New College Boat Club

New College Boat Club
Shield
Shield
Image showing the rowing club's blade colours
New College Boathouse (right half) and rowing blade
LocationBoathouse Island
Coordinates51°44′34″N 1°14′57″W / 51.74290°N 1.24910°W / 51.74290; -1.24910
Home waterRiver Thames (known in Oxford as the Isis)
Founded1840 (1840)[1]
Key people
  • Charlie Orton (President)
  • Eamon Coates, Christoph Allin (Men's Captains)
  • Jess Wilks (Women's Captain)
Head of the River
  • Men: 1887, 1896-99, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1911-13, 1921, 1922, 1937, 1950, 1986
  • Women: 2004, 2005
UniversityUniversity of Oxford
Colours   
AffiliationsBritish Rowing (boat code NEC)
King's College BC (Sister college)
Websitewww.newcollegeboatclub.co.uk

New College Boat Club (NCBC) is the rowing club for members of New College, Oxford. The club's existence can be dated to 1840 when it first raced on The Isis in Oxford.[1]

The club shares a boathouse on The Isis (part of the Thames) with Balliol College Boat Club, as well as using boat racks at Godstow for the Men's and Women's first boats.

History

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A New College IV in rowing blazers in 1860

The first record of a New College eight is in 1840, with another appearance in 1852. Only from 1868 did the college start to fully represent itself on the river. In these early years New achieved 'Head of the River' in the Eights in 1887, 1896-1899, 1901, 1903-04 (inclusive). In Torpids the club was 'Head of the River' in 1882, 1896, 1900-04.[1]

The 1912 Stockholm Olympics

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New College Boat Club, representing Great Britain, winning the Silver medal at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics

The New College Boat Club represented Great Britain at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm and won the Silver medal in the men's eight.[2]

The two British crews - New College, and a Leander Club boat largely drawn from Magdalen College, Oxford - were the favourites for gold so started at opposite ends of the draw. They both worked up through the competition to make the final.

According to New College records, the final featured controversy over lane choice. The course in Stockholm was not straight, and one of the two lanes was clearly favoured, the other requiring the cox to steer around a protruding boathouse and then back under a bridge. Before the final, the two British captains met to toss for lanes. New College won the toss and following gentlemanly tradition offered the choice of lanes to their opponents, who would - in a gentlemanly fashion - refuse this offer. However the Leander/Magdalen College captain accepted this offer and chose the better lane. Leander went on to win the gold medal, leaving New College with the silver.[3]

According to New College tradition, King Gustav V of Sweden was so disheartened by this display of ungentlemanly conduct that, as a consolation, he presented his colours to New College; ever since then, New College have raced in purple and gold, the colours of the royal house of Sweden.[clarification needed] A further tradition has been the adoption of the toast: 'God Damn Bloody Magdalen!', the supposed words of the New College stroke Robert Bourne as they crossed the line. The abbreviation GDBM has been used commonly ever since, and is still on bottom of the NCBC letterhead.[3]

Henley Royal Regatta

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The club has won four events at Henley Royal Regatta in its history.

Event Win 2nd
Grand Challenge Cup 1897 1889, 1895, 1904
Ladies' Challenge Plate 1900, 1950 1908
Stewards' Challenge Cup 1912, 1913 1894, 1897, 1898
Visitors' Challenge Cup 1894, 1898 1899, 1939, 1946, 1948

Recent form

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Christ Church Regatta

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In 2019, the Men's Gold Boat won the Christ Church Indoor Regatta, beating Christ Church in the final in their own boathouse.

In 2021, the Women's Purple Boat won the Christ Church Regatta, competing against all the novice boats from other colleges.

NCBC MI with broken bow blade and broken rudder on last day of Torpids 2008 resulting in a drop of six places

Eights

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In 2023, the Men's 1st VIII started 15th (3rd Div 2) and finished 14th, the 2nd VIII started 39th (3rd Div 4) and finished 35th. The Women's 1st VIII started 10th and finished 14th, the 2nd VIII started 49th (1st Div 5) and finished 53rd.[4]

Blues

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A number of members of New College have gone on to row for the University.[1]

Year Oxford University Boat Club
1853-55 W.F. Short
1856 G. Bennett
1877-79 F.M. Beaumont (cox)
1882-83 G.C. Bourne
1884-87 Douglas McLean (President '84-85)
1885-57 Hector McLean (President '87)
1888 S.R. Fothergill, A. Steward (cox)
1889 F.C. Drake
1889-91 Lord Ampthill (President 1890)
1889-92 J.P. Heywood-Londsdale (cox)
1890 C.H. Hornby
1892-95 C.M. Pitman (President 1894-95)
1893-94 J.A. Morrison
1894-97 W.E. Crum (President 1895-96)
1894-85 T.H.E. Stretch
1895-98 C.K. Philips (President '97)
1895 C.P. Serocold (cox)
1896-1897 J.J.J. de Knoop
1897-98 G.O.C. Edwards
1898-99 R.O. Pitman
1899-1900 C.E. Johnston
1900-01 R. Culme-Seymour
1901 A. de L. Long, James Younger
1951 Stokes, L.A.F., Hawkes, M.J., Turner, C.G., Hayes,J.
1952 Stokes, L.A.F.
1953 Byatt, R.A.
1967-68 D. Topolski
1981 R.P. Yonge
1982 R.C. Clay, R.P. Yonge, Sarah Talbot
1983 G.R.D. Jones, R.P. Yonge
1984 R.C. Clay, G.R.D Jones
1988 S. Joshua Lewis [citation needed]
1993 Alison Cox (nee Palmer)
1994 Alison Cox (nee Palmer, President '94)
2000 Stephanie Frackowiak
2015-16 Samuel Collier (cox)
2016 Joanneke Jansen
2017 Rebecca Esselstein
2022 Erin Reelick

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Rashdall, Hastings & Rait, Robert S. (1901). New College. London: F. E. Robinson.
  2. ^ Swedish Olympic Committee (1913). Erik Bergvall (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 (PDF). Stockholm: Wahlstrom and Widstrand. p. 667. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008.
  3. ^ a b Fishburn, Victoria (30 July 2012). "Stockholm 1912 – London 2012: An Olympic Centenary, Part 1". Hear the Boat Sing.
  4. ^ "Eights 2023". Oxford Bumps Charts. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
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