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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Coach Daniel Topolski (who died last
year) was always on the lookout for
publicity and used his contacts in the BBC
to persuade them to use our crew for a
documentary on the Boat Race so, in the
latter stages of trials and selection, cameras
were around most days. As things got
closer to the race, the rowing press were
out in force - these days there are very few
dedicated rowing journalists - and articles
in what Mr Rowley calls the ‘serious press’,
were regular and extensive. The other side
was our 1979 appearance in the Daily Star’s
first week of publication, clad only in waist-
wrapped towels.
While the attention from the press and
former Blues was ever-present in the weeks
leading up to the race, nothing could prepare
us for the thousands lining the banks, the
prospects of live TV around the world and,
most memorable of all, the sound of the
helicopter overhead watching our every move.
How have things changed in the
40 years since your first race?
Sponsorship has provided the greatest
impetus to change, though technology has
certainly altered the look of the crews
and their boats: from wooden boats and
‘old-school’ symmetrically shaped oars
to layers of Kevlar and carbon fibre in a
polymer matrix – and Lycra is now de rigeur.
As for the crew composition, the presence
of overseas graduates was relatively small.
In 1976 there was only one overseas (US)
graduate amongst the rest of us British
undergraduates. The 1978 race saw the last
Boat Race sinking which highlights another
and more significant design change - that of
increased boat buoyancy. As was seen so
dramatically in the 2016 Women’s Boat Race,
despite completely filling with water, the
Cambridge women were able to continue to
progress, albeit slowly, until reaching flatter
water when their on-board pumps reduced
the levels of water in the boat. I suspect that
pumps are used only in the Boat Race but
any crew, racing or training, can now go out
secure in the knowledge that in a modern
boat, they are unsinkable!
How did your first race go?
It was a special time to be joining the OUBC:
a combination of a record heaviest crew with
a good tide and tolerant wind (unlike the 2016
race) all helped the crew of 1976 to beat
numerous records including the first crew
over the four-and-a-quarter-mile course to go
under 17 minutes with a winning margin of six
lengths. The course record went in 1984 to a
crew from which came, that year, a number of
Olympians including my old schoolmate from
Wallingford, Bill Lang. The only record still
standing, though, is my own as the youngest
Boat Race winner at the tender age of 18
years and 8 months.
At the OUBC’s London base in Putney a week
before the 1976 race
Rugby
Sevens
By Jeremy Mather, Master i/c Sevens
Rugby Sevens is all about enjoyment and
player development – both of which have
been achieved in 2016. The Rugby Sevens
season commenced with the 1st VII squad
hosting a tournament for five local schools
on Upper 1, resulting in an impressive win
against Radley and a thrilling draw against
Marlborough. In the last week of term, the
Yearlings, Colts, and 1st VII squads travelled
to the National Schools Sevens – the
world’s largest school rugby tournament.
There were valiant performances from
the Yearlings and Colts as they competed
against such impressive teams as Dulwich
College and Millfield. However, there
was real success from the 1st VII squad
which saw them progress to the second
day of the competition for the first time
in a number of years. With the Rugby
intelligence of Angus Atkinson (
Dragon
)
and Luke Valentine (
Cherwell
); the power
of Jake Anderson (
The Warriner
), Freddie
Boyce (
Ryde Academy
), Hugh Macer
(
Dragon
), and Tanaka Chitsenga (
Dragon
);
and the 11-second 100m speed of Dekoye
Coker (
Summer Fields
), Brume Otubu
(
British International School, Lago
s), and Dan
Brady (
The Warriner
) – this was a squad that
always had the potential to do well. The
team were unbeaten in the group stages and
progressed to the Bowl competition on day
two. Victorious in their first three fixtures the
team lost in the quarter-final to a powerful
King’s School Macclesfield side who went on
to win the tournament.
Tom Mitchell, Captain of England Rugby Sevens, and teammate, Sam Egerton, led training sessions for a
number of year groups in February
Celia Hodgson