Summer VIIIs Round Up

Mansfield College Boat Club has had an extremely enjoyable week racing in Summer 8s and celebrating in our annual Summer 8s dinner. 

The O1 started off the week chasing Hertford, our Longbridges siblings. They couldn’t catch them on the first day but a strong row led to a row over. Lincoln came at them fast on day two and our O1 couldn’t hold them off. Some superb coxing kept Exeter away on day three, but they were caught at the end of Greenbanks on day four, despite closing hard on Hugh’s. Overall, the O1 finished the week -2. 

Having sadly not qualified for Torpids, the O2 came back fighting in Summer 8s. On day one, they couldn’t hold off Balliol 3 on their blades campaign, but the rest of the week led to three row overs! A particular highlight was some sneaky coxing down Greenbanks to avoid a bump by Oriel 4. Due to their qualifying position, the O2 finished the week +2 from where they were in the last Summer 8s (in 2019).

The W1 fought hard but ended up celebrating the week with Spoons (having been bumped every day). Our lovely crew, with 8 out of the 9 of them only starting rowing this year, tried their best to fend off GTC, Lincoln, LMH and Wolfson 2. They kept their heads up and battled each day with maximum effort, rowing slightly further each day.  

The W2 qualified with a very strong time but had a tough week. It began with being rowed into Osler House before the first race even started! Our W2 calmly and speedily swapped boats and still made it to the race on time. They were being chased by Keeble 2, the crew who qualified with the fastest time and were bumped on day one. Day 2 unfortunately was even more eventful. A dodgy poleman line led to a mega crash only a several strokes off the start. Our lovely Emily was sadly sent for a swim (sending lots of love!). This led to a penalty bump. Antony’s 2 got them on day 3 and Benet’s 1 on day 4. This was tough competition as Benet’s 1 were the crew who had climbed furthest. 

Thank you to everyone who came to support us, especially all the alumni! It was great to see so many Mansfield blazers along the Isis. 

Photos: © Ander McIntyre, 2022