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| Established | c. 1837 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Isis () | ||||||||||||||
| Senior Member | Ms Pauline Linières-Hartley | ||||||||||||||
| Men's Captain | Russ Tucker | ||||||||||||||
| Women's Captain | Honora Spicer | ||||||||||||||
| WCBC Website | |||||||||||||||
Wadham College Boat Club (WCBC) is the rowing club of Wadham College, Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The club's members are students and staff from Wadham College and Harris Manchester College. Founded some time before 1837, Wadham has had great success both within Oxford and externally in regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta. The boat club is based in its boathouse on the Isis, which is shared with St. Anne's College Boat Club and St. Hugh's College Boat Club.
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The first official record of the boat club’s existence appears in 1837 when the club was officially constituted. The Wadham 1st Eight competed in the first ever race of the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 1839, and narrowly lost to Trinity, Cambridge. This defeat would be avenged in the next decade when, in 1849, Wadham raced Trinity, Cambridge and Oriel College in the Ladies' Challenge Plate and the Grand Challenge Cup on successive days. Wadham won both races with Trinity as the runner up and Oriel in a distant third.[1] It is from this defeat of Trinity that Wadham claimed its traditional right to wear Cambridge Blue as its boating colors, and to this day the 1st Eight Blazers and Ties continue this tradition.[2] The following year Wadham increased its good run by claiming the Headship in Summer Eights, and then reclaimed the Head six years later in 1856. Wadham would return victoriously to Henley in 1908 and 1925 when the 1st Eight won the Thames Challenge Cup in both years. By 1897 Wadham College had emulated the example of the rest of the colleges and invested in a permanent Wadham Barge to serve as a rowing base on the Isis.[3] This barge, moored on the most downstream part of Boathouse Island where Christ Church Boathouse is now located, was sold in 1973 when repairs became prohibitively expensive, and it later burned to the waterline and sank in 1983. A new boathouse was built in 1989, and is now shared with St. Anne's and St. Hughe's colleges. The year 1974 saw the first admission of women to the College, and in 1975 a women’s team was official created. The first year of the women’s club was extraordinarily successful, and the women dominated the university by winning the Christ Church Regatta and the Lady Margaret Hall Regatta. In 1976 a women’s division was added to the Summer Eights schedule, and following a random draw which placed the Wadham women at 3rd on the river they immediately bumped up to second and first on successive days, and then rowed over on the Friday and Saturday to claim the first Women’s Head of the River.[4] In the past decade the women have competed at Women’s Henley, and the men have qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Recent Summer Eights have seen the women move back up the first division into striking range of the headship, while the men continue their historical positions at the top of the second and bottom of the first divisions. In Torpids the men sit tenth on the river, and the women have swiftly moved upwards to third on the river.
Membership in the boat club is open to all students and staff of Wadham College. Membership is also open to all students and staff of Harris Manchester College following the formal affiliation of their boat club to Wadham in 2003. Honorary memberships are available to all alumni of the boat club, and also to persons who have had a large involvement in the running of the club.
The club is run by a committee of 13 officers elected annually from amongst the members of the club.
Mark "Buzz" Nixon and Liz Nixon have coached the men's squad for the past 10 years. The 1st and 2nd VIIIs are coached by Buzz on the Godstow stretch, while Liz coaches the lower boats and the novices on the Isis.
Rod Andrews has coached Wadham for 30 years. He previously coached both the men's and women's squads, but now focuses specifically on the women's squad.
Generous funding provided by the Boat Club Society allows Wadham to enjoy excellent world class boats and equipment. New eights and blades are bought on a regular schedule of every three years.
Men's Boats
Women's Boats
Small Boats
The boat club has a dedicated ergometet room in Wadham College with 8 concept2 ergometers and 2 RowPerfect indoor rowers.
Plans have been drawn up for a four person indoor rowing tank, and the Boat Club committee continues to consult with college authorities regarding its construction.
The bulk of novice and lower boat water training occurs on the Isis out of Wadham's boathouse. The Senior squads typically train with their top two boats on the Godstow stretch of the Thames near the Trout Inn. Weight training takes place at the Armed Services Gym, and regular team cycle trips occur on the 'Dark Lane' cycle route. An annual training camp occurs a few weeks before the start of Trinity Term. In previous years the training camp has been held at Molesey Boat Club, and the current committee is actively looking into holding training camp in France or Spain.
Wadham rowers enjoy a varied and exciting social life within the club. Michaelmas term kicks off with Freshers' Cocktails, and the term finishes with Christ Church Cocktails to celebrate the success of the club's novice boats in Christ Church Regatta. The annual Boat Club Dinner occurs at the end of Hilary Term, and this formal black tie event sees each crew dressed in unique hats and features the famous 'Profiterole' challenge. With the end of alcohol ban following Summer Eights the entire club typically embarks upon a steamer and sets sail down the Thames for an end of the year Boat Club Cruise. Beyond these established club events each term sees a Boat Club Curry night for the whole squad to enjoy some Wadham-Wadham crew dating, and each week the King of Crew Dates is busy arranging new adventures with the other Oxford colleges and societies.
Wadham College Boat Club Society is the alumni society of the boat club which is open to all supporters and past members of the club. The Society exists to provide support to the boat club, and to foster the enjoyment of rowing and camaraderie amongst its members. The Society provides funding towards the coaching and equipment purchases of the boat club. The Society holds an annual formal dinner and day of fun races on the Isis in September. Recently the Society organized a rowing event to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Wadham College which included races in eights between alumni and current students.
Recent Captains
| OUBC 1st VIII | OUBC 2nd VIII (Isis) | OUWBC 1st VIII | OUWBC 2nd VIII (Osiris | OULRC 1st VIII | OULRC 2nd VIII (Nepthys | OUWLRC 1st VIII |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D.Wauchope 1849 (Bow) | G.B.Stewart 1986 (Str) | F.B.A.Cotterell 1977 (2) | A.Kukla 1980 (Bow) | D.Boulter 1985 (7) | P.M.Banham 2000 (5) | C.E.Knape 1985 (Str) |
| J.T.Thorley 1856 (Str) | S.Brown 1980 (Cox) | L.Girvin 1980 (2) | A.J.Booth 1986 (7) | D.C.Mountain 1986 (7) | ||
| J.T.Thorley 1857 (Str) | J.Bond 1980 | A.R.Edwards 1989 (7) | P.M.Banham 2001 (4) | D.C.Mountain 1987 (7) | ||
| J.T.Thorley 1858 (Str) | L.M.Cribb 1980 (2) | A.L.Roberts 1989 (6) | A.J.Roberts 2002 (7) | H.Byrne 1990 (3) | ||
| H.R.Medlicote 1861 (3) | S.B.Herring 1981 (Bow) | J.C.Goulden 1990 (Cox) | A.E.Hammacher 2003 (7) | H.Byrne 1991 (7) | ||
| W.Robertson 1861 (4) | A.L.Wood 1987 (Str) | C.A.Tuer 1991 (7) | A.E.Hammacher 2004 (7) | S.Pannell 1995 (Cox) | ||
| S.O.Bridsdale 1861 (Cox) | M.J.Lawford 1988 (Str) | K.Thornton 1995 (4) | O.J.Lough 2007 (1) | C.Chadwick 1997 (2) | ||
| C.R.Carr 1862 (7) | A.R.Edwards 1990 (5) | P.Coates 1999 (7) | O.Dicks 2011 (4) | C.Chadwick 1997 (2) | ||
| C.R.Carr 1863 (7) | S.Waldron 2002 (6) | L.J.Ventress 2009 (7) | Mr T.J.Ryder 2000 (Cox) | |||
| W.R.A.Lambert 1874 (Cox) | S.Waldron 2003 (5) | J.van Campen 2010 (5) | N.A.J.Thomas 2000 (7) | |||
| W.St.L.Robertson 1886 (3) | S.Waldron 2004 (7, President) | N.E.R.Beveridge 2006 (3) | ||||
| T.A.Cook 1889 (3) | K.M.Taylor 2007 (Str) | |||||
| G.C.Drinkwater 1902 (Bow) | K.M.Taylor 2008 (6, President) | |||||
| G.C.Drinkwater 1903 (7) | ||||||
| R.H.Owen 1910 (2) | ||||||
| T.S.Swayze 1960 (3) | ||||||
| C.P.Berners-Lee 1979 (Cox) | ||||||
| Sue Brown 1981 (Cox) | ||||||
| Sue Brown 1982 (Cox) | ||||||
| G.B.Stewart 1987 (Str) | ||||||
| G.B.Stewart 1988 (6) |
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