Term is now in full swing with most colleges close to stumbling upon their final crews for Eights. Whispers of improving weather forecasts and the chance of a shot at glory have drawn part-timers back into boats, and the final push towards Eights week is approaching.
Progress at Peter’s
It would appear St Peter’s have some grand plans. Rather than participating in the occasional external regatta somewhere fairly local, they’re planning to travel to Nanchan, China for the 2018 World Leading Universities Regatta. It will be a big step up for these boys – with advertising reading that they wanted competitive 2k scores we expect most college rowers are in with a shout, judging by their standard of rowing.
Keble crash
Keble are turning into the gift that keep on giving. Our sources inform us that their coach was seen digging them out of the bank at Godstow with a spade. Has their infamous cox made a return? Other rowers are calling on OURCs to take action over the now-infamous bow ball incident – but it looks as though bureaucracy may get in the way of a proper punishment, once again.
Trouble at Teddy
Teddy Hall landed themselves in hot water this week after trying to snake their way round the sabbatical officer. After the Hall had posted about subs for their M2, the Row Sab quickly pointed out that the outing was in restricted times for first crews only. An attempt to edit the post was snuffled out by the cunning officer, who left them red-faced in front of the college rowing community.
Hungry like the Wolf
This could be a strong year for the Wolfson women. They have a number of returning Blues, and while a headship bid is more or less out of the picture for this year, it could be within sight for next: a strong showing looks increasingly likely. This may be thwarted by
Keble W1, who have improved every time we’ve seen them. Last year’s headship winners Wadham have been looking a little rusty – it looks unlikely that they’ll finish as head for the fifth year in a row.
Green and mean
On the men’s side Jesus have been looking strong. After a meteoric rise last year, the boys in green look set for a solid push into Division One. Lower down, Trinity look fast. While this prediction could come back to bite, there’s every chance that they might be able to climb rapidly this summer, with several weak crews ahead of them.
The weekly chopper, Cherwell’s new college rowing column, is brought to you by the teams behind The Isis Chopper, the Radley Chopper, and our own team of informants.
