OUWBC Win at Wallingford
Oxford University Women's Boat Club were the most successful rowing club at Wallingford Regatta last Sunday, winning six events outright from nine crews entered in the 2km races on Dorney Lake, Eton College's course. The senior squad excelled with four out of the five crews victorious after an exhausting eleven hours of racing. Oxford, under the club's racing name Osiris, won two eights and two fours trophies, with the senior pair finishing in a strong second place behind Worcester Rowing Club.
The results made a brilliant start to the summer season for the club's new chief coach, Andy Green. He was previously head coach at local club Headington School, and took over the post at OUWBC in April. Green had intended to enter the top OUWBC eight in elite eights, but was told by the regatta organizers that there were no other entries. As a result, senior 2 was the highest eights event Oxford could compete for, and Osiris beat Thames, one of the strongest women's clubs in the country, by half a length. Osiris started slowly but took the lead after 1000 meters to claim the prestigious Chamber of Trade Cup. A Cambridge University crew was left in seventh place, more that 30 seconds back, in the same race.
Other Blues squad members gained valuable experience, with wins in senior 3 eights, senior 2 coxless fours and senior 3 coxed fours. The senior 3 eight won by more than two lengths, a substantial margin in slow conditions, while the coxless four dominated, beating visiting Irish crew Muckross by a similar margin, 7.5 seconds. New OUWBC President Claire Galloway, a seond year medic at St Peter's, described it as "a well executed, consistent performance". The four lead from the start in the 7-boat straight final on what will be London's 2012 Olympic rowing course. Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club, OUWBC's sister club, also had a good day, with their only boat winning women's senior 4 coxed fours, while their 2007-08 president, Katie Taylor, was a member of the winning Osiris senior 2 crew.
The development squad athletes, who have only been training together for three weeks, and are now back with their colleges for Summer Eights, saw great success with wins in novice fours and eights. The eight beat Pembroke College Oxford women's first eight by a length, and the novice four beat City of Bristol by nearly half a minute (approximately ten lengths). It is hoped that many of these athletes will return to trial in September for OUWBC's campaign to win both openweight women's events at the 2009 Henley Boat Races against Cambridge.
So far 2008 has been a remarkable one for OUWBC, who were the first university crew ever to win the Women's Eights Head outright in early March, and went on to clinch both Boat Race victories against the Light Blues on Easter Sunday despite tricky conditions. The squad will reunite with development triallists after Summer Eights, and continue their racing season with appearances at the Metropolitan Regatta (31st May - 1st June), Henley Women's Regatta (20th - 22nd June), and then Henley Royal Regatta (2nd - 6th July) and the National Championships (18th - 20th July). This year OUWBC has been sponsored by Merril Lynch.
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