After the challenges of training and racing during a global pandemic, the Jesus College Boat Club (JCBC) is now back in winning mode, ready for the upcoming Torpids and big races in London. JCBC Captains Lisa Zillig and James Perkins report.  

Over the past few months, JCBC has raced not only in the Oxford Isis Winter League (IWL), but also participated in two external regattas. Last Michaelmas, we were kindly invited by Jesus College, Cambridge to compete in the Fairbairns Cup. Both the women’s and men’s crews enjoyed the challenge of the longer stretch on the Cam, and were delighted to join JCBC Cambridge for their Boat Club dinner – where we had to adapt to the locally-used ‘fines’ instead of ‘sconcing’! Both crews also competed in this year’s Bedford Head regatta, setting competitive times. The Men’s 1st boat topped the Open College Eights Category.

Back in Oxford, both squads are regularly entering the IWL races with two crews on each side. Our Women’s 1st boat has put in consistently strong performances in every IWL race, so far never finishing outside of the top three in their boat class.

 

Now in week 6, preparations are in full swing for the forthcoming Torpids Bumps races in week 7 (March 2-5). While the Women’s 1st boat will look to defend their position in Division 1, facing the strongest college crews as their opponents, the Men’s 1st boat is looking forward to a powerful relaunch after COVID disruption, starting from 6th place in Division 2. In the respective second boats, great things can be expected from our newly-trained rowers, as proved at the Michaelmas term Christ Church regatta, where a Jesus crew won the Men’s competition.

 

Torpids Bumps provides a fantastic opportunity to come and watch the JCBC crews in action on the Isis. We would like to invite everyone to come down to the river to cheer us on, especially for the last racing day on Saturday 5th March. Do come and say hello at the College boathouse – we are always keen to meet more past members of the club and hear about JCBC’s illustrious history! For those on social media, you’ll also be able to follow the action via the re-booted Boat Club Twitter page: https://twitter.com/jesusboatclub.

After Bumps, the second highlight of this term will be the London-based Head of the River (HORR) races in March. The Women’s HORR takes place on 12th March and the Men’s on 26th March. It would be wonderful to welcome many spectators and supporters for our crews for these events. We’ll be boating from Cygnet Boat Club, close to Barnes Railway Bridge.

 

In more exciting news, two JCBC members have been selected for the crew of the Oxford University Women’s Lightweight boat to race against Cambridge in the Women’s Lightweight Boat Race. Benedict Carroll will be Cox and Helena Pickford will be powering the boat in the race, which takes place on the Championship Course in London on 20^th March.

We are very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at these great events and will continue to keep you up-to-date with all things JCBC.