Swimming. Jumping out into the cold. Cycling. More cold. Running. Even more cold. Triathlon may seem like a sport pur­posefully designed to capture the essence of those grim October PE lessons spent slogging round a field in the rain while the substitute teacher with too much power and a waterproof coat screams at you, but some people seem to enjoy it. So much so that these last few weeks have seen the Oxford University Triathlon Team enjoy enormous success in both varsity and at the BUCS nationals.

This year’s varsity was held for the first time at Leicestershire’s Belvoir Castle, a fantastic but tough course composed of a shallow swim, a 400m transition period and a running section effectively all hill. Such difficult conditions however, according to Luke Sperry, “brought out the best” in the Oxford team. Though 34 athletes competed for Oxford in this year’s race, each team’s score is equated by adding the top three times together. The men were led by Oliver Crossley, Thomas Lewin and Charlton Bannister, winning by a very impressive 15 seconds to claim the trophy for the first time since 2003. The Oxford women’s team, which has traditionally been stronger in comparison to Cambridge, dominated the race from start to finish, a team of Sophia Saller, Imogen Kempton and Renee Haver beating their op­position by an astounding 25 minutes to round off a very successful day of racing for the entire OUTriC.

Buoyed by this performance, the club went to the BUCS nationals full of momentum, with Renee Haver (16th in the women’s category), Imogen Kempton (18th in the women’s), and Oliver Crossley (23rd in the men’s) registering some excellent finishes, especially in the dif­ficult weather conditions. All three are now lucky to gain their full blues after success at both levels, while the other three have a chance to gain their half blue colours.

Sperry was particularly proud of the strong showing from both sides of the club, comment­ing, “Though there are more men than women are competing, the phenomenal success of both teams attests to the healthy continuing growth of both male and female participa­tion.” This growth is down undeniably to the encouragement by the OUTriC committee in attracting not just sadomasochistic endur­ance athletes, but also the newcomers and those wanting to keep fit. They have developed a resolute squad across the year, ranging from ex-OUBC oarsmen to complete novices to endurance athletes.

All three men in varsity this year had never competed in the triathlon before reaching uni­versity, making use of the most the excellent facilities and coaching structure. This year saw the addition of new central performance coach Rachel Hallam who, according to a vari­ous members of the club, has been “absolutely marvellous”. Making sure both elements of the club, from the casual to the competitive, are well maintained and managed is evidently important for Sperry and his committee.

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Though the committee is in the process of handing over, Sperry is confident of the continued excellence demonstrated by this year’s fantastic results. “We would encourage anyone who is considering getting involved with a new sport,” he tells Cherwell, “whether it’s in order to compete at a high level or to try something new, to give triathlon a go.”

With this year’s excellent record, a growing team and an enthusiastic, dedicated commit­tee, it might just be enough to get people to forget those cold winter cross country runs at school and give triathlon the chance the sport deserves. Well, maybe.

While it has been an exception­ally busy term of sport, riddled with inconsistent weather, you’d be forgiven for forgetting about any cricket currently being played in Oxford. However, as the England team have struggled in recent months, cricket fans around the University should focus their attention on the men and women of OUCC, by whom lots of top-notch cricket is being played.

OUWCC started their season early, during the purple patch of weather that was 0th Week. The Dark Blues faced an early season dress rehearsal for the varsity matches that await the team at the end of term in their first BUCS league match of the season, coin­cidentally against Cambridge.

Cambridge won the toss and elected to take to the field, whether this choice was due to their confidence in their bowling attack, their preference to have a fixed total to chase down or just to make the game last the full afternoon, I’m not sure.

Regardless, Oxford got out to a strong start with a commanding first wicket partner­ship between Ellie Bath and Sian Kelly, who between them racked up 93 runs before the first wicket fell in the 16th over. Women’s Blues captain Eleanor Ingram came in at number 3 and chalked up a solid 55*, as she helped to maintain OUWCC’s dominant start by combining with Bath, who finished 82*, to help the Dark Blues put up a seemingly unas­sailable 206-1 after their allotted 30 overs.

After a strong batting performance from Oxford, it seemed that Cambridge knew they would not be able to go toe-to-toe with their opposition. Instead, the Tabs shut up shop and paid the price for it in their innings. The Light Blues were bowled out for a meagre total of 40 runs from 28 overs, as they were wholly dismantled by Oxford’s supreme attack. Alice Quayle took 2 for 12 runs and freshers Alycia Jewes (2 for 8), Sarah Attrill (1 for 2 from 4 overs), and Immy Brown (1 for 6 from 5) also contributed enormously to lim­iting the Tabs’ total as the Dark Blues made it back home in time for dinner following a decisive victory by 146 runs.

Word of this dominance clearly spread like wildfire around their BUCS division as Nottingham Trent withdrew from BUCS en­tirely (reports that sheer terror of OUWCC forced a retreat are, as yet, unsubstanti­ated), and Leicester also forfeited their fixture.

One team that did make good on their promise to take on the Dark Blues was the MCC who came to Oxford for their annual friendly fixture in University Parks. Given the nature of the MCC squad, they were always going to bring their A-game.

This became apparent as their top order put together some strong innings as they raced out to a fast start. Sarah Attrill, how­ever, threw a spanner in the works as she put together an incisive spell of bowling, taking two wickets in two balls, leaving her on a hat-trick ball, which remained uncon­verted.

But, just as in last year’s fixture, by the end of their 50 overs, the MCC had amassed a very solid score of 268 for 7. Unfortunately, Oxford struggled in their run chase and ultimately fell to a painful defeat.

After a brief sojourn of two weeks without a game, the Blues then faced Banbury CC in another development friendly.

Again though, the female cricketers seemed to come unstuck, suffering a heart breaking four wicket loss in the final over of the match to condemn them to defeat.

Looking to June however, there is lots to get excited about in the world of OUWCC, as a whole host of bragging rights are up for grabs. On 20th June, they take on the Town in the traditional Town vs Gown showdown. In what looks set to be an impassioned occa­sion, Oxford’s strength in depth will serve them well.

However, the real showpiece events are the Twenty20 varsity at the Fenners Ground in Cambridge on 12th June (Thursday of 7th) and the One Day varsity at Lord’s on 27th June (Saturday of 9th). Both the men’s and women’s team are returning victors in these contests, looking to repeat their domination from last year.

And if the Dark Blues can replicate their early season form, and the form of previous seasons, then the Tabs should be quaking in their Light Blue boots.

The men’s track events began with the block­buster event: the 100m. In the men’s match, OUAC Blue Hallam Dixon was beaten by the fin­est of margins in a race that was on a knife-edge until the finish.

The 100m was followed by the 400m and mile races, in which male athletes from Oxford University picked up the win with comprehen­sive performances. On the men’s side, it was clear that the Town’s morale was beginning to crumble. They mounted a brief comeback in the 110m hurdles, with the University athlete finish­ing a close second.

However, after a steward’s inquiry by the University it was revealed that the Town athlete was cheating by using lower hurdles. Oxford’s Tom McQuillin was thus awarded the win and the Town athlete awaits confirmation of his competition ban for violating IAAF regulations.

The University proceeded to clean sweep all other events as the Town’s rally was not suffi­cient to overcome the composed University ath­letes. They won the 200m, 800m and 5k races.

It was a similar story in the field. After an early surge in the javelin and discus, the Town could not maintain their momentum and proceeded to lose all the other field events.

David Kelly jumped a fine d i s t a nc e to win the long jump, whilst Harry Wood­cock reigned supreme in the shot put, winning by well over a metre.

In the women’s events, entries from the Uni­versity were more sporadic, perhaps due to fa­tigue from varsity. However, University athletes won almost every event they entered. The 100m race was dominated by OUAC’s Eniola Oyesanya, who eased to victory with a 0.5 second margin over second place. Solid performances by Ellie Hinde, Eline Helmer and Briana Hazlewood secured OUAC the victories in the 400m, the 100m hurdles and the coveted 3000m race walk respectively.

In the field, OUAC women stepped up to the mark, clean sweeping the entire field competi­tion. Christina Nick’s fantastic double in the shot and discus laid a precedent for further victories. Polly Fullerton launched herself well above any of her competitors in the high jump, while Kate Davies demonstrated why she is OUAC’s javelin extraordinaire.

Unfortunately the dominant performance in the field could not quite compensate for the deficit in the track.

The women’s match was perhaps the more exciting of the two contests because drama continued right up until the last few events. In the men’s match, the last event (the 800m won by Niki Faulkner) was a mere victory lap (x2).

The University will be hoping next year t o retain the title in the men’s match and the women will be hoping to steal the coveted title back from the grasp of the town.

For now though, OUACC looks towards a packed end of season. Next weekend, they head off for the South Eng­land Athletics Association championships at the Lee Valley athletics centre.

At the end of the month, Light and Dark Blue will join forces to take on the best of Harvard and Yale at Iffley in a Brits vs Yanks showdown. The season culminates with the UK championships in Bir­mingham on Friday 3rd July.

For now the club will hope to use the momentum from these encouraging results to push on for a fitting end to the season.

Octopush is not, as commonly thought, a squid with a lisp, but one of Oxford’s niche sports. Underwater hockey, for the uninitiated, has gone from strength to strength since its introduction to Oxford in 2006, and had the honour of being mentioned in matriculation by the Vice-Chancellor. Cuppers on Saturday 30th May attracted five teams, and was hotly contested, with Lincoln emerging from the depths victorious.

Octopush teams consist of six players, with up to four subs, and substitutions are a frequent occurrence. In terms of stash, each player has a mask, snorkel, fins, water polo hat, and a short stick the size of a spatula. Apparently one of the unique selling points of the game is the ability to customise your equipment, within basic guidelines, so a defi­nite opportunity to accessorise. The aim of the game is to push a 1.2kg puck (or ‘squid’) into the opposing goal (or ‘gull’), which consists of a 3m tray at the end of the pool. The colour of the stick (or ‘pusher’) denotes the team you are on, much as the colour of the hat does in water polo.

The pitch length is typically 25m, though this can vary due to differing sizes of pool. The vital need for substitutions is due to international lengths of games being up to 33 minutes, including a three minute half time, and much of that is spent underwater holding your breath.

Thankfully for the hardy souls who braved the Cuppers competition, games were not quite that long, and they had an hour long coaching session first to practice. In the Cuppers version of the game, there were five people on each team, plus subs, and they com­peted in short games in a round robin format.

Lincoln was eventually victorious, with St Hilda’s coming second. The other three teams – St John’s, Hertford, and St Anne’s – were all tied for third. In teams where most members had never played before, it was an impressive competition, and, as the captain Eleanor Mitchell surmised, “really fun!”

Though octopush may be a niche and un­heard of sport, it is played at all levels, includ­ing at the international level, and Oxford is a force to be reckoned with.

They train twice a week in the pool, and also practice their skills on land. Apparently tuna cans make great substitute pucks, who knew? They have two teams, one of which consists of novices, who regularly compete in their own tournaments and have been victorious in several.

Most recently, the main team came ninth at the student nationals in Coventry. Sadly as yet there is no varsity match, but plans are report­edly afoot. Come on Cambridge, let’s beat you at all forms of sport.

As the ashes settle and the wash dies down, Cherwell looks back at Summer VIIIs 2015. In some respects, VIIIs 2015 was much like any other year – a few surprises here and there, not much change at the top and comedy at the bottom, but unknown to many spectators until the final day, this year marked the 200th anniversary of bumps racing in Oxford.

That’s right, young men from Brasenose and Jesus have been chopping along the Isis ever since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. I feel this anniversary could have been far better publicised and celebrated in greater detail. The commemorative rowpast in authentic boats by alumni from Brasenose and Jesus was a nice touch and certainly along the right lines but apart from this individual spectacle there was nothing commemorative in the schedule or build up to the event.

Sadly 200 years on, we were unable to witness a real bumps race between Brasenose and Jesus, who started five places apart in division two. Happily both crews made progress up the river which was supplemented with the gratuitous use of #200years on twitter.

Not all crews were able to progress. Spoons were, somewhat predictably, awarded to St Catz and Worcester in men’s division one along with St John’s, St Anne’s, St Peter’s, Somerville and Magdalen 2 in the rest of the senior divisions. St Peter’s in particular must be gutted to have lost the gains they made last year with blades.

On the women’s side, the racing was somewhat closer with only two crews – Teddy Hall and Merton – receiving spoons.
Given that Teddy Hall had only entered one crew, the results suggest a clear lack of any depth within the squad. Hopefully this can be turned around next year.
In happier results, Pembroke made strong progress moving up from 4th to 2nd on the river, narrowly missing out on bumping the incumbent headship crew Wadham.

Speaking of Wadham, this crew was fairly dominant all week and responded to the challenge from Pembroke on Friday well with a more comfortable row-over to cement their title on Saturday.

The most impressive climb came from Univ who bumped every day moving up from 8th to 4th on the river – a staggering climb for VIIIs. Elsewhere New College seemed to have learned how to steer and turned that raw potential into success bumping up from 2nd in division two to 11th in division one.
New also had a good run of form on the men’s side, bumping up from 2nd in division two to 12th in division one and narrowly missed out on blades as they were unable to catch Wadham before Wadham caught Worcester on Thursday.

At the top of the river, Christ Church M1 delivered a powerful bump on Pembroke just after boathouse island on Wednesday to secure their position as 2nd on the river and from this point onwards did not face any pressure from below.

However despite this speed they were unable to catch the head of the river crew, Oriel, which consistently moved away by couple of lengths, and retained the headship comfortably. OURCs refused to confirm whether the Tortoises had set a course record but given they surpassed the time of last year’s Oriel M1, it seemed probable.

Unsurprisingly, Keble dominated at the bottom end of men’s division one racking up bumps on St Catz, Balliol, Univ and Trinity. Many had speculated whether the late return of man-machine Constantine Louloudis on Saturday could save Trinity from a bump but it was not to be.

Looking at the minor headships, Oriel retained the men’s second boat headship although Pembroke drew one step closer to trying to win it back. Next year they will start one after the other in what is sure to be a heated contest.

Despite nearly getting spoons, Wadham W2 remained head of the women’s second boats, six places ahead of Worcester W2. This is testament to Wadham’s strength in depth over the years.

Elsewhere Jesus, lost the men’s third boat headship to a commanding Wolfson M3 who also achieved blades, marking a very strong season for the graduate college. The women’s third boat headship was, somewhat comically, retained by the spoons winning St Johns W3 crew. They were only able to hold on to this title thanks to their close rivals Worcester W3 falling three places as well.

Overall, it was a Summer VIIIs which largely confirmed rather than upset expectations. 200 years after its inception, the sheer ferocity of the competition doesn’t seem to have abated.