Starting in 1995/96 the Boat Club now publishes a short review of the rowing year in the College's Annual Report which is sent to all living King's alumni at around Christmas. The report is written by the Steering Committee Chairman or the Honorary President. Below are their necessarily very brief accounts of each academic year. Much more detailed historical information is in the Past Seasons Index.
This has been a mixed year for King's rowing, the high point being the Lent Bumps results. The year got off to an unpromising start with a poor crop of male novices. We were very lucky to have had three novice boats last year, but this year did not quite manage to fill two, and therefore had to put out just one. A crackdown by first year tutors has been blamed since the waning of our lower year academic results, but no such excuses are needed for the women. They got together three eights at one point, dropping to two eights and a social four by the end of Michaelmas term. Our performance in the Fairburns was middling, but acceptable given several technical hitches: the Men coming 46th from 73; the Women, 37th and 50th from 53.
Lent Term
The Men's Captaincy changed hands unexpectedly soon with a dramatic resignation, sending shock-waves through the Cambridge rowing community. Tim Granger, having returned to King's to study for a PhD took the helm for a second time, having been Captain in 1996/1997. The men's preparations for the Lents were dogged by injury, most seriously when, with about a dozen outings before the Bumps, a crew member was forced to retire from the 1st VIII. With his new contacts amongst the graduates, Tim managed to find a replacement. This substitute, although having never rowed before (has this ever stopped King's in the past?), is an athlete and we had high hopes. He learned very quickly, and on just his second 2000m ergometer test almost beat the Club record, and so won the Gerard Arnhold Ergometer Championship for the year.
Having not competed in many regattas during the term, we could not judge the relative standard of the boats either side of the Men's 1st VIII. On the first day, we were forced to row over behind a fast St.Catharines who went on to bump up to the 1st division. For the next three days they rocketed past 1st & 3rd II, Sidney Sussex I, and LMBC II. There are now no second VIIIs ahead of King's in the Lents, and no fewer than nine first VIIIs behind us. Being third in our division, we have a good chance of a return to the first division next year. This is the highest position we have held since 1976.
The women put on an equally good show, and were unfortunate to have been denied blades. They began by bumping Emma II in less than a minute. A combination of an excellent King's start and a poor Emma start gave the women their easiest bump ever. The next day, we were unsure whether Emma could turn the tables, but the women put in a solid performance and wound in Corpus slowly, but with great calmness. Friday saw the possibility of bumping Jesus II, but with a very slow LMBC II head of them, it was a case of who could catch whom first. Unfortunately, LMBC II were sufficiently sluggish to be caught before King's could catch their quarry, and we were forced to row over with no threat from behind. Saturday was sunny and a good setting for another bump, the women winding LMBC II in with ease. All in all, a great performance, just lacking that bit of Bumps luck which makes a blades winning performance.
The Men's 2nd VIII were very fast for their position with a number of fallen first VIII rowers, albeit laden with larger bellies than they had been. Their hopes for blades were dashed by Queens' III, who started one place in front, putting out an VIII similarly replete with former first VIII material. King's rowed over behind them on the first two days, and went up two places on Friday and Saturday, putting them up to second in the fourth division. These successes put King's 2nd of all the Colleges in the Mitchell Cup.
Easter Term
Easter term appeared very promising for the men beginning with a strong squad of experienced rowers, and some good ergometer scores. Training included the annual regatta in Valenciennes where they picked up a trophy for a fabulous third place in a very competitive field of European University crews. But disaster struck: a week and a half before the May Bumps, a serious knee injury took out the number three man, and a sub was brought in. Despite a reduction of average fitness in the boat, they managed to get the boat speed up and do some fast grinds. The starting order saw King's behind three fast crews but with no threat from behind. We predicted three comfortable rows over, and a quick bump of Queens' II on Saturday. This is exactly what happened. We were unable to make an impression on Girton in front, and seemed to be exactly the same speed as them.
The women were very confident having had some promising training sessions. However, they found themselves being chased by two fast crews and unfortunately went down on the first two days, but not without a fight. Despite slipping down, the Women's Captain, Kirsten Henson, claimed that it was the best King's VIII she had ever rowed in: once again, Bumps luck didn't favour King's.
The stories of the second VIIIs are in great contrast to one another. The 2nd Women's VIII had to fight for a place in the Getting On Race. Despite several crabs and rowing most of the course with fewer than eight rowers, they managed to qualify. Without the mishaps, they would have been one of the fastest crews to get on. The boats that get on are ordered semi-randomly (nobody knows how), and it is well known that the standard of boats that get on is considerably higher than that of the boats with permanent places higher up the bottom division. Therefore, it is a great credit to them that they went up one place.
The Men's 3rd VIII was to be the Graduate VIII, and the 2nd VIII to be compiled during Easter term. Sadly, a combination of exam stress and the sequestration of rowers into the first boat led to the 2nd VIII falling through. Consequently, the Graduate VIII rowed as the 2nd VIII. Expecting to have rowed as the 3rd VIII, they found themselves outclassed by better drilled crews in a higher division, and went down four places. Nevertheless, they enjoyed the experience and those that are still here next year look forward to turning things around.
The Alumni Association
The Alumni Association continues to grow in numbers, and is thriving in its role in providing continuity for KCBC through the years balancing the annual flux of undergraduates. Of course, it also keeps alumni up to date with KCBC intrigue and our various successes and activities. At the core of the Alumni Association is the Steering Committee, until recently chaired by Christopher Saunders who has just retired from the post. He studied at New College in the late Forties, and has long been associated with KCBC, having coached many King's boats since then, as he continues to do. His loyalty to KCBC throughout our chequered history has been astonishing, but very gratefully and warmly received. On behalf of KCBC, I thank you, Chris. Roger Thoroughgood has been nominated to take his place, and I am sure he will do an excellent job.
We have welcomed back many alumni this year, particularly at the Mays Dinner which record numbers of people attended. We were pleased to see alumni who matriculated in almost every decade between and including the 1930s and the 1990s. The shouting and extra purple on the bank at the Alumni RV point did wonders for morale; and the wine and food were excellent, the best I have had at a Boat Club dinner, and the occasion was enjoyed by everyone. I fear a new tradition began this year with alumni taking it upon themselves to make drinking fines! The date of foundation of KCBC has recently been revised, and with the two dates now available to us, 1838 and 1858, we chose to celebrate the 150th anniversary this year. This involved an exhibition of material from the archives, including photgraphs, dinner cards and material from the Captains' books.
The Mays dinner is very important in instilling a sense of community and history in the Boat Club. The undergraduates see alumni coming back year after year from all over the world and realise that College rowing is something they should enjoy and make the most of while they can. Of course, the occasion also provides an excellent opportunity for reunions of old crews, and old friends, and this is one of the primary reasons for the existence of the Association. Therefore, however active you may have been in the Boat Club in your King's days, you are most welcome to join the Association. If you wish do to so, please contact, "The Alumni Association Secretary and Archivist, KCBC, 842 King's College, Cambridge. CB2 1ST."
Jack Wasey
Alumni Association Secretary and Archivist
The women
Michaelmas - The women's senior members put most of their efforts into coaching and recruiting novices, creating the largest novice squad of recent years comprising an eight and a coxed four. The best novice result of term was produced by the women's eight in the Novice Fairbains when hard work and dedication was rewarded by an excellent 13th place (out of 54).
Lent - The women fielded two eights for the Lent bumps. The second eight narrowly missed qualification in the Getting-On-Race, the first eight stayed level at 9th in the second division. The first eight also entered the Bedford Head, where in a classic clean-sweep together with the men, KCBC won all the events it had entered (women's second division eights, men's second division eights, men's coxed fours). At the Newnham Regatta the women's first eight came 4th, and the second eight 6th.
Easter - The women entered two eights into the Mays. The first boat went down three to finish 11th in the second division, but the second boat narrowly missed their blades, because their Friday prey bumped a very slow crew ahead of them. Up three to 13th in the fourth division. The first boat for the first time this year also went to Valenciennes Regatta, France, an event that has become something of a fixture for the men already. Gillian Wallace became only the second woman ever to win the Oscar Browning Sculls, a resurrected internal KCBC sculling event. She follows in the footsteps of Lindsay Burns who won them in 1988, having learnt to scull in Cambridge, and who went on to win a silver in the Atlanta Olympics, rowing in the US lightweight double.
The men
Michaelmas - This Michaelmas King's men managed to exceed the already impressive novice intake of Michaelmas 1996 and fielded three novice eights. All three crews entered the Clare Novices. A record performance by one saw four crabs in eight hundred metres. The other two won their first rounds, but were beaten by Clare and LMBC in the second. The Novice Fairbairns saw a 21st, a 54th, and a 58th place. The Senior squad's term was spent rowing in small boats at the Pairs Head of the River (13th and 16th place), the Cambridge Small Boats Head (2nd and 3rd) the Headway Regatta in Cambridge (2nd and 3rd), the Kingston Small Boats Head (2nd in a coxed four, 13th and 15th in pairs), the Lowe Double Sculls (k.o. in 2nd round), the Magdalene Silver Pairs (k.o. in the 1st round by the eventual winners)
Lent - The men entered two eights into the Lents. The first eight went down one to finish 6th in the second division. The men's 2nd eight won their blades in style, including an overbump on Saturday, to finish 3rd in the fourth division. King's also competed in the Cambridge Winter League (1st, 2nd and 3rd clean-sweep in pairs and another 1st in a coxed four), the Robinson Head (first eight 11th, second eight 16th), the Henley Fours Head (1st in a coxed four), the Bedford Head (clean-sweep 1st places in the men's second division eights and the coxed four categories), and the Cardinal's Regatta (pair beaten in the final, 1st in a mixed coxed four).
Easter - The first May, surrounded by fast crews did very well to go down only one to finish 9th in the second division. The second May, like the second women, only narrowly missed their blades by having a crew ahead bump out on one of the days. Up three to 8th in the fourth division for them. Down three for the scratch-crew third May. The first eight also went to Valenciennes (France) again, where they qualified for the final in which they came 6th. They crew also went to Nottingham Regatta, where again they qualified for the final to finish 6th. KCBC also had a composite pair with St. Catharine's racing throughout the spring and summer. They won the Bedford Small Boats Head, won at Peterborough Regatta, and came second at the Metropolitan and Docklands Regattas. At Henley Royal Regatta they entered the Goblets thus producing the first ever KCBC entry for this event. Against the international field, they failed to qualify, but came a credible 12th out of 18 non-qualifiers. At the National Championships they came last due to a very unlucky equipment failure when their rudder strings snapped while they were lying in third place.
The Alumni Association
The one-year KCBC Appeal finished in April with £52,000 raised for the Boat Club! To celebrate this and the May bumps, the Alumni Association, which was founded in 1994, hosted its third Mays Events on the Saturday and Sunday of bumps this year. The events, which were a great success with both alumni and current rowers, included a river RV point for the alumni, a boat naming ceremony followed by the traditional Bumps Supper, overnight accommodation in College, a champagne breakfast on Sunday morning and finally an alumni outing on the Cam. More than 30 alumni attended, some of them having organised themselves into reunions. The Alumni Association now has just over 200 members and if you are interested in joining, please contact the Alumni Association Secretary & Archivist, KCBC, 842 King's College, Cambridge CB2 1ST.
The women
The women did exceptionally well this year, winning their oars in the Lents and going up three in the Mays. They were prevented from achieving double-oars only because the crews ahead of them bumped out on the first day of the Mays. The women also raced at Bedford Regatta, reaching the final of the College eights event, in which they were beaten by the Mays Head crew from Pembroke.
The men
The first men's boat stayed level at sixth in the second Lent division. After catching a crab and being bumped on the first day, they regained their place on the third day and narrowly missed a second bump on Saturday.
The men's Easter term started with a one-week training camp in Germany, and two weeks later an international regatta at Sczecin, Poland, which the men won, convincingly beating crews from Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Bedford Regatta followed, where the men upset a much-fancied Pembroke crew by beating them by a length, only to be beaten very narrowly by Queen's in the quarter finals. Next on the agenda was an international invitation regatta in Valenciennes, France, to which King's were invited to represent Cambridge rowing. Sunday saw King's come third in a 3,500 metre head race in the morning which qualified them for the six-lane 1,000 m university eights 'grande finale' later the same day. Racing very well indeed, King's went on to come third in that event, beaten only by predictably large and fast crews from Germany and Romania. The representatives from Oxford could never match the King's pace and were thoroughly defeated.
The May races saw King's having a bump given against them on the first day. Despite King's and Trinity II rowing the whole course, a bump was later awarded for the situation around Ditton Corner, where Trinity came closest, to the delight of Trinity and unsuccessful protests from King's. Now doubly motivated, the men went on to bump Jesus II and Corpus I on the Friday and Saturday, thereby claiming their first first eight scalp for some considerable years. The third eight bumped three times, the second eight sadly went down three.
The Alumni Association, Archives & Appeal
The Alumni Association, which was founded in 1994, hosted its second Mays Events this year. The events, which were a great success with both alumni and current oars, included a boathouse reception on the Saturday of bumps, followed by the traditional Bumps Supper, overnight accommodation in College, a champagne breakfast on Sunday morning and finally an alumni outing on the Cam. Over 30 alumni attended the events which included a '1950s heyday reunion', which succeeded in reuniting seven of the original May boat of 1950 and many other alumni of that, and other, periods.
The Boat Club Archives are now fully restored and contain a fully-indexed photo section, as well as an almost complete series of Bump Supper menu cards, the Captain's and President's books, and a host of other Boat Club memorabilia. A project to write a book about the history of KCBC has been instigated. Please refer to the flyer sent with this Annual Report for further details.
In April 1997, the Boat Club started an Appeal to create and Endowment Fund (£45,000 are needed for this) and to update its equipment (£30,000 are needed for this). To date the appeal has raised £42,000 for the Endowment Fund and £4,000 for equipment. Full details on the aims of the Appeal and on the different ways of donating and receiving Boat Club thank-you gifts in return are available from the Alumni Association Secretary. If you would like to become a member of the Alumni Association and/or give to the Boat Club Appeal, please use the flyer sent with this Annual Report or write directly to the Alumni Association Secretary, KCBC, 842 King's College, Cambridge CB2 1ST.
Finally, the KCBC website on the Internet contains a host of current and historical information about KCBC and is well worth a visit if you have Internet access. We are at http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/users/KCBC/
After the 'heydays' of the 1950s and early 60s, and the 'not so heydays' of the 70s and 80s, when King's rowing plunged to the depths of the third division, King's have now firmly established themselves in the second divisions. Indeed the men's upward trend reported in the Annual Report of two years ago continues, and they hope to come within striking distance of the first Lent division next year, while recovering lost ground after this year's disappointment in the Mays.
The women
The women were unfortunate in going down one after steering trouble on the third day of the 1996 Lent bumps to finish 13th in the second division. As consolation, however, they won the fours event of Pembroke Regatta earlier in the year. In the Mays, they went down three to finish 12th in the second division. In summary, it was not the best year that the women have ever had, but Jolie Foster, the new Women's Captain is keeping up her spirits by saying that 'starting from 12th and 13th in the second divisions next year makes it a lot easier to get blades".
The men
The men went up two in the Lents (bumping Caius II and LMBC II) to finish sixth in the second division with only one more second boat (Downing II) directly ahead of them next year, when they aim to come within striking distance of the first division. Earlier in Lent term they went through to the semi-finals of Pembroke Regatta where they were beaten by a strong crew from Wadham, Oxford. The defeat was revenged in early June when King's was invited to represent Cambridge rowing at an international regatta in France and proceeded to come second in the prestigious university eights event, beating the Oxford representatives from Wadham into third place (see below).
The Easter term started with a one-week training camp for the first eight at the Academic Rowing Club Würzburg, Germany, home club of the first eight stroke. From a wet and cold Cambridge, the crew flew to a sunny and warm Frankfurt for a week of intensive rowing under the expert coaching of Rainer Reichert, bound for the Atlanta Olympics, and Feico Camphus, a now semi-retired international coach. A typical day saw the crew training three times a day on the water (twice in an eight and once in small boats) and once on land, either running, or using rowing machines and a rowing tank. The crew had the full use of the club's Empacher boat fleet including an eight that is almost identical to the newly purchased boat in Cambridge (Empacher is the main supplier of carbon eights to international crews; distinguished by their yellow colour they will be used by almost all crews in the Olympics). The routine was broken by a number of press-calls by newspapers and television and, half-way through the training camp, by an afternoon off for a trip to Heidelberg via the Empacher factory and an interesting tour of the latest boat-building technology.
Thus strengthened, the crew returned to England with Cambridge Regatta first on its racing schedule. Beating St. Catharine's convincingly in the quarter-finals, King's encountered, and were beaten, by a very strong Selwyn in the semi-finals, who went on to win the competition (beating LMBC) in what they described as an 'easy paddle' compared to their semi-final bout with King's.
Next on the agenda was an international invitation regatta in Valenciennes, France, to which King's were invited to represent Cambridge rowing. Travelling on the Eurostar the crew arrived in high spirits on Saturday for a first paddle and a mayor's reception in Valenciennes town hall. Sunday saw King's win a 3,500 head race in the morning which qualified them for the six-lane 1,000 m university eights 'grande finale' later the same day. Racing near their optimum, King's went on to win second place in that event, beaten only by a very determined and motivated French home crew, who crossed the line a mere 0.6 seconds ahead of King's in what was clearly the most exciting race of the day. Although initially disappointed, the crew quickly realised what a very good row they had had, and gained particular satisfaction from soundly beating into third place the Oxford representatives from Wadham, who only last term had defeated King's on their home ground at Pembroke Regatta (see above). First and second of the university event qualified for places in the open eights that followed half an hour later, and whilst the winners from France declined to race, a resilient King's went on to take third place behind Boulogne and Moscow, beating a Polish and French crews in the process and winning its second trophy of the day.
Disaster struck shortly after the excellent result from France, when after loosing four oars within the ten days between the crew's return from the Continent and the beginning of the May races, a very depleted eight were bitterly disappointed to go down to Jesus II on Thursday and Queen's II on Saturday to finish 10th overall in the second division. On all four days, King's lasted until the Plough Reach, up to which point they always seemed to be well in contention with the crews around them. Unable to keep up their earlier pace, however, King's were struggling to keep off their pursuers by Ditton Corner on all four days. Twice they managed to hold them (Jesus II on Monday and Queen's II on Friday), but twice they succumbed to the second day's challenge.
A little consolation was gained in the weeks following the bumps, when the stern pair of Mark Gallé and Matthias Hammer nearly achieved the double of winning the Magdalene Silver Pairs and the Lowes Double Sculls. After winning the pairs event without ever being seriously threatened, they narrowly lost the doubles to Downing in an exciting final.
At Henley King's entered the Temple Challenge Cup as a composite crew with St. Catharine's and although they missed qualification by 4 seconds, they drew comfort from the fact that they were the third fastest non-qualifier, beating Pembroke, Emmanuel, Girton, Clare, Jesus, Wolfson and Queen's (from Cambridge) and Corpus Christi, Christ Church, Jesus, St. Catherine's and Keble (from Oxford) in the process.
In summary, Easter term proved to be a rocky ride between the excellent achievements of France, the good results of the pair, the double and Henley, and the misery of the May bumps. It is, however, a mark of the turning tide of King's rowing that going down two in the Mays must now be regarded as a major disappointment. The aim next year must be to repeat and/or improve on the good results, whilst reversing the drop in the Mays.
The Alumni Association
The Alumni Association, which was founded in 1994, hosted its first Mays Events this year. The events, which were a great success with both alumni and current oars, included a champagne reception and boat naming ceremony on the Saturday of bumps, followed by the traditional Bumps Supper, overnight accommodation in College, a champagne breakfast on Sunday morning and finally an alumni outing on the Cam. The aim of the Association is to keep friends and alumni oarsmen and women in touch with one another and King's rowing. Members are invited to watch the races and to attend social events - such as the Mays Events - that the Alumni Association organises. Members also receive termly editions of Henry's Eight, the Boat Club newsletter, keeping them abreast with rowing at King's and Cambridge. Of course raising funds is part of the Alumni Association (for example, the Association recently ran a very successful boat names auction among its alumni), but it also hopes to provide some genuine returns like reunions, rowing outings of alumni crews and the Mays Events. In addition, the Association has also started a Boat Club archive in conjunction with the College library and is seeking help from alumni in extending and complementing its records. Membership of the Alumni Association is free of charge and if you are interested to join, or would like to receive further information or indeed think you can help in the archival effort by lending your memorabilia, please contact the Alumni Association Secretary & Archivist, King's College Boat Club, 842 King's College, Cambridge CB2 1ST.