harvard/Yale, two Oxbridge men’s 4x400 teams defeated the Americans, with seven of the eight runners coming from Oxford.

Team 4x4 (Gundle, Morten, Ralph Eliot, Adam McBraida and Sam Wareham) were just as powerful back in Britain, picking up bronze and an Oxford record at BUCS. They were joined in third by steeplechaser Will Mycroft, despite his falling in the water jump in his heat; performances which helped the men finish tenth overall.

Despite these promising signs, the Varsity Match ended in agonising defeat, both Blues matches being decided right at the end of the day alongside more comprehensive losses in the Seconds.

Prill almost took the women to victory with three wins in the sprints and key contributions to both relays, while Frith carried off the Performance of the Match trophy for the men after a stunning 800 metre win over a Junior International opponent. Oxford’s Achilles’ heel was the jumping events, Cambridge having an alltime-great Varsity athlete for both men and women.

Despite these defeats, standards are rising as we approach the 150th Anniversary Varsity Match in 2014 – the men’s team were the strongest losing team for 20 years.

These standards must rise further to win what is likely to be the most high-profile match in a generation.

AUSSIE RULES This year the Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club secured the Varsity trophy for the seventh time in a row. This record testifies to a club that has gone from strength to strength. In total we played a record ten games throughout the year, winning nine. The club had approximately 50 active members. We continued to successfully incorporate non-Australians, including players from New Zealand, the US, England, South Africa and Zimbabwe. We repeated a successful tour model initiated last year, travelling this time to Prague, Vienna and Zagreb to play local teams, sample local beer and enjoy the occasional visit to the opera.

Finally, we had an unprecedented number of social events culminating in a very wellattended end-of-year gala party.

BADMINTON It has been a fantastic year both on and off the court for OUBaC. There has been a huge drive to further improve the standard of badminton at the club, and the excellent results this season reflect all the hard work put in by the players. The year started well with a resounding 18–0 win in Mixed Varsity and a solid performance in Town vs Gown. At Christmas OUBaC toured a snowy Switzerland, primarily involving the consumption of large quantities of Swiss cheese. Interspersed between eating cheese were some tough matches against Geneva University and other regional teams, with OUBaC coming out on top in every case. The trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all, although afterwards we decided badminton should really be a summer sport and so next year we have our sights set on (less snowy) Italy!

The top players all performed well at the BUCS individual championships in Sheffield, something we hope to build on next year.

In the leagues we saw promotions for five out of seven teams, with the two teams that were not promoted (men’s Firsts and 5D) already competing in the top divisions.

However, the highlight of the season was definitely the crushing victory at Varsity.

Particular congratulations have to go to the women’s teams, who did not drop a single rubber (30–0), and to the men’s first team who secured their eighth straight Varsity win

I 23

in emphatic style. Off the court, we have a fantastic new website (www.oubac.com), a new Facebook page and a Twitter account.

On the social side of things, this year saw the return of the alumni match, which was a resounding success. We were particularly lucky to receive a visit from an alumnus of the 1953 Varsity team, sporting a traditional OUBaC knitted sweater! (Perhaps Nike could look into making these again?) The alumni then joined the squad for the annual dinner, which included a fantastic speech from alumnus Richard Harris on how the club has changed since the 70s (most notably there were no women!). It has been a fantastic year for the squad of OUBaC and we already look forward to next year.

BASEBALL Our season was sadly quite seriously affected by injuries and scheduling problems, but the matches we did play against a strong Southampton team were easy victories, so we have high hopes for next season.

BASKETBALL This has been an incredibly successful year for the Oxford University Basketball Club, with strong performances on the court, overwhelming team commitment and great participation at the college and Seconds level. In addition, we forged new and promisingbonds with our alumni.

The men’s Blues season was marked by strong team bonds on and off the court, with a commitment to outwork our opponents on defence and play in an up-tempo style.

We finished fourth in BUCS Premier South, ensuring yet another season in the top league possible. Despite gutsy performances in the BUCS Championship round of 16 and the Varsity Match, we came up short. This year also marked a new chapter for the OUBbC as we played a friendly with the RAF (winning by two) and hosted the first ever alumni game.

The incredible leadership and coaching of Sue Altman and a dedicated squad of

players allowed the women’s Blues to turn what could have easily been excused as a ‘rebuilding year’ into another remarkably successful season. This team demonstrated that previous individual basketball experiences are not accurate indicators of what can be achieved when players are willing to embrace new roles and grow as a cohesive unit. While it may have been initially marked by diversity, the team found common ground in the joy of sport, playing with energy, rocking bright colours, and smiling amidst many obscure on- (and off) court experiences. We went to the Final 8s Tournament and Won Varsity 62–37!

BOAT CLUB 2013 has been a great year for Oxford rowing, as we completed a clean sweep in all Varsity races throughout all of the clubs. For OUBC too, this will go down as a fantastic year with wins in both the Isis–Goldie race and the Boat Race.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

24 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Early squad showings were promising with a number of returning Blues and Isis rowers as well as strong intake, international and domestic. We were able to convert strength on paper into speed at the Fours Head, taking the overall victory ahead of Cambridge and winning three events in total.

Although flooded out of Wallingford, training continued in earnest at Caversham (when not flooded off the water entirely and forced back to Iffley). The squad split for Trial VIIIs and produced an exceptionally close race, with Spitfire beating Hurricane by two seats.

Christmas saw the squad go to Davos for a return of the OUBC Cross-Country Ski Camp, a more popular move for some than others, and then back to Le Temple-sur-Lot in the New Year to set provisional crews.

In fixtures both crews went undefeated with Isis beating Upper Thames, University of London and Tideway Scullers, and the Blue Boat beating University of London, Molesey and the German top eight, as well as a few unofficial fixtures at Caversham and Henley.

On the day both crews lined up against strong Cambridge sides. Isis were giving away 13.5kg to Goldie and staged the most incredible of comebacks, from being down on the outside of the final bend to winning by a third of a length. The Blue boat pushed out into an early lead, but Cambridge hung on until a decisive move at Chiswick pier closed the race and sealed the clean sweep for the Dark Blues.

BOAT CLUB – WOMEN It has been an outstanding year for the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club.

Thanks to our sponsors, Newton Investment Management, for the first time we now receive equal funding to the men’s boat clubs as we prepare for the move to the Tideway in 2015. The location of our Varsity race is moving to the Tidal Thames, in parity with the men’s Boat Race, from our previous racing stretch on Henley upon Thames. This is quite a big move and is why we got our increase in funding. It is a 7km race instead of the previous 2km, so obviously involves quite a change as well.

Publicity wise, it is huge, as we will have the entire race broadcast live by BBC1, as with the men’s race. This has been an enormously welcome change and has allowed us significantly to improve our support network and equipment whilst eliminating the financial burden from athletes.

A new squad and new coaching partnership of Head Coach Christine Wilson, a former USA Olympic coach, and Assistant Coach Natasha Townsend, fresh from representing @oxfordunisport

Team GB at the London Olympics, assembled in Oxford in early September.

Our season got off to a promising start when we won the University Pennant at the Diamond Jubilee Rowing Championships in October, then produced the fastest two women’s coxed fours overall at the Fours Head in November. Training continued throughout the winter months, despite regular flooding and relocation to Dorney Lake for training. Highlights included a thrilling Trials Eights race in high stream at Henley with Easy beating Quick by 0.6 seconds, and a fabulous ten-day trip to Lake Sabaudia, Italy, in the New Year.

As the Boat Race approached in March, both crews benefited from match racing with lightweights Molesey Boat Club, and an Olympian ‘All-Star’ eight. The Henley Boat Races this year were relocated to Dorney Lake due to poor conditions at Henley. Nevertheless, both crews performed spectacularly. Osiris produced a six-length victory over Blondie and in an exciting race, after being down off the start, the Blue Boat walked through Cambridge at 1000m to win by 1¾ lengths.

BOXING This year was another hugely successful year for OUABC, with a narrow loss at Town vs Gown and a win away from home in Cambridge in the Varsity Match.

The season started at Christmas with several more experienced men competing at the Kassam Stadium in a local boxing show which saw two wins and two losses for OUABC. A sell-out crowd at the Union witnessed another hard-fought Town vs Gown match with many exciting bouts. Several intraclub bouts took place this year, all highly competitive with Varsity spots on the line.

The Varsity Match was the highlight of the year, taking place in Cambridge again for the first time in seven years. An impressive atmosphere greeted OUABC as they arrived at the Cornmarket Exchange in front of another capacity crowd of 1,300.

After getting off to a winning start with a strong performance from last year’s Blues Mikey Davis and James Watson in the first two bouts, we suffered a surprising loss in the third as our Captain Tom Eliasz lost on points.

Harry Miller was left to seal the win in the eighth bout of the night with Laurent Kotch, ending it with a knockout to leave Oxford with a 6–3 win. A sterling night for OUABC

by any reckoning, with notable performances from Daniel Bailey, who won the Most Gallant Boxer award, and Zack Sammour, who won Best Technical Boxer.

CANOE AND KAYAK White-water and General Michaelmas term began with very popular taster sessions, with all useable boats out on the water. Unfortunately, interest diminished slightly towards the middle of term, with extremely cold water and weather.

Nevertheless, the Beginners’ trip and Intermediate trip went extremely well, with just enough water for both and a warm bunkhouse to retreat to at the end of the day! Pool sessions have been limited over the last year, something the wants to improve on from Michaelmas Term 2014, as they are crucial for learning river competency skills such as rolling. The BUCS white-water race was particularly successful: once again, both men and women beat their previous personal bests in terms of places, finishing ninth and eighth respectively. This was easily enough to win the Varsity competition!

Hilary Term trips (to North Wales and Dartmoor) suffered from low water levels (a perennial problem!), though both went down extremely well, with a healthy balance of kayaking and walking. As always, the National Student Rodeo was a great success, with ten of us competing in the biggest student kayaking competition in the world.

A few members and alumni organised two unofficial white-water trips to Corsica and the French Central Massif, to get some extremely advanced boating done – a great indication of the level of the white-water paddlers we have in the club.

CANOE POLO We have gone from strength to strength this year, competing in more tournaments than ever before and entering the National Division 4 league, finishing eighth in our first season. We are looking into entering a number of summer tournaments as well.

Trinity Term is always the busiest for canoe polo, with BUCS in noughth week, Varsity in first week and Cuppers to be scheduled for early in the term. After its success last year, we will be running another canoe polo/water polo swap match and barbecue. Following last year’s event, some members of both clubs decided to get involved in their opposite club as well – a great success for both!

CAVING At Freshers’ Fair the Oxford University Cave Club was more successful than usual at

I 25

attracting new cavers, some of whom have come on several weekends and become active members of the club. As usual, our Freshers’ trips to South Wales and the Mendips were very popular, and gave many novices their first taste of the exciting underground world.

Regular club trips have taken place as usual, to South Wales, the Mendips, Yorkshire and Derbyshire as well as more occasional trips to the mines of North Wales and the handful of Devon caves. Members have also been on expeditions to China, Mexico, Georgia and Myanmar (the final expedition discovering two new species of cave fish). Two student members have also qualified for the new caving Half-Blue for the first time this year.

As well as our usual Varsity meet with Cambridge (in which we were again victorious), we also had our first joint trip with the Oxford University Mountaineering Club, to South Wales. Members of both clubs tried out each other’s sports together, and a great time was had by all – we hope this will become a regular feature. At the Council for Higher Education Caving Clubs annual meet, a shock victory in the Balance and Restriction was also won by the two caving Half-Blues, whose superb technique and balance persevered over the extremely slender opposition. At Hidden Earth, the national conference, we were less lucky, and were thrashed in the Speleolympics assault course by a pair of children. However, the talk on the OUCC Pozu del Xitu expedition was extremely popular, filling both the lecture theatre the speakers were in and another via video link.

The 2012 expedition built on the successes

of the 2011 expedition, which was limited by bad weather, to finally complete the historic traverse from Pozu del Xitu to Cueva Culimbro, the deepest cave-diving throughtrip in the world. Making front-page news in the biggest UK caving publication, a small but committed team of members (old and new) and friends from other clubs rigged to the bottom of this superb cave, over 1,100m deep. It has barely been visited since it was first discovered by OUCC in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and remains the deepest cave in the world explored by a British team. The 2013 expedition planning is well underway, and hopes are high for making

connections into other great nearby caves, possible first steps in the discovery of what could easily be the third deepest cave in the world – there is no better time to start caving, as the opportunities are genuinely world class.

CHEERLEADING Once again the squad entered both a large competitive team and a small stunt group at The University Cheerleading and Dance Competition in Loughborough. Here we also competed for the first time in a Varsity trial run against the Cambridge Cougars, which garnered much media interest for our sport.

In addition to this, both teams also competed at the Northern Jamfest competition in Blackpool where the competitive squad placed fourth.

The Oxford Sirens have also had a busy year, performing locally as well as at University level. A few members of the squad put on a crowd-pleasing show at the Rugby Championship game, cheering on London Welsh against the Cornish Pirates. Another notable performance was delivered at Exeter College for the American Presidency Elections.

CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING OUCPSC has enjoyed further success this year, with our best shot at BUCS being placed within the top 15 shots in the country. After three consecutive years of Oxford winning Varsity, this year the Cambridge team clinched victory. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

26 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

spin with complete ease. At stumps Oxford were 377/4, Agarwal (213*) having been ably supported by fresher Matt Winter (51).

The following morning Agarwal continued supremely on to a simply unbelievable 313*, off a mere 312 balls, a Varsity and University cricket record. With a deficit of 550, Cambridge was on the back foot, and their troubles were exacerbated as Tom Williams (5–34) and Singaporean International spinner Sachin Mylavarapu (5–23) tore through the opposition line-up for a measly 119. Following on, Cambridge offered greater fight to end on 245, but still 186 short of making Oxford bat again. A dominant victory was attained and Oxford had finally started to correct for Cambridge’s recent success.

CRICKET – WOMEN

Training has occurred at three new places this year: Greenfields, Ian Coley and Enstone Shooting Grounds, which provide excellent facilities for both the novice and experienced shot. We have also seen record member numbers. We have introduced more than 100 people to the sport for the first time, through our popular new novice taster days which consist of a small group lesson from qualified instructors.

MEN’S CRICKET If the 2012 season was one of mixed fortunes for the Men’s Blues, the 2013 season was one where a supremely talented generation of cricketers, headed by the departing 2013 Captain Sam Agarwal and 2012 Captain Ben Williams, finally left an indelible mark on a Varsity cricket series (Twenty20, one-day and four-day fixtures).

Lord’s had not been a happy hunting ground for Oxford, with Cambridge comfortably victorious in the previous three fixtures. Oxford made a near perfect start to the 2013 edition, putting Cambridge in to bat under grey clouds and taking early wickets to leave the Light Blues struggling at 4–48. Fred Johnson bowled an outstanding spell, with figures of 2–10 off 7 overs, before the spin trio of Agarwal (1–37 off 10), Fox (2–31 off 9) and Cato (2–32 off 9) applied pressure to limit Oxford to 8–153 off 46.3 overs when rain came down. Set a revised target of 89 from 20 overs, former Light Blue Kennedy (43*) attacked the target, first with support from Ben Jeffery and then Captain Agarwal. A dominant victory was achieved with 3 overs @oxfordunisport

to spare, sending the present Oxford fans into raptures.

After a washed out Twenty20, the team’s focus turned to the traditional Blues fourday fixture at Fenner’s. After Oxford was put in, Kennedy and Jeffery negotiated the first hour, before both swiftly departing, leaving Ben Williams and Agarwal at the crease at lunch. Williams played fluently before departing for 43, an event almost forgotten in the light of later proceedings.

Agarwal moved swiftly through the gears in the afternoon session, bringing up 100 off 132 balls mid-afternoon. After his first milestone was achieved his innings continued to grow, with shots all around the ground, dispatching both seam and

The 2012–13 season has been very successful for OUWCC. We ended our BUCS campaign unbeaten, with convincing wins against Leicester, Warwick and Nottingham, finishing top of our division and earning promotion into the premier division for next season.

A 7-wicket win against the MCC and a win and a close loss against the Army meant we were feeling confident going into our Varsity Matches. Unfortunately the 50-over Varsity at Lords was abandoned due to rain, but we still enjoyed the opportunity to play at the home of cricket and to attend the reception in the Long Room.

We made up for the disappointment at Lords in our T20 Varsity at Fenner’s, beating Cambridge by 8 wickets, despite being a player short. An impressive display by the opening bowlers P. Chatterji and T. Gough saw Cambridge fall to 4–23. They were bowled out for just 81 with 2 wickets for E.

I 27

Bath and S. White. Opening the batting, P Chatterji scored an unbeaten 68 to help see us home in 14 overs for the loss of just 2 wickets, giving us a great end to a fun and successful year.

CROQUET OU Croquet Club had a good season in 2013.

We improved the facilities at the club, had another excellent entry into Cuppers and arranged more fixtures than in recent years.

At the start of the year, the club hut roof was severely damaged. Exposure to rain (and later snow) would have risked thousands of pounds’ worth of equipment. Fortunately, however, the hut roof was repaired at a low cost.

At the start of the season, the grass on the lawns was cut too long. This meant shots had to be hit very hard, risking wrist injury and prohibiting some shots. The groundsmen have been very supportive, and have subsequently cut the lawns to a length seen at other clubs. We are funding the renovation of a lawnmower to further improve the lawns. Although this is a relatively large expense, it is necessary to promote competitive play in Oxford.

Croquet Cuppers once again attracted enormous attention. This year, 521 teams of 4 (i.e. over 2,000 participants) competed, the tournament eventually being won by New College. A proportion of these players attended the free coaching at the club.

OUCC arranged more fixtures this year than in previous years. As well as entering the local handicap league, this year we also entered the local Advanced League, had an away friendly against Surbiton (a club with several excellent players) and organised an away trip to the Hamptworth Advanced Tournament. Perhaps this contributed to a strong performance in Varsity, which we easily won 9–0.

CROSS COUNTRY The 2012–13 season saw Cambridge, having enjoyed dominance over the Oxbridge cross-country scene for some time, up their game and set up some of the tightest Varsity competitions for a number of years. OUCCC developed well over the course of the year and especially enjoyed success at the end of the season, coming second in the men’s races, and beating Cambridge, in both the Hyde Park Relays and our own Teddy Hall Relays.

The Blues Varsity Match on 1 December at Wimbledon Common was an unbelievably close contest. Oxford’s Jacob Wiebel led out the men’s race from halfway to take a fine first place, winning by a margin of 10 seconds from the rest of the field. With a mile to go, Oxford’s men looked as though they were going to take a sound thumping. Heroics in the final straight however saw all of Oxford’s scoring six beat their Tab counterparts in the sprint to the line, St John’s Sean Ledger in particular moving through from fifth to second in the final metres. It was only after close consultation of positions that the Light Blue ‘Milky Bar Kids’ knew they had won – with a score, calculated from the combined placing of the top six, of 42–38.

The women’s Blues set out at a punishing pace, with a relatively young team facing some experienced and developed Cambridge athletes on the day. Rhodes Scholar Kate Niehaus battled for the top spot with a fellow American, Alison Greggor – leading the Oxford women home with an eventual second place. Cambridge’s strength in depth however came through in the final score, a 15–22 win for the Light Blues.

The Seconds to Fourths Match in Cambridge looked on paper to be a closely fought www.sport.ox.ac.uk

28 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

contest, and this certainly proved to be the case on the day. It was an honest and gutsy effort from all who ran at Wandlebury – everyone represented the club with real passion and left everything out there on the course. The day could not have started any better; the women’s Seconds performed fantastically, led home by Rose Penfold to finish with a 1-2-3 at the front, beating a very strong Cambridge side 15–22. The men’s races were truly run, with Cambridge coming home victorious, though by agonisingly close margins. Both the Seconds and Thirds could not have pushed the Tabs any closer, in what were hard-fought battles. Final scores were 43–35 and 43–37 respectively.

DANCESPORT In the past year Oxford University Dancesport Club (OUDC) has had both ups and downs. Notably our competitive Dancesport team won the nationals, beating Cambridge into second place, but the tables were turned at Varsity where Cambridge emerged victorious. Our biggest success story of the year though has to be Rock ‘n’ Roll. Classes commenced in Michaelmas term in both acrobatic and non-acrobatic R ‘n’ R, simultaneously with the formation of a competitive R ‘n’ R team. This team has gone on not only to place first at the nationals, but also to win the first ever Rock ‘n’ Roll Varsity Match, held in conjunction with the Dancesport Varsity Match. On the club side our medals and other classes proved to be as popular as ever, especially Zumba which we shall have to move into a bigger venue for next term!

In Michaelmas term we held the annual club ball at Wolfson College which was a great success, the theme this year being Masquerade, proving a hit with attendees.

We also welcomed onto the coaching team this year Kevin Clapson, a ballroom specialist who has trained our beginners’ team for the past year and covered many other classes as well as private lessons for team members.

This year also saw the rejuvenation of the social dance scene with an alumni-organised team reunion ball in aid of charity, and much bigger social dances being held termly at St Cross College, with wine and food in abundance and elegant ballroom, or saucy Latin, keeping everybody entertained for hours.

Finally, this year was the 40th anniversary of the Dancesport Varsity, and also of our Head Coach Bruce Richardson, who has had more success over the past 40 years with OUDC than any other coach on the university circuit!

@oxfordunisport

ETON FIVES The 2012–13 season has seen the Oxford University Eton Fives Club go from strength to strength.

Women’s first pair Izzy Watts and Constance Mantle had an excellent season, winning the Universities Championship. After Izzy succumbed to injury in Hilary term, Constance progressed to the semi-finals of the National Women’s Open Championship with partner Alice Walker. Second pair Harriet Asquith and Harriet Allan, and third pair Scarlett and Julia Toynton, also all made it to the quarter-finals, thus qualifying for Half Blues. The highlight of the women’s season was, however, the clean sweep 6–0 victory over Cambridge in the Varsity Match in which the Oxford women did not drop a single set.

This season has been a very exciting season for the men’s side. After losing the entirety of the Varsity squad from last year, there was a great influx of new players. We sent pairs to all of the major championships, the highlights being Fergus Imrie and Alex Poole reaching the final of the Universities Tournament and Jack Flowers and Fergus Imrie winning the U21 Championships Plate competition. The Varsity Match fell on the Saturday of eighth week, giving a few logistical problems for several members of the team, but we were able to get a strong team out. Unfortunately we lost the Blues’ match 2–1 and the Peppers’ match 3–0. With a lot of the team still in Oxford, next year should see the team build on the successes of this year.

FENCING OUFC events continued into the summer vacation last year. Getting into the Olympic fever, OUFC hosted a drinks event at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London. One of the guests was Olympic Women’s Foil Team member Sophie Troiano, and many other Old Blues were in attendance.

Our BUCS campaign was not as successful as we had hoped this year due to some unlucky match scheduling, illness and injury.

After two very well-fenced quints in a very short space of time our men’s Blues gained a bye to the last eight. Unfortunately they were short-staffed on a trip to a knockout match in Durham and lost out very narrowly in the quarter-finals. Our women’s Blues had a less successful couple of quints but beat Manchester on home turf to progress to the final eight. Five of them then flew up to Edinburgh but sadly were knocked out. Our men’s second team finished sixth in the Midlands 1A league this year and the women’s Seconds finished third in their

Midlands 1A league. It is great that both our second teams are in their top leagues and both got knocked out by only one or two hits this year.

In the BUCS individuals we had a couple of people make the top 16 this year. Emma-Tina Segall was 16th in the Women’s Foil and Grace Segall 12th.

Our biggest event of the year was the Varsity Match in Cambridge. The men’s Seconds had a fantastic victory, winning all three weapons to give a total score of 135–97. Unfortunately the remaining three teams were defeated this year, although the men’s Blues did win on weapons if not on points. Despite the results though our teams showed off our infinite team spirit (and new Nike stash) and what a sportsmanlike, inclusive and friendly club we are. We will bounce back next year and show Cambridge how it is done in our exam schools.

The winning college at Cuppers in Trinity term was University. Congratulations also go to Madeleine Wivell, Mistress of Arms, and Matthew Henderson, Master of Arms.

The club would like to congratulate OUFC coach of 25 years, Tomek Walicki, on winning the Imotiva Coach of the Year Award at this year’s Oxford University Sports Awards ceremony. Tomek coaches all levels of the club, from beginners to internationals.

He works 12-hour shifts coaching group sessions and giving individual lessons, and always has an amusing anecdote to share.

We cannot thank him enough for his hard work and enthusiasm and offer him many congratulations on his well-deserved award.

FLOORBALL This year the club has gone from strength to strength. In the past two or three seasons we had not played any competitive fixtures, with only the occasional friendly to break up the monotony of training. Throughout this year we have had sustained high turnouts at training, so the Committee decided to enter the team into the inaugural British Universities Floorball League UniCup. With trusty driver, tournament organiser and allround go-getter Malte Lücken at the helm, the Floorball Club went on the road for the first time in at least two years, playing tournaments in London, Bath and Warwick (twice).

The club had a winning streak going through the first two tournaments but the Bath tournament, at which President Johan van de Ven made his season debut, concluded in a 4-1 loss to Warwick. The Bath tournament also saw the team draw with Bath Firsts, who

I 29

eventually went on to win the Universities Cup, so we went into the final tournament of the season at Warwick with high hopes.

Despite experienced defenceman Jakob Rostoel staying behind in Oxford due to an injury sustained in the gym, these hopes soon proved to be justified. Having braved the predawn snow (like the snow that fell as the team was leaving for Bath a month previously), Oxford emphatically defeated the LSE team in the opening game of the tournament. Erik Hammar was the standout player in that fixture, scoring more goals than his President has fingers (which, happily, is ten).

After a combined friendly with LSE, Oxford took on the Aberdeen second team. Perhaps tired from their journey from the periphery of the Arctic Circle, the Aberdeen side was no match for Oxford, with GB development team member Maciej Zakshevsky showing great restraint in not using this opportunity to play ‘catch me if you can’ with the Bath opponent.

This game also saw tenacious defensive work from Molly Peyton and Nayab Malik.

Incoming President Kartik Joshi, however, let a goal in. Word of their second team’s defeat made its way around to the Aberdeen Firsts, who won 7–3 despite Chris Nicholls and Jimmy Craven showing excellent speed on the forecheck. Oxford then faced off against Imperial in the third-place play-off against old rivals Imperial, and despite Johan van de Ven and Malte Lücken both laying the body on the line, the pair also combined

for a critical defensive mix-up that allowed Imperial to come in and score what turned out to be the deciding goal. Objectives for next season include beating Imperial and joining a regular league.

FOOTBALL – MEN The 2012–13 season was a highly successful and high-profile one for the Football Club. It began in style, inaugurating French club Le Havre AC’s wonderful new stadium (the Stade Oceane) in front of 15,000 in a match against a Le Havre Old Boys side. This was the warm up to the main event which saw Zinedine Zidane lead out a Real Madrid side against a Le Havre XI. The Blues, under the guidance of Captain Sam Donald, started the season strongly, with an impressive draw against the Amateur Football Alliance and a win against Hartpury College, one of the top university sides in the country. The league campaign began with two hard-fought victories, which put them top of the league, a position they maintained for the whole season, eventually winning the league with double the points of the secondplaced side. The Brookes Varsity Match, played in front of 600 noisy fans at Iffley Road, ended with a 5–2 victory for the Blues, after a rampaging half hour which saw them score four! The build-up to Varsity (played at Selhurst Park) went well, with a 3–0 away win at Premier League side Bath University

and a narrow defeat to semi-professional outfit Oxford City. On the day though, Oxford were thwarted by a Cambridge side inspired by one player, his hat-trick proving the difference in a narrow 3–2 defeat, after the Blues had led twice. But the season was to end on a high, with a tour to Madrid to play none other than Atletico Madrid U18s! With some of Spain’s best upcoming talent on show, the Blues fought back brilliantly from a 2–0 deficit, scoring twice in the last three minutes to secure a memorable draw.

The Centaurs also enjoyed a highly successful season, with a new-look side from the one that gained promotion last year. Captained

by Tom Phelan, the team quickly settled into their stride and went to the top of the league. They maintained this position for most of the season, until bad weather caused a large backlog of games, which were eventually played in the holidays with slightly weakened sides, causing them to drop crucial points and agonisingly miss out on the league title and promotion by inferior goal difference. Although they dominated for large periods of the game, luck was not on their side in the Varsity Match and they fell 1–0 to a strong Cambridge team.

Off the pitch, OUAFC were honoured to attend Slavia Prague FC’s 120th anniversary in Prague in January, continuing the longstanding relationship that began when the two sides first met in 1899. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

30 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

I 31

FOOTBALL – WOMEN OUWAFC underwent an almost complete makeover this year, welcoming a brand new coaching trio, a largely new roster of players, and with that, a new set of dynamics and tactics. With the simultaneous implementation of all of these changes the focus of the club has been the steady and unified development of both the Blues and the Furies to bring about a strong OUWAFC squad. This development process has meant that the Blues’ and Furies’ respective league results are not as strong as last year. Both teams placed sixth, the Blues in the Midlands 1A league and the Furies in the Midlands 2A league, which unfortunately means relegation next year.

Nonetheless, both teams finished the season with two incredibly close Varsity Matches in Cambridge, exhibiting noteworthy performances of which the club is very proud.

The Blues match, played at Fenner’s Cricket Ground, was intense from start to finish with Cambridge only narrowly scraping a 4–2 victory on penalties following a 1–1 result after overtime. The Oxford Furies faced the Cambridge Eagles at the Grange Road University Football Ground in what was also a heated match, with an unlucky early concession by Oxford leading to a 1–0 victory to Cambridge. The 28th annual women’s football Varsity Matches were played on 23 February 2013.

This year OUWAFC has also worked to increase the women’s football presence in Oxford, particularly in Trinity term. In addition to the continuation of our weekly Trinity term development training sessions we have organised multiple five-a-side tournaments over Hilary and Trinity terms, open to both college and University football players. These have been successful in raising enthusiasm for women’s football and provided the club with the opportunity to scout potential new players for the coming year. Overall OUWAFC faced a difficult football season this year, but through the hard work of the club, especially on the development front, we are in a great position to make a strong comeback next year, which we are very much looking forward to.

GAELIC GAMES Three BUCS league events were held this year. At the first, held at Hyde Park, London in November, the men’s Gaelic football team beat Imperial College.

A second BUCS Gaelic football fixture was held in December at Lincoln College sports ground, where a combined Oxford/Bucks University team defeated Imperial College.

The women’s football team also played and beat Imperial.

A BUCS Gaelic football blitz was held at Horspath, Oxford in February. Four teams took part: Imperial College, University of Birmingham, l’Université de Rennes, and University of Oxford. Oxford beat Imperial, but lost to Birmingham and a very impressive Rennes side. The team from Birmingham won the blitz, and went on to win the regional contest held in Birmingham the next day.

The Varsity contest was held in March. The men’s football team defeated Cambridge with a score line of 3–13 to 6 points. Cambridge did not have enough players to field a hurling team, and conceded this match. A challenge game was played between mixed Oxford/Cambridge teams. Cambridge had informed us in advance that they could not field a women’s football team, so a team from Coventry was invited to play a challenge game, which the Oxford women won.

GLIDING We have had a highly successful year operating under a new contract with our parent club, Windrusher’s Gliding Club, based at Bicester Airfield. Despite losing our Varsity Match the club has begun to really thrive this year, reaching peak membership numbers and getting a record number of people to solo-flying standard.

We had a fantastic annual trip to Portmoak Gliding Centre in Scotland, which was expertly organised by our Captain Chris Ballance.

Our bursary scheme, funded by a generous alumni donation, has facilitated the rapid development of 11 new student members this year. With this many experienced pilots we are excited about tackling this year’s Varsity Match and undertaking some more ambitious expeditions next year.

Golf – Women 2012–13 was a great year for Oxford women’s golf. We started the season with several new players. The club has mainly international players, the ten most active members representing seven different countries. Last year we developed enthusiasm and momentum throughout the year and hoped to build on this further, which was done by changing the women’s coaching structure. Whereas we have previously had lessons with a local pro at the floodlit driving range in oxford, this year we decided to start lessons with the same coach as the men’s team. The opportunity to play more links golf clubs continued and we added a few new fixtures to our list, among them Royal Cinque Ports. This was a great bonus in our preparation for the Varsity Match, which was to be held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf

Club, Kent, at the end of Hilary term. As ever, we were well-matched against our hosts, and relished the regular battles on some of England’s finest courses (and fantastic hospitality to follow). New friendships were made as well as old friendships being renewed, on and off the golf course.

At the Varsity Match, while Oxford had lost many of the team’s low-handicap players after last season, Cambridge had some strong new recruits. The foursomes in the morning were close fights, but in the end were all won by Cambridge. The afternoon singles match involved a great deal of tactics and determination from all the Oxford team.

Lise Loerup, playing number one, faced tough competition from Sydney Burlison of Cambridge, who arrived at Cambridge this year directly from university golf at Stanford University (US). Four of the other matches were close, but the Oxford women were in the end defeated by the stronger Cambridge side.

The main highlight was Nicole Du Plessis, who romped home to victory very early on, securing a point for Oxford. Sabrina Sayeed, who only joined the team shortly before the Varsity Match, also did a great job in winning her reserve match. This promises well for next year, where Sabrina will be aiming for a place among the main six players.

This year will see several players leaving the team, including Sophie Godard Desmarest and Sixtine d’Angelin, who have been important contributors to the team for the past three years.

GYMNASTICS We are looking back on a tremendously successful and competitive year with many new members joining our ranks. As in previous years, we were able to attract a wide range of students with a variety of skills.

We have been able to keep our external coach, Chris Seelig, and the additional training session at the fully equipped Abingdon Gymnastics Club, totalling three training sessions per week. These two factors have been the main determinant of this year’s athletic progress. In particular, the accessible foam pit is a huge asset which has allowed our gymnasts to learn moves safely and has been crucial to our improvement.

This year’s Varsity Match was held in Cambridge, with the women’s team winning and the men’s team losing. Of note was the women’s performance, with Captain Louise Horton taking gold, and Stephanie Pope achieving third place. Despite injuries and shortages on the men’s team, we were able to award Half Blues to Louise Horton, David Loh, Daniel Wells and Jason Lee. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD SHOP The University’s Official Store

106 High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BW www.oushop.com

I 33

We are looking forward to further progress at Abingdon gym, with new members joining us.

HANDBALL The Handball Club has had a very successful season this academic year, especially as the men’s team managed to win (for a sixth time) the British University Handball Championships. Both the women’s and men’s teams have been playing in the development league, and they have greatly benefited from the Olympic Games, as many people were eager to join the club after the summer.

The club is however not happy with the way the EHA has managed the league this year, and we are considering, together with other University clubs, not registering for the league and simply focusing on the University Championships. The club thus qualified to play the European Championships, but we have not been able to attend due to the lack of funds.

We established contacts with Faringdon Community Centre, and we have secured their sports hall as our home venue for games, as the Iffley Sports Centre does not have a full-sized handball court. This

means the club saves money in transport (we no longer have to arrange our games in London) and travelling time.

HOCKEY The men’s Blues, captained by Oliver Lobo, came second in the Southern Clubs’ Premier League this year, missing out on promotion to the national league by a painfully narrow margin. With only two of the Varsity squad leaving, we have every confidence that next year they will be able to do one better.

In BUCS the men finished third in a very competitive South Premier League and reached the quarter-finals of the knockout championship. As for Varsity, it is very fair to say they were unlucky to finish with only a 1–1 draw.

The highlight of the women’s Blues season was their second-place finish in the BUCS South Premier; their highest since 2007. In the Saturday league, the women finished fourth and were the only team to beat overall league winners Tulse Hill and Dulwich all year. They were unfortunately unable to repeat their two BUCS league wins over Cambridge in the Varsity Match. Cambridge took home the trophy for the first time in nine years and this will take the pressure off

the women because they go in as underdogs looking to avenge defeat in 2014.

Results have not necessarily gone the Occasionals’ way this year. They finished fourth in BUCS Midlands 2B and reached the last 16 of the BUCS Conference Cup. They were very unlucky to be placed 11th in London Hockey League Division 1 this year, but we are sure that they will come charging back up the leagues in 2013–14. They will hopefully tie this in with ending the Varsity drought that has plagued them over the last few years.

The Monkeys finished the year tenth in Trysports 1 and fourth in BUCS Midlands 2A. These results do not perhaps reflect the standard of hockey they were capable of producing but they thoroughly deserved their BUCS Conference Cup silver medals.

Despite dominating play in the Varsity Match, the Monkeys unfortunately did not come out on top. Revenge will be sweet next year on home turf though, we are sure.

Looking forward, there are high hopes on the pitch for next season with only 25 leavers from the club. In particular, the men’s Blues will be pushing for promotion to National League, which would place them as one of the top sides in the country. This will need www.sport.ox.ac.uk

34 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

significant investment from players and coaches to attain the highest standards, as well as from the club to ensure the Blues are using the best equipment and can truly compete with richer rivals.

ICE HOCKEY It has been a mixed season for OUIHC, with various internal club matters interfering with the performance of some of the teams. The BUIHA divided the competition this year into checking and non-checking divisions, with the men’s Blues and the Vikings in Checking Division 1 and Division 2 respectively and the women’s Blues in Non-Checking Division 1.

@oxfordunisport

Due to low membership and other misfortunes, the men’s Blues came last in their division, having won three games, lost five and drawn two. This was compounded by a loss of 8–2 at the Varsity Match. Due to a large number of members leaving over the course of the year, this summer will prove vital for a large-scale recruitment drive which hopefully will see the men back to fighting strength again next year.

For the Vikings however this was a good year, with a more experienced team seeing an improvement on last year’s performance.

This left them second in their division, losing only three of their ten games and winning the rest. This performance was similarly supported by coming second again at

nationals, winning three out of five games.

March brought a hard-fought challenge match against the Cambridge Eskimos, with the 7–5 loss hardly demonstrating how closely played the match was.

The women’s Blues began the season well with a 7–4 victory over the Oxford Midnight Stars, followed by victories in two challenge matches against the Cambridge Blues (6–3, 6–5). With the reorganisation of the divisions having seeded the women in Non-Checking Divison 1, the BUIHA cup competition was a challenging one. Nevertheless the women acquitted themselves well, winning two matches, drawing one and losing five, in eight closely fought matches. The season ended with a heavy 11–5 loss in the Varsity Match

I 35

against Cambridge. Nevertheless, the team showed much improvement on last year, and the hard work and dedication put in by all should see a continued improvement next season.

JITSU The Oxford University Jitsu Club has had a busy year with three regional gradings, two national competitions and the recent Varsity Match against Cambridge.

In terms of advancing through the belts, the club has had four members take the first step and grade to yellow belts, two members to green and one to purple. We are extremely proud of all of them.

In the national competitions, we have brought home three gold medals as well as two silver and a bronze, making the randori competition this year one of our best so far. It was a great experience for those who did not win medals as they got to test their mettle against some great fighters and put on a really good show. As club bonding goes, nothing is better than pitting ourselves against another club, university or town -even from America or Australia.

Our recent Varsity Match was our first win in two years, with Cambridge handing over the trophy after a very close and hard-fought competition. That said, particular kudos goes to our new member Ollie, who despite having very little experience stepped in and fought opponents vastly more experienced than himself. Considering the tough, and weighty, competition, Oxford did a brilliant job to bring the trophy home.

JUDO 2013 saw another fantastically successful year for the Judo Club. This was recognised at the annual Sports Federation awards, where we were awarded club of the Year.

Michaelmas term saw the arrival of some talented new players who were valuable additions to the squad. Throughout the term we also saw an influx of both freshers and existing students come to learn judo on our beginners’ course. Meanwhile some of the more experienced players gave up their time to teach under-privileged children in the community as part of an outreach programme. The big competitive success of Michaelmas term was the London Universities Championships, which saw us take four gold medals in the individual black belt categories.

Hillary term saw the Varsity Match, this year hosted by Cambridge. A mutually agreed

change in format occurred this year, with Blues teams being changed from eight to seven matches to avoid the occurrence of draws. Furthermore, the competition was brought in line with international tournament regulations and saw one team (Oxford) don blue suits, with Cambridge fighting in white. The Varsity Match is possibly the oldest running annual team judo competition in the world. This year the men’s Blues won 6–1, retaining the trophy for a third year, and the women’s Blues unfortunately lost to a much heavier Cambridge team.

Shortly after Varsity came the second biggest event on the Oxford judo calendar, BUCS. This was arguably one of the most successful years ever for the club, which won three individual gold medals in the dan grade (black belt) category (Max Denning -90kg, Ben Skretting -81kg, Siamak Redhai -66kg), and a silver medal (David Abed +100kg). In the team contest the Blues, led by Max Denning, advanced to the final in the face of some difficult competition and an injury for one of the team. The final was a close-fought match but unfortunately Anglia Ruskin were the victors, leaving Oxford with a team silver, still a commendable achievement.

All three individual gold medallists have been selected to represent Oxford and British universities at the European Universities Judo Championships in October.

It is unprecedented to have such a large representation in a sport from a single university!

Outside University competition, Max Denning spent over a month as the number one domestically ranked Senior at -90kg, as did Ben Skretting at -81kg. Siamak Redhai reached number two in the ranking lists. Oxford judo has had an incredibly illustrious year and is now looking forward to a bright future!

KARATE During the past year, OUKC members have profited from the strong technical focus of the training sessions led by fourth Dan JKAE instructor Spiros Ventouras. OUKC’s chief instructor, Sensei Ohta (seventh Dan; JKA England National Team Coach, Head Instructor of JKA England, and world renowned karate-ka), visited Iffley Road to teach several times throughout Michaelmas and Hilary and examine Kyu gradings at the end of each term.

Recruitment from Freshers’ Fair of those new to the martial art was limited, and this remains something to be improved upon next year, but the squad at least was

boosted by several Dan grades through Michaelmas. In early Hilary, Cuppers was contested by nine colleges, with the final drawn between Wadham and Corpus Christi. Later in the term OUKC’s history of strong performance at gradings continued with three members grading to Nidan at the Japan Karate Association of England Grantham course.

Aside from the traditional aspects of karate training, the competitive spirit of the club progressed further. In recognition of the club’s increasing competitive performance, higher calibre tournaments were targeted this year, with the focus on JKAE Four Nations Cup, Varsity and BUCS; the JKA England Nationals will follow in July. The Four Nations Cup in November provided an early progress check for the largely new University squad and a kick-start for Varsity preparations, as well as the club’s main competitive event of the year. A medal won augured well for the year ahead.

The Varsity Match was held in Cambridge between teams of five men and four women, with no second-team matches.

Although ending in a seventh consecutive defeat for Oxford, the match was again more closely contested than the previous year’s. Cambridge started confidently, convincingly winning the kata round. Oxford replied with spirit in the kumite, scoring some clean points, although Cambridge’s greater experience shone through in the end to deliver them the win. For the first time in recent years, OUKC was competitive at BUCS with three students reaching the quarter-finals of both kata and kumite events.

KARATE DO SHOTOKAI Over the past year OUKDS has run three training sessions a week throughout the year, and travelled regularly to weekend training courses with both UK and overseas clubs.

Two club gradings were held, and a further grading is held as part of the week-long residential summer school at the University of Kent in August.

Each year we host a ‘national’ KDS course in Oxford, and this year we were delighted that Sensei Harada OBE (the head of our organisation) was able to attend, along with senior members from the UK, France, Belgium and Portugal.

The Karate-do-Shotokai (KDS) believes that competition karate cannot be reconciled with karate as a martial art without distorting the essence and power of karate-do. This has the unfortunate side effect that we have no competition results to report. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

36 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

OUKDS would like to thank the two club instructors for their commitment and expert guidance throughout the year.

KICKBOXING It has been a great year for kickboxing in Oxford. In Michaelmas term we welcomed lots of new members into the club, and training throughout the year has been well attended with many more members sparring regularly. In Hilary term we hosted the annual Varsity competition with Cambridge; it was a great event, with lots of closely contested matches providing great entertainment, but in the end we lost by a single fight. All our fighters performed well and did the club proud. During Hilary term the squad also visited a local kickboxing club in Witney and trained with the members there, which provided valuable experience of sparring with a different set of fighters. We also held our second Cuppers competition, in which many colleges were represented and which was good fun for all involved. The squad will be competing this term in the Oxford Open, a competition against local fighters where we hope to keep up our record of doing well at local events. This coming year looks promising for the club, with a great committee and lots of capable fighters.

Hopefully we will be able to develop as a club and defeat Cambridge on their home soil! @oxfordunisport

KORFBALL The club is currently very strong, both in quality and quantity. After a successful recruitment drive we expanded to three teams, making us one of the largest clubs in Oxfordshire and the surrounding area. The first team repeated last year’s fourth-place finish in the top division of the local league.

The second and third teams, mainly made of new players, are developing well, with the second team winning eight out of their last nine games.

In addition, the club travelled to numerous tournaments across the UK and abroad.

Particularly impressive was an eighthplace finish against some tough European opposition at the Appels International Tournament. The club hopes to return to Belgium and Slovakia this summer, as well as competing across the UK in Abingdon, UEA, Nottingham beginners’ and Edinburgh International Tournaments.

Michaelmas Term culminated in a successful student Southerns tournament, in which we recorded a fourth-place finish, achieving our target of a top seeding for nationals. At nationals we built on this success, coming seventh in the country – our best finish since 2008. Particular congratulations should go to Daisy Marino who won the award for overall female Most Valuable Player.

The highlight of the season was of course the Varsity Match. The first team won an

exhilarating match 8–7, reclaiming the korfball Varsity cup for the first time in six years. The second team had an equally exciting encounter, although unfortunately suffered a narrow 6–5 loss.

Special thanks must go to our excellent, dedicated coach Martin, returning for his second season, who managed to rapidly develop beginners to the game as well as advancing the tactical and technical skill of the experienced players, which contributed to our most successful season in recent memory.

KRAV-TARDEMET After our first year of being an official Oxford University club we can look back on an exciting and enjoyable season. Our presence at Fresher’s Fair turned out to be an unexpected success, with over 200 people showing an interest and signing up for our mailing list. Thanks to our new University club status we were able to offer regular training sessions on Thursday and Saturday which increased our weekly training attendance.

Following our philosophy of teaching an easy-to-learn and effective self-defence system, we offered self-defence seminars at Mansfield and Balliol College with the latter being specifically aimed at women.

Both seminars were very well received by the participants and we intend to hold these seminars as a service for Colleges,

I 37

University students and staff on a regular basis.

Furthermore we organized a two-day seminar with sixth Dan Krav Maga Master Serge Cazalet, who taught advanced selfdefence techniques and offered grading opportunities. Being highly acknowledged by both club members and external participants, this kind of seminar will be repeated as soon as possible.

We are looking forward to expanding in both size and reputation next year and hope to welcome many new members on the way.

KUNG FU 2012–13 has been a transitional year for OUKFC. Our main Hung Gar teacher and President Edgar Pogna completed his studies at Oxford and accomplished the transition of the club to a new Hung Gar instructor, Marcus C Häggrot, and a new Committee.

Throughout the year the club has also tried to support a sustainable Wing Chun course, with the collaboration of professional instructor Mr Chuck Okwesa. Unfortunately due to the low turnout of students and the costs of Mr Okwesa’s teaching, the club decided to terminate the collaboration in the third week of Hillary Term.

OUKFC is currently considering a new offer of collaboration with Mr Kit Leung to reintroduce Wing Chun training, which remains very popular among our members and supporters.

We have been pleased to welcome several new members to the club at various points in the year. They have learned basic stances, transitions and first hand techniques. The more advanced members have also worked on and improved their basic techniques.

They have learned and developed various routines, notably Mui Fa Kuen and the ‘monkey king’ staff routine. Progress in this respect has been good. Some work on the application of the techniques from the sequences has also been done with the advanced students.

Besides teaching activities the club has not managed to sustain the intense Kung Fu Drama performance production of the previous years. Our usual partnership across Oxford and Cambridge did not take place this year due to the transition of teachers and governance that OUKFC has been undergoing. We are hoping to restore our engagements with the public during next year.

2012-2013 was a superb season for OULC, marked by strong performances from every one of our teams, all with the added benefit of generous new sponsorship from Neptune Investment Management.

LACROSSE The men’s Blues squad, with the support of coach Joe Lancour, had their most successful season in recent memory, romping home with a double Varsity win for the Blues and Iroquois. They also topped the Premier South League in BUCS, reached the semifinals of the BUCS Championship and earned promotion in their SEMLA league.

To top it off, they stormed to victory in the Minor Flags competition, beating Northampton in the final 10-6.

The women had an equally accomplished season, with the Blues’ Varsity triumph - the first since 2007 - being the icing on the cake. Under the coaching guidance of Raj & Ros Rout, they reached the semi-finals of the BUCS Championship and came second overall in the Premier South League. The Swifts narrowly lost their Varsity Match 7-4, a disappointment that was somewhat mitigated by a victory against the same Cambridge side just a couple of weeks later. They were also placed fourth in their league, Midlands 1A. The mixed team beat Cambridge 10-9 early in the season, but regrettably went on to lose the Varsity Match 5-9. They were, however, unbeaten in their league - their greatest victory coming from a spectacular 30-4 win against Surrey University. The season ended with the Imperial Cup in London, where the team came second overall, defeating, amongst others, Cambridge and Imperial College.

Going into next season, the bar has certainly been set high for OULC. Given the wealth of talent in the club, we are hopeful that 2013 2014 will to be another bumper year.’

LAWN TENNIS Another year and another solid performance form OULTC in the British University and College Leagues (BUCS).

Oxford fields a higher than average number of teams to the leagues. The women’s Firsts, Seconds and Thirds also compete in their respective divisions. All teams performed well overall. The men’s Blues maintained their premiership status, which was a commendable effort considering the increasing strength of the league.

Unfortunately the men’s Seconds were narrowly relegated but the men’s Thirds retained their position in their league.

OULTC suffered mixed results at the Varsity Matches this year. Both the women’s and men’s Thirds won theirs well but unfortunately the men’s second team suffered a defeat.

In the Blues match, held at Roehampton, the women’s Blues managed to overcome Cambridge after losses in previous years while the men went down again in a closely fought contest.

LIFESAVING Continuing last year’s bad luck with membership, we were unable to secure a stand at Fresher’s Fair at the beginning of the year, and one of our (already small) cohort was forced to leave due to illness.

Despite this, we have had a rather better year than last year – the arrangement we set up with Cambridge to allow us to enter joint teams to University leagues proved fruitful, and we were able to field competitors when we would have otherwise been unable to do so. The highlight of the year was a 3–1 victory in the Varsity Match, with Oxford winning the Rope Throw, Swim and Tow and Pool incident disciplines – our first Varsity win for a few years, and a good confidence boost for the club. We have a clear plan of our aims for the next year and have been using Facebook and Twitter to publicise the club, with the hope that membership numbers will soon be back up to healthier levels.

LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING – WOMEN 2012–13 has been another successful season for OUWLRC. The club has continued to grow, with the 2012–13 squad the largest in many years. Although hindered by unprecedented flooding throughout the winter, the squad was able to make excellent use of the Tideway stretch, Dorney Lake and January training camp in the build up to the Henley Boat Races.

Poor weather saw the Henley Boat Races moved from their traditional location to Dorney. In bitterly cold conditions the Blue Boat enjoyed a 4¾-length victory over Cambridge University Lightweights, with a time of 7 minutes 33 seconds. The crew were awarded Discretionary Full Blues.

This season OUWLRC was also able to field a second VIII crew, Tethys, who performed admirably in the Women’s Head of the River Race, finishing as the fourthfastest University second crew. Strong performances continued into the summer at BUCS and Henley Women’s Regatta, putting the club in an excellent position going into the 2013–14 season.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

38 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

MODERN PENTATHLON This has been a historic year for OUMPA, with a 17th consecutive Varsity Match win. making it the longest-running Varsity victory streak of any Oxford club in history.

The year started out with the Army Triangular Match between the Army, Oxford and Cambridge. The OUMPA men’s team won this convincingly with individual first place for Alex Fraser and third for Dan Fox. This was followed by the national championships. The Oxford men’s U21 team won, with Alex Fraser being placed seventh individually. In the women’s event Lucy Crane came sixth and the Oxford women’s team were placed second overall in a strong field which included the Beijing silver medallist Heather Fell. Oxford hosted this year’s novice Varsity, which was very well contested, with a win for the Oxford women but a narrow loss for the Oxford men.

Cuppers rounded off Michaelmas term with a victory for Pembroke.

Throughout the year there have been some very impressive individual performances.

Oxford fresher Tommy Lees has had an inspiring season, being ranked fourth in Great Britain after the national selection series. This meant he qualified to compete in his first senior international competition.

Tommy Lees and Alex Fraser also both

@oxfordunisport

won their respective age groups at the National Triathlon Championships held by Modern Pentathlon GB. Caspar Donnison has also had a successful tetrathlon season, qualifying for the national tetrathlon finals.

Hilary term started with a busy training camp followed by our Old Blues match, which was individually won by Tommy Lees. Oxford hosted the BUCS modern pentathlon again this year and the men’s team of Tommy Lees, Alex Fraser and Dan Fox won overall, with individual first and third placings for Tommy and Alex. After this the Blues teams were picked and we had another intensive training camp in preparation for Varsity.

The Varsity Match was held at Bradfield College on 5–6 April. The first day was very tense, with a zero point margin between the two men’s teams after the first two phases of competition. A special mention must be made to Kouji Urata, whose brilliant swimming coaching was impressively displayed in the pool with a complete set of PBs across the board. The second day of competition rounded off the Varsity Match with a loss for the Oxford women to a very strong Cambridge side but excitingly a convincing win for the Oxford men as they took their 17th consecutive victory.

MOTOR DRIVERS The 2012–13 season has been a difficult one; losing three of our top drivers last year was always going to be tough.

Our first event was our annual freshers’ karting race where we introduced new people to the motorsport scene here at Oxford. Interest in the event has been growing year on year, and this time was no different. We were very oversubscribed and many were immediately signed up as members and onto further novice karting events.

Our second event was University team trials, where we invited the best new drivers to trial for a place on one of the Oxford British Universities Karting Championship (BUKC) teams. Interest and talent were good this year, so we managed to qualify two teams into the championship. Although this is down from three last year, it is still a great achievement in the toughest BUKC field that the current President has ever seen! It has been greatly encouraging to see many new drivers eager to represent Oxford, and improving massively through amateur and BUKC events.

The BUKC itself took us all over the country.

It was a fantastic season, although with the most weather-affected rounds of any

I 39

that the captain can recall: the first round was rescheduled due to snow, the second relocated due to snow, and the fourth had snow showers throughout the day! Our B team had a difficult start but drivers quickly learned the setup and talents required to succeed at a race day, and brought home some strong results in the latter part of the season.

The annual Varsity race took place in April.

Through difficult and changeable conditions, the Oxford team fought valiantly. However, the vast experience of two of Cambridge’s drivers turned out to be invaluable as the rain began to fall, leaving them to take first and second on the track. With two of our top drivers having unfortunate spins when it really mattered, our fate was sealed as Cambridge took the victory this year.

Overall, the 2013 season’s results have not been as strong as we had hoped, but with few of our top drivers leaving this year, we hope to build on this year’s promising performances and deliver some great results and racing in 2013–14!

MOUNTAINEERING The club has had a bumper year with a huge number of new members joining, not only during the freshers’ period but throughout the year. Although a strain on the club, in the long run it is good news to have so many new and keen people to keep things going.

We have continued to put on six meets a term, usually two day trips and four weekend ones to a wide variety of destinations across England and Wales – Dartmoor, Cornwall, the Peak District, the Lakes, North Wales, Pembroke, Cheddar, Portland and the Wye Valley. These have been extremely well attended, with a few exceptions where the weather was particularly atrocious. The meets are the largest and most important activity of the club for the majority of our members.

The most notable change to the meets this year has been the introduction of a joint meet with the Caving Club. This was well received, with a very good turn out from both clubs. Hopefully this association will continue in the years to come.

Members have taken advantage of the climbing-specific first aid course we have run this year – indeed it proved so popular we have now done it twice! The rope-work courses organised by the club have also seen very good attendance. Good feedback has been received about both courses and although the rope-work was already a staple in the OUMC calendar we now hope to make

sure the tailored first aid courses remain a permanent yearly fixture.

The club has benefited a great deal from the supplementary grant which has allowed us to renew some of the ageing library and clubowned gear. This is a great help in allowing us to continue to be an active club.

No doubt next year will be just as fun and exciting as this one has been!

NETBALL The 2012–13 season has been successful for OUNC on many fronts. Having gained valuable experience from the various misfortunes encountered last year, the new Committee worked hard over the summer vacation to prepare the club for the coming season.

Although we began the summer having to say a sad farewell to coach Frances Granger, who left to coach netball in Botswana, we were delighted to welcome new coach Patricia Kilczynski. With experience coaching Team South, and voted 2010 Oxford Coach of the Year, Trish was a natural fit to OUNC. New members having been selected from trials in noughth week, the club began the hard work to prepare teams for our first fixtures.

Through the direction of Trish and Captain Sarah Godlee, both teams learned from initial teething problems and saw big improvements. The Blues continued to go from strength to strength as they developed more as a team, and the Roos’ hard work proved effective as their standard of play progressed rapidly. The Blues finished third in Midlands 1A BUCS league, but unfortunately the Roos finished sixth in Midlands 2A so will be relegated this year. However, the team has built some promising foundations with a very young squad this year and will undoubtedly reap the rewards from this next season.

Following the multitude of injuries encountered last year, the squad incorporated new strength and conditioning and injuryprevention exercises into training schemes, producing noticeable changes to the squad’s overall fitness. Additional support was brought in through different fitness challenges, guest coaching and friendly matches against local teams.

The season’s netball culminated in the annual Varsity Match, this year hosted by Cambridge. The preparation for the day had been successful for both teams, and time spent on team development meant the squad were confident about what they wanted to achieve. Fantastic performances on both sides meant that Oxford dominated, resulting

in a double win for OUNC for the first time in several years. The Blues increased their goal margin even further from last year, the end score being 53–35 – an incredible achievement, reflecting the hard work of all the players.

OCTOPUSH This year we have had two great results from the Octopush team: coming eighth out of sixteen in the student nationals held in Llandudno, Wales and second out of four at the Imperial Mini Tournament held in London. Club participation is also on the up, with many new members joining (often having never played Octopush before) and regular trips to the Octopush session in Caversham. We judge how well our club is doing not so much by tournament results as by the enthusiasm of the members about Octopush and the team spirit within the club. This year we saw our club really come together and play well as a team in everything we have done, despite our lack of intensive training and comparably low level of experience. We are quite a relaxed club so to see our members get excited about playing Octopush, especially at a competitive level, is really great and we would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved for such a great year of Octopush!

ORIENTEERING This year was a good year for OUOC, which included some standout performances at BUCS and Varsity. We also had several beginners join the club and it was great that they really enjoyed it and stuck with it, with LMH fresher Piotr Czaban even managing to be the decisive fourth counter in our winning Varsity men’s team.

One of the highlights of the year was two standout performances at BUCS, held near Sheffield. Peter Hodkinson (St Anne’s) won the men’s individual competition after 63 minutes of running through tough heather and navigating through tricky escarpments on Burbage moor in light snow. The next day, in a nail-biting finish, he brought home our men’s relay team to win by a few seconds, following good runs from Ben Stevens and Alan Cherry. Unfortunately we only managed fifth overall because we did not field a full women’s team and results are combined.

Our men’s team also did well at Varsity, which was held in Tankersley Woods – an old mining area full of small hills and depressions – again near Sheffield. We took the top three places in the men’s race and won by 9 minutes. Cambridge had a very www.sport.ox.ac.uk

40 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

strong women’s team who ran away with the women’s race, although the beginners in our team put in some good performances, and hopefully they can be more competitive next year.

the team event (beating Oxford II in the semi-final!) and Hannah Smith reaching the final of the individual event. The men’s first team achieved a respectable last-16 finish in the Championship.

The other major highlight of the year was victory for our men’s team of Ben Stevens, Jamie Parkinson and Peter Hodkinson at senior level in the British Relay Championships, which were held at Holmbury in the Surrey Hills area. Apparently OUOC have won it before, back in the 1970s!

For the first time ever, Oxford fielded two teams at the BUCS Snooker Championships.

The first team put in an excellent performance, winning all of their group games to top the group and then losing by the narrowest of margins in the quarter-final: 6–5 in a deciding frame to Queen’s University Belfast. Particular mention must go to Jonathan Leader Maynard for his sportsmanship throughout the tournament and for achieving a last16 place in the individual championship.

Captain Ben Charlston managed to go one round further, losing in the quarter-final of the individual championship. On the basis of these performances, Jonathan and Ben were both selected for the Emerging England Universities Snooker Team, and Ben competed in the BUCS Snooker Home Nations tournament in Dublin.

Our Cuppers event in University Parks was well attended – we had 36 competitors – with Wadham taking the victory by just 16 seconds over Exeter. We hope some of the newcomers will have been inspired to do more events in the future!

PISTOL Overall this has been a successful year for the club both on and off the range. We won numerous competitions, including the ORA County Pistol Championships in which OUPC had the top four shooters on aggregate, winning the team competition by a significant margin. The small-bore Varsity Match was this year held at Cambridge’s home range, and unfortunately went with home advantage for the tenth year in a row.

We have continued to maintain good links with our alumni by inviting them to our annual dinner, which this year was held at St. Hilda’s College. In addition, we have competed against our alumni in numerous matches over the course of the year, notably in the Past vs Present Match (won by the Past) and in our Vice-Presidents’ Match. We have had a number of donations over the course of this year, which have allowed us to purchase a new Centrefire Gallery Rifle (Rossi 1892) which will be put use in this summer’s full-bore Varsity Match.

POOL AND SNOOKER As in several previous years, OUPSC had a tough start to the season, with many of our experienced players having left Oxford.

Fortunately, however, there was good attendance at our pool taster sessions and plenty of new talent emerged, particularly fresher Gerald de Oliveira, and seasoned college player, Ben Green.

For the BUCS 8-ball Pool Championships the men fielded two teams, whilst the women took three teams to the newly formed Universities Pool Council Women’s 8-ball Pool Championships. The women had an excellent tournament, with Oxford I winning

@oxfordunisport

In the Varsity Matches, the women’s team continued their dominance over Cambridge, winning 44–10, with Shaina Yang, Hazel Shepherd, Hannah Smith and Anastassia Gorbunova each being awarded a Half Blue for their performance. The men fared less well, losing 52–38 to an experienced Cambridge side. However, the more youthful Oxford side promises to be a tough prospect in future years, with Paul Allen, Sam Eardley and Chris Speller making much improvement during this year.

POWERLIFTING OUPLC faced tough opposition at the Varsity competition. For the first time ever the top six lifters weight-adjusted scores counted towards the overall team result. The purpose of the change was to ensure that neither squad could rely too heavily on individual lifters. A positive change for the future but unfortunately, it was to Oxford’s detriment this year. Injuries in the squad, forced a relatively young team to compete. The depth and strength of Cambridge shone through to edge past and win with 2110 points to 2057.

2013 saw new club records set as Jamie van Reijendam (St John’s) put up a 235kg squat and 157.5kg bench press at a Cuppers meet in Trinity Term. Going forward, the club is looking forward to building a larger membership base over the season.

REAL TENNIS The highlights of our season are always the Varsity Matches, although we play many other

fixtures against other Real Tennis clubs and our members participate in club and national tournaments. Cambridge and Middlesex are the only other universities with their own Real Tennis courts, which limits the opportunities for inter-university events.

There is an ambitious plan to build up to four courts at Surrey University at Guildford, and with this and the fact that there are courts in other university cities like Bristol, London, Manchester and Newcastle, we hope a BUCs competition might develop in time.

This year’s Varsity campaign was extremely successful, once again, for OUTC. Oxford won both the men’s and women’s Blues (held at the MCC court at Lord’s) and the women’s second team events (played at the Cambridge court). The men’s Blues team overturned a 3–0 deficit to win 4–3 after a deciding doubles, which was an unprecedented turnaround, and a superb result against a stronger Cambridge side.

We currently have more active student players than at any time in the club’s history, we believe, and numbers are pretty evenly split between men and women. Real Tennis at Oxford is going from strength to strength but we continue to need a second court. We are lucky to have another court within reasonably close distance (the world’s newest court is at Radley College, about 7 miles outside Oxford), but this still does not match Cambridge’s two courts. There has been a court at Merton College, our current base, since 1595, but there were at least four other courts at various times in the city.

The court is open seven days a week, from 8.30am–10.30pm, and anyone interested in seeing this fascinating, tactical and technically challenging game will be welcome at any time. Check out www. realtennisTV.com or watch clips of Real Tennis pros in action on You Tube to see what you’ve been missing!

RUGBY FIVES The club has enjoyed a successful season.

Although our pride was somewhat damaged in the Varsity Match, the club nevertheless has much to take from the year. In large part, this can be summed up in one word: attitude.

The team have been applying themselves with a vigour and determination that has been lacking over the past few seasons.

With our Secretary being able to secure a fantastic sponsorship deal with Neptune, we were able to hire a coach for the first time in history, and from the outset the benefits obtained from this were highly visible. The club would like to thank Wayne Enstone for all his hard work.

I 41

Our improved attitude was not just limited to the court however. There was a big effort from all members of the squad to improve fitness and the club’s overall approach to Rugby Fives at Oxford. This resulted in several fitness sessions, with some being so arduous that one team member was forced to rush to the toilets halfway through one of these ‘sessions of pain’! As such, there was a noticeable improvement in the squad’s overall fitness on match days, and by the end of the season our number two could do at least three press-ups.

The emphasis on punctuality and attendance also had visible benefits, helping establish an atmosphere of dedication and commitment.

This was reflected in the club’s record number of entries for BUCS, where all squad members fought with grit and determination for every single point. Henry Jefferies should be particularly commended for his performance in the singles, producing an awe-inspiring display against Peter Hanton, drawing gasps of admiration from a fellow team mate when he produced particularly flamboyant shots.

To sum up therefore, although our Varsity Match ended in defeat, a lot of positives can be taken from the club’s performance. Each point was hotly contested, and the overall attitude each player had on court was exemplary.

RUGBY LEAGUE Having lost a number of experienced players from the 2011–12 season, the

annual Cheltenham pre-season camp at the start of September saw a set of new recruits put through their paces. The club managed to avoid its traditional tendency to start slowly, with strong performances from both the Blues and Maroons in their opening fixtures against Bath and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College respectively. As the injuries mounted, the Blues faced Oxford Brookes for the first of three meets, with a last-minute drop goal sealing a 27–26 win. The Blues also ground out tough wins against University of the West of England and Bath in return fixtures, whilst the Maroons managed a couple of wins against Gloucestershire Seconds and Bristol.

Spirits were high going into the Christmas break, with a mid-season training camp at Browns Club, Portugal in January marking a step up in intensity as Varsity grew ever closer. On return to the UK, neither side played a game until the start of February due to terrible weather conditions. The Blues overturned Brookes again, before reversing the result away at Exeter in Michaelmas, winning 40–20 at home. This left the Blues with a second-place finish in a highly competitive BUCS National South division, with six wins from nine matches.

The Maroons struggled with injuries, and after some strong performances they eventually found themselves knocked out of the BUCS Shield at the hands of a strong Salford side.

Again, Varsity commitments meant that the Blues could not continue in the BUCS trophy competition. This did, however, provide the Blues with the opportunity to test themselves against semi-pro opposition in the form of Gloucestershire All Golds and Hemel Stags. The men turned in two exceedingly strong and positive performances against extremely tough opposition. The experience that the side gained from these fixtures was evident when they once more beat Brookes, 16–4, in front of almost 1,000 fans at an intensely atmospheric Iffley Road.

One challenge remained for both Blues and Maroons: Varsity. The match’s new home at the Honourable Artillery Company did not faze the Dark Blues, who recorded a fourth consecutive victory, running out 32–4 winners in conditions that did not suit their game plan. The Maroons also demolished Cambridge Seconds 52–0, a result which underlined the strength in depth that the club has enjoyed in recent years, and bodes very well as the club looks to extend its Varsity winning run in 2014.

RUGBY UNION – MEN The club enjoyed an incredibly successful season overall, winning four out of the five men’s Varsity Matches, the only blip being the loss of the Whippets (U21 Second XV).

The Varsity Match at Twickenham was once again a very exciting show piece for the www.sport.ox.ac.uk

42 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Blues. Despite having inspirational Captain John Carter replaced with a knee injury after 20 minutes, the Blues produced their best rugby of the term and won by 26 points to 19, turning around a 13-point deficit 5 minutes into the second half! Every player contributed to what was ultimately a very dominant second-half performance, which saw Oxford score three tries in a 15-minute purple patch, inspired by Sky Sports Man of the Match Sam Egerton, who moved from full back to scrum half to turn the game on its head.

The Greyhounds enjoyed a mixed season in terms of results, but come Varsity they once again produced the goods to secure their tenth consecutive victory, 36–0, in Cambridge! They went on to reach the Oxfordshire knock-out Cup Final for the first time since 1979; ultimately Chinnor proved too strong on the day, despite the final being on home turf at Iffley Road.

The U21s enjoyed a strong season. Under the guidance of former Blues Head Coach Lynn Evans, they continued to play the expansive style of rugby he introduced two years ago.

Taking this positive attitude into their Varsity Match at Twickenham they won comfortably 31–17, the highlight being replacement prop Dean Irvine intercepting on his own line and sprinting 95 metres to touch down under the posts just 11 seconds later! @oxfordunisport

The Whippets Varsity Match was tough, with Oxford losing two influential players to injury in the first ten minutes; this loss proved too great as Cambridge went on to dominate 28–0. The Colleges XV gained revenge for last year’s defeat with a narrow home win.

RUGBY UNION – WOMEN OUWRFC started the year with a lot of enthusiasm and a focus on club growth following a successful Freshers’ Fair.

During the first few weeks of Michaelmas, sessions with development coaches helped newcomers learn the basics of the game.

For the Blues the year started off rocky, but ended in a winning streak during Hilary resulting in a number four spot in the BUCS Southern Premiership.

The Head Coach and Assistant Coach continued their roles this year, organizing twice-weekly practices. Regular sessions with a fitness coach were also held every Friday of term and gym sessions were available at weekends during Michaelmas. A team physiotherapist was brought on to hold weekly clinics and attend home matches.

The club is also very grateful to sponsors Neptune Investment Management for their contribution to the team in helping supply kit and prepare for both BUCS and Varsity Matches.

The mid-season tour was held in Guernsey and was attended by 20 women. This was a good opportunity to kick off Varsity preparation and get some training, which proved particularly important this year as bad weather made it impossible to train outdoors for most of January and some of February. Though the club made the best of the situation it has become apparent that finding alternative pitch space for training must be a priority in the coming year.

Varsity was held at Grange Road in Cambridge on 2 March. For the first time since 2004 OUWRFC came home with a double win, taking the Panthers match 29–5 and Blues 15–5.

Following the success of this year’s regular season, and in anticipation of an eventual move of the Women’s Varsity to Twickenham (to be played the same day as the Men’s Varsity in December), a few changes have been made. The OUWRFC AGM was held at the end of Hilary, rather than the beginning of Trinity, in order to give the incoming committee time to prepare a program for Trinity.

For the first time OUWRFC will enter a Sevens team into the BUCS tournament.

This team trains once a week in addition to strength training once a week and intermittent sessions of touch rugby.

I 43

SHORINJI KEMPO 2012–13 has been a good year for the Oxford University Shorinji Kempo Club.

Highlights included successful recruitment at Freshers’ Fair, member Steve Malton attaining the rank of third dan and strong club attendance at a number of national Shorinji Kempo seminars and gradings.

The club put on an especially good showing at the south coast training seminar in October, with more than ten members attending the one-day event and five of those taking gradings and passing on the day.

As well as gradings the seminar included classes by some of the highest ranking Shorinji Kempo teachers in the country, and provided a good opportunity for club members to meet and train with practitioners from other clubs. Seminars were also attended in January and March, the January seminar being in Peterborough and involving teaching from the head of the Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation, Ander Petterson.

The seminar in March saw long-term club member Steve Malton take and pass his third dan grading; all of the members of the club were pleased to see his dedication and hard training pay off. Of course all this occurred over the backdrop of solid regular training sessions at the Iffley road sports centre dojo under the expert gaze of sensei Chris and the resident black belts. We hope that 2013–14 will be as eventful and enjoyable.

SKI AND SNOWBOARD This year has been particularly prosperous for the Ski and Snowboard Club. We started with the annual indoor Cuppers event in the Milton Keynes snow dome, with good attendance from both Oxford and Cambridge

Ski and Snowboard societies. The next big event was the Varsity trip, this year seeing over 2,800 students from the two universities head out to Val Thorens. Oxford had a record number of skiers trialling for a spot in the Varsity races. Despite having better depth than Cambridge, Oxford unfortunately lost both the men’s and women’s Blues races.

We did however have the fastest woman and overall individual winner (Kirsty Dixon, Keble) and fastest man (Jamie Reid, Oriel).

The Varsity trip also saw the introduction of a team event for freestyle.

Off the slopes OUSSC organised the first ever Ski Club Alumni Dinner, which was a huge success and was attended by alumni who matriculated as early as 1956. The alumni dinner will now run either annually or every other year. The dinner also saw the return of a trophy that had been lost to the attic of a certain member for 28 years!

This year we have maintained our sponsorship deal with Excellian, a company that significantly helps us to support our members. Further deals have been arranged with Crevasse clothing and LazyPatch in order to supply gear for both the slopes and après-ski.

BUSC provided another opportunity for the club to shine, with individual results placing Jamie Reid (Oriel) third in the skier-x and fourth in the individual slalom and giant slalom. Alex Chajecki came ninth overall.

SQUASH OUSRC has had an extremely successful year. The club has grown in membership and the squads have seen some very good new talent join them, bringing some refreshing,

new, ferocious blood to training and matches.

Through hard work the club has also secured three new sponsorship deals that we hope to maintain in future years.

The annual Varsity Match, held on 16 February at the RAC London and sponsored

by Aberdeen Asset Management, did not go Oxford’s way this year, despite excellent play and some nail-bitingly close games.

Both the women’s and men’s Blues teams played extremely well-fought matches but unfortunately both lost, the women 0–5 and the men 3–2. Special mentions should go to Adele Tee and Madeleine Sava on the women’s side and David Phillips and Owen Riddall on the men’s. The second team’s Varsity Matches were held in Cambridge this year; without the support of the Oxford crowd both teams seemed to suffer. Although everyone played admirably, with determination and grit, both teams unfortunately lost, the men 1–4 and the women also 1–4.

All teams have experienced success in their BUCS matches. The women’s Blues maintained their strong fourth position in the BUCS Premier Division South, beating Surrey University in a superb victory. The men’s third team are in the Midlands 1A division, with a good chance of promotion to the top eight premier league.

The men’s Blues and second teams hold annual fixtures against the Jesters and Escorts squash clubs (societies with many members across the UK and worldwide, including many Oxbridge alumni). Oxford won both this year, in thrilling matches.

The men’s and women’s Blues teams have carried on their bi-termly trips to Millfield school to receive elite coaching from Jonah

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

44 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Barrington (six-time British Open champion between 1967 and 1973 and former Director of the national governing body, the Squash Rackets Association). At Millfield the squads underwent intensive, gruelling fitness and racquet skill training from the best in the world, not to mention some fun team bonding!

SULKIDO Training has continued to be engaging, enlightening and exciting under the proficient guidance of our lead instructor. The club has grown, with new members joining throughout the year. We do not participate in competition but we do have regular national gradings, and finish this year with four deputy instructors ready to take their first dan black belt assessment at the next national grading. This shows the level of skill that has developed in the club and stands us in good stead for next year and beyond. @oxfordunisport

SURF The club made a successful trip to Newquay.

We have held many socials, and tripled our numbers with a focused membership drive.

We have also appointed our first men’s and women’s Captains. The club is looking forward to increasing its membership again next year and holding more trips.

SWIMMING The 2012–13 season has been arguably the most successful year in OUSC’s history. A great intake of talented freshers joined the squad in early October, adding further depth to an already formidable squad. Justine Schluntz’ coaching has been second to none, building on her experience from last year and blending innovative skill-work with hard graft to tailor each swimmer’s training

towards their desired goals. Coupled with a sterling social side, this lead to another record-breaking year for the club.

Perhaps the most astonishing achievements were the scorelines at the Varsity Match, where Oxford’s men and women both triumphed with significant wins: the men 61–29, the women 56–34. This led to a total victory of 117–63, which not only broke the record for the greatest winning margin in the 121-year history of the event, set last year on home turf, but also is notably not far short of the maximum possible scoreline of 126–54. This result was made all the more sweet by being in Cambridge, where we lost painfully in the last race of the meet back in 2011.

Advancing on our Varsity success, we also managed to qualify for the BUCS team First Division final. Once again this event was

I 45

to keep themselves in the division they started in, ensuring competitive games for the team next year.

A first Oxford vs Brookes match was played in great spirit after Oxford Brookes TTC started up in September. We came through the victors, and we look forward to playing against an even stronger Brookes team next year!

We were unlucky to lose Town vs Gown, where there were many close matches which could have gone either way. Our strongest woman went to Cambridge this year, and so we were unable to continue our success in Varsity on that front. The men’s Firsts yet again went down without troubling the scorers – but with more hope than last year of clinching a match, with some sets being valiantly won! The men’s Seconds did exceptionally well to secure a 5–5 draw.

Where we really turned on the style was in the BUCS cup, where the men’s Firsts got through against teams significantly better on paper, all the way to the semi-finals.

Unfortunately Kent were significantly too strong for us, but our great cup run was excellent for the morale. We look forward to many new strong players next year who can continue and add to the club!

TAEKWON-DO This year has a good year for OUTKD, in which we have showcased our abilities to Oxford, won the Varsity Match in Cambridge for the sixth time consecutively and gained many new members in the process.

held outside our term time, making things difficult for international members and resulting in a few being unable to attend.

This was arguably the highest-standard BUCS team event ever, with Olympians and top international athletes rested and performing well. Despite this, we went on to beat last year’s sixth-place achievement by coming in fifth position, only two points behind Birmingham in fourth.

In addition to the BUCS team competition, we also performed well in the individual BUCS short course and long course events, achieving several national finals, and once again dominated the Bracknell open meet, bringing home 29 medals.

TABLE TENNIS OUTTC had an encouraging season this year.

Both the men’s and women’s teams managed

Freshers’ Fair was a big success, where we manned a stall for the three-day event wearing our club stash and showing off our doboks to the new students. We attracted a variety of new members with varying levels of experience, some of whom went on to compete against Cambridge later in the year.

In Michaelmas, we got the opportunity once again to put on a demonstration at the Korean society event, Soul of Seoul. We put on an energetic performance, which included patterns, sparring, and some impressive breaking technique, much to the delight of the crowd.

As Hilary term approached, we planned a series of extra training sessions between noughth and first week to get everybody back into the training mindset and prepare for the term ahead. We continued to train five times per week in the run-up to the Varsity competition, held in Cambridge on 17 February.

The men’s B team were up first and won their team sparring match by three matches to two, giving us our first point. The women then fought well against the Cambridge women’s team to win three matches out of five and gain us another two valuable points, giving us a total of three out of five and ensuring our victory overall. The men’s A team were up last with a series of sustained and intense fights, with three Varsity novices in our ranks.

We unfortunately lost matches one, two and three but, as all hope seemed lost, we won the last two fights, losing by only one match overall. The final points total from the three team matches stood at Oxford 3, Cambridge 2, giving us our sixth consecutive Varsity victory.

TAI CHI Oxford University Taijiquan Association had a successful Freshers’ Fair in 2012, where 91 new members signed up. We also admitted new members throughout the year. We had a very international membership this year, with regulars from Britain, Hong Kong, Australia and Belgium, as well as a strong graduate student contingent.

We continued to be instructed by former British and International Heavyweight Pushing Hands Champion, Dave Baker. We are delighted to have such an experienced teacher.

We participated in the ‘China Night’ Live Friday event at the Ashmolean museum in April, teaching our hand form to members of the public.

The Oxford University Taijiquan Association continues to train alongside the public club, Oxford Wudang Taijiquan, which gives students the opportunity to train alongside veterans with years of experience. This includes practitioners who have represented the club in both form and martial competition, and fought professionally in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

We enjoyed an end-of-year drink together in The Library. We would like to congratulate our outgoing president, Gregory Chow, for having successfully learned all three forms we practise (hand form, sabre form and sword form).

TRAMPOLINE 2012–13 was a great year for the Trampoline Club, with fantastic results in all our competitions. At Bristol in November, Alistair Rice took first place for Advanced men and Richard Healicon took first place for Extreme men, as well as a second-place medal for the two-trick competition. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

46 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

Our BUCS campaign was also successful.

Despite not coming away with any medals, the entire team gave great performances at Sheffield. Notable results include Christine Hesketh taking fourth place at BUCS 5 women, Kennan Lee taking seventh place for BUCS 3 men and Roxanne Swerdlow taking twelfth place for BUCS 4 women.

The following weekend was our Varsity Match, in which we travelled up to Cambridge for a great day of competition.

The main match between the two A teams was closely fought, with high-level routines being shown. In the end, Oxford won the Varsity Match by 0.8 marks following some very high-difficulty routines from our team.

Unfortunately, despite excellent routines from our B and C teams, Cambridge took the Varsity cup by winning both the B and C teams. A great day of bouncing and we look forward to next year!

TRIATHLON Oxford University Triathlon Club has had an incredibly successful year, led by the first female President, Hannah Johnston.

Our membership numbers have doubled since last year and attendance at training sessions has been at a record high, so much so that we have had to create extra swim sessions and turbo sessions to cope with the increased demand. We had a record number of athletes compete in our Varsity Matches, with almost 50 athletes taking part in Varsity Triathlon at the end of May, many of them complete beginners to the sport just months before.

One of the biggest highlights of the year was the training camp to Portugal with our sponsors Tri Training Harder. In total, 22 Oxford athletes benefited from the coaching, sunshine and luxury of our week away. Here, we enjoyed open-water swimming sessions in the sea, cycling to the highest point in the Algarve and running on the famous crosscountry course in Vilamoura that hosted the European Cross-Country Championships just a few years previously. This week was highly beneficial to everyone who attended, with the results evident in BUCS and Varsity after the camp. This year, the club also purchased eight new turbo trainers, a new sound system and an underwater camera to help with training. Our men’s Captain, Oli Zeldin, organised bike-fit sessions to further help our athletes gain the most from their bikes.

Both our freshers’ aquathlon and Cuppers aquathlon were huge successes this year, with a record number of athletes (32) racing in the latter.

Sophia Saller at the World Junior Championships 2013 @oxfordunisport

I 47

ULTIMATE FRISBEE The club has seen some phenomenal growth this year. Aside from our achievements on pitch (eighth in the country at mixed outdoor nationals, winners of Division Two mixed indoor nationals), there have been significant developments off it.

The club has grown a lot more diverse this year, with our first women’s taster session, individual women’s training, logo and kits, and also the committee change to have a male and a female squad Captain of equal pegging, rather than one official squad Captain and a women’s rep as in years past (and a social secretary for each gender as well). The women have also developed a lot, from narrowly coming seventh at women’s indoor regionals in October, to leading Cambridge at indoor Varsity (Cambridge having come second at the previously mentioned tournament) and losing by only a single point.

Also worth mentioning is our second team, who won their Varsity (taking home a shiny new trophy, the first time the match for Seconds has had one at stake), and causing some big upsets elsewhere, finishing 16–23 outdoors and 18–32 indoors. They more than held their own against other seconds and even a few first teams from other Universities, which shows the depth in the squad.

The open Firsts have had a tough year, but nevertheless have kept fighting well. The loss of some big names hit us hard, but the fact that neutral surveys of other Captains kept showing us as a big name in the regions shows we have not faltered much. First place at a Loughborough invitation tournament (against Loughborough, Nottingham and Leicester) shows what we were capable of, but sadly injuries, GB call-ups clashing with tournaments, and, in one case, some mild hypothermia kept us from performing to our full ability on the Varsity day.

They narrowly lost their Varsity Match after an impressive fight against a very strong Cambridge team. The men’s first team, coming back this year to the first division, had a difficult time translating a highcalibre team into wins, but they were left with valuable experience for next season.

They also qualified for BUCS trophy where they lost against Aberdeen. At the end of the season the men’s first team lost a highly controversial Varsity Match.

The second teams, formed almost entirely of new members, were competing in what turned out to be a highly demanding Berkshire Volleyball League (BVA). Both second teams played against experienced and high-level teams and struggled throughout the season. Nevertheless, both second teams improved significantly toward the end of the season and gained valuable skills. The women’s second team lost their Varsity Match after a very close fight. The men’s second team won their Varsity Match decisively.

The Women’s National Volleyball League (NVL) team had an outstanding performance throughout the year, finishing in second position in the Southern second division, and went on to the play-offs against South Hants and South Birmingham where they lost. Next year WNVL will be competing in the Second Division North. The men’s NVL team will be returning next season after not competing this year.

WALKING 2013 saw the 50th anniversary of the Oxford University Walking Club. More than 90 old members returned to Oxford for an alumni weekend in February. The weekend included a lively pub meet, a (rather wet and muddy) local walk and an enjoyable evening meal at St Hugh’s College. It was fascinating to hear about what the club got up to in years past, and to meet its founder.

The Oxford University Volleyball Club had a strong 2012–13. A very successful Freshers’ Fair resulted in over 200 people signing up for try-outs. This made possible a great selection of new members and a record number of players in the club. All teams had the challenge of incorporating new members and learning how to work together in a very short period of time.

Otherwise the club has had another active and successful year, with several weekend trips every term and a local walk every weekend during term time. Despite saying goodbye to a number of longstanding members of the club this year, we have managed to maintain a good number of trip organisers, leaders and drivers. This is in part thanks to generous support from the Sports Federation and British Mountaineering Council, which enables us to train our leaders and drivers.

The women’s first team finished strongly in third place in BUCS 1A Midlands and qualified for the BUCS Championship, where they lost against King’s College.

We have continued to replace much of our worn-out equipment, investing in new sleeping bags, waterproofs and head torches.

The sleeping bags, especially, have been

VOLLEYBALL

welcomed by our members on cold nights in camping barns!

In a further effort to modernise the club, we now use internet banking. This has saved our Treasurer many hours of writing and paying in cheques, and is preferred by all our members. A Facebook page has also been set up for OUWC, which enables our members to post photos and organise walks.

All in all it has been a very enjoyable year.

WATER POLO OUWPC’s fortunes have been decidedly mixed this season. The men’s team began the season strongly: under the stern leadership of Captain Byron du Preez and Coach Edward Bond the team stormed to victory in all three of their BUCS group games, including a resounding win over Cambridge, thus qualifying in style for the semi-finals.

Feelings were optimistic, therefore, entering into the Varsity Match; however, a cruel twist of fate led to Oxford suffering a 10–11 defeat in the dying minutes, having led for the entire game until then. Whilst a narrow 7–8 loss to Durham in BUCS semis prevented the team from reaching the finals, the team can be proud of their efforts this year. Newcomer Rhushub Bidd particularly excelled, and finished in the top five scorers nationally in the U-Polo league.

The new season brought many new faces for Meg Braun’s women’s team, with many players trying out the sport for the first time. Despite this, the team quickly gelled and produced a memorable 11–6 win over Warwick that sealed a third-place group stage finish in BUCS. Varsity unfortunately did not go as planned, with the final score 4–18.

The team have greatly benefited from the experience of playing competitively and look to build on their newfound experience in the forthcoming season.

An important development this year has been the introduction of a second-team Varsity Match for the first time in decades.

The match was fiercely fought, but despite valiant performances from Oxford their unfamiliarity with Cambridge’s shallow end eventually undid them (5–10). All players benefited from this experience, and we hope that this becomes a regular Varsity fixture.

Cuppers was fiercely contested as ever, with 14 college teams, 1 department and 1 boat club (courtesy of Chris Fairweather) contesting the hallowed Cuppers trophy. The final in particular was a fierce affair, with Meg Braun’s St John’s/Keble team narrowly claiming silverware and glory.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

48 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

WINDSURFING The 2012–13 academic year has been another great one for Oxford windsurfers. With our usual mix of local windsurfing at Farmoor Reservoir, trips to student windsurfing events in the UK, and another successful Varsity trip to Egypt, new and old members alike have learned some wonderful new skills.

After a busy Fresher’s’ Fair, the year kicked off with a trip to the twelfth annual Aussie Kiss windsurf festival in Bude, Cornwall. A mix of beginner and advanced Oxford windsurfers travelled south for a windy weekend at Roadford Reservoir. Beginners took their first steps on a windsurf board, whilst advanced windsurfers enjoyed insightful clinics held by professionals.

Our annual Varsity trip was another successful event in our calendar. Around 20 eager students of all levels, from complete beginners to seasoned windsurfers, bridged the Oxford–Cambridge divide and travelled together to Dahab (Egypt), a small town on the Red Sea which is renowned for its incredible wind conditions. This intense training week was an excellent opportunity for Oxford windsurfers to dramatically improve their skills.

Finally, Oxford hosted the Windsurf Varsity Race in February and we took home the trophy. Despite very cold conditions, we organised a series of three races and our team of six windsurfers ranked first overall.

The Committee sees the continuation of a few of its key members from the past year, with the addition of a new President. Their principal aims are to expand the club, get members more involved, and continue to foster great relations with our sister club in Cambridge.

YACHTING – DINGHY SECTION It has been another successful year for the dinghy side of OUYC. The first six reached the final of the Mixed BUCS Team Racing Nationals for the third consecutive year, unfortunately losing to a very strong Bristol team. In addition to this we won the Oxford Invitational Trophy, a selective event for the top eight university teams in the country, as well as finishing second (and first university) at the Cam Cup. The men’s Varsity Match was, as usual, a tight affair but after two days of close racing we eventually lost 4–1.5.

The women’s team narrowly missed out on making the semi-finals at the Women’s BUSA Team Racing Nationals, finishing in fifth place overall. They had, however, saved their best for the end of season and beat the Cambridge team, who had won the nationals www.sport.ox.ac.uk

4–3, in a thoroughly entertaining Varsity Match that went right down to the finish line of the last race.

Thirteen teams entered Cuppers this year, with Pembroke lifting the trophy after beating Balliol in a tense final. Brasenose finished in third.

In recognition of their successes over the year, Phil Derry, Guy Stephens, and Ben Gratton were all selected for the biennial BUSA–ICSA sailing tour, which pits the very best American college sailors against their British university counterparts. This is the pinnacle of university sailing and so to have three members selected is testament to OUYC’s continuing strength on the circuit.

YACHTING – YACHT SECTION 2012–13 has been another successful year for OUYC with many members participating in our cruising trips, racing programmes and training courses, helping the club to grow.

Our Racing Team also gained Half-Blues after finishing seventh-best University Team in the country in the BUSA Student Yacht Nationals.

The summer months saw both experienced and novice members take part individually in a variety of events, inshore and offshore, including the J-Cup, J109 Nationals, Cowes

Week, and the JOG and RORC offshore series.

Life member Richard Palmer once again kindly invited members of the club to take part in the second JOG race to Cherbourg on his J109, Jangada Too. A crew of mixed ability was assembled, who finished in seventh place after a very enjoyable weekend.

Cruising trips have been organized all year round, with high attendance. OUYC offered a summer trip to Croatia for a week in September and the club saw 50 people participate in our annual Extravaganza cruising trip in October. All cruising trips are skippered by club skippers, but greatly rely on OUYC life members (i.e. Oxford yachting alumni). OUYC has been trying to tackle a shortage of club skippers by encouraging experienced sailors (mainly members of the Blues team) to take the OUYC-organized RYA yachtmaster theory courses and giving them limited skippering experience during cruising and racing trips. The cost of these courses is carried by the potential skippers on top of the cost for training and racing. Only with their help can the club be run to the current high standards of safety.

Several RYA shore-based training courses were run by professional RYA instructors, including the RYA Yachtmaster Shorebased Theory, a VHF Radio Course, and a First Aid at Sea course.

I 49

i found my new

chemistry seT under a car BoNnET As a chemist, I didn’t know much about engines. But after spending a day taking one apart and putting it back together, I really got to grips with how different components influence lubricant development.

Ruth Poultney, chemist, PAnGBouRne, uK

What will you discover?

At BP, we offer the most exciting and challenging global opportunities for high performing graduates in engineering, science, business and trading.

bp.com/ukgraduates/ruth facebook.com/bpcareers

50 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2013

IMPORTANT DATES 2013-14

For the latest details please go to www.sport.ox.ac.uk to see an up-to-date list of fixtures and results!

Cross Country Varsity Match

Fencing Varsity Match

Rugby Union Varsity Match

Table Tennis Varsity Match

Jitsu Varsity Match

Women’s Rugby Varsity Match

Lifesaving Varsity Match

Karate Varsity Match

BUCS Gatorade Nationals

Powerlifting Varsity Match

Real Tennis Varsity Matches

Taekwondo Varsity Match

Squash Varsity Match

Ultimate Frisbee Varsity Match

Varsity Games Weekends

BUCS Big Wednesday (Team Finals)

Basketball Varsity Match

Women’s and Lightweight Boat Races

Lacrosse Varsity Matches

The BNY Mellon Boat Race

Netball Varsity Match

Athletics 150th Anniversary Varsity Match

Swimming and Water Polo Varsity Matches

College Rowing

Saturday 7th December 2013, Wimbledon Common Thursday 12th December 2013, Twickenham Saturday 1st – Sunday 2nd February 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 15th February 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd February 2014, Sheffield Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd February 2014, Lords Cricket Ground Saturday 22nd February 2014, RAC Club London 1st & 2 and 8th & 9th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 1st March 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 1st March 2014, University Parks, Oxford Saturday 1st March 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 1st March 2014, Oxford University Sport

Korfball Varsity Match

Sunday 2nd March 2014, Oxford University Sport

Volleyball Varsity Match

Sunday 2nd March 2014, Oxford University Sport

Badminton Varsity Match

Saturday 8th March 2014, Oxford University Saturday 8th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Saturday 8th March 2014, Oxford University RFC, Iffley, Oxford Sunday 9th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Sunday 9th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Sunday 9th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Sunday 9th March 2014, Oxford University Sport Wednesday 26th March 2014, Surrey Sports Park Sunday 30th March 2014, Henley-on-Thames Sunday 6th April 2014, River Thames London Saturday 17th May 2014, Oxford University Sport Torpids Regatta Wednesday 5th – Saturday 8th March 2014 Summer Eights Wednesday 28th – Saturday 31st May 2013

Cricket Varsity Match, 1 Day

Friday 20th June 2014, Lord’s Cricket Ground

Friday 7th – Saturday 8th March 2014, Oxford University Sport

Boxing Varsity Match

Saturday 8th March 2014, Oxford University Sport www.sport.ox.ac.uk

COME AND SUPPORT OUR BLUES TO VARSITY VICTORY!