King’s College Boat Club, Henry’s VIII

Lent 2012 - Easter 2013

May 15, 2014 Cover photo: King’s M1 at after qualifying for the 3 Note from the Editors

Welcome to this special edition of Henry’s , which will bring you news of the club’s progress up to the start of this academic year. Apologies again for the lateness of this issue; the KCBC committee have decided to modify the format of future editions. As of the 2014-15 academic year, we will be moving to a termly newsletter to make the task of collating and editing this newsletter more manageable. Alongside these changes, we are hoping that many of you will be willing to make a shift to receiving only electronic copies of the newsletter.

Alongside this newsletter, you can always keep track of KCBC’s progress on our website at www.kingsboatclub.com where you can find latest news, full race reports and crew lists.

Included with this edition, you should have also received a copy of KCBC’s Corporate Sponsorship pamphlet, as we are currently searching for sponsorship to support the day to day running of the club. If you or your company think you may be able to help, we’d love to hear from you. Contact details are included in the pamphlet.

Last, but certainly not least, we are very excited to bring you news of the plans for a new Combined Boathouse for King’s, Selwyn, Churchill and the Leys School. The project is now advancing into the planning application stages, and so we have included some of the architect’s images at the back of this newslet- ter. We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have, positive or otherwise.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and hope to see you on the river soon.

Will Miller and Conor Burgess [email protected] and [email protected] 4

Contents

Announcements...... 5 Lent Term 2012 ...... 6 Cambridge Races ...... 6 ...... 6 Boat Naming - Women’s IV - Stan ...... 7 HeadoftheRiverRace...... 9 Easter Term 2012 ...... 10 Cambridge Races ...... 10 MayBumps...... 10 Men’s Captain’s Report 2011-12 ...... 14 Women’s Captain’s Report 2011-12 ...... 15 Michaelmas Term 2012 ...... 16 Novices ...... 16 Cambridge Races ...... 16 UniversityFours...... 17 BedfordStarHead ...... 18 The Fairbairn Cup ...... 18 Features...... 21 School to College ...... 21 Blade Donation ...... 22 Lent Term 2013 ...... 23 Cambridge Races ...... 23 Lent Bumps ...... 23 KingstonHead ...... 25 Easter Term 2013 ...... 26 Cambridge Races ...... 26 WallingfordRegatta ...... 26 BedfordAmateurRegatta ...... 27 MayBumps...... 27 Boat Naming - Women’s VIII - Leo Sharpston ...... 29 HenleyRoyalRegatta ...... 29 Men’s Captain’s Report 2012-13 ...... 32 Women’s Captain’s Report 2012-13 ...... 33 Boathouse Plans ...... 34 5 Announcements Marquee

KCBC would be very grateful for your support in the upcoming May Bumps, and we’d like nothing more than to meet you at our Mays Marquee for the final races on Saturday 14th June. There will of course be refreshments available for a small charge. Races start at 11:45.

Saturday 14th June 2014 From 11:30, Osier Holt, Fen Ditton A limited number of car parking spaces are available upon request Contact Marijne Mak at [email protected] for more details

May Bumps Dinner

You are cordially invited to attend May Bumps Dinner to celebrate the year’s achievements with all of our rowers, coxes and coaches. Please contact the De- velopment Oce at [email protected] for further details and to reserve your ticket.

Saturday 14th June 2014 7pm, King’s College 6

Lent Term 2012 Lent Bumps ay one of Lents would be an im- Cambridge Races D portant for all the racing crews - potentially defining their bumping trend ent term 2012 proved quite a test for the rest of the week. L for KCBC, with several injuries af- M2 were on the start line first, ner- flicting crews and sub-zero temperatures vously waiting for the cannon. After causing the Cam to freeze - majorly dis- afranticstart,crewsbehindstartedto rupting training. creep up on the second men. Luckily though as Jesus M3 approached, they The first race of term was Winter were quickly bumped out by Hughes Head to Head, which saw M1, W1 and Hall, allowing M2 to push on home M2 all out to prove themselves against for the row over. Unfortunately that the other colleges. With two ex-novices was where M2’s luck ran out, with the in the crew, the first men put in a solid following three days resulting in three performance to rank them 4th amongst bumps down the charts. the colleges - setting an early bench- mark for Bumps. W1 attacked this race hard and comfortably achieved 2nd in the Second Mays division, highlighting that their main rivals for the term would be Murray Edwards. The newly formed M2 struggled slightly with the race con- ditions, but showed the potential to im- prove in the run up to Lents. After several weeks of yellow/red flags and sheet ice covering the Cam in front of the Plough, temperatures rose and the river thawed. Pembroke Regatta, one of the only Cam side-by-side races, had arrived. The first women produced King’s M2 outside the Boathouse on the an extremely strong performance, beat- Saturday of Lents. ing the likes of Corpus and St Cather- ine’s to reach the quarter finals, where W1 started their week with quite a they were narrowly beaten by First and major hiccup, o↵the start nerves got the Third W1. With the boat moving well, better of them and two crabs caused the the women looked set to do well in Lents. women to concede an easy (and unfor- For M1, a first round defeat by LMBC tunate) bump by Churchill W1. Out to was disappointing. Clearly the lack of seek revenge on the women in pink, W1 water time had impeded the develop- raced out of the blocks on day two and ment of the newest crew members and easily bumped Churchill by the Motor- a solid crew rhythm. W2 also struggled way Bridge - the speed of the bump tak- on the day, losing in the first round to ing both crews by surprise! Two more First and Third W2. bumps later in the week saw W1 up two 7 in the charts, solidifying a First Lents Boat Naming - Women’s IV division place. - Stan n3rdMarch 2012, on a bright O but brisk Saturday morning, a gathering assembled on the hard outside the boat house for a very special occa- sion. This was to ocially name the new women’s first in honour of a gentleman who has been a key part of the women’s training for nearly 13 years, Stan Chapman.

King’s W1 at Lents Dinner.

M1 had a tougher time. Day one po- sitioning presented the first men with arapidGirtonM1infront,whohad performed extremely well all term, and a quick Christ’s crew behind. With the bump all but gone from everyone’s minds, thoughts turned to the depres- sive prospect of a row over. O↵the start Girton soon bumped out, leaving a bat- tle for survival to ensue with Christ’s Stan’s Boat Naming. M1. Going past the Plough, they were half quarter a length o↵our stern, and closing. Rounding Ditton our last push For those who may not know Stan, he for the safety of the Reach just wasn’t has been riding alongside King’s crews enough. Three more days of determina- for over 12 years, providing encourage- tion to get out of our downward spiral ment and helping in any way he could. proved futile, ending the week down four He has supported the Boat Club (partic- -Div.1/2sandwichboat. ularly the women’s side) at every event on the Cam, and has extended his sup- port to numerous o↵-Cam events. He has ever been a favourite of the women’s side for providing them with pre-peeled oranges and other goodies after races! Many past members will recall how he cycled the entire length of the course during Peterborough Head a couple of years ago, regarded by all at the time as atremendousfeat. King’s M1 racing in Lents. We really owe you, Stan, and it is a delight to all of us to be able to recog- 8 nise your contribution to KCBC in this directional! With both crews half way way. We wish you all the best for the down the course and facing in oppo- future, and hope you keep cycling along site directions, we set o↵, and before the river for many a year to come! we knew it the happily bribed marshals were telling us to spin. Some hairy Catz Cardinals maneuvering ensued. Nevertheless, we were soon on our way towards the fin- Mixed Four ish, which seemed to be moving towards us as the marshals walked our way, giv- ith the focus more heavily on ing us a fabulous victory and winning W fancy dress than anything, this the regatta. race was never going to be too serious for us, though we’d spotted our opponents out on multiple occasions getting some practice in. Due to slightly disappoint- ing entry numbers, we were put straight through to the final! A normal side by side race was deemed to be a bit boring by the organisers, so both crews started in the same place, but facing di↵erent directions. We then raced to the ends of the course, spun, and finished back where we started. Aside from the ner- vous moments as we lunged into a spin at race speed, we dominated our oppo- sition. A great race bringing the less serious side of rowing back to the fore!

Mixed Eight fter squeezing in a short prac- A tice outing the day before the re- gatta and compensating for the di↵er- ences in male and female rowing styles, our crew donned the purple body paint and secured our crowns before mounting our trusty royal steed, the Vicky Wade. After three rounds we had comfort- ably made it through to the semi’s where the fun began! The marshals decided to spice things up a bit - the semi was to be a backing it down race. After happily zigzagging up the river, we crossed the line ahead and into the final. As with the fours final, our race would be bi- 9

Head of the River Race ter we passed them, despite closing on another crew in front, we struggled to eallknewbefore heading down push on from this point as we started to the Tideway that this race W to feel the e↵ects of the long course. As was something of an unknown quantity. we got more tired, our rowing became With a crew that had only been together scrappier and despite the aggression and for a week, and with fewer than half of determination shown by the crew, our us having had any Tideway experience, speed dropped o↵from approximately it could have proved very tricky if the Barn Elms. conditions were bad. In the end we finished a slightly disap- Despite the torrential rain, conditions pointing 254th,butwithplentyofposi- were almost perfect for the race, with tives to take from the race we can build virtually no wind to upset the crew. O↵ towards taking those lost places back the start we hit a good early rhythm, next year. overtaking our first crew and simultane- ously passed by the fast Leeds Univer- sity first boat from behind, all within the first 30 strokes or so. Whilst we man- aged to hit a good rate of the start, it quickly dropped down to a more sustain- able ‘6k-to-go’ level. We were constantly spurred on by Chris telling us that we were closing on the crews ahead, and we held a good pace for the first part of the race.

King’s M1 at HoRR 2012 from Hammer- smith Bridge.

As we neared Hammersmith Bridge, we were closing in fast on UCL 2, and could feel ourselves moving up on them, taking more out of them on each stroke, timing our overtake perfectly for the crowds watching from the bridge! Af- 10

Easter Term 2012 With exams and Bumps rapidly ap- proaching, training was going really well Cambridge Races for both sides of the Club. Champ’s Head, in the middle of May, provided fter various levels of disappoint- the last opportunity to compare our A ment in Lents, determination boat speed with all the other colleges - a gripped the Boat Club. The days were final ranking before Mays. On a particu- lengthening and King’s could be seen larly sunny afternoon M1, M2, and W2 out on the river until dusk. all pulled out reasonable performances Success came early in term for W1, to finish solidly in the middle of their claiming fastest overall women’s crew in respective divisions, but it was time for the St Radegund Mile competition. For W1 to shine again, winning pots for the the first men, a change in crew order and second time this term. areturnerfromillnesshadinjectedsome M1 finished o↵May by winning the much needed speed and rhythm into plate competition in Nines’ Regatta, in- the boat. At Head of the Cam in late dicating a vast improvement in boat April, M1 was placed 4th and W1 won rhythm, speed, and attitude. The board the Second Mays division. Both sec- was set ready for Mays. ond boats also put in promising perfor- mances, showing that they had stepped on over the Easter holidays. May Bumps Spring Head to Head, the Cam’s gru- ive crews represented KCBC in elling two by 2k , saw W1 pit- F May Bumps 2012, all set to ted up against their main second di- progress up the charts, aiming for those vision rivals, Murray Edwards. Af- all elusive blades! ter a great first leg, the first women M3 (or MBeer as they liked to be had to settle for a closely fought sec- known), formed of a mix of novices ond position, emphasising the need to and previous first boat rowers, had a continually improve as competition gets great start to their Bumps campaign stronger. The following day M1 partic- by bumping Caius M4. The power of ipated in City Sprints, and after a poor the third men proved too great for the first race, they eventually won the plate other fifth division crews, bumping Sid- final. ney Sussex M3, Robinson M3, and Pem- broke M4 to claim blades. W2 had been dubbed as the ‘quickest W2’ in years, so expectations we high and the Club were excited to see how they would perform. A re-row on day one gave the second women the chance to catch the crew in front, however Pe- terhouse W2 bumped out early leaving W2 to comfortably row over. Day two gave W2 their first bump, confidently King’s W2 racing in Champ’s Head. taking down Hughes Hall W2 on First 11

had nothing to lose. With a good start they rapidly gained on Churchill M2 and bumped back into the third Mays divi- sion.

King’s M3 at Mays Dinner.

Post Corner and lining up Peterhouse for day three. After another row over, W2 were awarded a technical bump on King’s M2 at Mays Dinner. Darwin W2 on day four to finish up two for the week. W1 had had a promising term and looked set to rise up out of the second Mays division, however Peterhouse W1 had other ideas. For three days the first women rowed over behing Peterhouse, comfortably fending o↵any pushes from behind, but failing to claim the bump. The final day arrived and at last W1 had a bump, giving Churchill W1 spoons and moving the first women up to Div 1/2 sandwich boat. King’s W2 at Mays Dinner.

M2 had a week of ups and downs. Day one saw them drop down to Div 3/4 sandwich, after being bumped by Queens’ M3. However a comfortable row over at the head of division four, saw them avoid a further bump on day two. After being bumped by Caius M3 on day three, the second men were de- termined to turn things around as they W1 at Mays Dinner. went into the final day. Day four - M2 produced a rare feat and bumped Caius M1 had a lot to prove. Spoons in M3 back, returning to sandwich boat Lents had not been an enjoyable expe- and giving them a second race. Starting rience. Everyone longed for a first di- at station 18, practically in the lock, M2 vision bump. We knew that there were 12 several crews above us who were slower; we just had to catch them. Day one - o↵the start everything went into catch- ing Churchill M1. Grit and determina- tion saw us grind down the length and a half gap, so that by the Plough we had three whistles. A surge into Ditton saw us take the Bump. After a comfortable row over on day two, day three presented another victim - Trinity Hall M1. The final day of a cracking week, and what better way to celebrate than emphati- cally bumping Magdalene M1 opposite the Plough and taking the bow ball o↵ in the process! Up three in the first divi- sion, what a way to turn things around! Abrilliantendtotheyearwithall crews finishing either up, or level.

King’s M1 rowing down on Saturday. 13 14

Men’s Captain’s and race cancellations, perhaps we could have compensated for the lack of experi- Report 2011-12 ence, but we simply had too little water time. Rutger Grisel Easter term was something else though. We retained most of our row- twasperseverance that defined ers and got Alge Wallis back in M1 af- this academic year for the mens side, I ter missing most of Lent term due to not smooth success. We started the year illness. M1 finished 4th in the Head of with twelve rowers. Including Patrick the Cam, and began to win a few plate Goodbourn, who would graduate after competitions in regattas. M2 had barely Michaelmas, we only had three row- been out in Lent term due to more flag ers with first boat experience. This restrictions, giving them an even larger meant last year’s second boat rowers gap to make up. Both crews stepped were quickly enlisted to the first boat, up without complaining, and the results leaving both boats somewhat underpow- reflected their dedication and persever- ered and inexperienced relative to the ance. M2 finished Bumps level, despite competition. alotofnaysayerspredictingspoonsfor We started the year with M1 as a four them; they went down two over three and M2 as an eight. Within the first two days, then bumped up twice on the weeks of Michaelmas, novice numbers fourth day. M1 was equally satisfied settled into three eights, one of which with their results, bumping up three was filled with keener rowers. The M1 places to 13th in the 1st division, the four made it to the finals of University highest the Boat Club has been in over Fours, only to be beaten by Caius. After fifty years. afewmoreraces,thefirstboatfinished And now for the good news: this is arespectable7th in Fairbairn’s, having unlikely to be the end of the story. Most stepped training up to an eight. The two of the men’s squad will be continuing novice eights also performed very well. next year, but without all the disadvan- Lent term led to a few drop outs from tages encountered this year. I wish them the squad. Some were deterred by work, all the best of luck, but I doubt that they while others were potentially discour- will need it. aged by the lack of resounding success by the seniors. Perhaps this was for the better, however, as the remaining core had the willpower to continue right to the end of the year, providing con- sistency for the next two terms. We now had two eights, and although they weren’t looking too bad in terms of fit- ness, we had very few experienced row- ers. This showed in race results, par- ticularly in Lent Bumps with M1 get- ting spoons and M2 going down three. If there had not been as many outing 15

Women’s Captain’s time-out, the top end of the squad was strengthened and very competitive. W1 Report 2011-12 raced in every Cam race in Easter term, getting some very impressive results and Sarah Hadman-Back even a few pots. We were unlucky in Bumps, finishing up one - at the top of strong W1 squad of 11 row- Division Two. W2 rowed in four races ers, consisting of several return- A and thought they would have to row the ers, allowed for an extremely promising Getting-on-Race, but due to scratches Michaelmas term. We entered all the they were put back in the main start or- eights races on the Cam and by the end der. They were also unlucky with who of term had constructed quite a compe- they were chasing and couldn’t go up as tent boat with ambitions set on Lents. far as they had hoped. W3 improved The novices can’t be forgotten, with a over the course of the term and were keen group of 17 making it through their entered into the Getting-on-Race as a first term of rowing. Thank you to our time-only crew. two female Vice-Captains, Alex Hayes All-in-all it has been a very success- and Brioni Aston, for teaching these ful year for the King’s women due to girls the basics and getting them enthu- the dedication of so many seniors and siastic about rowing. novices rowing throughout the whole The start of Lent term saw the year. I do hope that all the rowers who women’s side with three senior boats. are here continue rowing next year and The core of W1 had continued, allowing strengthen King’s success even more. the strongest eight novices to fill a W2 crew. It soon became clear that W2’s enthusiasm and 2k scores would help to push W1 on, as competition for seats be- came a distinct possibility. Due to other commitments, two first boat rowers had to stop rowing at the start of February, allowing two fresh-faced novices - Felic- ity Eperon and Vera Konieczny - to step up to the mark. February 2012 also saw a mini ice-age come to Cambridge. As parts of the river froze over, training was severely disrupted and races cancelled - this could only hinder our preparation for bumps. After a minor hiccup on the first day, W1 had a successful Lents, fin- ishing up two and firmly in the First Di- vision. Before Easter term had even begun, we were out racing - determined to make up for all the cancelled outings in Lent. With rowers returning from injury and 16

Michaelmas Term 2012 last minute practice, the two crews man- aged to post some encouraging times for Novices 500m on the erg - however not impres- sive enough to see them through to the new year,anewbatchofnovices. finals. A AstrongturnoutattheFreshers’ Squash with a lot of enthusiasm for the erg competition (especially from the Cambridge Races men’s side) led to a large novice-rowing sign up. he senior squad started the year as they meant to go on - winning Next came the Tubbing Days, where T races. With barely two weeks of train- alovelydemonstrationofe↵ortfrom ing, both first boats impressed at Au- the novices was witnessed, with some tumn Head. W1 came second out of promising technique emerging. There the women’s first boats and M1 won the was a lot of enthusiasm all round, with men’s competition. In preparation for great usage of the new bank tub and University Fours (see separate report), new BBQ alike. Whilst the actual tub- M1 also raced in two IVs, coming sec- bing involved large amounts of zigzag- ond and fourth. ging across the river in front of the Boathouse (mostly due to the VCs cox- Winter Head, mid-November, pro- ing ability, or rather a lack thereof), vided crews with their last chance to everyone had a great time and really race a clear head course before Fair- started to get the hang of it. A strong bairns. M1, whose minds were firmly number have continued into VIIIs and focussed on training towards a historic it’s looking to be a great term for King’s Fairbairns win, performed well - chas- Novice Rowing. ing down a couple of o↵-Cam crews on the Reach, but in agreement that fur- ther improvements to the crews rhythm could be made before Fairbairns. They finished second overall and first out of the colleges (time only). M2 had a promising race, but fitness took its toll towards the finish; placing the second men firmly mid-table. The novice men also took to the water, gaining valu- able experience from the long head race, but ranking lowly amongst other novice crews. For the novice women, Michaelmas King’s Novice Men before Fairbairns. term was a story of regattas. In Emma Sprints the girls came through three Both the men and women managed rounds of competitive novice racing to to each enter a novice crew for Queens’ reach the final against Selwyn NW1. For ergs at the beginning of November. Af- the majority of the race King’s were ter some hectic arranging of subs and leading over boathouse neighbours, how- 17 ever due to an unfortunate collision Sel- wyn rowed through King’s during the last ten strokes. With a di↵erent crew, the novice women also raced in Clare Novice Regatta - making it through the first round, but progressing no further.

University Fours he men’s first eight was perform- T ing well, therefore it came as no surprise that we could form two strong King’s M1 with their University Medals. fours to compete in the University com- petition. The second four was a relatively in- experienced crew, but held the poten- were quick, but beatable. After a great tial to do well. After a bye in the start, flying down First Post Reach, and first round, they faced LMBC II in the tightly turing around First Post Cor- quarter finals. LMBC proved to be no ner, the rudder took on a mind of its trouble for King’s; allowing our men to own and we went extremely wide around relax into the feeling of the boat, de- the following two corners. The crew velop their crew rhythm further, and could see Queens’ pushing on strongly still win by over a minute. The semi behind, making up the distance they finals were a little tougher. Downing had lost - so we pushed on for the fin- II fought hard o↵the start to try and ish. A Dead Heat. Re-row. After re- pull away on the upstream station, how- moving the significant amount of debris ever great calls from Ben kept King’s wrapped around our rudder, we took to grinding down the competition leading the course a second time, cornering well to a good victory. For the final against and taking the win by two seconds! Af- Queens’ II, King’s would have to set up ter the ordeal that was the quarter final, their game again. After a great start, the semi final seemed very tame in com- the guys were up on their fast rhythm parison. Christ’s I were a less formidable taking the race to Queens’. Going past competition, after ten strokes we had the Plough King’s were ahead. Just. moved up onto them and they failed to However the headwind on the Reach respond. Will got a chance to practice knocked the crew badly, a lack of ex- his corners, cutting them all tight to the perience allowed Queens’ back into it, inside bank, and we relaxed it home for finally beating King’s to the line by six an easy 16 second victory. We then had seconds. Still a great achievement to fin- to immediately spin and head back to ish runners-up. the start for the final against Caius I. The first four spent the weeks running This was our chance and we had the up to Uni IVs developing a very strong belief. After an early move by Caius, crew rhythm and top speed. In the quar- we lifted out of Grassy onto our best ters we faced Queens’ I who we knew speed and rhythm, moving to regain the 18 length we had lost on the first half of the course. Rounding Ditton, Caius in front of us hit the headwind and struggled. “Caius are splashing about in the wind” came from Will, which encouraged us further to step on in the wind. Holding our form, we drew back on station and pushed through; sat up tall and gritting our teeth through the wind. Through the finish post I knew we had it. Af- ter a little wait for conformation, it was ocial, we had won by three seconds. King’s W1 at Bedford Star Head.

Bedford Star Head the boat out of the gap and so remove the blockage. Full Report: Women’s First Eight All in all, the day proved to be relaxed or much of the crew, this was their and happy, this no doubt contributed to F first ever o↵-Cam race (previous the best result the crew has seen to date. attempts having been foiled by bad weather conditions and crew complica- The Fairbairn Cup tions). So it was with an air of great ex- citement that the nine of us set o↵for a or the novice rowers who had day at Bedford. An early division meant F made it through the trials of an early and frosty start to the day, but Michaelmas term, Fairbairns would be everyone arrived safely and in plenty of their final rite of passage - transition- time of assemble the boat. ing from Novice to Senior. The men en- At Bedford, the weather cleared to tered three novice crews into the com- cool sunshine and the friendly, buzzing petition, whilst the results weren’t par- atmosphere of the venue meant that the ticularly spectacular, they rowed well girls approached the race with feelings of and greatly enjoyed the experience. Two anticipation and excitement. The unfa- novice women crews represented King’s, miliar course encouraged everyone into with the first novice women continuing serious focus, so the coxing and rowing their impressive term by finishing 11th was of an excellent level throughout. Af- -thehighestplacingforKing’snovice ter a solid warm up, the resulting confi- women in years. dence saw the crew to the finish line in Friday saw the turn of the seniors, apersonalbesttime. with M1 pulling out an impressive dis- Unfortunately, the feeling among ev- play to win the men’s competition (see eryone might have been slightly too ju- following report)forthefirsttimein bilant as not enough concentration was KCBC history. M2 finished 15th in the paid in spinning with the result that second boat competition; having had a the Jolly Roger spent a happy ten min- good run to Chesterton, they lost mo- utes wedged between the two banks mentum in the second half of the race, while marshals attempted to shoehorn due to a slight lack of fitness and nu- 19 merous yellow flagged outings. W1 had the term. an excellent result, building upon their Race day saw relatively fast stream Bedford success, finishing as the 5th conditions for the Cam, so I adjusted fastest college crew. my racing lines appropriately to max- Fairbairns 2012 saw the return of nine imise speed from the river. We warmed alumni to the Cam. After settling back up just as we had practised for the into the comforts of the Mays room, past three weeks, this time heading into the alumni men set about mis-adjusting the unfamiliar waters upstream of the their boat so they would have an ex- boathouse. Ten o’clock approached and cuse for not winning when the results the first crews headed o↵. We de-kitted, came in. With the absolute minimum of passing everything we could to Chris training, it was a relief that all members Smith. Rowing down to the start, the of the crew still remembered to stick crew was a silent mixture of nerves and the oar in the wet bit! After teaching excitement - we were all focused on the the Jesus marshals a thing or two about task in hand; the next 14 minutes of rac- running marshalling, King’s alumni got ing that would define our term’s e↵orts underway. After cruising comfortably as a crew. for most of the race, the close proxim- Ilinedusupreadytostartoutside ity of Boar’s Head (Queens’ alumni) to Goldie boathouse. The crew came for- the King’s stern on First Post Reach in- ward to front-stops for our racing start. spired our alumni to step on the gas and “Attention. Go.” show Queens’ a fight. Overall an enjoy- It was crucial we got a good start. able experience for all, ending up at the Moving together and up at our top pub having beaten M2’s time! speed. That’s exactly what we did. The first two minutes saw us take the corners under Elizabeth Way Bridge and com- Full Report: Men’s First Eight plete our start sequence. Coming past airbairns had been the focus of King’s boathouse we sharpened up our F Michaelmas for King’s M1. From catches and brought the boat speed back the start of term we knew we had a crew up to cruising. We were flying along in strong enough to challenge Caius’ third asmoothrhythmsetupbysternpair, successive Fairbairns victory. King’s has driven faster by the stream and aiming never won the Fairbairn Cup before, to make the halfway mark as the quick- but we were all eager to change this est crew. Indeed, ocial results put us and write our names into KCBC his- first, ahead of the lightweights by 1.7 tory. The whole crew has been commit- seconds. ted to the training that Chris Smith and Chesterton Footbridge marked the Isetthisterm,pushingeachothertothe second phase of our race plan - from limit on the ergs and uniting as a crew this point we would step on it in an at- on the water. As Fairbairns approached tempt to break all the other competi- we knew Queens’ would be one of our tion. We lifted out of the corner and closest rivals, while the speed and form surged past the P&E, focusing on the of Caius remained elusive; we had not leg drive and connecting with the water. directly raced them over the course of As we raced under the Railway Bridge 20 we knew we had just over two kilome- tor quote, ‘What we do in life echoes in tres to go - bridge to bridge, just as we eternity’, over the at this point had practised twenty times before. At to help maintain focus - we were going this point, we were approx. eight min- to do it. Nearing the Motorway Bridge utes into the race and tiredness was be- Icalledforafinalliftandtheresponse ginning to kick in. Boat speed dropped was incredible. Just when I thought the slightly and the possibility of losing be- guys could give no more, they took the 1 gan to creep into our minds. As we rate up to 36 2 and the speed jumped rounded Ditton, I knew we had to get up another notch. This was it. The fi- back up to speed. I prepared the crew nal surge for the line: lactate in the legs for the lift and surge. They responded. burning, lungs gasping for air, and faces We flew along Plough Reach, thirty grimacing. “Wind it down.” strokes of pure power driving us into the As the crew slumped over their oars corners and bringing us surging towards it was clear none of us could have done the finish. The boat was perfectly set on any more to obtain victory in that race. the entry to Grassy and stayed that way Faces were marred by sweat and pain. as we slingshot around it, maintaining Eight weeks of training focused on one boat speed and rhythm. race, a chance for King’s to take a step forward on the river and beat the best rowing colleges; to grace a place on the Cam where no King’s crew had gone be- fore - the Head of the River.

Result: 13:47.6 (1st Senior Men’s Eight)

We had won Fairbairns technically ajointvictorywithQueens’whowere within one second (slower) of our time. Iwouldpersonallyliketothankevery member of the crew and Chris Smith for being extremely committed to the Boat King’s M1 Fairbairn’s Crew 2012. Club this term and making this victory possible. We made history guys! First Post Corner marked the final stage of the race. This was our final chance to win it, if we so happened to be behind. I called a lift over three, getting the crew up onto their toes and allowing those with power left in their legs to drive the boat on. The intensity from everyone was outstanding as we raced along at 35 strokes per minutes, the bows lifting out of the water with each stroke and propelling us forwards. I may have shouted the famous Gladia- 21

Features other crews in the heats but we managed to pull through the 1km course and win School Sculling to College our first race and gain our first sculling Rowing points! Later on we also raced at MK rowing club on a very windy day over a irst year,CraigLambert,de-500m course which was great fun, and F scribes how he first got into even though technique fell to pieces we sculling at school and after one term at managed to gain another pot! King’s finds himself rowing in M1. Coming to King’s College I was keen to try rowing in the 8’s. I went out on a few outings with some of the M1 crew all the King’s rowers, Chris Smith and Chris Braithwaite were all really help- ful and patient in helping me convert to rowing with one blade rather than two! The first thing I noticed was the luxury of having so much stability in the boat in comparison with the single scull! I also loved how powerful and fast the boat felt in comparison. Over the course of the term I trained and raced with M1 and enjoyed being Craig Lambert (left). part of the team. I had never done an erg session as part of a crew before and found the team spirit really helped to “At school I was a keen cross coun- make these sessions much more e↵ective try runner, training 5 times a week and as an element of competitiveness was in- racing most weekends. Towards the end troduced. So far we have had a really of my school career, even though I re- good season in terms of racing so hope- ally enjoyed my running years, I decided fully we will carry on like this for the I needed to try a new sport. I always rest of the year (and the rest of my time liked the competitive aspect of running in King’s!). and I had always wanted to try rowing! With the holidays quickly approaching So with a friend, we became members of I am looking forward to getting back to Northampton Rowing Club. my old club and getting back in the scull I began training in both single and for a few weeks. But even more so, I am double sculls and enjoyed getting to grips really looking forward to seeing what the with the technique and balance. As time rest of this year hold for King’s College progressed, my friend Oli and myself be- M1!” gan training harder and harder to im- prove technique and on the ergs. Our training reached its peak over the sum- mer holidays when we decided to enter our first race at Peterborough Regatta as novices. We did not expect to beat the 6 22

Blade Donation uring Michaelmas 2012, KCBC D was lucky enough to receive a blade donation from Ronald Ingle. The 1947 Cambridge Univesity Clinker Fours blade shows victories over First and Third Trinity, Queens’, and Emmanuel, winning King’s the championship. The club is very grateful to Ronald for his do- nation and we look forward to displaying the blade in the Junior Common Room or the new boathouse, to inspire King’s rowers for years to come.

KCBC Committee with the 1947 Clinker IVs Blade. 23

Lent Term 2013 came up against a strong Christ’s W1 and were beaten by a similar margin. Cambridge Races Finally, M1 had drawn a particularly tough first race, coming up against a re- he lower boats were still integrat- cently strengthened Caius M1. Whilst T ing into the senior boats by the we certainly gave them the hardest chal- time the Winter Head to Head came lenge they faced all day on their way to around, so only W1 and M1 entered. victory in the final, they managed to re- W1 had a strong race and ended up fin- claim our early lead and pull ahead with ishing in the fastest time of the Women’s alastminutepush. Second Division, whilst M1 decided to In the Lent Bumps Getting on Race, use the race as a training exercise and so our W2 surprised everyone by putting entered four IVs, with every crew mem- in an excellent row and getting onto the ber racing the 2x2k course twice, and Lent Bumps! This is something that switching crews after each leg. One of doesn’t happen often, and everyone is the runs even set the fastest time for any very proud of their performance. Sadly, IV in the competition. M3 were not quite so fortunate, and nar- Next up came Newnham Short rowly missed out. They were, however, Course, where W1 and W2 stepped up the second fastest non-qualifiers, so not to deliver some excellent results. W1 fin- abade↵ortatall! ished 4th fastest of 16 colleges and W2 put in a solid row, setting them up well Lent Bumps for the upcoming Lents Getting on Race. ur W2 exceeded all expectations The last of the head races was Robin- by following their success in the son Head, where we entered W3 and M3. O Getting on Race with successive bumps Against many expectations, M3 rowed on Murray Edwards II, St Catherine’s better than they had all term to finish II and Churchill II. Sadly, a canvas 2nd of the boats needing to Get on to away from making blades just after the Lents, and W3 pulled out a stellar per- start, 6 and 5 came o↵their seats and formance to almost match some W2s! W2 were unfortunately bumped back by Pembroke Regatta is the last chance Churchill II. for crews to see how they shape up be- fore the Lents. In the morning, our M3 had their first crack at a proper rac- ing start against First and Third M5, and found themselves to be significantly faster. Sadly their success was short lived as a strong Caius M3 beat them by several lengths in the next round. Next up, W2 looked to be on for a solid win over Jesus W3, right up until their rudder cable snapped and ended their race. W1 fared slightly better, beating King’s W2 at Lent Bumps Dinner. Magdalene W1 by two lengths, but then 24

M2 started the week well with a rapid bumped before First Post. Finally, on bump on Girton II, and followed it up the Saturday, our week was topped o↵ with a row over in front of them on day with the fastest of the four bumps, as we two. Sadly the last two days were less rapidly gained and then bumped Robin- successful, being bumped by Jesus III son half way along First Post Reach, and Caius III. Nevertheless, they held much to the joy of all the supporters their own to finish down one. who turned up on the bank. The King’s flag was triumphantly waved by Will all the way home as M1 celebrated earning our Blades, and securing our place in the First Division once more.

King’s W1 at Lent Bumps Dinner.

W1 built on their defeat of Magdalene in Pembroke Regatta to pull away and row over in front of them on the first day. They followed this up with a bump on Trinity Hall and then then another on King’s M1 after winning their blades. Lady Margaret in days two and three. Sadly, St Catharine’s proved elusive on the final day, leaving King’s to row over and finish up two for the week. M1, having sadly bumped down to Sandwich boat in 2012, was to start the week at the head of Division 2. A strong start saw us quickly gain a large lead and M1 rowed over safely. An even faster start and some very tight lines from Will saw Selwyn bumped on First Post Cor- ner on Wednesday. Getting into our stride for the week, we had two whistles on Emma before the Motorway bridge, and took them down before the cor- ner. Friday saw us move up on Magda- lene so fast our coaches didn’t even have time to call distances, and they too were 25

Kingston Head ing’s M1 had a wonderful time K in Bumps, but bigger plans were afoot, as we shifted our focus to the . Our prepara- tion for this involved a trip to Kingston Head. Upon arriving at Kingston Gram- mar School, we quickly set about re- rigging our boat and set o↵for a quick paddle to warm up and marshall. O↵ the start we were moving well, and we had soon overtaken one crew. The wind and waves picked up in the second half, but we coped well and would have over- taken another crew had it not been for some very tactical lines from their cox. Nevertheless, we finished strong and re- ceived a decent time as our reward, finishing 4th fastest of 20 IM3 crews, and 24th overall. Sadly, due to poor weather, HoRR 2013 had to be can- celled, but Kingston Head was a great race nonetheless.

King’s M1 at Kingston Head. 26

Easter Term 2013 training reduced to outings in fours. However Wallingford Regatta provided Cambridge Races an excellent opportunity to match our top four guys against the rest of the isruption is the word when it country. Raced on Sunday 5th May on D comes to Easter term rowing in the London 2012 Olympic rowing lake at Cambridge. Revision and exams bro- Eton Dorney, M1 4+ took on the multi- ken up by warm, sunny evenings on the lane IM2 and IM3 competitions. Cam. An early start was on the cards, with Easter 2013 saw KCBC in a strong the first race of the day to go o↵at 07:30, position, with both sides set to domi- with subsequent races every six minutes nate on the water. The Head of the there after. As we rigged up the Ham- Cam at the end of April was our first mer & Sickle, it became clear how big chance to pit ourselves up against the this competition was, with boats of all big league. The second men’s eight and sizes and crews of all ages milling around first men’s four both performed well, but the boating hard. it was W1’s day. They comfortably beat all the competition in the Second Mays Aratherrushedwarm-upsawusar- division, and placed highly amongst the rive slightly late at the start of our first other first boats. heat in the IM2 division. We had only Spring Head to Head saw another just got onto the stake boat, when the strong win for W1, but the competition starter called us to attention! We were also served as great racing experience for o↵, and up to speed, heading straight the second and third boats. With Mays down the 2k course. We sat comfort- fast approaching, it was looking increas- ably in the main pack, focussing on our ingly likely that we would have six boats own race, the only noise to be heard was competing for King’s. the six voices of the coxes, Will’s com- Champs Head in the middle of May ing clearest of all. Lifting towards the was a last chance to measure up against finish, we crossed the line second, secur- the other colleges. M1 finished third be- ing a place in the final. hind Pembroke and Downing, suggest- ing a positive bumps campaign ahead. The second men finished in the mix of colleges, with their fate in bumps un- clear. Nines Regatta saw M1 reach the Semi- finals, losing narrowly to LMBC over the Cam regatta course up the Reach.

Wallingford Regatta Men’s First Four xams at the beginning of Easter The rowing lake at Eton Dorney during E term had seen the majority of M1’s the Regatta. 27

The IM2 final was ours for the tak- in the bright sunshine. Overall a very ing. Chris Smith has given us a pep talk; exciting day of racing. we knew we were strong enough to win, we just had to go out and deliver. Our Bedford Amateur Regatta row to the start was perfect; we prac- ticed a few starts and arrived in plenty Women’s First Eight of time for the start. On the stake boat fter success in Bedford Star we looked at our opposition and deter- Head, the first women returned to mination filled us. O↵the start we were A Bedford to compete in the Amateur Re- flying, up onto a great rhythm and mov- gatta. For most of the crew this would ing away from the slowest crews. Pass- be their first o↵-Cam regatta, filling ing through 500m we settled into our them with excitement and anticipation. race and started to grind away at the In the first round W1 came up against others crews, moving into an early lead. Warwick University. They gave the uni- 1250m to go we stepped up slightly, will- versity crew a good run for their money, ing the boat on a little bit faster. Still but unfortunately couldn’t quite make it ahead. Other crews started to move at into the second round. the halfway stage, but we were staying one step ahead of them. 500m to go. Ahead. Building up for the finish. Up May Bumps onto the toes, sharpening up the catches xams over. Back to the river for and urging the line closer. 150m to go. the Mays. For the first time in City of Bristol appeared in my periph- E many years, W3 qualified for bumps and erals and closing fast. In a last ditch at- started the Boat Club’s conquest on the tempt we went for a sprint finish to the river. The first day started with a very line. Too little, too late. Bristol took quick and decisive bump on Clare IV it at the line by a canvas. An excellent a promising start. However, after two race, but a painful defeat. successful row overs, it wasn’t until the The afternoon session saw us com- Saturday that the third women felt the pete in the IM3 competition. After bump again; this time taking down Sel- abriefrecoveryandde-brief,wecom- wyn III. A solid up two for the week. posed ourselves ready to do it all again! We won our heat, comfortably stepping away from the other boats, but posted the slowest time out of the qualifying crews. Six kilometres of top speed rac- ing was starting to be felt by the crew. The final would be against a multitude of strong school-boy fours. Our aim was to stick with them until halfway, then take it from there. We did stick with King’s W3 on Day One of Mays. them, but could not push on for the win. The guys enjoyed the last kilometre, rac- The third men had a tougher time, be- ing on one of Britain’s key rowing stages ing successively bumped by Queens’ IV, 28

Girton III, Caius IV, and Magdalene IV. avoiding spoons. Saturday saw them Down four, but pleased with the expe- lose out to a very fast Clare Hall M1, rience gained and determined to make which was tearing up the fourth division! back the places next year. Overall down three for the week.

King’s M3 at May Bumps Dinner. King’s M2 at May Bumps Dinner.

W2 had a slightly frustrating start The first women had a physically de- to their week as the two boats ahead manding week, starting o↵as sandwich bumped out, leaving them to chase boat and having to deal with racing down an overbump, which they closed twice each day. After two days of row- upon but couldn’t quite seal. The fol- ing over, day three saw them bumped lowing three days were more successful, by Churchill I. Determination gripped bumping Peterhouse II, St Edmund’s our women on the final day, allowing and Homerton II, leaving them up three them to bump up on Magdalene I and for the week and second in the fourth retain their sandwich boat position for division. next year. Overall level.

King’s W2 at May Bumps Dinner. King’s W1 on Day Three of Mays.

M2 spent the week slowly sliding back The first men knew Mays would be into the fourth division. The first two tougher than Lents; blues had returned days saw them bumped by Churchill II to other clubs and it was know common and Clare III (with a re-row), before knowledge that King’s could be fast. rowing over as head of division four and Day one saw M1 bump Emmanuel I in 29 asolidrow,butstillwithimprovements their boating time approached, doubt of to be made. Day two saw Fitzwilliam finding a replacement began to set in. I fall on First Post Corner. Day three Up stood Leo. A quick change and she and a crew change due to illness; ten- was in the bows of the Jolly Roger row- sion in the boat was palpable. Could ing down to the start. Fifty minutes we catch Christ’s I after a last minute later, pure triumph. W2 bumped up, change. Yes. Tight on the inside of Dit- making Leo the only rower in the club to ton we gained overlap and completed the bump at every opportunity in our Mays bump. Day four and disappointment. campaign! We closed on Clare I to within a quar- Thank you Leo for your many years ter of a length, pushing the all the way of support; you are a remarkable woman to top finish, but unable to complete the and a great asset to the Boat Club. bump. Overall a strong performance, up three. Henley Royal Regatta Men’s First Eight enley Qualification had been H our aim all year. Bumps matter in Cambridge, but away from the Cam, the Eight’s Head of the River Race (HoRR) and Henley Royal Regatta (HRR) are the most important races in the rowing King’s M1 on Day One of Mays. calendar. Right from the beginning of Michaelmas our coach, Chris Smith, saw that we had the potential to make it to Henley, so he focussed us in and set us on Boat Naming - Women’s a path of victories building up to HRR. VIII - Leo Sharpston After the excitement of Bumps and had passed, we set upon our n15th June 2013, past and cur- final campaign of the year - HRR Qual- O rent members of the club gath- ification. We had tried our best to keep ered for the naming ceremony of a new the training up during the period of May St¨ampfli women’s eight. The name Balls and garden parties, however we had been chosen in recognition of a needed to seriously step up our game truly extraordinary member of the boat and get organised if we were to make an club; a King’s rower for several years, a impact at Henley. With term at an end, women’s blue multiple times, a KCBC we packed up the boat, welcomed Will supporter for decades and our current Hayes (St Catherine’s) into the boat, Honorary President, Leo Sharpston. and moved the crew to Kingston upon Events that followed the ceremony Thames where we enjoyed the hospital- demonstrate how truly amazing this ity of Chris Smith and Kingston Gram- woman is. A women’s second boat rower mar School. was ill, leaving them a rower short for Training down in Kingston proved vi- their that afternoon. As tal in preparing us for Henley. Double 30 training sessions on the long and rela- our most ecient rhythm. As we went tively empty stretch of river in Kingston through the marshalling pattern we were allowed us to polish our technique and directed by Sir Steve Redgrave toward completely gel as a crew. Under the the start. All non-essential kit was re- excellent coaching of Mortitz Schramm moved from the boat and thrown to our (our Mays and HRR coach) we had de- bank party. We maneuvered into the veloped not only our rowing ability, but start area and waited for the start. also the attitude in the boat - backing The majority of the race remains a each other up, striving for success, and blur. I can honestly say a race has never always pushing to improve. felt as though it has gone more to plan. Everyone agreed in the boat that it felt good, really good. If our pace dropped o↵slightly, we got it back straight away; nine of us against the clock, backing each other up. Shouts from the boat when the rhythm felt great kept the adrenaline pumping, keeping us on the edge all the way up the course. Lifting up as we came into the enclosures was exhilarating. Every last pound of e↵ort bent on qualification.

King’s M1 training for Henley at Kingston upon Thames.

Afreshstretchofriver,beautiful sunny weather and plenty of practice pieces had done us good, so on Thursday 27th June we moved to Henley.

HRR - Qualifiers Our preparation was complete, we were King’s M1 in the HRR Qualifiers. ready. On arriving in Henley we took the opportunity to test out the water After the division had finished, the and get used to he unfamiliar sights and regatta ocials quickly announced the sounds, so that on race day we could results. We had racked the boat and keep focus in the boat. For me this one had gathered in the bay. A voice came race would be the true test of my Cap- over the tannoy. taincy, had this year been a success or would we fall at the final hurdle. “The Temple Challenge Cup. Crews Nerves were high as we boated for who have qualified in alphabetical or- the qualifying race, but we had a plan der “, Exeter University, to stick to; a very detailed plan that Goldie Boat Club, Hampton School, would get us up to speed and maintain Imperial College School of Medicine, 31

King’s College, Cambridge and St Catherine’s College, Cambridge...”

We erupted with cheers that were, in our opinion, the loudest of any qualify- ing crew.

King’s M1 at the start of Henley Royal Regatta.

ourselves to claw it back, but Eton just sat in front, slowly inching us away. King’s M1 celebrate after qualifying for Perhaps due to a lack of side-by-side the Temple Challenge Cup. racing experience, we just couldn’t find the same speed and rhythm that we had in the qualifiers. We crossed the line 1 2 lengths behind. HRR - First Round 3 After a few days of disrupted training, King’s M1 would like to thank due to work commitments and injury Richard Lloyd-Morgan, David Munday, to our coach, Wednesday finally arrived. Mike Proctor, and Paddy Robinson for The first day of HRR proper. We had their support on the Wednesday, and drawn Eton College in the first round, for providing Steward’s Enclosure tick- with our race set to go o↵at the prime ets for several members of the crew. time of 15:35. With our main goal of We would also like to thank our qualification having been achieved, our coaches, who drove our improvements aim now was to have a good race and and kept us focussed on our ultimate give Eton a run for their money. aim. Thank you to Chris Braithwaite, As we positioned our stern on the who checked up on our progress sev- stake boat, Sir Matthew Pinsent arrived eral times throughout term. To Chris in the umpire’s launch to take charge Smith who masterminded the whole of the race. The boat was set straight, Fairbairns, HoRR, HRR plan, who the crew was ready, my hand went down. stayed devoted to us despite his new job in London, and sculpted us into a great “Cambridge. Eton College. GO.” crew. To Moritz Schramm who took us We got o↵to a fairly quick start, but up three in Mays to Henley Qualifica- saw Eton start to step away from us; by tion - his experience brought about an the Barrier they were half a length up. attitude change in the boat. A belief in From this point on we couldn’t quite ourselves and a real drive to succeed. recover the distance. We kept pushing 32

Men’s Captain’s important that we impart our knowledge from one generation to the next, nourish Report 2012-13 the next year of novices and give them achievements to aspire to. At no point Will Miller must we be satisfied with our perfor- It has been quite a year for the men’s mance, we can always improve and keep first eight, with success in University searching for that perfect race. IVs, Fairbairns, Lents, Mays, and Hen- King’s Boat Club isn’t being ignored ley Royal Regatta. During prosperous by other colleges on the river anymore, times it is easy to focus on the boats who and we have started to make an impres- are winning races, however as a club we sion in the wider Com- should look to the depth of our crews munity. Let’s keep this positive trend and the improvements made by all. going for many years to come. In my Lents’ Dinner Speech I pre- Thank you to all members of the sented the Club with a question: Club, past and present, for your con- tinued support and enthusiasm which makes KCBC so special to be a part of. “It is often said that the aptitude of the Boat Club cycles in years of three. Ithereforepresentyouwithachoice: either we repeat the last three years - yo-yoing up and down the bottom of the first division, joking about Headship and casually shrugging o↵defeat. Or as Club we can step-on together - keep the depth, nourish the next generation and in the not too distant future make Headship a reality.”

Over the course of Easter term the Club responded; with all crews showing improvements, greater enthusiasm, and adrivetosucceed. KCBC is on the change. We want to achieve great things every year; rank in the top 100 in HoRR, qualify for Henley, continue moving up the bumps charts, etc. For that we require depth; com- mitment, determination and a drive for success throughout the club. We can- not predict the future, but we can pre- pare ourselves for everything that could be thrown at us. Crews may change, but we keep at- tacking as a Boat Club together. It is 33

Women’s Captain’s friendly atmosphere for everyone to blos- som in. This inclusiveness was high- Report 2012-13 lighted at the end of the year when KCBC’s own alumna, Leo Sharpston, Alex Hayes was invited for a boat naming and suddenly found herself rowing in the This academic year KCBC’s women’s May Bumps, due to an unfortunate last side has flourished and grown im- minute injury. Her inclusion into the mensely. In addition to most of the squad was a cherry on the top of what first boat continuing from the previous this year was all about. year, the novice intake this year was As well as being a successful year in strong. At every level there were buck- terms of quality time spent around the ets of enthusiasm. Despite the average Boat Club, the number of racing suc- size of the novices, they pulled out the cesses have shown that we also have a best placement in Fairbairn’s in recent wealth of talent. KCBC is a growing times. The Vice Captains were report- club and, following the incredible suc- ing novices who erged for fun... who cesses of the Men’s crews, the Women’s knew... This created masses of competi- side is sure to follow, looking beyond the tion: W2 being as hard to get a spot in Cam and proving ourselves on a bigger as W1. stage. The success of our W3 (up 2 in Mays), W2 (up 2 and then 3 in Lents and Mays) and W1 (up 2 in Lents) goes to show the strength of the whole Women’s side from the bottom to the top. W1 won pots on several occasions, on and o↵ the Cam, most significantly at Bedford and in a triumphant second place out of all college crews in the Spring Head- to-Head. KCBC’s Boat Club song quip of “it’s vulgar to actually win” seemed more and more irrelevant as the year went on. The unprecedented growth in num- bers on the Women’s side did pose a challenge to resources (such as not hav- ing a boat for W3), as well as man- ageability. However, all round team work and commitment to viewing the Women’s side as an organic whole made for an excellent and highly inclusive year of Women’s rowing at King’s. The in- tegration of the crews from W3 to W1 through mixed training sessions and so- cial a↵airs created an enjoyable and 34 Boathouse Plans

The new Boathouse will be spread over two floors. Downstairs there will be four log bays to accommodate each club’s boats, with room for up to ten eights and several fours and smaller boats per club. A fifth bay on the north side of the building will become a boatman’s workshop to allow our boatman to carry out more extensive repairs on site. The club rooms and erg room will move upstairs and out of the way of flooding. As well as providing more space for each club, the upstairs will also bring larger changing and shower rooms for both men and women, and a large shared space for warming up and erging.

The middle section of the roof will be home to several solar panels to help provide for the electricity demands of the new boathouse and to make the site more environmentally friendly. 35

The shared space upstairs will benefit from large sliding glass windows and a balcony overlooking the river, which we expect to be particularly enjoyable in the sunny summer months.