Merton College Boat Club

College Boat Clubs of the University of Oxford
Merton College Boat Club

The club's boathouse (left) and blade colours
                   
Established 1838
Head of the River – Men Eights Week: 1951
Torpids: 1927[1]
Head of the River – Women Eights Week: never won
Torpids: 2003, 2004[2]
Location Isis (51°44′34″N 1°14′56″W / 51.742759°N 1.248866°W / 51.742759; -1.248866 (Merton College Boat Club)Coordinates: 51°44′34″N 1°14′56″W / 51.742759°N 1.248866°W / 51.742759; -1.248866 (Merton College Boat Club))
Senior Member Dr Jonathan Prag[3]
Men's Captain Thomas Lousada[4]
Women's Captain Rebecca Hardy[4]
Merton College Boat Club website

Merton College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Merton College, Oxford. It was established in 1838 and competes every year in Torpids and Summer Eights, the intercollegiate bumps races at the University of Oxford, as well as external regattas.

The club shares a boat house with Worcester College Boat Club on Boathouse Island, on the northern bank of the Isis.[3]

The Club

Merton College Boat Club is run by a junior committee of current students at Merton who are guided by a Senior Member who is a current fellow of Merton. The committee reports to The Friends of Merton College Boat Club, a group of ex-rowers and alumni helping and supporting the boat club.[4] Old members race every now and then on ad-hoc bases as Merton Gannets, an alumni boat club which has been founded in the 1950s.[5]

According to the Club archives, the boathouse, which is still in use today, was finished in 1949 and is the last in the row of college boathouses built in the distinctive brick style mirroring the first boathouse built on the Isis stretch by Christ Church College in the 1920s. Currently plans are under way to extend the boathouse and funds are being raised for the project.[6]

According to the archives, Merton competed successfully at Henley, winning at least two events, namely the Visitor's Challenge Cup, for coxless fours at the time, in 1920 and 1956.[7][8][9] Additionally, Merton reached the final in the Ladies Challenge Plate in 1920.[7] One member, Mr J L Bland, rowed in the Grand Challenge Cup winning OUBC/Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club crew of 1982.[8]

Recent years

Merton College Boat Club has fielded numerous ‚Blues’. During the last ten years, Merton has produced more female crewmembers representing the university than any other college.[10] Members of the club have also taken on the role as president in both the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club and the Oxford University Women’s Lightweight Rowing Club multiple times in the recent past.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Dudhia, Anu, Merton Men's 1st Torpid, retrieved 10 March 2015
  2. ↑ Dudhia, Anu, Merton Women's 1st Torpid, retrieved 10 March 2015
  3. 1 2 Oxford University Rowing Clubs (OURCs), Club Index, retrieved 26 September 2014
  4. 1 2 3 Merton College Boat Club, Committee, retrieved 16 September 2016
  5. ↑ Merton College Boat Club, Alumni, retrieved 5 October 2014
  6. ↑ Merton College, The 750th Anniversary Campaign: Protecting and resourcing our Historic Buildings, retrieved 10 March 2015
  7. 1 2 Rowing History, Results of Final Races - 1839-1939, retrieved 11 April 2016
  8. 1 2 Rowing History, Results of Final Races - 1946-2003, retrieved 5 October 2014
  9. ↑ Merton @ 750 An anniversary collection, Visitors' Cup 1956, retrieved 5 October 2014
  10. ↑ Dudhia, Anu, Colleges of Oxford Rowers 2005-2014, retrieved 26 September 2014
  11. ↑ Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club, Rowers profile - Benjamin Walpole, retrieved 26 September 2014
  12. ↑ Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club, Alumni - past crews, retrieved 26 September 2014
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