For those who read the last edition of The Newt, Christ Church regatta is taken very seriously by New College. Our three crews, the Men’s A and B crews, and a Women’s A crew all impressively made it through the early qualifying rounds and were racing on the final day. However, this is far from the whole story. WA, favourites after an exquisite win at Nephthys Regatta, lost their first race after their boat’s rudder broke and inevitably collided with the bank, despite Adam Sriskandan’s brave coxing efforts. Similarly, in the MA’s first contest they collided with a St. Peter’s boat that had drifted into the racing lane, a rookie error that unfairly gifted Univ the win. Despite video evidence of the infringement, the Univ team refused a re-race, and were thus described as “cheating ****s” by Jonny Woods, an impartial observer/member of the MA boat. For those not in the know, this is not the first time New College have been on the rough end of cheating in rowing. The 1912 Stockholm Olympics scandal, involving members of Magdalen College’s boat club rowing for Leander Club, deprived NCBC of a rightful set of Olympic golds. However, bitterness aside, Both A crews were entered into the repechage, meaning they had extra races and a harder draw. Both won their races, but the damage was done.

MB were not without their own difficulties, and the organised team could well have exceeded expectations and made the latter stages of the competition. However, just three strokes into their first Saturday race, one of the blades broke, and they were left to valiantly row the contest with just seven men, with the heroic Emile Halpin fracturing his finger in the process. To summarise, MA and MB went out in the fourth and third rounds respectively, and WA managed to make it through to the Quarter Finals; MA and WA’s final losses were exciting photo finishes. The three crews were amazing, and the support of the crowd and coaches was unbelievably uplifting. Ours was the only club to stay until the final moment and applaud every winning and losing crew. We had good men, not just good oarsmen. As one Newt Sports Editor put it, “New College is full of gents, unlike those c**** at Univ”. How delicately put.