Sports Review 2011

OXFORD I 1

SPORTS REVIEW 2011

 OUR OLYMPIC HOPEFULS  BLUES AROUND THE WORLD  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ATALANTA’S  CLUB SEASON ROUND-UP  BUCS SEASON ROUND-UP  CUPPERS RESULTS

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2 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

A big thank you to all the contributors to the Review and to Vincent’s Club for their continuous support! www.sport.ox.ac.uk Caving – Spain (Picos de Europa, Asturias, Northern Spain)

FOLLOWING YET ANOTHER OUTSTANDING YEAR OF OXFORD SPORT, I AM PROUD TO BRING YOU THE ANNUAL REVIEW FOR 2011.

Firstly, I am delighted to announce that Oxford emerged victorious in the overall Varsity Match series, with 57 wins to Cambridge’s 42, and one draw (full results on page 24). We were also pleased to maintain our top ten position in the overall BUCS rankings – turn to page 46 to read some of the highlights of our 2011 BUCS campaign.

As 2011 draws to a close the Olympic year will soon be upon us; it seems only yesterday that the nation waited in excitement to hear the decision of the IOC on whether London’s bid would be successful. Seven years ago, I realised that I would be 22 when the Games came around – a prime age for an Olympian in many sports, including my own discipline of heptathlon. Whilst I never had Olympic aspirations myself (or, at least, not realistic ones!) I wondered whether any of my friends or contemporaries may earn the chance to compete. With six months to go, this possibility seems rather more real. On page 4 we caught up with four Oxonian athletes currently training hard in order to be selected to represent their country in London next year, whilst the profiles of many more of our hopefuls can be found on the Olympics tab on the University’s homepage (www.ox.ac.uk). Meanwhile, for those of us whose aspirations are geared more towards beating Cambridge, on page10 we explored the opportunities that some of our teams and clubs received to train and compete internationally in the past year, and found that the reach of the Dark Blues really does extend to the far corners of the globe!

CONTENTS 02

News in Brief

04 OUR OLYMPIC HOPEFULS

Catch up with four Oxonians with aspirations to compete at the London 2012 Olympics.

10 BLUES AROUND THE WORLD Read how our teams reached every corner of the globe on international trips and tours.

12 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ATALANTA’S!

The society for Elite Sportswomen celebrates its 20th Anniversary.

15 CLUB SEASON ROUND-UP

24 VARSITY RESULTS

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BUCS SEASON ROUND-UP CUPPERS RESULTS IMPORTANT DATES 2011/12

Next June, Iffley Road will play host to the New Zealand triathlon team for their pre-Games training camp, whilst the University is engaging in the cultural Olympiad by taking on an artist-inresidence for the year – 2012 Legacy Fellow, John Gerrard. With the 2012 Varsity Games fast approaching, the Olympic buzz will certainly be felt in Oxford over the coming months, and it is a privilege to be at the heart of Oxford sport during such an exciting year for sport in the UK. On that note, I’d like to wish all of our teams the very best for the 2012 season! Next year’s key dates can be found on the back cover. As always, our teams appreciate your support so please do come down to Iffley Road and cheer the Dark Blues to another set of Varsity victories!

Helen Hanstock Sports Federation President 2011-12

Funded by: Oxford University Sports Federation Oxford Thinking Campaign Vincent’s Club Atalanta’s Society Cover photo: Jack Marriott competing in the Rosenblatt Pool. Credit: DE Photo Editor: Helen Hanstock, Oxford University Sports Federation President 2011-12 Contributions: Kelly Weaver, Andy John, Eloise Waldon-Day, Linda Loder Design: Andrew Harvey www.harveygraphic.co.uk Printing: Lynx DPM Ltd www.lynxdpm.com

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NEWS IN BRIEF Matt Henderson

The ninth annual Oxford University Sports Awards were held at the Town Hall on 24 November 2011. Athletes from a wide range of Sports Federation clubs came together to celebrate the 2010-11 season in style with a cocktail and canapé reception, kindly supported by sponsors BP, Walters of Oxford, Elmer Cotton Sports and Canterbury of New Zealand. The Awards themselves were presented to our athletes by fellow Oxonian and four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE. The calibre of the nominations this year was impressive across all categories and provided a tough choice for the deciding panel, made up of the Sports Federation staff and Executive Committee.

The Sports Federation are proud to announce our four sport Scholars for 2011/12. Each athlete will receive a £500 bursary to assist with training and competition expenses, in addition to complementary membership to the PULSE gym, Powerlifting gym and Rosenblatt Pool.

Eliza Blackwell Scholar Sebastian Pancratz, Cycling Vincent’s Scholar Daniel Pascoe, Cricket BP Scholar Valentina Iotchkova, Taekwon-do BP Scholar Jake Shelley, Athletics & Cross Country

Congratulations to all of the nominees and Award winners!

Matt Henderson

Matt Henderson

Walters Sportsman of the Year Jack Marriott, Swimming BP Sportswoman of the Year Kathryn Twyman, Lightweight Rowing Elmer Cotton/Canterbury Team of the Year OUYC Dinghy First Team Club of the Year Cross Country Coach of the Year Raj Rout, Lacrosse BUCS Performance of the Year Cycling Atalanta’s Teammate of the Year Jen Ayers, Lacrosse Cuppers Championship Trophy New College

Tuesday 6 December saw the public launch of the brand-new, state-of-the-art Oxford Gait Laboratory. A joint venture between the University of Oxford and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, run3D is a new threedimensional biomechanics service for runners, that has been developed by former OUCCC/ OUTriC member and 2008 Oxford University Sportswoman of the Year Jessica Leitch. It uses the most advanced infrared technology and computational modelling to measure a runner’s biomechanics and to identify any abnormal patterns in the way that he or she runs. This information is invaluable for helping to prevent and assess running-related injuries. Since half of all runners become injured each year and this level of assessment is not available elsewhere in the UK, run3D will provide a unique resource for athletes at the University of Oxford in terms of injury treatment and prevention.

For further information visit www.noc.nhs.uk/run3D

Oxford University student and 2011/12 BP scholar Valentina Iotchkova recently won a Bronze medal at the 17th ITF Taekwon-do World Championships in the -57kg Power (Breaking) competition. Over 1000 competitors from 86 countries participated in the Championships, held in Pyongyang, DPRK, in September. In addition to the event itself, the trip provided the opportunity to see a part of DPR Korea, the home of Taekwon-do ITF, and pay respects to General Choi Hong Hi, the creator of Taekwon-do, by visiting his grave.

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Olympic News in Brief The University of Oxford’s Iffley Road sports complex is proud to announce that it will host the New Zealand Olympic Triathlon Team leading up to their competition in July 2012. The Iffley Road sports complex has been officially recognised as a Pre-Games Training Camp for London 2012. The Legacy Fellowship (www.ruskin-sch.ox.ac.uk/research/ detail/the_legacy_fellowship) – the very first artist fellowship to fuse art and sport – has been awarded to John Gerrard. Over the coming months John will work alongside Oxford’s student athletes and 2012 hopefuls to create a realistic simulated world, populated by virtual athletes whose movements derive from those of real athletes in the year building up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The University of Oxford is a proud official partner of the Tree of Light Project (www.thetreeoflight.org). Oxford’s South Park is one of four locations on the River Thames that will host community celebrations in June and July 2012. The project will culminate in a spectacular finale involving all sites whereby the trees will be lit

by LED light technology and powered by cyclists and rowers on specially adapted machines. In partnership with Gold Challenge (www.goldchallenge.org/ morecharities/oxforduniversitysport), the University is poised to create a charitable legacy that will last long beyond London 2012.

Through Gold Challenge participants can take on Olympic or Paralympic sports, either individually or in a team, to raise money for Oxford University Sport. Gold Challenge is the only Olympic and Paralympic charity challenge and is endorsed by the British Olympic Association, Sport England and Team GB. The Olympic Torch will arrive in Oxford (www.ox.ac.uk/subsite/ olympics/olympics/london_2012/torch_visit.html) on 9 July 2012.

In a relay across the UK, the Olympic flame is to be carried by eight thousand torchbearers on a seventy-day journey, starting on 19 May.

Oxford Today, the official magazine of the University of Oxford, has commissioned a video series to follow the Oxford Blues’ preparations for the 2012 Boat Race. From the trialling stage through to the race itself, the series of six videos will be published online on the Oxford Today website, and will discuss the commitment required, the difficulties of juggling academic rigours with a gruelling rowing schedule, the physical pain, and also the joy of being part of such a celebrated crew. For more information please visit www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk

The University of Oxford is delighted to have been selected

by Samsung as one of thirty UK institutions to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Torch relay. Samsung worked with the University to select two Oxford students and one Oxford staff member who have ‘gone the extra mile’ and will each carry the torch for a 300-metre stretch during its visit to Oxford. For further information on the University’s involvement with London 2012, to read profiles of current and past Oxford students training for the Games, or to find out how you can get involved in the Olympic legacy, please visit www.ox.ac.uk/subsite/olympics/olympics

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With the Olympics fast approaching, we caught up with four young Oxonians currently hard in training to achieve selection for the worldwide spectacle that will be London 2012.

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JACK MARRIOTT How did you first get involved with swimming?

I grew up in the tropics so spent a lot of time in the water at a young age. I did not start competing until at school in England, and started training properly while at University. Last year it suddenly came together when I won the 50m butterfly at the BUCS Long-Course Swimming Championships, then the National Championships two weeks later.

Can you explain the process you need to go through in order to be a contender for London 2012?

To achieve selection I will need to obtain first or second place at the London Olympic Team GB Trials in March 2012. There are two extremely quick 100m-butterfly swimmers on the GB squad at the moment so it is going to be very difficult to catch up with them. From my recent results over 50m, I know that my free-swimming speed is the fastest, but my endurance needs a lot of improvement.

What does your training regime involve?

The training regime is about thirty hours per week spread over ten sessions, including weights, pilates, land work, ballet, and obviously pool work. At the beginning of a training cycle we tend to cross-train a bit and do some other things like rock climbing and kick-boxing – when I went to Majorca with the squad in April we did lots of outdoor stuff like cycling and jogging and even just messing around on the beach playing frisbee or rounders.

Was it always a dream of yours to participate in the Olympics?

It has always been something that I have dreamed of but until recently it seemed just a fantasy. I have been extremely fortunate to have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train with the best, and now that it is a feasible target, I want it more than anything! Ideally I would have liked more than ten months to prepare but that’s all I’ve got so I’m just doing my best.

Do you have any Olympic heroes?

Dame Kelly Holmes is up there, not just because of her success at the Olympics but for what she has done since, inspiring others and encouraging the next generation to get involved with athletics.

Anything else you would like to say...

I’m really enjoying myself training at Loughborough, it is a tough but extremely rewarding lifestyle, but I do really miss Oxford and it’s tricky keeping in touch with my friends back there. The biggest sacrifice I’ve had to make is that I have to miss next year and graduating with the rest of my year group.

How do you find the challenge of combining sport and study?

At the moment I am swimming full-time on a year out from my studies at Oxford. This gives me the opportunity to not worry about fitting in time to study since I am focusing completely on the training.

College: Hertford Subject: Engineering Science Years of Study: 2008-13 Sport: Swimming Nationality: Great Britain

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

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CONSTANTINE LOULOUDIS How did you first get involved with rowing?

I first got in a boat when I was fourteen in my first year of secondary school. The choice was between rowing and cricket and, being a terrible cricketer, rowing was the natural choice. We would row from the school’s boathouse in Windsor to an island a few miles downstream where we could stuff ourselves with ice cream, chocolate and crisps before wheezing our way back. It was a sure-fire way to get me hooked!

Our school crew had a lot of success, and at the end of each season I would trial for the national team. I won gold at the Junior World Championships in the coxless four in 2009 and silver at the Under-23 World Championships a year later. Having arrived at Oxford, I rowed as part of the winning crew in the Boat Race, and went on to partner up with George Nash, a rival from the Cambridge Blue Boat. Together we won gold in the pairs at the Under-23 World Championships and accompanied the senior team to the World Rowing Championships as spares.

Can you explain the process you need to go through in order to be a contender for London 2012?

Following the Under-23 World Championships, George and I were both invited to train full-time with the senior national team and to trial for the Olympics over the coming months.

How do you find the challenge of combining sport and study?

Combining sport and work was a challenge before the Boat Race in March, but now that I’m taking a year out I can focus more fully on training. While the training load has gone up substantially since I left Oxford, the lifestyle is much less stressful. Devoting forty hours a week to training commitments while also having to set aside an equal amount of time for academic work proved quite a challenge in the build-up to the Boat Race.

Was it always a dream of yours to participate in the Olympics?

I first had thoughts of aiming for the Olympics when I watched Beijing 2008, but only in the last year has competing at London 2012 become a realistic probability. I have the pleasure of trialing for the most successful national rowing team in the world, although the flipside is that places will be scarce and hard-fought. At this stage I am happy to say that I am in the running, although the picture will not become fully clear until March of next year.

What does your training regime involve?

This year I’ve taken a year out of my course at Oxford to make way for full-time training, which involves training three times a day (typically two rowing sessions, one weights session) for at least six days a week at the training centre in Caversham, outside Reading. However, for the Olympic season, we spend over a quarter of our time abroad for training camp and competition. We were off to Seville within a week of having returned to training, already eager to escape the dull British autumn.

College: Trinity Subject: Classics Year of Study: 2010-14 Sport: Rowing Nationality: Great Britain

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MARI RABIE What does your training regime involve?

In heavy training weeks I will do between twenty-five and thirty hours a week. It involves six swim sessions, four or five riding sessions, between six and nine running sessions and two strength and conditioning sessions. This is mostly during non-term times though, as this amount of training and the recovery needed is not possible with all the academic commitments. During term-time I could only manage fifteen to twenty hours of training.

How do you find the challenge of combining sport and study?

It is really tough! It’s a fun challenge, but can be very hard most of the time. Elite-level sport has become a profession and requires total commitment from the athlete, which is not possible as a full-time student. When combining sport and study, you have to see the training as a break from studying and studying as a break from training.

Was it always a dream of yours to participate in the Olympics?

How did you first get involved with triathlon?

I have been competing in triathlon from the age of eight. My older sister was a really talented athlete and I didn’t like sitting on the sidelines!

Up until the age of sixteen I was a competitive distance-swimmer, but secretly loved running and becoming serious about triathlon was inevitable. Triathlon became my main focus from age eighteen and I was racing on the international circuit within a year, representing South Africa at the 2006 Commonwealth Games at age nineteen, and in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Can you explain the process you need to go through in order to be a contender for London 2012?

The South-African Olympic selection criterion is to obtain a world ranking of Top 10 (Top 20, by special consideration) by June 2012. Your world ranking is based on performance at World Series events in the two years prior to the Olympic Games. The South-African criterion is much stricter than the IOC’s; The IOC will allocate a slot (up to a maximum of three per country) for athletes ranked in the Top 55 in the world on June 2012.

To me there is something magical about the Olympics. I have been mesmerized by the Games since watching Barcelona 1992 at age five when South Africa was allowed to compete again. There is so much emotion (happy and sad) involved in the Olympics that spectators do not see. My Olympic experience in Beijing was one of contrasting moments. Juxtaposed with achieving a sporting pinnacle by becoming an Olympian, Beijing was the biggest disappointment of my then twentyone years. Being a mere Olympian was not my dream, representing my country to the best of my abilities was – a dream snatched from me due to technical problems with my bicycle. I will use the bitter memory of that as motivation to qualify and compete at another Games.

Do you have any Olympic heroes?

Lord Sebastian Coe, not only for his amazing athletic performances, but also for his involvement in the London 2012 Olympics now. And then Sir Roger Bannister – even though some may say he had a ‘failed’ 1952 Olympics, to me he was the ultimate scholar athlete and used his disappointment as motivation to break the four-minute mile.

What are the major challenges you face?

I have suffered serious injuries for most of the two-year qualification period, so time to improve my ranking is running out. Qualifying will thus be really tricky, but it is an Olympic year and anything can happen. I will prepare as best I can over the winter to have an impressive 2012 season.

Managing injuries has become a massive challenge for me and even if London doesn’t happen, Rio is definitely on the cards.

The World Series races are all over the world and include a lot of travelling which is quite costly, but also amazing as you get to race in interesting places. The South African Triathlon Federation covers some of the cost. My parents are a huge financial help thus far and all prize money is invested in travelling and training.

College: St Catherine’s Subject: MSc Applied Statistics Years of Study: 2010-11 Sport: Triathlon Nationality: South Africa

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

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William Sharman, 110m Hurdles

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ROSARA JOSEPH Can you explain the process you need to go through in order to be a contender for London 2012?

The selection process is based upon on performance at international events, particularly World Cup Series races and the World Championships, during 2011 and the first part of 2012. I need to show that I am the strongest New Zealand candidate for my event.

College: St John’s Subject: Law Years of Study: 2006-11 Sport: Mountain Biking (Cross-Country) Nationality: New Zealand

What is your current training regime?

My training regime varies depending upon what stage of the season I am in. But it normally involves many hours on my road or mountain bike!

I also do gym work, running, and yoga.

What kind of challenges have you faced along the way?

I’ve had lots of challenges the last couple of years! I’ve been combining full-time study with a full racing and training regime for the past five years. Although I love both study and cycling, it has been challenging to pursue both at the highest level at the same time. However, I finished my DPhil in May of this year, which has made it far easier to devote more time and energy to cycling.

Mark Legg-Compton

What lessons did you learn from Beijing 2008 and how has it helped you to prepare for London 2012?

I learnt that, although detailed planning and careful preparation are key to a successful Olympics campaign, you must also be flexible and relaxed enough to deal with unexpected changes. For example, I broke my ankle in late April 2008, which severely disrupted my planned build-up. At the Olympics, too, things changed: I crashed while practising the course, and was restricted to training on a wind-trainer for the days before my race, and then the race was postponed by one day, due to heavy rain. I dealt with these set-backs and changes by treating them as a challenge to be overcome, rather than an obstacle or impediment to success.

How did your time at Oxford benefit your sporting career?

To be frank, I think my athletic career would have been benefitted by me not being at Oxford! On the other hand, though, I think I would have become stale and bored had I been a full-time cyclist for the past five years – so maybe my time at Oxford has prolonged my athletic career and made me more appreciative of the opportunities it offers me.

What does it mean to you to have the Games in London?

Having lived in Oxford for nearly five years, the UK is my second home, so it will be very special. It is the closest to a ‘home Games’ that I will ever have the opportunity to compete at. I can’t wait!

What would you say to our current students who are hoping to qualify, and to our wider student audience about the benefit of getting involved in sport while they are here at Oxford?

Studying at Oxford and competing at a high level in sport is hard work, but it is also such an incredible opportunity. I say go for it! I would encourage all students to get involved in sport, whatever level it might be. Sport is a fantastic way to meet other people, it’s good for physical and mental health, and it is fun!

YOU CAN FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF JACK, CONSTANTINE, MARI AND ROSARA AS WELL AS MANY MORE OXONIAN OLYMPIC HOPEFULS IN THEIR BLOGS ON THE OXFORD OLYMPICS MICROSITE – WWW.OX.AC.UK/SUBSITE/ OLYMPICS/OLYMPICS

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

10 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

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Athletics – Portugal In April 2011 a group of thirty athletes travelled to Monte Gordo in the Portuguese Algarve for a ten-day warm-weather training camp. The trip happens annually and is a vital aspect of the Club’s preparations for the start of the season and for the Varsity Match in May. Monte Gordo is a worldclass training venue and the Club was excited to be sharing the track and neighbouring facilities with a whole host of international stars!

Caving - Formations in Snow Castle, Pozu del Xitu, Spain

Caving – Picos de Europa, Asturias, Spain 2011 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the first Oxford expedition to the Picos and the thirtieth anniversary of the exploration of Xitu. Despite the intervening thirty years, several leads close to the bottom of Xitu had remained unexplored. It seemed fitting that on this major anniversary Oxford University Caving Club returned to celebrate its long history in these mountains on an expedition with potential to greatly increase understanding of a fascinating area. It was a truly memorable trip.

Cricket – India In March 2011, Oxford University Cricket Club toured India for the first time since 1903. The tour was a great success, providing huge learning and bonding opportunities for the squad.

The team played matches in Mumbai and Delhi, and was hosted by the Rajasthan Royals for the Jaipur leg of the tour. Highlights included a victory over the prestigious Cricket Club of India in a very close contest, and a coaching session held for local children in Mumbai by the squad. The warm welcome received everywhere they went will live long in their memories.

Cricket India tour

Cricket

Women’s Ice Hockey – Finland During last year’s Christmas break, the Women’s Blues returned to the Sports Institute of Finland in Vierumäki for a week-long training camp. Almost the entire team participated in this training camp, with fifteen players and the team’s Coach kitting up for training sessions. The team practised on-ice twice a day as well as in off-ice training and theory. The team worked on basic skating and puck-handling skills, and worked toward game-situation drills. The week culminated in a friendly scrimmage with members of the Cambridge Women’s Ice Hockey Team, who arrived in Vierumäki toward the end of Oxford’s training week.

Olympic Wrestling – Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut USA The OUOWC Blues arrived at the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut, USA on 28 March 2011. The Team, composed of Andrew Yang Bilski of Christ Church and Matthew Baum of Balliol, was generously hosted by the Yale Wrestling Team during their stay. The tournament between Oxford and Yale was undertaken in a style of Olympic Wrestling known as Folk Style, which is a hybrid of Freestyle and Greco-Roman, and is what American Universities typically compete in. Four matches were conducted in total and despite being closely contested, the Yale Team ultimately prevailed. However, considering it was the first time OUOWC had competed using this new style, they did so with great spirit and sportsmanship.

Orienteering – Czech Republic In April 2011 the Orienteering Varsity Match took place in the Czech Republic, continuing the tradition of holding the match abroad once every three years. The terrain was very different from anything found in the UK, and proved both technically and physically challenging. This made for a great race – many athletes said it was a real eye-opener as to the importance of route choice. In the end the match was dominated by Oxford on the Men’s side, with Peter Hodkinson and the Oxford Men prevailing as the winners, whilst the Women’s side struggled for numbers and so was less fortunate. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

India to ur

Women’s Ice Hockey - Finland

Women’s

Finland

Ice Hockey

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Rugby – Moscow and Kazan, Russia OURFC’s pre-season tour to Russia was an excellent start to what proved to be a successful Blues campaign. The squad could not have asked for better hosts than the Russian Rugby Federation. Even with two matches to play and other days often beginning with team runs at sunrise, OURFC found there was more than enough spectacular sight-seeing to take the tourists’ minds off their aching limbs. Taking in visits to Space City (the Russian Space centre) as well as the Kremlin and Red Square, the squad was treated to a comprehensive introduction to Moscow as well as Kazan.

Swimming – Italy The Oxford University Swimming Club (OUSC) held its main training camp in Lignano, Northern Italy, between 4 and 10 January 2011, at the site of the 2005 European Youth Olympics. The intense training programme generated significant improvements amongst the whole squad. Despite their dedication to training while in Italy, the team ensured they also had time to explore the area and took one afternoon together to visit nearby Venice.

Tennis – Israel In April 2011 the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club Men’s and Women’s Blues team embarked on a joint trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. OULTC enjoyed training at the Israel National Tennis Centre, a trip to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and taking a dip in the Red Sea between matches.

Yacht – Sweden OUYC organised a Viking Summer Cruise from 21–28 August 2011, open to sailors of all levels of experience. The cruise left and returned to Marstrand, Sweden on a 50foot yacht that explored the west coast of Sweden. This trip provided an opportunity for members to gain a coastal skipper licence and accumulate a fair amount of miles as well as practising passage planning, night sailing, navigation and mooring.

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Among the other clubs who travelled to exotic places, Boxing held a training camp in Tenerife, whilst Hockey took a pre-season training tour to Barcelona. The annual Oxford & Cambridge Varsity Ski Trip saw 3000 students travel to the alpine resort of Val Thorens in December 2010, where the Varsity Match was held during the week. The Oxford University Underwater Exploration Group took trips to both Norway and Egypt during the year. As well as the Blues’ Cricket tour to India, the MCC Academy took a group of elite cricketers from both Oxford & Oxford Brookes Universities to Trinidad in March.

Finally, the Achilles club – the parent club for Oxford and Cambridge Athletics, hosted a joint team from Harvard and Yale in Oxford for a fortnight in the summer, culminating in a match against a combined Oxbridge side in Cambridge.

Harvard and Yale emerged victorious on a thunder-struck day in late June, but a great time was had by all, despite the weather!

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12 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

IN 2012 THE SOCIETY FOR ELITE SPORTSWOMEN CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY. ELOISE WALDON-DAY REFLECTS ON THE PROFILE OF WOMEN’S SPORT BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OXFORD.

Happy BirThday To ATalanTa’s!

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

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Coming from a background of international netball, one of the most misunderstood sports I have ever encountered, I was prepared for some of the challenges of running Atalanta’s, the Society for elite sportswomen in Oxford.

Being President now during Atalanta’s (and my own) twentieth anniversary necessarily gives me a lot of respect for the women who began and have maintained the Society over those twenty years. With a female OUSU President, a female President of the Oxford Union, a female Sports Federation President and more women involved in the various organisations which I have seen established in Oxford than men, it would seem that Oxford as a whole is no longer quite the male-dominated environment that it once was.

Sport, however, is a different arena and always has been. For once, any inequality here is not one of those funny Oxford traditions that has limped with us into the 21st century. Britain as a nation has very little coverage of or interest in women’s sport, particularly female team sports; an oddity in a society otherwise obsessed with sporting heroes. This British attitude is one which Australians or New Zealanders, who rightly worship their female Amazons, are baffled by when they come here.

But within Oxford, this is where Atalanta’s comes in.

By providing the opportunities and environment for women who share a passion for sport in Oxford to socialise, Atalanta’s gives even those sports with the smallest number of participants the chance to feel part of something across the university. The men had Vincent’s with its great history and prestige, and the female equivalent has had to resist falling in their shadow. It has often been difficult convincing sportswomen that having our own Society is worthwhile, especially considering that clubs tend to socialize individually or use the men’s clubhouse when necessary anyway.

Fortunately this has begun to change in the last few years, where the groundwork has been laid down for Atalanta’s to develop and to provide a platform for sportswomen in Oxford to feel a sense of unity. The current Vincent’s committee is extremely supportive of our goals, and the two societies are looking at ways to formalise the relationship between us for the first time so we can bring Oxford’s sportswomen and men closer together. We all face similar problems – and benefit from the same societal changes. As the demand for women in the workplace increases, ‘Oxford’, ‘women’ and ‘sport’ are three qualities which employers find extremely attractive. Combine the three, and Atalanta’s women are ‘perfect’, as described by our enthusiastic sponsors this year, Citi and Deutsche Bank!

Since its founding, Atalanta’s has developed a strong network of alumnae over the years, providing us now with a structure and society that extends beyond Oxford. Many of our alumni are now leaders in their chosen fields who maintain close contact with each other from all over the world. We aim to create a dialogue across Oxford on the position of women’s sport and of women as leaders in the world beyond university. To initiate this, 2011 sees the introduction of a once-termly ‘Women in Sport’ speaker series featuring women from all career paths, including those involved in the Olympic bid, female journalists, broadcasters, football directors, politicians and UK Sport directors. And in Hilary Term for the first time, Atalanta’s and the Women’s Blues Committee will co-host a cocktail evening at an exclusive venue in Oxford for all new female Blues to receive their Blues certificates following the 2012 Varsity Games. A Blue is a truly prestigious achievement, and the commitment required to deserve one should be rewarded!

MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE ARE CURRENTLY PLANNING OUR TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS NEXT SUMMER IN LONDON, TO WHICH ALL MEMBERS PAST AND PRESENT ARE INVITED. HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE JOINED BY OUR FOUNDING MEMBERS THEMSELVES AND ALL OXFORD’S FEMALE OLYMPIANS FROM THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, TO WHOM WE HAVE OFFERED HONORARY MEMBERSHIP.

Eloise Waldon-Day

I would therefore ask that if you were involved with Atalanta’s during your time at Oxford and wish to reconnect with the Society today, please don’t hesitate to get in contact! We would love to hear from you all.

Eloise Waldon-Day President 2011-12 president@atalantas.org www.atalantas.org

It is whilst planning events like these and experiencing the support which Atalanta’s is receiving from all sides that my committee and I have seen the potential of the Society this year, which is what we hope to begin to realize for our current members.

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CLUB REPORTS AIKIDO The Oxford University Aikido Club had a very successful 2010-11. More than two hundred people signed up to the mailing list at Freshers’ Fair, and record numbers of graduate students took advantage of practice sessions that continue through the vacations.

The Club practises five times a week, and instructor Peter Megann – one of the highest-ranking instructors in the UK – continues to provide top-class instruction for free. With two sessions dedicated to beginners, fast improvements in their skills and confidence enabled many to move on to the more advanced sessions. OU Aikido Club continues to train alongside the Oxford City Aikido Club, which comprises mainly advanced members and a number of Dan grades. Practising with members of a wide range of abilities gives everyone the opportunity to progress more quickly and provides real incentive to new members, as they can see what they are working towards.

Club members attended regular weekend courses through the British Aikido Federation (BAF). This gives members the chance to learn from Aikido practitioners from around the UK. Pub visits and trips to G&D’s were popular opportunities to get to know one another off the mat. With a completely new committee for 2011-12, the OU Aikido Club looks set for another exciting year of growth.

ALTERNATIVE ICE HOCKEY Oxford Alternative Pick-Up Ice Hockey – or ’Alts’ as it is known to those who take part – has had

another successful year, with excellent attendance at Friday sessions, and healthy finances.

Cuppers was an excellent night, with 50% more teams than last year. As per tradition, the competition and subsequent casual play extended well into the wee small hours – even more so than is usual for Alts! Many were still relative novices to the ice, but thanks to the confidence gathered in the Friday beginners’ sessions, some excellent performances were witnessed. The Oriel Lions emerged victorious, beating off stiff competition from Super Hockey Ice Team (the acronym was deliberate) and a powerful Bambi On Ice team, whilst the award for strength in depth must go to Keble for fielding three teams.

Unfortunately, due to passport issue at the airport, the Men’s Blues Captain was unable to make it to referee, but the Women’s Blues Captain kindly stepped up as an extremely competent and confident replacement, especially given that she had never seen the Alts’ unique style of play before! Mention must also go to other members of the Committee who offered their time to referee, and to the fantastic Alexander Merry who manned the box all night without setting skate to ice – a mammoth sacrifice!

Once again, Alts volunteers helped out with the yearly KEEN ice skating event. This event allows disabled people the chance to try something they rarely get a chance to do, and the presence of Alts skaters assisting the charity meant that it was hopefully something of a treat for the workers, as well as those benefiting from the charity’s help.

Overall ALTS continues to grow and develop as both a sport and a Club, and we look forward to a healthy 2012!

ARCHERY 2011 was another excellent year for OU Company of Archers, particularly in terms of recruitment. Membership continued to increase through a very successful novice coaching programme, led by David Timmins.

The Novice Team reached fifth place in the BUCS Indoor Championships and sixth in BUTTS, our regional league. Individual results in this category were also impressive; Tuan-Anh came fourteenth and Smit Raturi eighteenth in the Male Novice at BUCS, while Kirstie Smith ranked eighth in the ladies’ category.

The experienced team also ranked sixth in the BUTTS League, and sixth at BUCS Indoors, with David Timmins coming eighth and Matthew Langton fourteenth in the Individual Senior Event. Jackie Salzer ranked fourteenth in the Individual Senior Ladies’. The experienced archers also did extremely well in the British Universities Team Championships, reaching the quarter-final. An extraordinary result was reached by Annie White at BUCS Indoor, who won the Experienced Ladies’ Barebow.

The Novices’ successful season culminated in a win for them at Varsity, regaining the Silver Plate with a total score exceeding Cambridge’s by almost 400 points. The experienced team showed an excellent performance and shot one of the best scores in recent years, with three out of four archers shooting personal bests.

However, Cambridge also presented a very strong team, and retained the Rose Bowl for another year.

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The Club again enjoyed an Easter trip to the Student Festival of Sport on the Isle of Man, where sight-seeing, drinking and socialising with other universities mixed with participants having their first ever attempt at shooting the unusual ‘clout’ discipline of archery, where the target is horizontal on the floor, and much further away.

The Oxford leg of the BUTTS league was hosted successfully, as was our annual open indoor tournament during the Easter vacation. We also hosted the Oxfordshire County Indoor Championships in Michaelmas, providing a welcome chance for Club members to get to know non-student archers and for novices to get a wider sense of the sporting community.

The results were extremely close, with the team narrowly losing the first place to Oxford Archers by two golds.

We have continued to hold outreach have-a-gos at the Said Business school, offering a taste of this traditional English sport to international students on their shorter study programmes. We have also invested in the Club’s future with new, higher quality novice bows and arrows, replacing old equipment and increasing the number of bows available for use by new members.

ATHLETICS The 137th Varsity Athletics unfortunately resulted in a dominant home victory for Cambridge. OUAC were defeated in both the Blues and Seconds matches by a group of highly talented Light Blues, but there were nevertheless some outstanding Oxford performances.

In the Women’s Blues pole vault, former Captain Clara Blattler vaulted 3.50m to break the match record and earn herself the award for best field performance of the day. Clara also won the 400m hurdles, came second in the 100m hurdles, third in both the long and

triple jump and also performed admirably in the relay! Oxford was also successful in the 800m, where Rachel Deegan and Club President Catriona Witcombe took first and second respectively. Catriona equalled Clara by competing in six events on the day and displaying all-round athletic ability and infectious energy in each of them. There were two further wins in the Womens’ Blues match, for Hayley Munn (5000m) and Katie Braham (javelin). The Millipedes (Women’s Seconds) team was held together by able heptathletes Eloise Waldon-Day and Katie Holder, who each competed in more than seven events on the day!

In the Men’s Blues match Oxford were dominant in the middle- and long-distance track events, as befits the Club’s famous heritage. Chris McGurk looked supreme as he won the 1500m, ably backed up by talented fresher Tom Frith in second. Luke Caldwell took the win with a strong last lap in the 5000m; this was all the more impressive given that he had been third in a hard-run 800m earlier in the day. The Oxford sprinters and field eventers battled hard all day but were generally outclassed by their Cambridge counterparts.

One exception to this was fresher Laurent Stephenson, who won the javelin with a personal best throw of 52.34m.

Despite the disappointment of losing in the Varsity Match, OUAC has had an excellent year, developing a fantastic team spirit and excellent training squads which bode very well for the future. A strong intake of Freshers has added significantly to the Club, which had suffered in the previous three years from a lack of new athletes. Twenty-seven members travelled to Portugal in March for one of the most successful warm-weather training trips the Club has ever held – an excellent base of training was laid for the summer season.

With numerous top-ten positions in the BUCS Championships indoors and outdoors, as well as a haul of medals in the South of England Student Games and the Oxfordshire County Championships, OUAC has demonstrated that it can still perform at the highest level of university athletics. In the 2011-12 season, we are looking forward to competing in the Olympic Stadium at the BUCS Championships and to hosting Cambridge in our home Varsity Match.

AUSSIE RULES 2010-11 was a very successful year for OUARFC, both on and off the field. We enjoyed one of the busiest and most intense seasons in many years and it was rewarding to see the team camaraderie and the improvements made by a number of individuals. Last November, the Club was honoured to be shortlisted for the Elmer Cotton Sports Federation Club of the Year Award, for our recent efforts in expanding the Club and acquiring a permanent home at the Marston Sports Ground. The season culminated in a victory over Cambridge in the ninetieth Australian Rules Football Varsity Match.

The highlight of Michaelmas term was the Club’s first international trip. Travelling to Dublin in October, the Club took part in an International Rules tournament, played the Irish National Australian Rules side and watched the professional Australia vs Ireland International Rules match at Croke Park. While we were not successful in the tournament (International Rules uses an unfamiliar, round Gaelic ball) we just fell short in a highly skilled Aussie Rules contest with the Irish National side. Despite being up at half time, we were ultimately defeated by four goals, but were pleased to hold our own against the recent European Champions. For the effort, we were acknowledged by the Irish Captain at Croke Park in front of fifty thousand people.

Michaelmas also saw the beginning of a University Championships involving Oxford, Birmingham, Cambridge and Chichester. An outstanding series of matches culminated in a victory over Birmingham in early March, securing us as University Champions even before our Varsity Match with Cambridge. The

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success of the first University Championships has motivated us to recruit other universities to join, and perhaps to host a day tournament in Oxford in 2011-12.

The season ended with the Varsity Match in Cambridge at the end of Hilary Term. It was a very close match to start with, then Oxford stepped up a gear in the third quarter and were able to comfortably retain the trophy, with the final scores being Oxford 17.16 (118) to Cambridge 9.12 (66). Both teams fielded their best side in years and a high level of skill was on display in front of a large and vocal crowd. In its ninetieth year, the match received a lot of press both in the UK and in Australia: BBC Radio Oxford aired a live interview on the morning of the match, a ten-minute piece was aired on the ABC national television station in Australia, and several articles appeared in Australian national newspapers.

BADMINTON This year was a fantastic one for the Badminton Club; we were very successful in competition and we also managed to increase participation across the University.

Both the Men’s and Women’s Teams won their Varsity matches 11-4 and 8-7 respectively against strong Cambridge opposition; this was a great result, particularly for the Women’s Team, which had not won for seven years. The

Men’s Blues Team finished second in the BUCS Premier Division, their highest ever result in the competition, while the Women’s Blues Team maintained their position in Division One. The teams are made up of superb individual players and competition for places is high.

Club Night allows anyone in the University to come along and enjoy badminton. It is specifically targeted at people whose colleges do not have weekly practice sessions, but also caters for people who cannot make their college practice or people who just want to play more than once a week. There is a session twice a week and this year every session had more people than court space. Most sessions attract between twenty-five and forty people and there are probably about one hundred and fifty people who attend these sessions throughout the year, an increase from last year. Badminton organized by colleges seems to be going from strength to strength; we have had reports of new weekly college sessions starting up.

League and Cuppers saw huge participation and fierce competition. For the first time colleges were competing for trophies. More than twenty-five colleges have entered sixty teams into the competitions, which sees at least one hundred and twenty people in action throughout the season.

Overall the Club is in a very strong position going forward, and badminton continues to be one of the most popular sports in the University.

BASEBALL 2010-11 was a transitional year for Oxford University Baseball Club but successful nevertheless. After the Oxford Kings won the British Baseball Federation’s AAA division, the University Team started the British University Baseball Association (BUBA) season with a split in a double-header verses Southampton.

Splits were the theme of the season, with a tie vs KCL in the second match leaving Oxford with a record above .500 (4-3-1). This left us a respectable second in the South Conference and the distinction of being the only team to defeat the eventual winners, ICL.

BASKETBALL This year has been an incredibly successful year for Oxford University Basketball Club, seeing significant successes on the court, an increase in participation at the college level, and new links being formed with basketball in the local area.

The Club was once again represented in the BUCS premier leagues by both the Men’s and Women’s Blues teams. This season, which saw the Men’s Blues finishing top and the Women’s Blues finishing fourth in their respective Premier South divisions, both teams have benefitted from the experience of two qualified coaches and from the ongoing dedication of players to both training and fitness sessions. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

18 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

The success of the beginning of the season was consolidated, with both teams qualifying for the final 8s tournament in Sheffield – the culmination of the BUCS championship – which saw the Men’s Blues making it to the semi-finals where they unfortunately suffered a narrow defeat (101-95) to Worcester, the eventual winners.

On an individual level, a special mention should go to Lindsay Whorton, who this year played in the English Universities Team.

Lindsay also played a vital role in the success of the Women’s Blues Team, both through her contributions on the court and as a result of the large part she played in coaching the team, passing on her incredible knowledge of the game to create a team of smarter, stronger and better players.

The Varsity Games, hosted by Cambridge, again proved a victory for Oxford’s Dark Blues. Both the Men’s and Women’s Blues teams breezed their way to significant victories with the Men winning by forty points and the Women scoring 73 to Cambridge’s 42, as would appear to be becoming a tradition!

This year was the first year in which the Women’s Seconds Team was included in the Varsity day’s competitions, cementing the place of this relatively new team within the structure of the Club. The season has also seen the continual participation of both the Men’s and Women’s Seconds teams in the BUCS leagues. On the Women’s side of the Club, the relationship between the Blues and Twos teams has been augmented with the entry of a

joint team into the Oxfordshire Local League, providing further game opportunities beneficial to both teams and strengthening the Club’s presence in the local area.

The Basketball College League has seen another year with a high level of participation, with a total of sixteen colleges. The League saw Teddy Hall/New beating Catz/Balliol by 34-27 to become the 2011 League Champions. This sets an exciting stage for this year’s Cuppers competition, to be played out by seventeen teams during Trinity Term.

BOXING OUABC’s 2010-11 season culminated in successfully regaining The Truelove Bowl from Cambridge after a two-year absence, in a memorable night at The Troxy in East London.

Michaelmas term laid the foundations of what was to become a successful season, with a structured training programme coordinated by Captain Josh Fields that established a core of committed and talented boxers with varying levels of experience. A strong team spirit quickly took hold due in large measures to the intensity of the training, but also to a genuine friendship amongst the squad, which carried the group through the challenging sessions. A number of boxers were entered into the Oxford Boxing Academy show at the Kassam stadium just before Christmas, which proved a popular and well attended event and provided a great experience for those hoping to go forward and represent the University in this season’s Varsity Match. Over the Christmas holiday a training

camp in Tenerife was organized, which proved a challenging but valuable experience in terms of improving both fitness and skill levels, and also gave new training ideas. The annual Town vs Gown fixture held at the Oxford Union in February proved an enormously successful event. A packed debating chamber witnessed the first overall Gown victory for years (5-4) with some memorable fights including Ollie Harriman winning despite breaking his thumb in the opening round, and a narrow but courageous loss for Alec Ward in his first bout against a very tough opponent. This set the squad up well in the countdown to the Varsity Match and proved a real depth to the team, with competition for selection in many weight categories being extremely tough. After the announcement of the Team the week before, the Varsity Match was approached with a quiet confidence. Despite going 2-0 down with the first two bouts, Ollie Harriman reversed the Team’s fortunes with a breathtaking first-round knockout, and Cambridge were only able to win one more of the remaining fights. The final two bouts were both won by first-round stoppage of the Cambridge boxer, and meant a final score of 6-3 to Oxford in what was a very dominant display of boxing. Late replacement to the team Andy Ormerod-Cloke won best boxer of the night with a stunning victory in only his first bout, coming back from an early knockdown by an opponent with much more experience.

Whilst OUABC could justifiably claim a successful 2010-11 season based on its Varsity Match performance, it can also claim to have built a solid team spirit throughout the squad –

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ably led by Captain Josh Fields - which lays a firm foundation for the success of next year’s team.

BOAT CLUB As with many boat race campaigns, OUBC’s efforts to win in 2011 did not get off to the smoothest of starts. A last-minute change of leadership due to injury left the relatively inexperienced squad with a somewhat unprepared President, who was only elected the day before training began. With Cambridge’s team list boasting four returning Blues from their victorious 2010 crew, we were firmly labelled as underdogs from the very beginning. With the very real possibility of losing in March, the young and enthusiastic squad threw itself into the arduous training regime from the start.

Often sports teams can be caught in the vacuum of not competing through the winter, and not measuring progress enough. The short boat race season does not allow for this, however, and the squad is constantly benchmarked, with ergometer and physiology testing on a regular basis. What really matters though is racking up against Cambridge, which there is only one opportunity to do before the race itself: the fours Head of The River.

This proved a vital confidence boost for the Team, with the top four beating Cambridge’s best by three seconds, and OUBC picking up two pennants for overall performance.

Although not a landslide victory, it made it clear that the speculation on the towpath was meaningless and we were the masters of our own performance.

The end of term sadly does not signal a let-

up in training for a boat race oarsman. On the contrary, the Christmas period is a busy time for OUBC, with the trial eights race in December and the winter training camp in early January. The trial eights is one of the only chances to tackle the whole championship course in preparation for the Boat Race. We saw our training triumph in a close battle that demonstrated not only our determination but also the depth of talent within the squad.

After a brief break for Christmas, we headed to Temple-sur-Lot in France for a week without the distractions of Oxford life, and generally much milder weather!

Hilary term is always the most demanding part of preparing for the Boat Race, with training increasing in intensity. With the crews provisionally selected, we set out to race a number of fixtures in preparation, against

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Molesey, Leander, and Queen’s University Belfast, winners of the 2010 BUCS regatta.

Although we had some tough races, we were able to defeat all our opponents in the build-up to the Boat Race – a vital confidence boost when we had suffered from various setbacks throughout the season.

In some ways, the Boat Race itself was straightforward, given what we had prepared ourselves for. Having studied the 2003 race which was famously won by only 1 foot, the 2011 Blue Boat modelled its approach upon having to race side by side the whole way down the course. In reality though, we were clearly primed to take full advantage of the situation and win the race early, vindicating our critics, along with the bookies’ predictions!

OUBC’s extremely successful year could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of its coaching team – Sean Bowden and Andy Nelder – along with the vital support of Pat Lockley and Barbara Wilson, without whom the rowers would be lost.

BUJINKAN NINJUTSU The Bujinkan club, now entering its fourth year at Oxford, practises the non-competitive Japanese martial art of Ninjutsu. Over the past year, we have continued to run at least four hours per week of mixed-ability classes, and welcomed several newcomers – some with no previous martial arts experience. Members have travelled across the UK to meet other clubs and to enjoy being part of the wider Bujinkan community. We will be continuing to train throughout the summer, while looking forward to an equally exciting new year, and new members!

CANOE AND KAYAK Michaelmas Term’s ‘come and try it’ sessions were popular as always, the freshers’ trip being a great success. Further river training in Oxford went very well, with confidence levels increasing before a weekend white-water trip to North Wales, which was enjoyed by all, despite high water levels making conditions challenging.

The BUCS White Water Race was a resounding success this year, with both Men’s and Women’s teams coming home having beaten Cambridge. The Men’s Team placed sixteenth overall, picking up points for the BUCS championships.

Two one-day outings to North Wales in Hilary Term were extremely popular, the minibus being full on both occasions. Despite low water levels both trips were a success. An additional weekend trip to Dartmoor was enjoyed by a

smaller group, despite very high water creating a difficult day for some.

Easter saw the annual BUCS polo competition, with the Men’s Team delivering a solid performance to finish in eighth place. The Women’s Team won best newcomers, returning home with new a set of polo buoyancy aids. A few more experienced Club members also went to Corsica for the second year running, coming back with some fantastic experiences and very big smiles on their faces.

CAVE It was an eventful year for OUCC, starting – as ever – with attempts to meet the enthusiasm of a new batch of freshers with a great weekend away in Wales. Leading trips down some of the country’s most famous potholes, the marmite-esque nature of caving became clear: our fledgling members were split into those who loved the adventure and those less keen on the cold and the dark...

With the Club rejuvenated by newly hooked young ‘uns, we launched into a busy year of caving trips throughout the UK, from the Mendips to the Yorkshire Dales. Whilst the weekends away involve much sport caving (and plenty of beer), the focus throughout Hilary and Trinity was on training for the Club’s annual expedition to the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain.

This year’s expedition aimed to further the exploration of a cave first visited by the Club in the early 1980s, Pozu del Xitu. The entrance, high in the Picos mountains, was connected with a resurgence 1.4km lower by a team of divers last summer. This year we explored a number of leads which could connect Xitu with neighbouring systems, and supported an attempt to complete one of the world’s deepest through-trips, with a cave diver entering the dry Xitu entrance and caving/swimming out to the resurgence.

CHEERLEADING It is a constant source of surprise to others that as a club we are not all about pompoms and short skirts! Cheerleading as a sport is tremendously popular, and respected, in the USA, and is beginning to get the UK recognition it deserves. Cheerleading is now officially the UK’s fastest growing sport – and the Sirens are adapting to move with the times.

This year, we entered the International Cheerleading Coalition National Championships and despite our previous success in this competition – we were National Champions in 2009 – this time we met with less triumph.

Believe it or not, this is a really good thing: it

shows that the level of the sport is skyrocketing, and there has never been a more exciting time to be a University cheerleader. The Sirens have had their share of successes too: first place at the Future Cheer University Championships in Loughborough 2011 and first place and Grand Champions at BCA Bristol 2010; our trophy cabinet is looking good.

This year has seen recruitment of freshers, gymnasts, and even some visiting Americans to add a touch of authentic preppiness to the squad.

Most excitingly, boys now make up around 15% of our squad, and we’re constantly looking for more. With a male (and extremely dashing) VicePresident this season, it’s about time the boys got their own uniform to match the girls’, so you can look forward to seeing the newly kitted-out Sirens at a venue near you soon.

CRICKET – MEN With a much younger and fresher look to the Blues side in 2011, the Team got off to a good start with strong performances in the traditional matches against Oxford Cricket Club and the Duke of Norfolk’s XI. Notable achievements in these fixtures were Paul Higham’s 4 wickets against Oxford and Tom Chadwick’s 130 not out.

The Blues’ BUCS campaign also got off to an excellent start with five wins out of five in the round-robin matches, ensuring Oxford topped the group heading in to the knockout stages. As matches started to clash with the undergraduate exam period, an under-strength Blues side were unfortunately unable to overcome their nemesis from the previous year, falling to UWIC at the semi-final stage for the second year running.

A new fixture in the Blues season this year was a match against an Australian Universities side, comprised of Australian students playing as overseas professionals at clubs in the UK. In a slightly rain-affected match Oxford batted first, scoring 312-8 declared with Williams (113), Sharma (108). In reply, the Australian Universities XI reached 270-9, the match ending in a tight draw. With the backing of Cricket Australia, the match was played in good spirit and it is envisaged that it will grow into an annual ‘Ashes’ fixture at the Parks.

The first Varsity Match of the season, the Twenty20 fixture against Cambridge, was played in Cambridge and threatened to be disrupted by heavy rain in the week leading up to the event.

Having been sent in to bat on a rather freshlooking pitch, the Oxford side got off to a good start through some fine positive batting from Sam Agarwal. Unfortunately, as wickets started to fall, the Oxford innings seemed to lose its way, never really being able to regain any momentum, eventually struggling its way through to 107 all out. What seemed to be a well-below-par score turned out to be somewhat of a challenge for Cambridge. Tight bowling and excellent fielding

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translated into wickets falling at regular intervals and the run rate being kept in check for most of the innings. Alex Scott produced a shining performance, taking two important wickets at a crucial time. However, a steady ninth-wicket partnership enabled Cambridge to pass the Oxford score in the penultimate over of the match.

With everything to play for in the Lord’s One-Day match, the Oxford skipper once again lost the toss and was asked to bowl on a glorious sunny day at the home of cricket. Some tight bowling from the openers – Sharma and Higham, followed by Agarwal and Pascoe – meant the Cambridge run rate never really peaked at above 4 r.p.o for the first 30 overs. However a well-executed decision to take the power play propelled the Cambridge innings and a competitive but achievable score of 264 was made by Cambridge. In reply, the Oxford innings did not get off to a good start, losing a wicket in the first over. Similarly to the Twenty20 match, the Oxford innings was not able to gain any momentum and with wickets falling and the run rate always climbing, the Dark Blues were always behind the eight ball. Some fighting knocks from Ben Williams (49) and Dan Pascoe (58) provided some hope but ultimately the task was too great with the team being bowled out for 212 in the 49th over.

The last home match of the season in the Parks was played against the MCC, which turned out to be one of the most exciting matches of the season, going right down to the final ball on the third day. With the MCC winning the toss and batting on the first day, the visitors reached 306 for 6 before declaring and leaving Oxford a thirty-minute period to negotiate before the end of the day’s play. Despite losing a wicket the previous evening, the Oxford reply was steady and positive, reaching 280 for 7 by tea on the second day, Ben Jeffery shining with 108 off 183 balls. The Oxford innings declared at tea, with the prospect of setting up an exciting final day’s play. Accordingly, the MCC declared their second innings on 255-6 leaving the Oxford team to score 282 runs in two sessions for the victory.

Despite being reduced to 103-5, a 133-run partnership between Sharma and Pascoe enabled the Oxford innings to regain some shape and push for the victory. With Sharma falling for 78, it was Pascoe and Scott who brought the team home, scoring two runs off the last ball of the match to secure the win – Pascoe finishing on 91 and Scott a very valuable 12 not out. It was a fitting way to end the season at the Parks, played under glorious June sunshine.

The climax of the season was the Four-Day Varsity Match against Cambridge, again played in Cambridge. Cambridge won the toss and elected to bat in good conditions. Again, some good bowling restricted the Cambridge innings with early wickets falling. Having been restricted to 133-6, the innings slipped away on the Dark

Blues, with Cambridge eventually reaching 280, Sharma finishing with 4-50. The reply brought back memories of the Varsity Matches this year, with Oxford poorly being bowled out for 138. The Dark Blues fought back well late on the second day to have Cambridge 58-5 by the end of the day’s play. Cambridge were eventually bowled out for 193, setting Oxford a challenging but very achievable 336 for victory. Again, despite being reduced to 156-8, a fighting partnership between Westaway and Sharma provided some hope of an unlikely victory, taking the score to 244 before losing the ninth wicket. The Dark Blues ended up making 279, Sharma making 114 with Westaway unbeaten on 63.

CROQUET This year, Oxford University Croquet Club had unprecedented interest in Cuppers, with over 450 teams entering (1,800 people) – double the record numbers! This was put partly down to a modest sponsorship by the Croquet Association (£100, which was invested as prizes for the top two teams), partly down to a good sign-up at Freshers’ Fair, and partly down to the good weather at the start of Trinity Term. This translated to large beginner coaching classes and an increase in Club membership.

The Varsity Match saw Oxford beat a strong Cambridge team very convincingly, the score being 9-0. Of the eight players who played this Varsity, three were awarded Half Blues, and four had never played in Varsity before. It is encouraging therefore that Oxford players are rapidly acquiring the skills to play well under tough conditions. This is largely down to the excellent coaching that Oxford Croquet Club runs, all of which is amateur. This coaching and development of promising talent at Oxford is being used as a template for the Croquet Association’s new recruitment drive.

Oxford put in a good performance at the Student and University Championships; the events were won by an Oxford student and the Oxford team, respectively. Individually, Will Gee was selected to represent England in both the U21 and Senior World Championships this summer, finishing third in the U21s and getting knocked out by an eventual semi-finalist in the Senior Worlds. John Gale, a new player at the Club, showed considerable talent, achieving the equivalent ability of a Half-Blue-standard player in eight short weeks, and it is hoped that he may receive the Most Improved Male Player of the Year Award from the Croquet Association.

CROSS-COUNTRY OUCCC enjoyed a highly successful season in 2010-11, with notable highlights including Varsity victories and BUCS medals. At

Michaelmas, Cuppers saw impressive debut runs: an influx of new talent from which the Club would benefit over the coming season.

The Thames Hare and Hounds races at Wimbledon Common were run over the Blues courses themselves, incorporating the infamous water-splash. Chris McGurk, Jake Shelley, and Luke Caldwell all ran strongly in their first race of the season for the Club, taking places one to three, whilst Rachel Deegan and Hayley Munn began their season well by placing second and third in the Women’s race. Team victories over Thames were achieved in both races. In the final pre-Varsity fixture, the home match against the RAF and Kidlington at Shotover, the Club was again victorious in both the Men’s and Women’s races.

With the Varsity team selection having proved very difficult for the Captains in light of the Club’s sheer strength in depth, we travelled to Cambridge for Varsity IIs-IVths confident of victory and were not to be disappointed. Caitlin Mullarkey stormed to victory for the Women’s Seconds, whilst Michael ‘Oz’ Osborne won the Men’s Seconds in commanding fashion. The Men’s Thirds was the most emphatic Oxford victory of the day, with the first five individual places being all Dark Blue. Such was winner Carl Assmundson’s race that at the finish line he very nearly overtook Tom Watkins of the Cambridge Seconds team, whose race had begun five minutes earlier. Unfortunately we were unable yet again to win either of the Women’s Thirds or Men’s Fourths mob matches, despite Sean Ledger’s victory in the latter, with the Tabs benefitting from the home advantage, and thus we returned to Oxford 3-2 up in the Varsity series for the third year running, with two races still to go.

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22 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

The following weekend we returned to Wimbledon Common for the Blues Matches.

The stakes were high in both contests, with the Oxford Men looking to secure their third victory in a row, and the Women their fourth.

The snowy conditions added an exciting layer of unpredictability – conditions that would no doubt have forced a cancellation of many another fixture, but not one of such prestige and history.

First up was the clash of the Women’s Blues, where the Oxford Women prevailed in dominant fashion. Rachel Deegan took the individual honours, with new Blues runners Josephine Anselin and Ella Waldman following her in second and third respectively. Hayley Munn completed the victory by taking fourth position, ensuring a minimum race score for the Dark Blues of just 10 points to Cambridge’s eventual 32, only the second time such a score had been achieved in the history of the Women’s race.

In the Men’s race that followed, the conditions again forced slower times than usual, but Andy Heyes fended off a spirited challenge from Cambridge’s Soren Linder to take the win by eleven seconds. Dave Bruce and Jake Shelley took third and fourth, and with six Dark Blue scorers in the first eight places, the second emphatic victory of the day was assured, with the resulting score of 29 to 52 in Oxford’s favour. With wins in both Blues Matches the overall score in the Varsity Series came to 5-2 to us for the fourth year running.

Though Varsity remains the main focus of the Club’s season, we enjoyed notable success at BUCS in February at Senneley’s Park in Birmingham. The Men’s A team finished in an outstanding third place, the first team to have medalled since 2004. Andy Heyes, continuing on from his Varsity success, was first Oxford runner home in 16th place. Luke Caldwell overtook Chris McGurk in the dying seconds of the race, the pair finishing 19th and 20th, and with Fabe Downs in 25th the bronze medal position was secured for Oxford, behind the two running powerhouse universities of Birmingham and St Mary’s, but ahead of fierce competition in the form of Cambridge and Loughborough. With the Women finishing fifth, also ahead of Cambridge, and a strong team in the Men’s B race, we placed three teams in the top twenty, a testament to the strength in depth of the Club this season.

Despite losing a number of our veteran runners next year, the influx of new talent we have seen this season should give us much continued confidence for the future, and the hope that we can attain that elusive 7-0 Varsity whitewash when we come to host Seconds-Fourths next November. Bring on 2011-12!.

CYCLING Results first. Despite individual improvements

on last year’s performances, the trip to Cambridge for the 2010-11 Varsity time-trial was unsuccessful. We returned to Oxford with bittersweet consolation prizes in the form of an individual bronze medal and team silver medals, as well as the Women’s Team bronze medals. Nonetheless, it is fair to say this year was a successful one as the Club placed on the podium in seven BUCS events.

particular, this means that the team came first in the Nationals and won the A-Side Varsity match. The B side wasn’t so lucky in Varsity but delivered a good performance, especially considering the inexperience of some individuals on the team.

FENCING

After a somewhat surprising 2009-10 Varsity win, we wanted to build on this momentum for the current season. An important part of this was to increase the attendance at, and usefulness of, the Club’s official training sessions. Firstly, in co-operation with OUTriC we organised an additional Tuesday evening turbo-trainer session at Iffley Rd, which we ran throughout Michaelmas and Hillary. Secondly, we tried out a new format for the fast rides on Saturday, splitting the session into a steady first half and a faster-paced second half, which allowed more riders to progress from the slow ride to the fast ride. Both of these initiatives seem to have been very well received within the Club.

For a number of years, an update of the cycling Blues criteria had been on the agenda; this year we finally registered new criteria which aim to close a number of well-known loopholes and raise the standards to the same level as the criteria used by Cambridge. Moreover, after a long state of uncertainty, mountain biking was awarded Half-Blue status by the Men’s Blues Committee.

DANCESPORT The Oxford University Dancesport Club (OUDC) had a very successful year, in terms of both the achievements of the competitive team and the success of Club classes. We trialled two new dance classes this year: Rock ‘n’ Roll and Zumba. Whilst Rock ‘n’ Roll classes were unfortunately not popular enough to be financially viable, Zumba classes were immensely popular, with the venue being filled every week, and as such will continue to form a part of the timetable next year. Medals classes continue to be popular and forty-one medals were taken in the Trinity exams, with a number of very impressive results.

In Hilary term the annual Club ball was held at Wolfson College, which was a great success.

Trinity term’s annual Cuppers tournament attracted entries from two hundred people from thirteen different colleges.

The Beginners’ Team also had a very successful year, winning Varsity and coming first in Nationals as well as winning various other competitions throughout the year.

The main team won every competition this year, except one draw with Cambridge. In

Trinity term 2010 saw the annual Novice Varsity Match on home soil. The Men’s and Women’s novices more than lived up to our expectations and gave Cambridge a thorough thrashing; the ladies went on first to win 45-23; and the men finished off with a score 45-30. Final score: 90-53 to Oxford. The celebratory Novice Varsity Dinner was held at Vincent’s Club afterwards.

The new academic year began with the Club’s annual pre-season training camp for experienced fencers, and taster sessions for beginners. OUFC membership reached a new record at all levels. Our new fencers far outnumber Club kit, which proved a challenge to our beginners’ coaches Chris Jones, Steven Williams and Joseph Pearce. The advanced training sessions are now so busy that the Cricket School is bursting at the seams, and for the first time trials had to be organized, not only for places on the Blues teams, but even for reserve places on the Women’s Second Team.

This growth was also noted at BUCS individuals, where Oxford University put forward the most entrants. Sadly, some of our best fencers were unable to participate due to illness, and several others went out 14-15 at an early stage.

However, Kat Young (Balliol) gave a stellar performance and took home the bronze medal in women’s épée. Rosie Davies (L8, women’s épée) and Emma-Tina Segall (L16, women’s foil) also did very well in a high-level field.

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24 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

VARSITY RESULTS 2010/11

CLUB

DATE

VeNUE

RESULT SCORE

Archery 21/5/11 Christ Church Meadow, Oxford Cambridge 3320-3257 Athletics (M) 21/5/11 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge Cambridge 76-134

Athletics (W) 21/5/11 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge Cambridge 81-119 Aussie Rules 11/3/11 Cambridge Oxford 118-66 Badminton (M) 26/2/11 Cambridge Oxford 11-4 Badminton (W) 26/2/11 Cambridge Oxford 9-6 Basketball (M) 26/2/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge Oxford Basketball (W) 26/2/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge Oxford 73-42 Boat (M) 26/3/11 River Thames, London Oxford 4 lengths Boat (W) 27/3/11 Henley Oxford Boxing 17/3/11 The Troxy, London Oxford 6-3 Canoe and Kayak (M) 07-08/5/11 Oxford Oxford 3-1 Canoe and Kayak (W) 07-08/5/11 Oxford Oxford 3-1 Cricket (M) 4 Day 05-08/7/11 Cambridge Cambridge 56 runs Cricket (M) 1 Day 26/6/11 Lord’s Cricket Ground Cambridge 52 runs Cricket (W) 1 Day 26/6/11 Lord’s (Nursery Ground) Cambridge 9 wickets Croquet 20/6/11 Hurlingham Club, London Oxford 9-0 Cross Country (M) 4/12/10 Wimbledon Common Oxford 29-52 (lowest score wins) Cross Country (W) 4/12/10 Wimbledon Common Oxford 10-32 (lowest score wins) Cycling (M) 30/4/11 Cambridge Cambridge Cycling (W) 30/4/11 Cambridge Cambridge Dancesport 7/5/11 Cambridge Oxford 2026-1754 Eton Fives (M) 5/3/11 Eton College Cambridge Eton Fives (W) 5/3/11 Eton College Cambridge Fencing (M) 26/2/11 Exam Hall, New Museum Site, Cambridge Oxford 123-111 Fencing (W) 26/2/11 Exam Hall, New Museum Site, Cambridge Cambridge 95-130 Football (M) 6/5/11 Kassam Stadium, Oxford Oxford 3-1 Football (W) 26/2/11 Cambridge Oxford 2-1 Gaelic Football (M) 26/2/11 Oxford Oxford 5-7 to 1-2 Gaelic Football (W) 26/2/11 Oxford Oxford 2-10 to 0-2 Gliding 04-08/7/11 Oxford Golf (M) 25-26/3/11 Royal Cinque Ports Gold Club, Deal, Kent Oxford 8-7 Golf (W) 22/3/11 Royal Cinque Ports Gold Club, Deal, Kent Oxford 5-4 Gymnastics (M) 5/3/11 Marriots Gymnastics Centre, Stevenage Cambridge 242.2-317.3 Gymnastics (W) 5/3/11 Marriots Gymnastics Centre, Stevenage Oxford 173.95-167.10 Hockey (M) 8/3/11 Southgate, London Oxford 5-2 Hockey (W) 9/3/11 Southgate, London Draw 1-1 Ice Hockey (M) 6/3/11 Peterborough, Cambs Cambridge 1-5 Ice Hockey (W) 6/3/11 Peterborough, Cambs Oxford 4-0 Jitsu 6/2/11 Fenner’s Fitness Suite, Cambridge Cambridge 2-1 Judo (M) 5/3/11 Cambridge Oxford 6-2 Judo (W) 6/3/11 Cambridge Cambridge 2-3 Karate (M) 19/2/11 Chesterton Community College, Cambridge Cambridge 0.0 - 2.0 Karate (W) 19/2/11 Chesterton Community College, Cambridge Cambridge 0.0 - 2.0 Kendo 5/3/11 Cambridge Oxford 4-0 Korfball 19/2/11 Cambridge Cambridge 9-10 Lacrosse (M) 26/2/11 Cambridge Cambridge 9-14 Lacrosse (W) 27/2/11 Cambridge Cambridge 6-9 Lacrosse (MIXED) 28/2/11 Cambridge Oxford 8-0 Lawn Tennis (M) 27-29/6/11 NTC, Roehampton Cambridge 9-12 Lawn Tennis (W) 27-29/6/11 NTC, Roehampton Cambridge 5-16 Lifesaving 20/2/11 Cambridge Cambridge 10-15 (lowest score wins) Lightweight (M) 27/3/11 Henley Oxford Canvas Lightweight (W) 28/3/11 Henley Cambridge 1 1/2 lengths www.sport.ox.ac.uk

I 25

CLUB

Modern Pentathlon (M) Modern Pentathlon (W) Motor Drivers Mountaineering Netball Orienteering (M) Orienteering (W) Pistol (M) Pistol (W) Polo Pool (M) Pool (W) Powerlifting Rackets Real Tennis (M) Real Tennis (W) Riding Rifle (Match Rifle, Long Range) Rifle (Target Rifle) 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

DATE

OVERALL STANDINGS

OXFORD 57

VeNUE

08-10/4/11 Bradfield College 08-10/4/11 Bradfield College 10/5/11 Bayford Meadows, Kent 7/5/11 19/2/11 The Leys School Sport Centre, Cambridge 2/4/11 Doksy, Czech Republic 2/4/11 Doksy, Czech Republic 19/2/11 Cambridge University Pistol and Revolver Club Range 19/2/11 Cambridge University Pistol and Revolver Club Range 11/6/11 Guards Polo Club 07-08/5/11 Cambridge 14/5/11 Oxford 20/2/11 Pro Arm Fight Centre 08-09/3/11 Queen’s Club, London 25-26/2/11 MCC Court, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London 25-26/2/11 MCC Court, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London 8th week TT11 Brooksby College, Melton Mowbray 14/7/11 22/7/11 19/2/11 St Paul’s School, London 3/3/11 Twickenham (The Stoop), London 9/12/10 Twickenham, London 5/3/11 Grange Rd Sports Complex, Cambridge Dec-10 Val Thorens, France Dec-10 Val Thorens, France 19/2/11 RAC London 19/2/11 RAC London 19/2/11 Cambridge Parkside 19/2/11 Cambridge Parkside 5/3/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge 5/3/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge 20/2/11 Fenner’s Fitness Suite, Cambridge 20/2/11 Fenner’s Fitness Suite, Cambridge 26/2/11 The Leys School Sport Centre, Cambridge 8/5/11 Grendon 8/5/11 Grendon 6/3/11 Cambridge 6/3/11 Cambridge 19/2/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge 19/2/11 Kelsey Kerridge Sport Centre, Cambridge 19/2/11 Cambridge Parkside 19/2/11 Cambridge Parkside 14/5/11 Huntingdon Sailing Club 06-08/7/11 Hayling Island Sailing Club 06-08/7/11 Hayling Island Sailing Club 09-10/4/11 The Solent

RESULT SCORE

Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford

29652-28616 24008-23132 39-16 1380-1310 5:07:18 - 05:30:28 3:56:55 - 3:06:59 2098-2109 1973-1859 5-4 48-42 36-18 2-0 2-4 5-1 28-27 773.42 - 792.50 1126.85 - 1149.107 201-238 60-16 21-10 0-22 11:32.64 - 12:16.37 13:47.19 - 12:59.71 0-5 4-1

6-4

146.5-147.6

13-10 5-11 3-0 0-3 12-13 7-9 10-11 2-1 2-1 4-0

CONGRATULATIONS!

CAMBRIDGE 42

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26 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

for promotion, and a tour to the East Coast of the USA planned, to pit the Club against some of the finest Ivy League opposition, in Spring 2012.

FooTball - WOMEN

Hilary Term saw both Blues teams reach the quarter-finals of the premiership. The Men’s assassins came an incredibly close second in the Midlands 2A league, and the Women’s assassins won Midlands 1A. In the Varsity match, this year hosted by Cambridge, Oxford came out on top, winning three of the four matches overall. Phil Birget led a strong Men’s Blues team to yet another victory over Cambridge (final score: 123-111) and so the newly refurbished Men’s Varsity trophy will be staying in Oxford for another year. The Women’s Blues team, captained by Kat Young, fenced well against a very tough Cambridge side, but the final score of 95-130 did not go their way. Consolation was achieved in bringing home the sabre trophy, despite missing one of the Club’s top sabreurs. The Men’s assassins, headed by Tomer Faraggi, won all three weapons, and took home the Varsity victory with a final score of 130-98, whilst Rachel Gregory led the Women’s assassins to their first ever victory across all three weapons, winning the title with 135-83.

Thus, the brand new Second Team Varsity Trophies will be inscribed with ‘Oxford’ on their first plaques. All in all, OUFC has had a good season, and we are very grateful to all those who have supported us throughout the year.

FooTball - MEN OUAFC had one of its most successful seasons ever in 2010-11. The Blues finished as joint leaders of the BUCS Midlands 1A League, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier conference in an end-of-season play-off, and reached the quarter-finals of the BUCS knockout cup, losing to a typically strong Loughborough first XI. Based on a solid central defensive partnership between Anthony Beddows and Captain Elliot Thomas (complimented by some truly world-class goalkeeping from Dwayne Whylly, our Bahamian international in his final year at Oxford) the Blues built their success on a

miserly defensive record. Blues boxers Ben Quigley and Alec Ward bullied opposition midfields and Oxford specialized in capitalizing on set pieces and stealing scrappy goals thanks to a hard-working front four. This was typified in the 127th Varsity Match, at the Kassam Stadium in front of a crowd of eleven hundred, with the Blues running out 3-1 victors thanks to a Ward brace from long throw-ins, and one from Beddows in the second half off a corner. Oxford rode their luck and had the woodwork to thank on more than one occasion but were clinical in attack, relentless in defence, and the win was a fitting conclusion to a season that was built around team spirit and hard work.

The Centaurs had a somewhat mixed season, with captain Rob Price leading the team to some big wins at home in the BUCS Midlands 4A League (4-0 against Wolverhampton and 3-0 against Warwick), but the side was unable to reproduce this form on the road, picking up a solitary point away from home all season. This was not aided by a handful of players making the step up to Blues football, an encouraging indicator of the high quality of talent in the squad. The Centaurs lost out in a tight relegation battle and will no doubt be fighting tooth and nail to restore their Midlands 4A league status next season. In the Varsity Match at Iffley Road, an early goal from Dom Affron was cancelled out by a Cambridge Falcons strike and the Centaurs lost on penalties with the score locked on 1-1 after extra time.

The 2010/11 season saw the continued growth of the Development Squad, under the guidance of Sabbatical Officer Leon Farr. A good run of friendly matches saw the squad build momentum, and after an early goal courtesy of a spectacular finish from striker Nathan Riddell, they were unlucky to lose 2-1 to a strong Cambridge Kestrels outfit, in a closely contested Varsity Match in Oxford as part of the Centaurs–Falcons and ‘Dev Squad’– Kestrels double header.

OUAFC looks forward to an ambitious 2011-12 season, with both Blues and Centaurs gunning

This year was arguably one of the best ever for the Blues of OUWAFC, who finished the season with an overall record of fifteen wins; their only defeat of the season was in the BUCS Midlands Cup Final after a storming run through the earlier rounds, beating Anglia Ruskin, Staffordshire, Loughborough, and the Oxford Women’s Second Team along the way. The Team also won the BUCS league easily, finishing with a perfect 10-0 record and outscoring opponents 77 goals to 4; for comparison the remainder of the teams in the league scored a combined 81 goals, just four more than the Blues registered on their own. This perfect record sealed promotion for the Blues for the next season. A highlight of the league campaign was a hard-fought victory over the University of East Anglia, despite playing the entire match with only nine players. To top it off, the Team triumphed in the twenty-sixth annual Varsity Match with a deceptively close score of 2-1. The match, held in Cambridge this year, saw the Dark Blues take control, scoring a goal each side of half-time, to seal the double Varsity win and bring the Varsity Match trophy back to Oxford.

The Furies also had an exceptional season this year, with an outstanding win against the Cambridge Eagles in the Varsity Match and a really deserving fourth place in their extremely high-standard league (playing alongside the Blues in the same division). Their Varsity performance proves just how good this season really was: after settling in to the match the Furies easily took control, constantly pressuring Cambridge and ending the half 4-0. The second half continued with hat-tricks and more goals, resulting in an 8-0 victory: the biggest win in the Furies/Eagles Varsity history. Co-Captain Becky Taylor said this about the match: “The Furies’ performance was certainly worthy of breaking the record of the biggest Varsity win. It was an incredible team performance and every player on the pitch dominated their counterpart. It was an honour to captain such a great side to an unbelievable victory.”

Gaelic Games OUGAA comprises four clubs split between two universities, and communication between sides has been limited in the past. However, this year proved very successful in recruiting new members to Gaelic Games in Oxford, seeing a large increase in the popularity of hurling, camogie and football. We held the Varsity Matches on the same day and were victorious in all four matches, recognising the effort and time put in by all

I 27

players to train. The joint Varsity tournament and post-match social also saw greatly improved cohesion between sides, which we hope will continue into the coming year.

The footballers continued to be active in entering tournaments and travelling to away matches as in previous years. The strong Men’s Team built on their Varsity victory from last year, whilst the Women’s side continued to improve this year and has also had success in recruiting new members.

The camogie and hurling teams competed in tournaments in Cambridge and Birmingham. For many the Green Isle camogie match was their first match, and all played with skills and quality beyond their experience: a great achievement for beginners to the sport. The Men’s hurling side saw a number of new additions this year, with membership exceeding thirty. The new-found depth enabled them to enter tournaments for the first time in several years, allowing all players to gain more experience and match practice, developing skills learnt in training. This showed at the Varsity match, where Oxford were finally victorious.

As Gaelic Games in Oxford continues to grow, we hope next year to launch a Cuppers event in Gaelic Football, which would help greatly in recruiting new members and raising the profile of the Club.

Gliding The year started badly, with OUGC’s K21 training glider being unavailable for three months during the peak soaring season.

Training week this year was organised with the Cambridge University Gliding Club, however only one OUGC member attended.

After the end of the last academic year in July, Oxford won the annual Varsity Match vs Cambridge.

GOLF OUGC has enjoyed a very successful year with 16 out of 33 wins during the season culminating in a close 8-7 win in the Blues Varsity Match at Royal Cinque Ports, but unfortunately the Divots could not make it a clean sweep, with a narrow loss at Prince’s Golf Club. The Women’s Varsity Match added a well earned 5-4 win at Royal Cinque Ports; special congratulations must go to Gillian Kinnear, handicap 3, who was awarded a Blue this year for excellence in commitment and performance throughout the year. Alex Walvis and MinYee Tseu were also awarded Blues for their performance and dedication to the Team.

The fixture list for the first two terms was as strong and extensive as ever, with outstanding

fixtures at some of the most prestigious clubs in the British Isles. Walton Heath, Sunningdale, Porthcawl and Southfield were some of the highlights of the year and due to the recordwinning season last year, the majority of clubs put out their strongest players to get revenge.

This year was also the second year with outstanding coach John Cook. With his coaching, we saw the Team’s ability, especially in the short-game department, go from strength to strength. He has become an integral part of the Men’s sides set-up, and we look forward to continuing to be aided by his teaching this year and for many years to come. The Women saw a change in their coaching structure this year: lessons with a local professional at the floodlit driving range in Oxford allowed for a more flexible schedule in the depth of winter.

Furthermore, the Men’s Blues squad made the move to Huntercombe Golf Club this year.

This ends a long-standing relationship with Southfields Golf Club and we are looking forward to developing a strong relationship with the club and members of Huntercombe.

We will be taking the Oxford and Cambridge Society Match to Huntercombe in October, where we look forward to starting off on the right foot with our inaugural match at the club.

GymnasTics In spite of having a large proportion of beginners, OUGC produced an extremely successful competitive squad this year. The Women’s Team placed seventh overall in the BUCS Championship, a great achievement considering the exceptionally high standard of competition. We also entered Beginner and Advanced teams into a student competition in Birmingham. The Advanced Men’s competition saw Mathew Bullimore take gold on both parallel bars and high bar, and the silver overall. Our Beginner Men’s Team was extremely successful, most notably David Loh took overall gold with Edward Macaulay in third place. The Women’s teams faced

much more opposition, but we achieved two individual bronze medals, Amy Morreau on beam and Amy Loveridge on bars.

In the annual Varsity Match the Women’s A Team took the gold, and individual medals were won by Amy Morreau (gold) and Amy Loveridge (bronze). The Men’s A Team competed well but could not outscore the more experienced Cambridge team, although Oxford’s Mathew Bullimore did take the individual gold. We also entered a Women’s B team, who all performed very well, although they had no Cambridge opponents.

Handball After many players left the Club at the end of season 2009-10, we faced a challenge to get Men’s and Women’s teams ready for season 2010-11. With the help of a fantastic Committee and two hard-working coaches (B. Previti and A. Al-Shammari) the Club quickly got back on its feet.

Both the Men’s and the Women’s teams had an extremely successful season. The Women’s Team entered competitions as a joint team with the University of Southampton. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams won the second Division of the England National League (South). In addition, both teams were undefeated in the league, which is unprecedented in the Club’s history. As a result the Men’s Team was promoted to the first Division of the English National League for 2011-12. At the British University Plate, held in Nottingham in February 2011, the Men’s Team placed second and the Women’s Team third. The Men’s Team also entered the English Handball Cup/Plate competition, but unfortunately lost the Plate semi-final to Cambridge.

In May 2011, the Club celebrated its tenth anniversary. About twenty alumni from all over Europe and the US came for a weekend event which included lunches and dinners, a BBQ, an alumni match and fund-raising activities.

The alumni team won the match against the www.sport.ox.ac.uk

I 29

the previous year, they made an astonishingly fast start to the year, racking up wins and their goal difference. They followed this up with a series of some closer-fought victories, but ended up running away with the Saturday league, winning promotion. They took this form into Varsity, outplaying the Tabs in all areas of the pitch in a 2-0 victory.

The Hos (Women’s Thirds) once again scored far more goals than any team should be allowed to in one season. They finished second in that league, winning their second consecutive promotion. They also put in an impressive showing in BUCS, eventually finishing fifth in a very strong league. They too built on last year’s Varsity win to record a 2-0 victory against Cambridge.

Ice Hockey current team (21:17), staying unbeaten for another year. A set of commemorative polo shirts was donated by an alumnus – one polo shirt was signed by all participants and auctioned off, raising £250 for the Club. The Club is very grateful for the support it gets from its alumni.

The future looks bright. This season, particular attention will be given to the Women’s Team, with the aim of recruiting enough players to enter an Oxford-only women’s team in the second Division for season 2011-12. The Men’s Team is looking forward to competing at the highest possible level in England: the first Division of the English National League.

HOCKEY The past season can be summarized as a tale of two halves for OUHC. As usual, we took some time to bed-in the new freshers to our squads, which was reflected in our early season results. However, come March the new recruits were well and truly part of the Club, the relationships within the teams were some of the strongest we have known, and dividends were seen on the pitch.

After losing their first nine games, the Men’s Blues suddenly found their feet just before Christmas, going on to dominate the South Premier League and finish fourth, their highest finish over the last ten years. Adam Jordan led the team’s scoring charts with 30 goals; a total that also saw him finish joint top-scorer for the whole league. In BUCS, the Team finished second in the league stages behind a strong Exeter side, only to go out in the quarterfinals against old foes Birmingham. The team bounced back to beat Cambridge in the Varsity Match in a dominant performance more than deserving of the 5-2 winning margin.

The Women’s Blues experienced a similar pattern in their form, though not quite as dramatically. They achieved a respectable eighth-place finish in South Division 2, thanks to some strong team performances throughout the season. The team was also thwarted by Birmingham in the BUCS competition, having finished fourth in the BUCS league. 1-1 in the Varsity Matches was a fair result following a tense encounter, but the Team will be hoping to return to their recent winning form next season.

The Occasionals (Men’s Seconds) were once again one of the strongest teams in London League 1 on their day. Having beaten the Wimbledon side that would go on to win the league 5-1, Coach Rupert Barker could be found exclaiming that this was the best Occasionals side he had ever seen. Unfortunately the side couldn’t fulfil their potential consistently enough, but still managed sixth place in London League 1. In BUCS, the Team continued their rise up the BUCS leagues, but were unlucky to be beaten

by Birmingham (again!) Seconds in the final of the cup. They came up against a very strong Cambridge Seconds side, and were beaten 4-1 on the day; a result they will look to avenge at Iffley this year.

The Monkeys (Women’s Seconds) were once again an incredibly close outfit this season.

They taught Cambridge a lesson in the Varsity Match, coming out deserved 5-1 winners.

In BUCS the side were unlucky not to gain promotion, hindered in the final stages by some controversial umpiring. The team bounced back, and finished the season strongly on a Saturday, finishing eighth in Trysports Premier 1.

The Infrequents (Men’s Thirds) enjoyed their finest ever season. Building on the successes of

The 2010-11 Season was one of mixed fortunes for the three teams comprising OUIHC. The Men’s teams looked to build on a successful 2009-10 season, which saw both the Blues and the Vikings bring home silverware in the form of a National Championship and a Divisional title.

The lead up to Varsity was far from smooth for the Women too as a credible 4-1 loss in Streatham to Imperial B was sandwiched around two heavy losses in Cardiff (15-3) and Warwick (10-0). The preparation of the Cambridge Women was also far from ideal as they had been comprehensively beaten in all of their matches.

Varsity week started with the B Team challenge match between the Oxford Vikings and the Cambridge Eskimos, held in the newly refurbished Alexandra Palace arena. A traditionally strong Eskimo team had won the previous ten Varsity challenges, but a strong Viking side put on their best performance of the season and tested the Eskimos for the full three periods. The final score ended up 4-2 to Cambridge but the Vikings will regret not putting away more of the chance they created. Sunday provided a double header of both of the Blues Varsity matches in Peterborough, with the Men kicking off proceedings followed by the Women.

The Men were confident of retaining the Patton Cup, having beaten Cambridge earlier in the season, but were hampered by a short bench including only three defencemen. Both teams had early chances, both goaltenders kept every shot out, until Cambridge seized on a turnover while short-handed and scored the opening goal.

They added two more by the midpoint of the second period, to open up a commanding 3-0 lead by the halfway stage. Oxford pulled one back but Cambridge re-established a three-goal cushion within a minute. Oxford dominated the latter stages of the second period but were www.sport.ox.ac.uk

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unable to beat the inspired Cambridge goalie a second time. The final period saw more Oxford possession but they were again unable to breach the Light Blues’ defences. Cambridge added an empty net goal in the final seconds, to cap a 5-1 victory despite being outshot 51-28. The Women’s Blues Varsity match now had added importance as it represented Oxford’s last chance to avoid a Varsity whitewash. A strong start to the match saw an unassisted goal from Captain Lisette Yorke in the first period. They doubled the tally five minutes later on a marker from top scorer Rosanna Nicol. By the arrival of the first intermission Oxford were in a strong position at 2-0, but it was imperative to maintain the intensity into the second period and not allow Cambridge to gain a foothold. A second goal for Nicol made it 3-0 and Cambridge’s lack of offensive talent suggested it would be enough if Oxford could keep their composure.

The Dark Blues added one more goal in the final period and the Cup was retained by the Oxford Women’s Blues by a comprehensive 4-0.

Both the Vikings and Women attended the National Championship weekends for Division 2 and 3 respectively, while the Men’s Blues declined to attend the Division 1 event. The Women, in the so-called ‘group of death’, managed a credible victory against Newcastle while being defeated by Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff and Manchester (all strong men’s teams). The Vikings, in a group containing Bradford (the eventual winners) and Nottingham (losing finalists) opened their account with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield before losing a tight-fought contest with Nottingham 2-0. Unfortunately a fatigued Viking team, in their third match of the day, fought valiantly against Bradford before going down 5-0. The next morning’s match against Birmingham was vital if hopes of qualification from the group were to be kept alive. A strong showing was unfortunately not enough as the Midlands side came out on top 2-0. Thus eliminated, the final match against Manchester was used to switch up the lines, and a desire to achieve the highest position possible saw Oxford dominate the majority of the match; only some brilliant saves from the Manchester goalkeeper kept the score respectable, with the final score 3-1 to Oxford.

Overall, the Men’s Blues’ season record of 3 – 1 – 3 was a little disappointing, including a Varsity loss for the first time in eight years.

The Vikings, losing their three top scorers from 2009-10, found it hard to replicate the results that saw them top the division in that season, and finished second from bottom in Division 2 South. The performance in Varsity and the National Championships suggested that with a full team of fit players they can play at a high level and be competitive in all games. The Women’s Blues, in their first season in the BUIHA Division 3, finished a credible second bottom (above Cambridge) with a

2 – 1 – 9 record. It must be noted that, with the exception of Cambridge, all other teams in Division 3 are men’s development teams with perhaps a couple of female players per team.

Most importantly, the women vanquished Cambridge in Varsity.

JITSU This year has been another busy one for Oxford Jitsu. Kicking off the year in November with the Atemi Nationals, Oxford’s Natalie Lockyer was able to win a bronze in the brown belt category while Ian Farr and James Dunn were both able to get into the finals in the dark blue and brown categories respectively.

The term finished as usual with a regional grading in which Adam Mitchell and Katie Steel got their yellow belts and Jake Gately managed to grade to light blue. This term also saw two regional events in Reading and in our very own Dojo with instructors attending from all over the country. Over the Christmas Vacation Rob Snell graded for his brown belt, a massive achievement in itself, qualifying him to be a Club instructor. Hilary’s grading saw John Grigg obtain his green belt while Alex Parry, Richard Sheehan, Naomi Zainuddin and Suzanne Atkins received their yellows.

At Hilary Term’s Varsity Match, Oxford were sadly unable to retain the shield (losing by a mere 1.5 points!). This was as much because of Cambridge’s acting skills as their Jitsu; they put together an excellent demonstration. Oxford can be content, however, with winning the Atemi competition outright and putting up a heavy fight for the other two.

Hilary Term also saw the Randori Nationals in which Natalie Lockyer and Richard Sheehan were able to win gold medals. As usual the entertainment on the Saturday night was of high quality, with Oxford Jitsu donning the costumes of Ancient Greece for the ‘myths and legends’ themed party. Those who did not win medals did of course benefit from two days of fantastic instruction.

All in all it has been a successful year for Jitsu in Oxford and the Club looks forward to another.

Judo As Sophocles once said, ’success is dependent on effort.’ This is the motto that has been epitomized by the performance of Oxford Judo Club in the last academic year, as the effort of both players and coaches has produced Varsity winners, three BUCS medallists, and members of the Great Britain squad in one of the most successful years in the history of the Club.

The last year at the Club has also seen beginners joining and training up to the competitive level of Varsity, as well as many players competing throughout the country to move up a grade and be awarded first-, second- and third-Dan black belts.

During the summer break four OUJC players and one coach, together with judoka from London and Cambridge Universities, travelled to Japan. Cultural exchange was celebrated in four different universities and judo schools on and off the mat. Lots of new friendships formed over katsu (fried pork) and biru (beer) in the burning heat of the Pacific sun.

Straight after the Japan trip it was the coaches, Chris Doherty and Jim Birnie, who brought home silver and bronze medals respectively from the British Grand Master Championships, reinforcing their places on the British Masters Squad.

Furthermore, OJ star Jordan Doherty became champion at the BJC Junior Welsh Nationals and won silver at the British Championships, reaffirming her place at the England Junior Squad before the year really started.

Michaelmas 2010 began with Oxford Judo’s beginners taking home three medals at the Kyu-Grade Cup in High Wycombe. In November 2009 the Club turned out in full force for the BJC (British Judo Council) National Championships, with both highly graded and relatively inexperienced players competing, taking a total of twelve medals.

The Women’s Team were able to add to the

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shown at the Fresher’s Fair meant that the size of the squad increased noticeably, as did general membership. In Hilary Term the Club celebrated its fifth Anniversary, allowing the members a chance to enjoy themselves and to thank the founders for all their hard work.

KiTesurf

accolade of Oxford Judo, winning a bronze medal at the highly competitive Bev Price Team Championships. With such a wealth of competitive experience, from cadets to masters, and winning the Sports Federation Awards for Club of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year, it seemed that Oxford Judo were off to a flying start for Varsity.

Hilary term proved equally successful.

Preparations for the first Varsity Match went extremely well at a number of University competitions. The Varsity Match saw Oxford reclaim the Men’s B Team, Men’s A Team and City Team trophies for the next year, giving away only the Women’s trophy. The finale of the term was a haul of three individual medals and one team medal from BUCS, which included a gold medal for Ifor Capel, who qualified for the European University Championships, and a Women’s Team silver.

Oxford Judo has had an extremely successful year in terms of beginners, with an eightweek beginners’ course run in both Trinity and Michaelmas, well supported by the higher grades of the Club and initiatives from the British Judo Association. The Club is also fortunate enough to have, as well as student coaches receiving their coaching awards throughout the year, the continued support of two very experienced coaches, Chris and Carol Doherty.

The continued devotion to effort, excellence and a desire to achieve has seen Oxford Judo rise to a nationally respected and successful Club, with members of all ages and grades and a welcoming training environment based on mutual respect and trust.

KENDO Oxford University Kendo Club was visited again this year by five students from the Tokyo University of Science, who joined us in practice.

Two more students came from Fukuoka University of Education, joined by the former national

coach, Honda-sensei. This provided us with the opportunity to improve greatly. Unfortunately due to the earthquake in Japan, Ozawa-sensei decided to cancel his annual visit and remain in Tokyo to raise money for charity. On our side, the Club became involved with numerous fund-raising activities, demonstrating kendo and organising bake sales. We were also joined throughout the year by kendoka from other countries, including, notably, the Greek national coach.

In terms of competitions, Oxford took a convincing victory in the Varsity Match against Cambridge on their home turf, with a 4-0 win in the team competition as well as taking first to third place in the individuals. In the Universities Championships Oxford put on a very strong display, and were knocked out in the semi-finals after a tie-break match against Queen Mary, University of London.

KICKBOXING This year, OUKbC has had some great competitive achievements. Although the annual Varsity event had to be cancelled, the prospective squad shifted their focus to the British University Championships on 3 April 2011 and continued to train. Their hard work paid off, with Jeff Douglas achieving first place in the Men’s 80+kgs and Kirstie Moore, Henning Lueke, and Chris Hinchliffe all achieving second place in their respective weight categories.

The Club also organized a Town vs Gown match. The final score, 5/4, saw a narrow victory for the Gowns. Additionally the Club held a grading session in Hilary Term. Many members took advantage of this opportunity.

The strong turnout saw a wide spectrum of belts awarded, ensuring the Club’s members gained recognition for their hard work over the last year.

Finally, OUKbC has had a busy and successful year in terms of social events! Keen interest

Our fledgeling Kitesurf Club is now fully up and running, and has grown considerably this year. Our more advanced members regularly drive down to the south coast when the wind blows through, and there is a huge amount of interest in Club-organised kitesurfing lessons amongst the beginners. Early this year we took part in a Student Kitesurfing Association weekend trip to Wales, where we were greeted by beautiful sunshine, though ironically not much of a breeze. Nonetheless, a fantastic time was had by all (with a little help from some ‘dune jumping’, rounders and swimming), and our beginners mastered the basics of kite flying before the weekend was up. Our second trip, this time to Cornwall, was equally successful and we once again managed to coincide with glorious weather. Over the coming year we hope to build on this year’s success, with yet more weekend adventures, and with the particular aim of increasing our Club’s range of kitesurfing kit through financial support and second-hand donations.

Korfball OUKoC participated in the Oxford Korfball league, consisting of sixteen teams split into two divisions, with weekly matches. The First Team competed in Division 1 and the Second Team in Division 2. There was varying success this year due to the increased level of competition in the league, with the First Team finishing eighth in their league and the Second finishing fourth in theirs.

The Club also participated in the Oxford Korfball Plate, which was won by the First Team in a fierce competition. This success is an indicator of the progress that has been made by the team this year. We also visited the usual Edinburgh Tournament featuring thirty-two teams, including international teams and national teams which compete at the highest standard. The event was a success both on the court and off, with OUKoC punching above their weight in the standings and demonstrating considerable ability in the aftertournament Ceilidh.

Following this came the Varsity Match, held in Cambridge. The Second Team completed a victorious rout of Cambridge with an 11-5 victory, complete with slick moves and great team spirit. The First Team fought hard but www.sport.ox.ac.uk

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I 33 Matt Henderson

were unfortunate to lose 10-9 against an experienced and strong Cambridge team.

This was followed by a successful post-Varsity dinner, complete with the pre-requisite speeches and concomitant relationshipbuilding between the two universities’ clubs.

We would like to conclude with messages of thanks to the all the players who committed themselves to the Club this year, and a special mention to Michiel ten Hove who has coached the team to elevated levels of success in the past two seasons. Michiel has accepted a job offer and will be moving to the Netherlands in the near future.

Kung Fu The Oxford University Kung Fu Club experienced a mixed year: one full of highly appreciated performances but with less satisfactory growth in terms of members.

As last year, we experienced a dramatic success in our first term, struggling to fit all our new beginners into the Rugby Fives court. Then in Hilary Term students’ commitment is always strongly affected by academic life, and only a few manage successfully to acquire and train in the sequence sets and principles.

Nevertheless we are proud of the achievements of our most committed members. Some of them managed in just a few terms to reach a considerable level of quality, enough to participate in our Kung Fu performances at events such as the Oxford Chinese New Year gala (held at Oxford Town Hall), where we were pleased to be interviewed by BBC Oxford.

These performances were received with great appreciation by the public and also gave both students and instructors the chance to enjoy a different aspect of martial arts training.

Next year’s plans include continued participation in Chinese New Year celebrations both in Oxford and Cambridge, as well as investigating further collaboration with the Cambridge Kung Fu Club. Recent general meetings highlight the necessity of expanding the training we offer; we therefore plan to start running two sessions for each style, plus regular weekend sessions. We believe that this solution will also allow more students to keep up with regular training.

Lacrosse Oxford University Lacrosse Club involves all three separate sections of Lacrosse at the University: Women’s, Mixed and Men’s. The Club has approximately seventy members who form four teams throughout the year, with an extra team (the Men’s Iroquois) formed with the help of alumni for Varsity. The standard of

The Men’s Team has taken the decision to enter the SEMLA tournament next year, which will double their match time and provide less experienced players with more pitch time. This is a great commitment, fully supported by the Club, and we look forward to hearing their feedback.

play is exceptionally high, with the Men’s and Women’s Blues Teams frequently reaching the semi finals of BUSA, and finishing in the top few of their respective Southern Premier Leagues.

Over the summer the Club worked hard to secure a sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse, one that we hope will continue for the next few years. This has allowed a limited amount of subsidising for some of the more extreme expenses, and has also allowed us to update and replace some items of equipment that were long overdue for renewal. The Club will therefore start the next season with new portable goals, newly equipped pitches at Marston, new rentable men’s helmets, and our own set of goalie kit. We very much hope this will further our success!

This year, the Men’s and Women’s Blues finished second in their leagues, with the Mixed Team finishing third and the Women’s Swifts fourth.

The Women’s Blues also reached the semifinals of BUSA, where we came up against the eventual winners, Durham. The Men’s Blues reached the final sixteen and were knocked out by tough competitors, Loughborough. All in all, results to be proud of.

As always, Varsity was a fantastic experience this year, and all five teams visited Cambridge in February with high hopes. All teams fought hard, despite some tricky situations, and special congratulations go to the Men’s Iroquois and Mixed Teams for landslide victories. Unlucky defeats for the other teams didn’t stop us dominating the dinner and dance floor, where we showed the Tabs how it was done. We look forward to hosting them next season and wiping the smiles off their faces.

Soon after Varsity the Club held an incredibly successful fundraiser, raising over £1,200.

Moreover, it was enjoyed by all, a night of colourful drinks in plastic cups, a very sticky floor, and a packed night at Camera afterwards. We are confident we raised the profile of the Club, and hopefully this will become a yearly tradition.

Overall it has been another exciting year for the Lacrosse Club, and hopes are high for even greater things to come in the coming season.

As always we look forward to welcoming new players into our little community, introducing them to the delights that Oxford has to offer, both on and off the pitch.

LIFESAVING OULSC started off the year by entering a team into the Freshers’ Competition in Southampton. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

34 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

For three out of four of the team it was their first experience of a competitive lifesaving event, so the experience gained from it was invaluable.

We also entered a team for a competition in Birmingham in Hilary, to gain experience before our Varsity Event.

At the Varsity Match in Cambridge, both our A and B teams performed very well, but Cambridge A eventually came out on top, with Oxford A narrowly behind and Oxford B a close third.

We also entered into the BULSCA Nationals events in Cardiff, spread over two days - the first day a speeds competition, with lifesaving on the second day. Overall we finished eighth in the Speeds and eleventh in the Lifesaving, resulting in an overall ninth place. There was also an incident organised by the RNLI, separate from the BULSCA competition, in which Oxford A were awarded second place.

five events to compete in, so as to increase participation. It was won convincingly by Teddy Hall.

A training camp in Oxford over the Christmas holidays helped to prepare the squad for the Old Blues match, where the current students emerged victorious. BUCS proved to be a more difficult match, scheduled at the end of eighth week: there were some tired performances, and OUMPA came third behind Bath University and Cambridge.

LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING - MEN Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club won the 37th Lightweight Boat Race in Henley on 27 March 2011, in a time of 5 minutes 54 seconds. Racing into a moderate headwind, Oxford pulled out to nearly a length’s lead in the first thousand metres and then held on against a Cambridge crew rating several strokes per minute higher to cross the line up by a canvas. With new coach Ben Reed on board this was an important win for the Club following losses in 2009-10, however with several of the Blue Boat and Nephthys planning to return next year we go into 201112 confident of another strong year.

LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING - WOMEN The Club has had a solid, if slightly inexperienced year. The early results at the 4s Head of the River race reflected this inexperience. However after two successful training camps, each race result improved significantly from the last, posting good results at Wallingford and Henley Head races.

We look forward to a solid season of summer racing, sending crews to BUCS, Henley Women’s regatta and other external regattas across the country.

We are also in the process of running a Development Squad to set up a good strong start for next year.

MODERN PENTATHLON

Unfortunately, having been beaten easily in the past two years, Cambridge came to Varsity with a score to settle and put in an incredible performance, which OUWLRC could not match on the day, meaning the verdict of the Varsity Match was a Cambridge win by 1.5 lengths in a time of 6 minutes 43 seconds.

OUMPA’s 2011 season was a successful one, culminating in a victory for both Men’s and Women’s Blues at the Varsity Match.

The season kicked off with a match against Cambridge University, Cambridge Old Blues and the Army Modern Pentathlon Association at Sandhurst, where a slightly out-of-shape Oxford team placed second, losing out to Cambridge but beating the Army and Old Blues. This fixture revived a previous one which had fallen out of the calendar and was a big success, seeming certain to be repeated in the future.

Following Varsity three members of the Blue Boat, along with coach Chris O’Hara, formed a composite Eight with OUWBC which was sent to represent Oxford University at the Potomac Cup in Washington DC. The crew raced incredibly well against crews significantly larger and more experienced than themselves.

Oxford’s season continued with the Novice Varsity Match at which our novices avenged the defeat at Sandhurst, winning tightly in the Team Match with fresher Harry Tabor as the Individual winner. Cuppers followed in fifth week. This is the only fixture of the year where athletes get to choose three out of the

After a brief pre-Varsity training camp we returned to Bradfield College, site of all Cambridge Varsity Matches, where sponsorship from Ernst & Young enabled the Light Blues to put on a very professional event. In the Women’s event Oxford came from behind after the first day’s fence and swim to take the lead in the show jumping, and built on it steadily throughout the combined event to secure victory.

It was Oxford’s first victory in the Women’s match since 2006; new Blue Clare Kane’s individual victory broke a run of four Cambridge wins in the individual as well. In the Men’s match, Oxford had the pressure of defending a fourteen-year winning streak stretching back to 1997, whereas Cambridge fancied their chances fielding an almost entirely new team with only one returning Blue, but including three internationals. Oxford fell behind after the fence, but some excellent damage limitation from Mark Inkester, who managed 18/22 victories for 1120 points, kept Oxford only 400 behind. Strong swimming throughout the team meant that Oxford led after the first day by 12 points out of a first-day score of 12,000. In the second day’s show-jumping Oxford held their nerve to extend their lead, and the combined event saw many solid performances bring home the win, with a particularly good performance from Harry Tabor.

The Men’s Reserves likewise closed out their victory, although the Women’s Reserves were unfortunately unable to complete the set. All in all after taking both Blues matches and one out of the two Reserves matches, with a new Varsity sponsorship agreement with Ernst & Young and new talent coming into the Club, OUMPA looks positively towards next year.

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MOTOR DRIVERS 2010-11 was a fantastic return to form for the Club and has laid the foundations for unabated success in the future. With the Club left in dire straits after many prominent members graduating, the fledgling Committee worked extremely hard to get the Club back on its feet and that work has shown results throughout the year.

Freshers’ Karting, our first event of the season, was oversubscribed and at that event alone we secured plenty of members. For the first time the Club held the Freshers’ Sprint a head-to-head competition for new members; this provided a means of scouting out the best of the new talent to invite to race with us at the British Universities Karting Championship.

This new event turned out to be an even greater success than expected and it is certain to become a staple event on the OUMDC calendar.

In Hilary and Easter was the BUKC season where the A Team returned to being a solid and respectable top-twenty team and the B Team’s 35th position was one of its best of all time.

We started out at Teesside with a team that was both weakened and not entirely familiar with the track, but surprisingly managed to finish eleventh in the first of the BUKC’s nine rounds – not least thanks to Jordan Harrison taking the Team from twenty-sixth to sixth in the first race of 2011. Unfortunately however, for the next three consecutive race days we settled into a reliable pattern of excellent performances in the sprint races and poor ones in the endurance races. As a result, before we knew it, six of the nine rounds were already gone and we were languishing in the mid-high 20s in the table.

It is to everyone’s credit that not only did we not give up, but we also managed to essentially rescue an entire season in one day at Clay Pigeon – what’s more in wet conditions, so difficult that racing had to be red-flagged because of zero visibility. Whilst all results were strong, the obvious highlight was a podium finish by Guido Pagani, starting from 20th.

Despite a less than desirable performance in the final round, Whilton Mill, we still finished comfortably in the top twenty and set ourselves up well for an assault on the established teams next year!

MounTaineering 2011 has been another great year for OUMC. Most importantly there have been successful climbing trips away nearly every weekend and no injuries to speak of. The meets saw visits to The Lake District, the Peak District, North Wales, Southern Sandstone, Dartmoor, Pembroke and many others. With a mix of experienced climbers who are steadily improving at their sport and new climbers who are only just getting started, the trips can be considered an success in every respect. Finally to top off a great year, victory at the Varsity Match was a well-deserved recognition of the abilities of some of the Club’s climbers.

NETBALL OUNC started the 2010-11 season by selecting several new squad members: three players joining the existing Blues Team and six players joining the Roos Team. Despite not having a coach for the majority of the season, the squad became a very close-knit unit led by Captain, and coach, Emma Lonsdale. The Blues performed consistently throughout

this year and have secured promotion to the BUCS Midlands Conference 1A. Furthermore, the Team worked extremely hard, playing outstandingly on the path to the Conference Cup Final in Sheffield, including a 99-8 win against the University of Bedfordshire!

Although a Varsity win was not achieved this year, the Blues went on the win the BUCS Cup Final with a very convincing performance against the University of Nottingham, with Oxford’s Hannah McKay being awarded Player of the Match.

The Roos have also shown continuous improvement this year, having faced some very tough competition. It is always hard to play against the Blues and your friends within the league but both squads challenged each other throughout both matches. Most notable was the Roos’ victory over the University of Birmingham Fourths, which improved the confidence of this talented young team.

The Roos had a nail-biting match against Cambridge which was only lost by two goals in the last quarter.

A special mention must be given to Layla Guscoth, who has been a solid member of the squad despite having commitments to Hertfordshire Mavericks as well as the England Netball Team - her performance with OUNC this year has been outstanding and she is an inspiration to the squad! The Club looks forward to a successful 2011-12 season, with our new sponsors, Cazenove Capital Management.

OcTopush The Octopush Club has had a fantastic year, increasing our membership and taking a team of both old and new players to the student

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36 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

Men’s squad was unable to match their success, losing in the narrowest of matches and scoring 2109 points to 2098. It was a great effort and we nearly pulled off an away win in a series that has gone to the home side for the last several years. Thanks go out to Brian Tang (Balliol), David Main (Merton) and Minerva Singh who made up the squad.

OUPC has been quite busy in a variety of competitions within the county and at the national level. Most recently we sent a team of three to compete in the English Smallbore Shooting Union’s championships at Bisley, with Lonnie Swift (WIMM) making the final. We also sent one competitor to shoot in the Welsh Open, and at this year’s British Pistol Championships we sent a five-person squad, with Lonnie once again making the final and Minerva Singh taking second in the Women’s competition. We have been quite active in Oxfordshire Rifle Association competitions as well, having competed in the Summer and Winter postal leagues for 10m and 20yd air pistol. Lonnie Swift remains Oxfordshire’s overall air pistol champion, with Brian Tang second, and OUPC the reigning team champion and winner of the Thamesian Cup.

Nationals, finishing in tenth place overall. As a relatively new club, this is a great result, and we look forward to growing and improving more in the coming years.

POLO

OrienTeering

This year OUPC has had a spectacular year both on and off the field. With some major games played, such as the O2 Gaucho Tournament at the O2 arena in London and the Varsity Match at Guards Polo Club, it has been an exciting year.

We took part in the SUPA nationals, fielding teams ranging from beginners to intermediates.

Easter saw a successful Club tour to Thailand, where we took part in the University Championships and came third. A tournament was held at Cowarth Park, to which OUPC was cordially invited and where we beat Harvard.

Regular matches in Trinity term enabled players of all levels to compete but unfortunately we lost the Varsity B Match at Kirtlington.

OUOC have once again had a busy and successful year. The Club attended local orienteering competitions almost every weekend, alongside its various training sessions during the week. We also travelled to the Czech Republic for the Varsity Match, and to Edinburgh for BUCS. With fewer girls than in the past few years, the Club was unable to field a full Women’s Team for BUCS, but nevertheless managed to beat a full team from Durham overall! The Men more than made up for it, though, with a bronze medal in the relay. In the overall standings (combined Men and Women, Individual and Relay) Oxford were third, behind UK orienteering hubs Edinburgh and Sheffield.

The Varsity Match this year was held in the Czech Republic, which was a fantastic experience for all who competed. The woods were beautiful to run in and very rocky – unlike anything any of us had ever seen before in the UK. The Men’s Team beat Cambridge overall by 27 minutes, with the scorers being Peter Hodkinson (first), Alan Cherry (third), Ben Stevens (fourth), and Vaclav Potesil (tenth).

Finally Alan Cherry and Peter Hodkinson were also selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Poland in July 2011, following outstanding performances in several high-profile national competitions.

PisTol The big story of 2010-11 was our very strong Women’s Team comprehensively beating Cambridge during the smallbore Varsity Match in February. Ably led by Women’s Captain Olivia Ruttley (HMC), Oxford scored 1973 to Cambridge’s 1859 to win back the cup.

Congratulations go to Olivia, as well as Paula Heister (New), Minerva Singh (Hilda’s) and Ariana Adjani (St Antony’s). Unfortunately our

Off the pitch this year’s Committee held the first ever Alumni Dinner in the McKenna room at Christ Church. Over thirty alumni turned up for a wonderful evening where the current Club met old members. The Committee has strengthened and corrected its alumni database, getting in contact with lost members and all the Colleges to implement a coherent alumni network. As part of this, the first newsletter was sent out to all alumni and members reporting OUPC’s news.

All in all, the Club is thriving and we wish the new Committee the best of luck.

Pool and Snooker Despite losing over half of last year’s squad, 2010-11 has been a surprisingly successful year for OUPSC. English-style 8-ball pool remains the

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central focus of the Club, with strong Collegelevel participation in the pool leagues and Cuppers competitions, but interest in snooker is increasing too.

Both the Men’s and Women’s Varsity teams were victorious. In Cambridge, the Men’s Team won 48-42, with captain Ben Charlston securing the winning frames. Back in Oxford, the Women’s Team romped to a 36-18 victory, with Rosie Cretney taking Oxford over the winning line.

Gwilym Enstone also won the Varsity singles tournament, defeating the Cambridge Captain Paul Thomas in the final.

At the BUCS Pool championships, the first team got to the last sixteen in the Championships, and Ben Charlston lost narrowly in the last thirty-two of the singles event. Oxford continued their domination of the BUCS Women’s Pool Championships, taking both the individual and team titles, Conny Meisenberg defeating Louisa Gill in the all-Oxford final of the singles event. At the BUCS Snooker championships, after winning the shield last year, the Oxford Team reached the quarter-final of the Trophy. In the annual Town vs Gown pool match, Oxford lost 1-6 to a very strong Town side, with only Will Higham managing to secure a win for Gown.

The Club has unearthed some talented new players over the course of the year, and we look forward to seeing them develop. We are looking to improve on our success by finding a coach for the Men’s Team and establishing regular practice sessions next year.

PowerlifTing This has been a year of rebuilding and restructuring for OUPLC. Several of our

top-level lifters experienced injuries over the summer break, but fortunately a strong intake of new members left us in a good position to start the year. OUPLC hosted, for the first time, the Great Britain Powerlifting Federation University and College Championships where over eighty lifters from more than fourteen universities competed. For the third year in a row, OUPLC won the top team prize.

Unfortunately the Varsity Match did not go our way this year, where we saw another lifter unable to compete due to injury. It was a close match, and we look forward to redeeming ourselves next year.

RackeTs The Rackets Club has been stagnating for a number of years. However, an enthusiastic new Committee looks forward to building it up again for 2011-12.

The plan for next season is to set the Club off on a level footing so we can build up a membership, recruiting new players as well as old. We have the support of both our governing body and a generous sponsor lined up to help us to achieve this next season, as well as a professional who may be willing to coach beginners through the basics of the game.

Real Tennis With the majority of last year’s Men’s and Women’s Varsity teams having graduated in 2010, the first half of the season was strongly focused on rebuilding squads determined to beat Cambridge in February. Some new talented additions have allowed Oxford to maintain its strength in depth.

After hard preparation, the Men’s Blues Team made a defiant stand against a formidable Cambridge side. The highlight of the fixture was a fantastic win by Johnny Beale against a player a full ten handicap points better. However, the final score was Oxford 2-4 Cambridge; a result Oxford aim to reverse in 2012.

The Men’s Second Team, led by Rowan Jackson, also made a spirited effort against a strong Cambridge side. Sadly, they also came up short, with the same overall 2-4 scoreline. Despite these losses, the Men’s squad is in good heart.

The Second Team features some talented new players who look set to improve rapidly and challenge for Blues Team spots next year. This should help ensure that both teams will be thoroughly competitive next year.

RIDING OURC enjoyed a very successful year, both in terms of match results and attracting new members. Both the First and the Second Teams qualified for the regional rounds after winning their respective leagues. From the First Team, Lauren Innes qualified as an individual for the National Championships at Hartpury – we all wish her the best of luck. The Third Team also put in some strong performances, and it is expected that many of its fresher members will move up to higher teams next year. Oxford is one of the few universities to field three league-standard teams, and it is a credit to the Club and its members that we have done so with such success this year. At the end of Trinity Term, Oxford emerged victorious in the Varsity Match with a score of 28-27, narrowly defeating Cambridge for the first time in several years. www.sport.ox.ac.uk

38 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

The Club has also had many new riders join up this year and lessons have been happening weekly for them at Blewbury Equestrian Centre. The degree of improvement has been a pleasure to see and we hope they all continue to ride next year – it is great to see so many beginners reaching a standard at which they may become our team members of the future.

Rugby Fives The Oxford University Rugby Fives Club saw the loss of three of its top four players coming into the 2011 season, including the previous year’s Captain Dan Tristao, arguably one of the best ever to have played for Oxford. The Varsity Match was always going to be difficult after the previous year’s record-winning margin.

This time, the Club was somewhat thrown back down to earth by a hard-fought match and eventual loss, in a game which Cambridge seemed to have a greater desire to win. Oxford relied on a number of young and inexperienced players to try and quash the opponent’s hunger – one that was fuelled by heavy losses in the two previous years.

There were plenty of positives to be taken from the season however. The players showed great quality in their desire to win every point in the Varsity Match and, while as a first VIII we were beaten, the Oxford Beavers had a resounding win over Cambridge’s Sparrows, proving the depth of quality throughout the Dark Blue squad.

At the end of the season we said goodbye to Ed Ronan, who has decided enough is enough after almost a decade of fives at the University.

Other leavers include Ed Wilman, Sam Adcock and Tim Hoolahan who have played significant roles in Oxford’s successful past few seasons.

The Club is now in the safe hands of a new Committee and we are confident that Oxford will regain the Varsity crown in no time at all.

Rugby League As the season began, head coach Dan Garbutt and President Brett Marshall had very high hopes for the side; we had a fair few returning players and the talent which turned up to trials seemed to fill the gaps which we had in the squad. We unfortunately had an injurystricken first term and struggled to find the form we knew we were capable of. The first eight fixtures of the term were scattered with twenty-minute spells of intensity and quality, however this more often than not proved insufficient, and we fell short.

We met as a squad and made slight changes to our training structure and routine in an attempt to enable both the Blues and Maroons to play www.sport.ox.ac.uk

at their best. Soon after this we went on our mid-season tour to Portugal; Dan Garbutt and assistant coach John Hobart ran brilliant skills and game-play sessions, while conditioning coach Matt Queralt worked on our fitness daily. Once the three of them had bashed and bruised us, team physiotherapist Gemma Connolly patched us up so we could go again the next day. We had three tough sessions a day for a week and although we learnt a lot, the real benefit was that we gained the focus we had lacked in the first half of the season.

The second term started perfectly with Iain Alexander leading the Maroons to big victories against tough opposition. The Blues with their new focus started to find form, and as we did a few players in the squad really stepped up to the mark and led from the front.

Hugh McCormick, who represented Scotland Students the previous summer, hit form at pivot and enabled those around him to shine.

Joshua Halstead brought the form which earned him his place in the Under-18 Great Britain squad a few years ago, and, playing at loose forward, strengthened the centre of the park. Ben Calverley and Larry Knight embodied the spirit of the squad with determined and unselfish performances when we faced a strong Harlequins Under-20 side. With our biggame players coming into their own we found ourselves with four men being selected for the South East regional side, two of whom made it to the England Students Train-on Squad.

The end of our season culminated in a resounding Varsity win for the Blues. The jubilation which came with a record win was preceded by confusion, and much frustration at Cambridge for pulling out of the reserve Varsity fixture. The strength of our Maroons and the tight bond shared by all at the Club meant that this late withdrawal hit us all hard.

The game itself flew by after our electrifying start. What remains however is the memory of the changing room before kick-off, adrenaline pumping, nerves and anticipation felt by all.

The Blues side felt honoured to share the experience together, wearing the three crowns.

Rugby Union - MEN The Club enjoyed a successful season overall, winning three out of the five Varsity Matches.

The showpiece game at Twickenham for the Blues once again saw a very exciting Varsity Match - despite only winning two matches in Michaelmas Term the Blues produced their best rugby of the term and won by 21 points to 10.

Superbly led by Captain Nick Haydon, Oxford started as underdogs but the senior players and, in particular, Sky Sports Man of the Match Stan McKeen, delivered a performance to be proud of. With the defence outstanding all match long, the Blues were deserved winners.

The Greyhounds decided to withdraw from the BUCS competition and enjoyed a mixed season of results. Due to the snow that fell in late November their Varsity Match was postponed until Hilary Term – eventually being played on the Sunday of eighth week. Despite this they travelled to Cambridge and secured their eighth Varsity success in a row with another strong performance. The Under 21s also had a mixed season and with an inexperienced side, and lost their Varsity Match to a strong Cambridge Under-21 team. The Whippets Varsity Match was also carried over to Hilary Term and they also lost, but the College XV tipped the Varsity results in Oxford’s favour with a comprehensive win at Iffley Road. In January 2011 John Haydon (Kellogg) was elected Captain, with Jeremy Mather (LMH) as Team Secretary. The Blues’ final match of the season was against international opposition, when they hosted the Georgian National Team as part of their World Cup preparations. The 130th Nomura Varsity Match will take place on Thursday 8 December at Twickenham, KO 2.00 p.m.

Rugby Union - WOMEN The 2010-11 season has been a busy one for OUWRFC, as the Club saw a number of new strategies being put in place to tackle recent underperformance, as well as an influx of new players, at both Blues and Panthers levels.

September’s usual pre-season training in Oxford revealed the unwelcome news that only eight players were returning. Despite this, we buckled down to begin preparation, and faced our pre-season friendly with a squad of just ten players. Freshers’ Week brought welcome news in the shape of new players, experienced and brand new. Particularly welcome were Jessamy Tyrrell, an experienced hooker, and Jaeyon Lee, whose boundless enthusiasm on the wing, at fullback or in the centres was always heartening. We were also delighted to welcome for one term only Frances Wehrwein, a US international sevens player, who powered the scrum at 8, before returning to her home at Stanford University for their season. The scrum changed formation a number of times this year, due to injury and height imbalance, and SJ Cooper-Knock should receive a mention for her heroic change to 8 at a late hour. Katie Sage (Rage) organised a fantastic Cuppers tournament that brought us many more new players.

The year’s highlights have included playing the Army Women’s Team for the first time which, despite trepidation from the Blues, resulted in a respectable loss of 19-56. We hope that this will become a regular fixture. In January we took a chilly but useful trip to Guernsey for our mid-season tour, where the Panthers played their first game of the year, ably captained

Alice Gardner

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by Jesse van der Grient. Playing in what was essentially a mudbath, the team emerged victorious in the first of their matches aimed at qualifying for the RFU leagues. Their later success included defeating a visiting Jersey team, who had never lost a match before, with only a couple of ringers!

As always, Hilary term was aimed squarely at Varsity preparation. Captain Beth O’Brien did a fantastic job in keeping the team focused through the pain, ably assisted by Vice Captain Jessie-Joy Flowers. The Panthers squad grew enormously at this point, and after a few sessions with the lovely John Hobart we were delighted that Ian Swan and Mike Harris of OURFC could join us as Panthers coaches.

Between them they did a fantastic job of turning players new to rugby into a competitive team.

Match results have been somewhat disappointing, especially at Varsity where both teams lost to more experienced Cambridge sides. However, the Blues have retained their place in the BUCS Southern Premiership, and the retention of players from this season to next looks promising. We hope the changes we have implemented will enable the Club to develop and improve in the future, under incoming Captain Rona Marshall, and President Kelly-Anne Ferguson.

Shorinji Kempo 2010-11 was another year as usual for the Kempo Club. Intake from Freshers’ Fair was lower than expected but not disastrous, and was balanced out by retention of members from previous years. Despite ongoing organisational turmoil affecting Shorinji Kempo in the UK, four Club members successfully passed gradings in Bournemouth in November.

February saw ten members attend an official WSKO seminar in Slough, which featured several high-level instructors from WSKO headquarters in Japan and was a great opportunity for members to improve and refine their techniques. Sensei Chris deserves special thanks for acting as MC for the weekend.

The event culminated in a martial-arts show at which two Oxford members, Esteban Hubner and Hugo Holmes, spoke about their experiences with Shorinji Kempo. Special mention should be made of Lucy Tallents who passed her second Dan grading at the seminar.

As always, the Club thanks Sensei Chris and our team of black belts Howard, Mike, Alan, Steve and Lucy for their teaching and dedication to Shorinji Kempo in Oxford.

Ski and Snowboard It has been another busy year for OUSSC. Michaelmas term saw weekly training sessions held at the Welwyn Garden City dry-ski slope, which were very well attended with up to sixteen people training each week. It was great to see so many new members attending; this can probably be attributed to the new price of £15 per session thanks to a generous sponsorship deal from Excelian.

At the beginning of December the annual Varsity ski race between Oxford and Cambridge was held in Val Thorens, France. Overall, Oxford were very successful in the races - all the Men’s teams won, as did the Women’s Second Team, leaving only the Women’s Blues to lose out to Cambridge in 2010.

Training resumed again after Christmas with weekly sessions at Welwyn. Often after the Varsity Match some members lose enthusiasm

for training, but this year the Club was pleased to see a good turnout. Oxford also entered a strong team into the King’s dry slope league that went on to finish fourth, fifth and sixth (out of 23) at each of the group rounds, leading to qualification for the national finals at Easter.

Last year we qualified in eighth place so it was great to see an improvement this season.

We also joined forces with the Cambridge Ski Club for an inter-college skiing competition at the Milton Keynes snow dome. Colleges from each university competed against each other in a dual slalom race, culminating in a final race between the winning college teams from each university. This year’s competition was ultimately won by Trinity College, Cambridge.

Sulkido We do not participate in any competitions, but the Club has regular national gradings.

This year these continued, and the Club is celebrating the award of two new deputy black belts: to Elizabeth Hunt and Amy Bilderbeck.

Surf This year the Club has been building on previous years of effort, trying to arrange two trips per term and an attempted Portugal trip. Sadly the international trip did not have enough support so a few committed individuals organised it privately instead. The Club competed in the BUCS surfing championships at the start of the academic year, and plans for an inaugural Varsity Match are beginning to come together.

We negotiated half-price tuition with UK surfing champion Ben Baird so at present www.sport.ox.ac.uk

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Swimming The 2010-11 season was a good one for OUSC, with both individual and team successes throughout the year. The Varsity Match in mid-February featured races of the same top standard that we have become accustomed to in recent years. The Oxford Men extended their winning streak into a fourth consecutive year and the Women put in an excellent performance to go into the relays level, but unfortunately lost out in the end. The match was one of the most exciting in recent history, with the overall trophy coming down to the last race, and Cambridge touching Oxford out by a couple of tenths. To have participated in such a closely fought contest leaves the team hungry to see the overall result reversed next year.

The Southern Region BUCS team qualifier saw a strong Oxford team comfortably through to the national finals. Competing against stiff competition in the form of the performance centres of Bath and Loughborough and large universities such as Manchester, and with a reduced squad due to the final being staged after the end of our term, Oxford managed to finish a credible seventh overall, continuing the success of recent years.

The BUCS short-course championships in Sheffield represented the best set of individual results in recent years, with six swimmers making finals. Rhodes Scholar Justine Schluntz, in her first competition since picking up the prestigious NCAA Sportswoman of the Year award, cruised into the 50m backstroke final with a new university and county record of 28.98 seconds, ultimately finishing with a bronze. She followed this up with another bronze in the 100m freestyle, the most competitive of the women’s events, again in a University record of 56.60 seconds.

Performance of the weekend went to Hertford engineer Jack Marriott, for an imperious victory in the 50m butterfly in a time of 24.16 seconds – the first time a gold has gone to an Oxford swimmer since the event has existed www.sport.ox.ac.uk

in its current format. Jack added to this a silver medal in the 100m butterfly, putting in a career best time of 54.51 seconds. Jack maintained this level of performance through to the BUCS long-course championship, where he picked up a gold in the 50m butterfly and bronze in the 100m. The high point of his year, however, was his performance at the British Championships, where he overcame Commonwealth medallist Anthony James to become British Champion over 50m butterfly, the first time an Oxford student has ever held this title. Jack was quickly snapped up by the National Performance centre in Loughborough and has subsequently taken a year out from his studies to train for the Olympic trials in 2012.

We wish him all the best!

Table Tennis It has been an up and down year for the Table Tennis Club. The Women recorded a victory against Cambridge with the team significantly strengthened following the intake of freshers.

This had been preceded by victory against a town side and strong performances in the league. The Men’s Team also had a strong influx of players, and coped well in the league despite the loss of several players from the previous season. Unfortunately they narrowly missed out on promotion by a single victory.

At the Varsity Match both Men’s teams lost to very strong Cambridge sides, although there was cause for optimism, with Oxford carrying more strength in depth than previous years and Cambridge finally set to lose some key players next season!

Participation outside University competitions demonstrated the commitment of many players in the Club with Jingyu Sun breaking into the top two hundred nationally, a ranking which would undoubtedly be higher if he were available to compete in more competitions.

Within the University a core developed over the year which was much larger and trained more

regularly than in previous years, with training sessions continuing deep into Trinity.

The Club can look forward to next season, with high hopes for the teams and wider participation in Oxford under the stewardship of a Committee with new ideas.

Taekwon-do OUTKD has had a very positive year, with another Varsity win under our belts and several competitions also proving fruitful. Six members attended the UK Open Championships in November 2010 and despite some tough competition brought home four medals. We also met Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha, the father of British Taekwon-do. In Hilary 2011, twelve members went to Cholderton for the Varsity Training Camp before term, which was the beginning of some tough weeks ahead: Varsity training means five or six sessions a week. This year Varsity was played away at Cambridge in February. The Men’s B Team opened the match and took revenge for their defeat last year, winning 2-1 despite one of the team being up against a third-degree black belt. The Women again put up a strong team, coming out on top 3-1, truly outclassing their opponents. The Men’s A Team saw some fierce competition; after they had gone 2-0 up, Cambridge then brought the score back to level. In the last match at 2-2 it was left to President Nathan Ewin to defend the Men’s Varsity title … resulting in a victory over Cambridge in every category! This meant we got to bring all three shields back to Oxford for the fourth year in a row.

In March, two members attended the English Open Championships: a great chance to see some top-class internationals in the ring.

Rhianna picked up a silver medal in the Women’s -65kg black-belt Sparring. Also in March, two of the original members visited one of our training sessions and showed us Soyang Kim

we are not looking into private coaching; all of our learners are having a great time. In general the trips have gone well, but prices have put some people off. Next year the Club is looking to fundraise in order to buy some Club surfboards - this would allow us to surf in far more convenient locations, reducing trip costs for members. Last year all of our trips were to Newquay, the UK’s surfing capital.

During the coming year the Club hopes to diversify its range of national trips, and will work to organise and promote an international Club trip as well as a Varsity Match against Cambridge in the autumn. With a keen new committee on board we hope that the Surf Club will continue to expand.

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some photos of the early years, which was exciting as OUTKD is the oldest Taekwon-Do school in the UK. In May, member Valentina Iotchkova attended the Philipos Alexandros Open in Thessaloniki, gaining a silver medal in Second Dan Patterns and bronze in Sparring (-63kg). Overall we have had a very exciting and successful year, and we would like this to continue: we’re planning to invest in our own sparring ring to really up our game in national and international competitions, and of course the Varsity Match!

Taijiquan Earlier this year, the Club’s treasurer took part in the 23rd Festival of Chinese Martial Arts and British Open Tai Chi Championships, on 10 April 2011. This is what he had to say about it: ‘Competitors were able to compete in various categories including hand-form demonstrations, weapon-form demonstrations, fixed-step pushing-hands, moving-step pushing-hands, and Chinese full contact. Having taken part in the moving-step pushing-hands and had the opportunity to spend the day watching the other categories, this was definitely an eye-opening experience. Not only did it show me how much (or little) I have improved and the heights others have reached, it was also very interesting to discuss and observe both other styles of Tai Chi and other styles of martial arts in general.

Seeing how strong others are and how much more I have yet to improve has only encouraged me to train harder and catch up with them.’

In other news, the annual meeting brought about a decision for radical changes to the class, with the aim of integrating beginners much more smoothly and focusing more on martial aspects of Taijiquan. This will coincide with an overhaul of the Club’s website to complement this goal.

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, with the Men’s Blues and Seconds being joined this year by the Men’s Thirds. The Women’s Blues and Seconds also compete in their respective divisions. Both Women’s Teams almost gained promotion but finished just short, and took a close second place in their leagues. The Men’s Blues maintained their premiership status which considering the increasing strength of the league was a commendable effort. Unfortunately the Men’s Seconds were narrowly relegated but the Men’s Thirds retained their position in their league in a solid debut year.

Apart from BUCS the Club’s weekly coaching for non-team members continued and several friendlies were played. OULTC is lucky enough to play teams such as the All England Club, Camden Hill, Winchester, The Queen’s Club and Hurlingham to name a few. Oxford also hosted two touring teams this year, from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota and Trinity College Dublin. Both matches were played in good spirits and hopefully the players enjoyed their time on and off the court. The Men’s and Women’s Blues went on a combined tour of their own to Tel Aviv, Israel. This was an unmitigated success, with the International Club of Israel hosting and fielding multiple teams. Along with a match against the National Tennis Centre in Ramat Hasheron and training days, the trip was extremely beneficial for both teams.

OULTC suffered mixed results at the Varsity Matches this year. Both the Women’s and Men’s Thirds won theirs well but unfortunately all the other teams went down in hotly contested matches. The Women’s Blues lost 15-6 while the Men lost tightly, 12-9.

Overall it has been a good year for OULTC with some good tennis having being played and some great friends made.

TRAMPOLINING 2010-11 was a good year for Oxford University Trampolining Club. After a successful Freshers’ Fair, the early weeks of Michaelmas term saw a good beginner turnout. With quite a few deciding to join as well as several old members, Club membership reached twenty-five, up considerably from the previous year. Even more uplifiting was the fact that among the freshers there were four very advanced, if not elite, trampolinists. Training three times a week with supervision of student coaches led to quick improvements among the beginners, and the Club’s first successes came at the end of Michaelmas term, when Oxford trampolinists brought home two medals from the Loughborough Trampoline Open. Hilary term was dominated by preparations for the Varsity Match. Shortly before Varsity a few members competed in the Warwick student competition, achieving two medallists in the Elite Ladies category and raising hopes for Varsity itself.

Unfortunately, just days before the match, one of the First Team members had to pull out due to illness. Despite this, the Team did really well and lost by an incredibly small point difference: 146.5 : 147.6! The Second and Third teams performed strongly as well but were defeated by slightly more experienced Cambridge teams.

Still, the overall score was impressive and the highest from the last few years. At the start of Trinity, a few members went to Southampton for the last competition of this season:

Southampton University Trampoline Open.

Another two medals were a nice addition to a successful year. With most of the advanced athletes staying on for another season, the Club is looking forward to an exciting year, when, for the first time in a couple of years, there is a good chance of winning the Varsity Match and awarding some Half Blues.

TriaThlon The 2010-11 season got off to a fantastic start with a great recruitment drive at Fresher’s Fair and a successful beginners’ aquathlon hosted at Iffley Road at the end of Fresher’s week. Despite the majority of our advanced triathletes leaving Oxford last year we had a number of highly talented newcomers – whether converts from similar sports or experienced triathletes starting Oxford degrees. The bulk of the Club was still made up of relatively inexperienced athletes, who eagerly received coaching and training advice which developed many into solid performers at races, and many will be looking at First Team places and Blues over the next two to three years.

Our first big event of the year was the BUCS Duathlon in November – some great performances, and for many their first attempt at multisport racing. Next was the Varsity Duathlon held in the first week of Hilary where we won both the Second Team matches, but drew 1-1 in the main competition – the Men losing by less than a minute and the Women boosted by South Africa’s Olympian Mari Rabie winning with a margin of 26 minutes. In Hilary the season really got going, with attendance steadily rising and a host of successful social events, as well as confirmation that we were going to be sponsored by TriTrainingHarder for the 2010-11 season. The international triathletes at TTH were an enormous help to the Club and provided huge kit subsidies, and we were able to use their money to buy wetsuits, turbo trainers, clip-on aerobars, and race belts, and most of all to cover the costs of transport to all our races, which were much higher this year with the increase in numbers.

Training continued over the Easter break before we had our BUCS Triathlon race on the first day of Trinity term, which was a huge success on all counts. A record turnout of twenty-two took part, of whom seven achieved Half-Blue eligibility, but with four of our top athletes away the stage was set for a dramatic fight at Varsity to secure the soughtafter Blues. Held this year in Grendon near Nottingham, Varsity Triathlon was only seven days after BUCS, although for this race we had almost our entire line-up of top triathletes. The race was enjoyed by all, and a great lunch was www.sport.ox.ac.uk

42 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

held with Cambridge in a nearby pub where the results were announced: the Men lost by a mere 22 seconds while the Women landed a solid 14-minute victory. In the mob matches Oxford again excelled with comfortable victories in both.

With some surprising performances in the Varsity Match we had to wait until late July for the BUCS Olympic-distance race to find out who had achieved Blues, but the rest of Trinity term was a joyful time for all, with no more races on the horizon (only the dreaded exams!). Cuppers aquathlon, weekend rides and socials helped to finish the season well.

UlTimaTe t has been a great year for Oxford Ultimate this year. Having finished seventh last year in both Indoor and Outdoor regionals, the Team trained hard this year to ensure that we made one of the six qualification slots available.

Continuation of members from the First Team of last year combined with a couple of new players to strengthen the Team for the season ahead.

one new trainees. To introduce our new, but already qualified, divers to the Club we ran a Halloween trip to Torquay where we got to dive in fancy dress: a new experience for many.

Training of the new recruits ran throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms on Thursday evenings with alternate pool sessions and theory lectures. The novices were ready to take to the open water by November, with a successful, if a tad cold, training trip to Swanage. For more advanced members we have provided training in dive leading and boat handling. Open-water training continued during the very successful Easter training trip to Cornwall, attended by twenty-eight divers.

Our performance was strong throughout the indoor season, beating Cambridge in the important 3-4 play-off for the final slot in Division 1 Nationals. We continued our success throughout the Nationals weekend, finishing ninth, twenty-five places higher than our finishing position last year, and just one place away from earning BUCS points.

The outdoor season was greatly anticipated and we went into Regionals seeded sixth, with great hopes for the weekend ahead. We won our first four games 11-0, a brilliant performance for the Team, and then went on to beat Loughborough 10-6 to guarantee a Nationals slot going into the second day. After a brilliant crossover we earned our place in the final to take on Cambridge, one of the strongest teams in the country. The game was very tight - towards the end we gained a three-point advantage, but the opposition fought back to take the final 9-8. Nevertheless, we still secured a place in Division 1 Outdoor Nationals - something the Team has not achieved for at least five years.

At Nationals itself the competition proved very tough. It was a windy weekend in Sheffield, and we fought hard, picking up a couple of victories to take fourteenth place.

Varsity was at Cambridge this year, with six games for the three teams to look forward to.

Both the Women’s and the Second Team put on a good show but struggled against the size and depth of the Cambridge squad. The First Team had a hard-fought indoor game which was decided (unfavourably) on the timing of the buzzer. The pressure was on for outdoors, www.sport.ox.ac.uk

having won against the grain last year. The sun was out and crowds were gathered for an intense battle. Points were exchanged, with OW! (Oxford) taking the half 9-8 against Strange Blue (Cambridge). Having won the break by winning the next point on defence, we then continued on to win 13-10! Another fantastic year for the Team.

UnderwaTer ExploraTion Summer 2010 has been a memorable time for the Club, with several exciting trips taking place. The highlight was a week-long summer expedition to Lochaline in Western Scotland, during which we visited some of the UK’s top wrecks. The members’ enthusiasm during the Freshers’ Fair and the Try Dive session resulted in many new divers joining, raising the numbers to well over sixty, including twenty-

The 2011 diving season opened in early January, with several members participating in the Guinness world record attempt for the greatest number of Santas scuba-diving simultaneously.

As a means of warming up, a group of OUUEG divers attended a liveaboard trip to St John’s Reefs in Egypt: the highlights were dolphins, mantas and a whale shark! Trinity term saw the group of keen and newly qualified divers make weekend trips to Swanage, St Abbs / Farne Islands and Salcombe a great success!

With more members, diving trips and trainees than we have ever had before the Club is thriving, and we are very grateful to our friends in the Oxford BSAC and Torquay BSAC clubs for help with organizing trips and training. Moving towards 2011-12, we look forward to another fun year of exploring the excellent dive sites that the UK has to offer.

Volleyball The 2010-11 season was a transition year for OUVC. For the third consecutive season the Club comprised six teams - both Men’s and Women’s First and Second teams as well as National League teams. Both the Men’s and

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Women’s Blues teams saw many of their key members retire after a very successful 2009-10 season, and started the process of building the core that will be ready to compete at the highest level next year. After recruiting numerous young players, much emphasis during training sessions was put on development of technical skills as well as general physical fitness.

The Women’s First Team finished third in BUCS Midlands conference 1A and lost their crossover match against the eventual champions.

Unfortunately the Varsity Match did not go their way. The Men’s First Team finished fifth in BUCS Midlands conference 1A and after a disappointing season concentrated on winning the Varsity Match for the first time in five years.

They achieved a convincing 3-0 win against a very strong Cambridge side, and only a week earlier finished in the top eight in the country in the English Volleyball Association Students’ Cup. The Men’s and Women’s Second Teams have struggled for the whole season, ultimately finishing fourth and third in their respective divisions of Midlands conference. They have however succeeded in training new players and later supplying them to both First Teams, which is the primary purpose of the Second Team’s existence.

The National Volleyball League teams enjoyed a very successful season. The Men finished fourth in Division 2 North and the Women finished second in Division 2 South, although were unable to achieve promotion to Division 1 in their play-off games against Northampton and Loughborough. Next year we are looking forward to increasing the integration between NVL and student teams, so that student teams can also benefit from the NVL teams’ successes.

Walking The academic year 2010-11 has been another busy and successful year for our Club. The OU Walking Club’s aims are the support, development, improvement and promotion of friendship between its members by means of organizing walks around Oxford and elsewhere, and social meetings.

To kick off the summer of 2010, we had a week-long trip to the Isle of Skye and Glencoe in Scotland. This was followed by a weekend trip to the Lake District in September 2010. In Michaelmas term 2010, we had four weekend trips (to Dartmoor, the Lake District, Snowdonia and Pembrokeshire), a ‘big’ day trip to the Malvern Hills (i.e. two minibuses), and local walks around Oxford almost every weekend of full term.

We organised many socials, including the hugely successful annual Ceilidh in Sixth Week!

Hilary term 2011 saw three weekend trips (to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and Exmoor),

one minibus day trip (to the Ridgeway), and eight local walks encompassing the entire Oxfordshire Way long-distance walking trail.

A few people went on every single one of these walks! We also held a range of socials, including the club’s Annual Dinner held in the magnificent surroundings of Magdalen College.

In Trinity term 2011 the Club held two weekend trips as well as a minibus day-trip to Cambridge, where we met our fellow walkers of the Cambridge University Rambling Club, plus five further local walks and a punt party!

WaTer Polo This year has been an exciting and successful year for OUWPC. At the start of the year we took on some fantastic Men’s players, all representing their respective countries at Junior International level: Byron de Preez from Zimbabwe, Andrei Seceusu from Romania and Sam George from New Zealand. The Women have also done fantastically this year, as they had to build up their team from near-enough scratch after many key players left at the end of the year; a commendation must go to Olivia Pierce for her effort in turning it into a highly competitive team. The Women competed in BUCS to great success, but narrowly lost to Cambridge in the Varsity Match.

The Men’s season, valiantly led by Christopher Fairweather, had an exciting year. Michaelmas started strongly, and they competed in the U-Polo and BUCS leagues. The Men’s Team had a fantastic Varsity result considering the strength of the team at the start of the year.

They narrowly lost to Cambridge, with many chances arising in the last few minutes of the game when the result was tied, making it one of the best and most nail-biting events of the day. Although narrowly missing out on the BUCS semi-finals, they retained their position in Division 1, providing an ample platform to start the next season.

The Men’s Second Team had an exceptional year – they were undefeated in every game.

Cuppers in Trinity Term 2009 was the largest event so far, with more Colleges and more people competing than ever before. It was a very successful tournament, held over two weekends that culminated in a close final between Balliol and Wadham, with Balliol narrowly scraping victory.

Windsurfing The 2010-11 season has been another exciting year of windsurfing action. Alongside eagerly watching the forecast and heading to Farmoor reservoir whenever the wind blows, Windsurf Club members have been on a number of trips.

At the end of second week in Michaelmas term a record twenty-two windsurfers made the annual trek to Bude for the tenth Aussie Kiss windsurfing festival. Beginners enjoyed tuition at Roadford reservoir and more advanced sailors headed to Daymer Bay for some superb wind- and wave-sailing. The Club also held a successful beginners’ day in October for nine novices, which was run by volunteer instructors.

Over the Easter vacation a number of Oxford windsurfers joined Cambridge on the annual Varsity trip – this year to the sunny and windy resort of El Tur, situated on the Red Sea coast in Egypt. Members received excellent coaching and got the chance to perfect their skills in world-class sailing conditions.

Trinity term’s main event was the annual Varsity racing. The 2011 match was hosted by Cambridge at Hunstanton Sailing Club. The conditions were rough: an onshore breeze and a rising tide built up a vicious shore break which made sailing difficult even for the most experienced. However, Oxford managed to emerge victorious in the series of races, cut short due to kit damage and deteriorating conditions. The final score was Oxford 10 – Cambridge 11 with the qualifying Oxford windsurfers coming first (Tom Levick), third (Stuart Jennings) and sixth (Jens Meurer).

Looking forward to 2011-12, the Windsurf Club looks set to expand to new levels. The new Committee plans to improve provision for beginners, attend a number of events on the SWA circuit and attend the BUCS championship next spring.

YACHTING - TEAM RACING This season has been particularly successful for the Dinghy Section of OUYC, with very strong results from the First, Second and Women’s teams. Hilary term saw victories for the Second Team at the Warwick University team racing event and for the First Team at events in Oxford and Exeter. At the UK National Team Racing Championships hosted at Spinnaker Sailing Club, the Oxford First Team reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by the current UK and World Champions from West Kirby Sailing Club. The Women’s Team also dominated, sailing flawlessly to be crowned National Champions, defeating many moreexperienced teams of older sailors.

The culmination of the season was the BUSA Team Racing Championships in early April, where the squad once again showed its mettle, with the Second Team placing fifteenth out of twenty-five against the best university teams in the county (the second-placed Second Team in the competition). The First Team held its composure to reach the final against Southampton University, where they completed www.sport.ox.ac.uk

44 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011 Peter Bateson

a 3-1 win to be crowned the BUSA Team Racing Champions for 2011 (following victory at the same competition two years earlier). Victories in early July in both the Mixed and Women’s Varsity Matches at Hayling Island Sailing Club rounded off an extra-ordinarily successful year for the squad.

The Club now looks forward to the tenth Triennial exchange with Doshisha University Sailing Club, Kyoto, which commences with a visit of the Japanese sailors in November of this year.

YACHTING - FLEET RACING The past year has been very successful for the Yachting Section of the Oxford University Yacht Club, with the racing team taking home the Varsity Cup for the fifth time and winning its first-ever Half Blues for yacht fleet- racing. The Varsity Match was sailed in the Solent as part of the Warsash Spring Championship, for which the Oxford crew chartered a brand-new Sunsail First 40. Later in the year, a team of OUYC members and life member Richard Palmer competed in the 2011 J-Cup in Guernsey. This event was considered a training fixture for next year’s yacht squad.

The Club’s racing activities include offshore racing as well as inshore ‘round the cans’

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

regattas. In this year’s Round-The-Island Race, the OUYC crew of three finished 213th out of 1,908 boats, racing a privately-owned Beneteau First 26 around the Isle of Wight.

Several cruising trips have also been organized this year, with one trip running alongside the Varsity Match, and with two cruising boats

on the water over the Round-The-Island Race weekend. OUYC also chartered a boat in Sweden during the summer for one week, which gave members the opportunity to sail in new waters and improve on seamanship, passage planning and navigation.

I 45

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

46 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

BUCS Roundup Andy John, OUSF Administrator and former Bangor University Athletic Union President, is the man behind Oxford’s annual BUCS campaign. Here he takes a step away from the traditional focus on Varsity Matches to give a brief rundown of our current position within the BUCS Series.

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national organising body for higher-education sport – formerly known as BUSA before it merged with British Colleges Sport in 2008. Over the last few years BUCS has experienced a huge expansion in both depth of participation and the number of sports on offer: currently over four thousand teams compete regularly in forty-eight different sports. BUCS can be split into two aspects: the weekly league competitions consisting of sports like badminton, football and lacrosse; and the individual championship events consisting of such sports as boxing, judo and surfing.

Earning BUCS points is quite literally the aim of the game, and they are not gained easily! The standard at the top of student sport nationally is truly exceptional. Both quantity and quality are rewarded by BUCS points; the more teams you enter into the weekly leagues, the more points you will receive at the end of the season. The higher the league in which a team competes, the greater their reward as more points are up for grabs.

At present BUCS has 145 member institutions, making it the most effective measure of overall sporting prowess in the UK higher-education sector. Oxford is currently in tenth place, after slipping by two places last year. To be ranked amongst the most sport-orientated universities in Britain is quite an achievement and one we should celebrate. I might also mention that we are currently four places ahead of Cambridge, a point I will not dwell on any further, suffice to say that we well and truly shoed the Tabs as far as BUCS is concerned. We have had a great deal of success in BUCS – a few particular successes of our clubs and individuals are highlighted below.

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

Individual Championships When one thinks of sports at which Oxford excels, cricket and rowing may spring to mind, but there are in fact several others in which Oxford is developing a pedigree. Our Cycling Club earned 108 points in this year’s BUCS Championship – the highest score of any Oxford club and a substantial improvement on last year’s impressive 93 points. The Club enjoyed particular success at the Indoor Track Championships, despite the nearest indoor cycling track being two hours away in Newport, Wales. This is just one example of the talent of our students and demonstrates that our Cycling Club is a force to be reckoned with! If we had an award for most-improved club, it would most certainly go to Sailing for earning 50 points more than last year in just one competition, the BUCS Mixed Team Racing Championships. Swimming earned 60 points, a great improvement on their previous year’s

score. This was helped by the much-discussed performance of Jack Marriott, who took gold in the 50m butterfly at the BUCS Short-Course Swimming Championships and is now training with the British Olympic squad.

League Competitions Our Wednesday League teams have also seen considerable success with the following teams winning their leagues: Basketball Men’s 1st, Cricket Men’s 1st, Cricket Men’s 2nd, Fencing Women’s 2nd, Football Women’s 1st, Hockey Men’s 2nd and Netball 1st. While three teams have been relegated to the leagues below, six teams have been promoted for next year; this should give us the opportunity to gain more points and also shows that many of our clubs are steadily improving. We have entered two additional teams for next year, Men’s Hockey 3rd and Women’s Tennis 3rd. These teams follow 2nd teams which have been promoted

The Men’s Cross-Country Team achieved BUCS bronze

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and these clubs are enjoying consistent success in BUCS at the moment.

The coming year will see more opportunities than ever for students to compete in BUCS and there are a few highlights to look out for. The BUCS Championships will once again take place in Sheffield in March 2012, where nineteen sports will be in action over seven days of competition in a showcase event for student sport in the UK. The Outdoor Athletics Championships will take place in May and will be the only domestic championship to take place in the Olympic Stadium prior to the Olympic Games themselves. We hope that it will be a true spectacle for university sport, and a high-calibre promotional event for BUCS next season. Details of ticketing will be published in February, and if you missed out on tickets for the Olympics this could be your chance to see some great sport in extraordinary surroundings.

We hope to see you there! ■

CHANGE FROM 2009/10

RANKING INSTITUTION

IND. CHAMP. LEAGUE & KNOCKOUT POINTS POINTS

TOTAL

 -

1

Loughborough

3579

1763

5342

 1

2

Birmingham

1574.5

1410

2984.5

 1

3

Leeds Met Carnegie 1527.5

1406.5

2934

 2

4

Durham

1439

1403

2842

 1

5

Bath

1293.5

1196

2489.5

 1

6

Edinburgh

1096.5

1332

2428.5

 -

7

Nottingham

1043

1181

2224

 2

8

Exeter

839

1361

2200

 -

9

Manchester

1005.5

1132

2137.5

 2 10 Oxford

822

1050 1872

 1

11

Bristol

772.5

1030

1802.5

 3

12

Cardiff

869.5

923.5

1793

 -

13

UWIC

873

854

1727

 -

14

Cambridge

949

767

1716

 4

15

Newcastle

774.5

927.5

1702

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

48 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

Winner (5 points)

Alternative Ice Hockey Archery Athletics Badminton (M) Badminton (W) Basketball (M) Basketball (W) Canoe & Kayak Cricket Croquet Cross Country (M) Cross Country (W) Cycling Dancesport Fencing Football (M) Football (W) Football 5-a-side (M) Football 5-a-side (W) Footsal Golf Gymnastics Hockey (M) Hockey (Mixed) Hockey (W) Ice Hockey Judo Karting Kendo Korfball Lacrosse Modern Pentathlon Netball Orienteering Pistol Pool & Snooker Rugby Rugby (Sevens) Rugby (Mixed Touch) Rugby Fives Rugby League Ski & Snowboard Squash Swimming Table Tennis Tennis (M) Tennis (W) Trampolining Utimate Frisbee Volleyball Water Polo Yachting Torpids (M) Torpids (W) Summer Eights (M) Summer Eights (W)

Oriel New 33 Worcester St Edmund Hall 29.5 New Balliol Balliol 27.5 St Edmund Hall Christ Church Oriel 27 Wadham Brasenose Wadham 22.5 LMH/Hertford St Catz/Balliol Worcester 19.5 Pembroke/Queen's LMH Keble 17 Jesus Brasenose St John's 16 Worcester New St Catz 15 St Edmund Hall Trinity St Hugh's 14 St Anne's St Cross Pembroke 12 St Catz Balliol Brasenose 11 Keble Jesus 10 Wadham Keble Magdalen 10 Balliol Queen's 10 Worcester New St Anne's 10 New St Catz LMH 9.5 St Hugh's Wadham Exeter 7.5 New Christ Church 7 Worcester Lincoln 7 Queen's Wadham Merton 7 Wadham/Worcester Hertford 6.5 SEH/Pembroke New Corpus Christi 5 Exeter Oriel Harris Manchester 5 St Hilda's/Queen's New/Pembroke University 5 Oriel St Hugh's Wolfson 5 Corpus Christi St Hilda's 2.5 St John's New St Cross 2 University St John's Trinity 2 Jesus Lincoln Oriel Hertford St Edmund Hall Worcester LMH St Hugh's St Anne's Wadham Merton Harris Manchester Merton Keble Brasenose St Edmund Hall St Edmund Hall New St John's Exeter/Balliol St Hugh's Balliol St John's Magdalen St Catz Lincoln St Catz New Brasenose St Catz New Keble Wadham Brasenose Lincoln Wolfson St John's Balliol Wadham Oriel Hertford Christ Church Pembroke Magdalen St Edmund Hall Oriel Pembroke Balliol Pembroke

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

Runner-up (2 points)

Overall College Scores

Cuppers ResulTs 2010-11

I 49

Oxford Sport: Setting the pace Work hard, play hard: at Oxford, it’s part of the reason why our sports clubs are vibrant communities, enriching lives and creating lifelong friendships. With your help we can provide the sporting environment to fulfil the dreams of thousands of men and women taking part in over 80 different sports, at every level of sporting prowess - from enthusiasts to College heroes and Olympians.

Iffley Road is home to one of the most outstanding human achievements of the last century - Bannister’s sub-four minute mile. However, the complex is now nearly as old as his record and we want our London 2012 legacy to include facilities that will enable a new era of Oxonians to break through barriers.

For information on how you can support our campaign visit:

www.campaign.ox.ac.uk/sport

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

IMPORTANT DATES 2011-12 50 I OXFORD UNIVERSITY I SPORTS REVIEW 2011

Rugby Union Varsity Match

The Boat Race

Fencing Varsity Match

Henley Boat Races

Real Tennis Varsity

BUCS Athletics Championships

Thursday 8th December 2011, Twickenham (2.00pm)

Saturday 25th February 2012, Exam Schools, Oxford

Friday 24th- Saturday 25th February 2012, MCC Court, Lord’s, London

Swimming & Water Polo Varsity Match Saturday 18th February 2012, Iffley Road, Oxford

Saturday 7th April 2012 – River Thames, London

Sunday 25th March 2012, Henley

Friday 4th – Monday 7th May 2012, 2012 Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, London

Athletics Varsity Match

Saturday 19th May 2012, Iffley Road, Oxford (11.00am)

Lacrosse Varsity Match

Saturday 25th February 2012, University Parks, Oxford

Cricket Varsity Match, Twenty20 June 2012, University Parks, Oxford

Varsity Games

Saturday 25th– Sunday 26th February 2012 Saturday 3rd – Sunday 4th March 2012, Oxford

Cricket Varsity Match, 1 Day

Women’s Rugby Union Varsity Match

Cricket Varsity Match, 1st Class 4 Day

Rugby League Varsity Match

Lawn Tennis Varsity Match

Hockey Varsity Match

College Rowing

Saturday 3rd March 2012, Iffley Road, Oxford

Thursday 8th March 2012, The Stoop, Twickenham

Sunday 11th March 2012, Southgate Hockey Club

Saturday 16th June 2012, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London

July 2012, University Parks, Oxford

Week beginning 2nd July, National Tennis Centre, Roehampton

Torpids Regatta – 22nd - 25th February 2012 Summer Eights – 23rd - 26th May 2012

Football Varsity Match

Wednesday 14th March 2012, Abbey Stadium, Cambridge

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

www.sport.ox.ac.uk

Matt Henderson

COMEOARNTD SUPPBLUES OUR NOTHER TO ASITY VAR ORY! VICT