Balliol College Boat Club

Balliol College Boat Club (BCBC) is the rowing club for members of Balliol College, Oxford, and is one of the top boat clubs in Oxford with regular success for both men and women. In 2008, Balliol's Men regained the Head of the River in the Oxford Summer Eights competition, the first time in 52 years. The College's women are currently placed 5th in Summer Eights. The club has a history of developing new talent, and the club's lower boats also performed very well in 2008. The combined efforts of the more experienced oarsmen and a talented crop of novices helped BCBC to top the bumps charts for both Torpids and Summer Eights in 2008.

Balliol also competes at prestigious external regattas including Marlow international and Henley Royal Regatta.

History

"‘The earliest definite allusion to Balliol rowing is in 1823, when there was a “boat match between the Rowers of Balliol and Christ Church, which was won by the former, after a well-contested race.” Balliol was certainly one of the four colleges competing in an eight in the summer races of 1825. Two Balliol men rowed for Oxford in the first University Boat Race at Henley in 1829, in a boat lent by Balliol for the occasion.’"ref|jjquote

The College Archives are rich in material concerning the Boat Club from about 1840 onwards. The Buttery has an extensive collection of sports photographs and trophies including many to do with the Boat Club. The College has been Head of the River in the Summer Eights many times, notably a longish run in the nineteen-fifties and also regaining the Headship in 2008. Balliol’s previous last reign at the Head of the River was in 1971 when they were head of Torpids.

The base of the Boat Club for the latter part of the nineteenth century and much of the twentieth was a grand barge which was moored on the Thames. The present Boathouse (semi-detached; New College has the other half) was opened in May 1959. The Barge was last seen in 1996 at Henley, when it was up for auction.

Famous Balliol oarsmen have included Lord Justice Chitty, Edmond Warre (Head Master of Eton), FS Kelly (composer, killed in France 1916: one of the greatest scullers of all time), Cardinal Heard, Dan Snow (3 time 'Blue' and 2001 OUBC president), HM King Olav V of Norway and HM King Harald V of Norway.

Committee

The boat club is governed by a committee consisting of student represententives and an overseeing Senior Member (currently Douglas Dupree). All are unelected, or elected by the previous committee, and volunteer their time to the club. The current committee comprises:ref|comm

President - Hunter Harris
Men's Captain - Oscar Schonfeld
Women's Captain - Bev Pannell
Women's Vice-Captain - Alice Lighton
Secretary - Emma Winter
Treasurer - Jack Devlin
Web Officer - Chris Wright
Alumni Officers - Maya Bahoshy & Joanna Williamson

Latest Crews

The followingref|crews lists the most recent crews to row for Balliol in Summer Eights, years of matriculation are given in brackets:

Coaching

The Men's 1st VIII is currently coached by Colin Williamson who rows at Leander Club. Colin coached the Men’s 1st VIII to their successes in 2007-8 and has agreed to stay on and coach them for another year. He is training full time out of Leander Club in Henley and is a past President of Aberdeen University Boat Club.

The Women's 1st VIII are coached by Nick Beven. Nick attended Balliol in 1960 and has had a long history in rowing coaching at schoolboy level. He was originally approached by Balliol to help coach the Men's 1st and 2nd VIIIs but has since found a home with the Women of Balliol.

Equipment

BCBC has greatly benefited from the generous donations of old Balliolites over the years. The current men's and women's first boats, the 'Trevor Gallagher' and the 'Happy Rogers' respectively, reflect this trend. They are both recently purchased empachers in very good condition.

Training Locations

Novice and development crews train on the stretch of the Thames, known as the Isis, which flows through Oxford, but senior crews train further afield; the men train at Wallingford on the same stretch of the Thames as the Oxford University crews while the women train on the Godstow stretch just west of Oxford city centre.

Eights Headships (since 1936)

* Men: 1952, 1955, 1956, 2008

Torpids Headships (since 1960)

* Men: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971

Rivalries

Not having been a traditionally a rowing college over the last century, Balliol has few rivalries with other colleges. Currently the traditional Balliol/Trinity is not felt amongst the rowing community as the two colleges are not placed near each other in Torpids or Summer Eights.

References

Jones, JH. Balliol College: A History 2nd ed. rev. Oxford: OUP, 2005 p.189, quoting The Oxford University and City Herald, 14 June 1823
http://www.bcbc.co.uk/wpbcbc/?page_id=34
http://www.bcbc.co.uk/wpbcbc/?page_id=162

ee also

*Balliol College
*University rowing (UK)

*Torpids
*Summer Eights
*OUBC

External links

* [http://www.bcbc.co.uk BCBC website]
* [http://www.ourcs.org.uk Oxford University Rowing Clubs]
* [http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/rowing/bumps Oxford Bumps Charts]