The Tale of the JCBC men’s “Monster VIII”
Summer Eights in 1989 and 1990 saw one of the most successful men’s 1st VIII JCBC has ever had.
The boat, starting toward the bottom of the 2nd Division, bumped nine crews in two years, ending in the 1st Division, earning the crew blades two years in a row, and the nickname the “Monster VIII”. Some crew members who first discovered rowing at Jesus pursued their new-found passion beyond College, going on to represent Oxford University, and competing in the commonwealth games and elite races such as Henley. Some, now in their mid-50s, continue to row at an elite level.
Some of the ‘Monster VIII’ at the 2023 Cadwallader Dinner. Left to right: Richard Shirley, Ben Schmittzehe, Stuart King, Tomaso Ceccarelli
In summer 1815, two rowing club crews raced for the Head of the River for the first time. The race pitted two Oxford colleges against each other, Brasenose and Jesus. This was the first amateur race in the UK between organised clubs, which had prepared and trained for the event. Unusually, while rowing at that time was in smaller boats, both crews rowed in eight- oared boats which had been specially built for the purpose. The choice of racing in eight-oared boats gave rise to the event later being known as ‘Eights’.
That milestone summer, Jesus was unfortunately defeated by Brasenose, and again the following year. The event grew from there to become the Summer Eights we know today. Jesus’ disappointing track record in the first few races unfortunately was something the Men’s College boat club struggled to shake off later. Apart from a brief period in the second half of the 50s and again in the early 70s, Jesus College never made it beyond the 2nd or 3rd Division.
1987 was a challenging year for the JCBC Men’s 1st VIII. Having started 1982 in the 3rd Division, by the last day of Summer Eights 1985 the College had managed to climb to third from the top of the 2nd Division. 1986 and 1987, however, saw the 1st VIII steadily slide back down to near the bottom of the second division. The College’s fortunes, however, were about to change.
JCBC Men’s 1st VIII 1987/88
In 1986, Steve Kelly and Chris Heathcote both arrived as freshmen and joined the JCBC crew. Steve had prior racing experience as cox, and was soon also snapped up by the University crew. Chris was a ‘mature’ student, having previously been in the special forces. In 1987, JCBC veterans such as Tim Gingell and Mark Morrison, captained by Chris Heathcote, warmly welcomed in more new blood. Two freshmen, Stuart King and Ben Schmittzehe, had competed in rowing prior to university, while postgrad Andrew McClain-Inglis’ height was a good match for Chris Heathcote’s.
The 1987 1st VIII was clearly powerful but struggling to get used to rowing together. The 1st VIII’s continued drop down the rankings was halted and a slide to the 3rd Division averted. In 1988, a coordinated recruitment drive targeting those tall, and ideally fit, among the fresh crop of freshers yielded some promising talent, including Richard Shirley, Simon Kennedy, and Tomaso Ceccarelli. Simon Kennedy recalls his early encounters with JCBC’s recruitment drive as a fresher, ”Stuart King effortlessly selling the merits of joining the Club at the Reverand’s Sherry Party.. I think it was the club blazer that did it and the fact that he had just been picked to represent the Oxford lightweights for the 1989 Henley race against Cambridge! Seeing a rowing machine for the first time a few days later, .. Andrew Maclean-Inglis .. took me and Richard down to a machine .. in a basement in Ship Street, .. and put us through a 2,000m intro to see how we went. Half dead at the end of that and then he scared us with Chris’ numbers and exploits.”
In the academic year 1987/88, the University development squad featured three JCBC men in its final VIII; Chris Heathcote, Stuart King and Ben Schmittzehe. The following year, 1989, Stuart King was rowing in the OULRC VIII, Richard Shirley and Simon Kennedy joined the OUBC development squad, while cox Matt Lawson went on to cox for the OUWBC. In 1990, Chris Heathcote earned a blue with the OUBC 1st VIII, Tomaso Ceccarelli rowed in the OULRC VIII, while JCBC 1990 1st VIII Richard Geering joined the OUBC development squad.
As a result of all of this, JCBC 1st VIII’s fortunes changed dramatically. In Summer Eights 1989, the 1st VIII bumped four times, ending fourth in the 2nd Division, and earning the crew blades. The following year, with much the same crew, the aim was clearly to continue upward and seek to break into the 1st division. This, however, would require ensuring one crew was consistently bumped each day. Mission executed on the first two days, but the boat was working well and boosted by strong times, a madcap ‘cunning plan’ was developed to do even better.
The JCBC Men’s 1st VIII 1989/90
The idea was to start with a very low rating, keep just ahead of crews coming up behind, let crews ahead bump out, then take up the rate and pressure, and try to find a crew to bump before reaching the end of the course. After initial concerns that no crews could be seen ahead, one was identified in the distance and the Jesus boat took off. Mission achieved! By the end of the fourth day, the 1st VIII had bumped five crews and had made the second slot from the bottom of the first division. The scalp taken on the final day securing Jesus’ position in the 1st division was Brasenose. Revenge after 175 years! Oriel and Christchurch were first and second in the 1st division but had recorded slower times than Jesus, which promptly challenged them at the end of the fourth day of racing to a side-by-side race, but they wisely declined. The Jesus 1st VIII earned blades for the second year in a row and were nicknamed the “Monster VIII”.
The passion for rowing ignited among JCBC 1st VIII oarsmen did not stop at Jesus. Chris Heathcote rowed in the 1990 blue boat defeating Cambridge by 2 1⁄4 lengths and remains the heaviest oarsman ever to have rowed in the event at 17st 5 lb (114.5 kg)! Chris continues to compete at an elite level in masters rowing. Richard Shirley went on after Oxford to compete for Northern Ireland in the commonwealth games, won several cups at Henley, and also continues to compete at an elite senior level.
OUBC Veterans Crew 2015 with (far left) Richard Shirley and (far right) Chris Heathcote.
In 2015, Richard and Chris rowed together in the Veterans’ Boat Race for Oxford and won by “a good few lengths” [referred to in rowing terms as ‘easily’!]. Stuart and Tomaso both rowed for the Oxford University Lightweight VIII against Cambridge in 1989 and 1990 respectively, and Tomaso continues to row and serve as president of KLRC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The JCBC men’s 1st VIII from that era tries to meet-up from time to time -if you were part of the story and have lost contact or would like to put right inaccuracies caused by the fogs of time, please get back in touch! Email: ben_schmittzehe@hotmail.com
JCBC Men’s 1st VIII Crews (1989 – 1990)
1989
| Cox | Owen Brown |
| Str. | Stuart King |
| 7 | Simon Kennedy |
| 6 | Chris Heathcote |
| 5 | Richard Shirley |
| 4 | Andrew McLean-Inglis |
| 3 | Steven Lord |
| 2 | Warwick Heale |
| Bow | Mark Morrison |
1990
| Cox | Matthew Lawson |
| Str. | Tomaso Ceccarelli |
| 7 | Simon Kennedy |
| 6 | Chris Heathcote |
| 5 | Richard Shirley |
| 4 | Richard Geering |
| 3 | Steven Lord |
| 2 | Stuart King |
| Bow | Benjamin Schmittzehe |