Merton College Boat Club at Torpids 2019 ‐ a very special vintage

An eventful Hilary term for Merton College Boat Club culminated in both M1 and M2 winning blades. MCBC's Torpids campaign started gloriously on the first day, with all the racing crews bumping successfully, something that had not happened on a Torpids Wednesday since 1999. Club Secretary Lukas Koch reports (taken from the club's Hilary term newsletter):

Torpids 2019 was one for the history books, ending with the first ever double set of blades on the men's side. A week before at Rowing On the situation had looked less promising. For the first time in memory M3 had trained together throughout the whole term. The crew, mainly comprised of M3 rowers of the last years and former novices of Michaelmas, failed to qualify against a large number of boats with experienced rowers. Nevertheless, they are looking forward to Summer VIIIs and have already started their campaign with outings in 8th Week. W2 ended Rowing On joint in time for the last qualifying slot with St Benet's W1. As this was the first time in history St Benet's had entered a women's boat, and the availability of Merton rowers to field a full boat on every day of Torpids was uncertain, the decision was made to enter a Merton‐Benet's composite under the flag of St Benet's.

Women's First Torpid

W1 had a mixed Torpids with a bump on a crashed crew on Wednesday, followed by a crab off the start leading to being bumped twice on Thursday. While the crew felt Friday's row was better, it still ended on ‐2. The highlight of the week for W1 was certainly the Saturday. A good race lead to a solid row-over. At Donny Bridge Oriel W2 had closed to one length behind, but then W1 reset and determinedly pushed Oriel back, never to threaten again. As the crews ahead had bumped out by the time W1 cleared the Gut, their race finished with a dignified row-over cheered on by the crowd at the boathouse. The final tally of the week was ‐4.

Men's First Torpid

The men's squad had largely trained in matched eights throughout the term and this novelty paid off during bumps with both crews gaining blades. M1 never made it out of the Gut, quickly gaining on and bumping all crews they started behind with cleaner and faster starts on each successive day. In fact, the bumps themselves are perhaps less impressive than the long list of mishaps M1 accumulated during Torpids. On Friday during the warm-up one of the rowers injured himself. Luckily a willing M2 sub was found and a bump gained nonetheless. Getting ready to spin onto the bungline on the Saturday, M1 suddenly found their rudder string snapped. A couple of tense minutes later, the rudder was patched up with some string and M1 were ready to go. In an anticlimactic end to this Torpid campaign the last bump was gained by a row-past on Pembroke M2, who had suffered a rudder failure at a less opportune moment than M1. The final tally of the week was +4.

Men's Second Torpid

The first three days of Torpids for M2 were somewhat shaped by lining up behind Wolfson M3 each day. Having escaped a bump by obtaining a technical row-over on Thursday, they were finally caught on Friday. Saturday was to deliver one of the most exciting Merton races this year. Due to the M1 injury, M2 had to race with a sub. Quick out of the start, M2 closed in on Univ to a canvas in the Bottom Gut. Univ then got the bump on Wadham who led the division and the guys had to go for the overbump. In manoeuvring around Univ's bowside the blades hit the bank in the inside corner of Top Gut, leaving around two lengths between M2 and Wadham to bridge. After a strong reset the crew powered their way along Greenbank, closing onto Wadham inch by inch. At the crossover, the crew went for the final push with Wadham conceding at the Cherwell cut. A perfectly timed wind-down brought them to a stop in front of the boathouse and a wildly cheering crowd. The final tally for the week was +4.

After a celebratory reception in the MCR, the Club is now back in vacation training. We are looking forward to HoRR, a training camp in Amsterdam and of course Summer VIIIs where we hope to see many of you!

Torpids 2019 Merton College Boat Club Men's Second crew - Photo © Gian Piero C Milani
The M2 crew - Photo © Gian Piero C Milani


Crews

Women's First Torpid

T Rallens (Cox), P Jaggers (S), C Oakes, S Bruce‐Smith, C Burlacu, R Williamson, G Van Den Berg, M Soares da Silva, R Herring (B)

Men's First Torpid

K Davies (Cox), L Koch (S), S Picard, M Abazorius, L Krone, M Drake, M Geurts, D Gutt, R Burke (B)

Men's Second Torpid

C Kilpatrick (Cox), I Gruev (S), T Murphy, D Testa, F Munro, S Van Teutem, C Robertson, T Rallens, C Lippert (B)

Men's Third Torpid

[Rowing On only]

M Abazorius (Cox), J Horrobin (S), A Schellinx, M Ramirez, D Oliver, S Mahanta, C Sheehan, GP Milani, A Kenyon‐Roberts (B)