I was at Jesus from 1974-1981 as an undergraduate chemist and then DPhil student. The only College sporting activity I undertook was rowing.

I was in various crews during this period, including 1976 Summer Eights Second VIII, 1977 Summer Eights Fourth VIII, 1979 Summer Eights Second VIII, 1980 Torpids Second VIII, and finally 1981 Torpids and Summer Eights First VIII. The most successful was arguably the 2nd Torpid in 1980 which achieved 4 bumps.

 

Since I now live in California, I could not take the whole oar that I was awarded in recognition of this accomplishment but I do still have the blade.

 

The final footnote to this story occurs in Michaelmas 2023. I had the opportunity to return to Jesus as a Short-Term Visiting Fellow, and had one outing on the river with a Novice Jesus Eight at 6:30 a.m. (I am sure we never went out that early in my day!) on November 2nd, after a break of a mere 42 years! This was one of the few days the river was actually open in this term of high, fast water. I was interested to see if I could still remember how to do this. I guess I survived but only just……. Sadly no extant pictures to the best of my knowledge. Funnily enough the coach was the daughter of Hilary Smith who was a rowing enthusiast in my matriculation year of 1974!