Emmanuel Boat Club Association Newsletter October 2024

Dear Member,

Welcome to the belated 2024 newsletter. We thought we should delay it till after the Olympics in the hope that we would be congratulating Freddie Davison on a brilliant performance. This has indeed turned out to be the case and we heartily congratulate him on winning a bronze medal in the coxless fours. Although this was obviously not the colour he would have wished for, to get any Olympic medal is a remarkable achievement. I think there can be little doubt that he is Emmanuel’s most successful oarsman. Once again, many many congratulations Freddie! Luke Beever, who rowed in Goldie, was selected to trial for the Under 23 squad but was unfortunately pipped at the post.

At a slightly lower level, the Club continues to perform well with the great strength in depth we reported last year continuing. There has been success on and off the Cam as described in the captains’ reports. The captains also say that a lot of this success is down to the support given to the club by the EBCA.

One of the advantages of the newsletter being delayed is that we can give you news of next term. The rowers will be coming back for a training camp before the start of term. We are lucky enough to have some freshers who have rowed before. These include Ellie Siller and Simon Nunayon, who are already both trialing for CUBC so hopefully our first crews should be strengthened this year.

The inaugural EBCA dinner last year proved to be a great success. People have suggested that a dinner every year is too frequent, the next one will therefore be next year. The College has not yet set its calendar for next year so we cannot confirm the date but hope to have the dinner after the EBCA AGM. The date this year is Saturday 16th November. It therefore seems possible that the date next year will be Saturday 15th November. We will confirm this be an announcement in Emma Connects as soon as we have a date.

David Sprague, Chairman

The Club continues to be in a very healthy position with 8 boats taking part in the May Bumping Races. Our Fellows VIII continues to train and race and recently took part for the second year in the Town Bumps. We are fortunate to continue being supported by College – notably the Master and the Bursar – in everything we do as a Boat Club. Our Captains this year Freya and Orin have maintained the importance of the Boat Club ‘Family’, supporting each other both on and off the water. Reports cover all that has happened this year. Many thanks and gratitude go to the number of Emma Members who have donated both Stewards and Leander Tickets for Henley Royal Regatta, allowing us to take 20 students on Wednesday and another 10 on both Friday and Sunday. The experience for all was extraordinary.

Please do get in touch with anything rowing related from a simple tour of the Boathouse, a row on the river or a reunion dinner – pt318@cam.ac.uk 07990572848

All EBCA supporters should now donate via the internal fund at:
https://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/supporting/how/boatclub/
Anyone wishing to donate using a paper form should contact the development office.

As always, the Association is very grateful to Dr Sarah Bendall, Fellow and Development Director, and to her staff for their continued help and to Mr Robert Brackley, the College Accountant, for his practical assistance and advice.

This will take place at 5.00pm on Saturday 16th November in College; all members are welcome to attend. This will be followed by dinner at High Table which needs to be booked at least a week in advance.

The Committee of the Emmanuel Boat Club Association 2023/2024

D B Sprague (Captain EBC 1974): Chairman, T Reed (Captain EBC 2004): Honorary Secretary, A P Walker (Captain EBC 1984): Honorary Treasurer, Doug Chalmers: President EBC, Lord Wilson of Dinton: Life President EBC, Dame Fiona Reynolds: Life President EBC, Dr F Leeper (Fellow, Emmanuel College): Senior Treasurer, Dr A S Bendall (Fellow, Emmanuel College): Development Director, M B Mennie (Captain EBC 1958), M A Edgar (Captain EBC 1959), H Edwards (EBC 1975), C.T.Winslade (EBC 1979), Mrs Louise Tunbridge (EBC 1980), R Robinson (EBC CULRC 1980), D Hampton (EBC 1981), Ms S M Church (Captain EBC 1988), Ms M Hunter (Captain 1992), D Rogers (Captain EBC 1994 and 1996), T Killick (EBC 1996), Ms B Gordon (Captain EBC 1997), H Dullage (Captain EBC 1998), R Hopkirk (Captain EBC 2000), H Haboubi (EBC 2001), Mrs M Twitchett (EBC, CUWBC 2002), D Barnes (Captain 2005), Ms R Dowbiggin (EBC, CUBC 2007-2009), Ms S Warrillow (Captain EBC 2007, CUWBC 2008-2009), C Jones (Captain 2009), Ms Isabel Nimmo (EBC 2012) Ms M Beadles (Captain 2014),C Mantell (Captain EBC, 2016, CULRC 2014), Ms Z Maikovsky (Captain 2017), C Powell (Captain 2020), T Eveson (Captain 2019), P C Twitchett (Boathouse Manager)

Freya Clarkson, Women’s Captain

This year has been a great success for EBC on both the women and men’s side. As a club we have a strong cohort of novices, a special mention to the LBCs who kept them keen despite the rubbish weather in Michaelmas term. W2 had a strong mic term winning both Winter head and Fairbairns.

In Lent bumps W3 remained top W3 on the river, W2 went up 3 and W1 despite the result being down 3 had some strong days racing.

Moving onto Mays – the term started off with the senior crews off for a highly productive Norwich camp which saw the top 40 rowers spend 3 days training out of NRC. With many miles rowed over 3 days it helped set up the foundations for another rapid Mays campaign. W1 won Head2Head the following week, with success for the crew continuing at Bedford regatta winning both categories and then winning champs head with the second fastest women’s time ever. W2 placed highly in head to head as well.

This set us up well for a strong Mays campaign. W1 starting 5th bumped on day 1 and then maintained 4th position on the river the rest of the week. W2 got a bump in under a minute and just missed out on bumping day 2. Ending the week -1. The lower boats have also been putting in strong performances with W3 and W4 maintaining their respective lower boats headship.

I have been immensely proud to have Captained the club this year and see EBC go from strength to strength on and off the water. It would of course not have been possible without the support of the EBCA, for their support of the club through the purchasing of new equipment, but also in their appearance on the bank and as our coaches.

So too is true for our President – Doug. We could not have asked for a better president to have been so active in the club, to have attended more races than anyone could count, and to have handed out so many bits of foliage to our bumping crews.

Finally, it would not have been possible to enjoy the success that we do at the club without the tireless work of Pete and Mary. The work they do has been invaluable to keeping the club alive and well and we are eternally grateful for all that they do for current student members of the Club, and for the Alumni.

Orin Chapman, Men’s Captain

It has been a real privilege to captain the men’s side this year.

The club, throughout, has gone from strength to strength and, personally, our M1 crew this term will be one thing I’ll remember fondly when I leave here this month.

In Michaelmas, we saw serious success in the smaller boats, taking home university medals for our 2nd 4+ and a second place finish for our 1st 4+. Putting it all together, we clocked a rapid time at Winter Head, comfortably placing first overall against top college and town clubs. M2 also placed a close second, demonstrating the depth of our squad even at such an early stage.

At the same time, our novice program took shape, with our LBCs giving up many an early morning to build a formidable set of novice crews. A big thanks to them and all of our coaches throughout the club who give up their time to share their love of rowing with us.

Moving into Lent, our crews, bolstered by former novices, sought to win their blades in the first set of bumps. M2, for one, honed their skills by giving Pembroke M2 the opportunity to be bumped by them twice. Elsewhere, M1 preferred not to include corners in their bumps campaign, earning our blades in approximately 6 cumulative minutes of rowing.

Mays saw a successful camp in Norwich lead to fantastic results for our M2, following closely on the heels of a quick Caius. Our M1 also gained momentum throughout the term, with 3 new members adding experience and composure. In between grinding out the miles in Ely each morning, Luke, in particular, has brought a really positive energy in and outside of the boat.

The men’s side saw another hard fought campaign at the sharp end of all their respective divisions. Nevertheless, we finished up overall and, I hope, we all had a great time racing this year.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the incredibly generous support of the EBCA. From funding equipment to ensuring that no student is worried about the financial implications of competing, they truly are the driving force behind the club!

My time at this club has been a uniquely special experience and I couldn’t be more confident in whoever we elect to lead it forward.