Start of Michaelmas Newsletter 2018
A great start to Michaelmas term
In the week before term started, rowers on both the men’s and women’s side took part in a training camp on the River Cam, making the most of the beautifully empty river. The camp proved to be an excellent chance for everyone to enjoy the sunshine and brush off all the cobwebs from summer. The men’s side training was done in IVs under the fantastic coaching of Alan Foster who ensured, despite the fact that most of the side hadn’t been in a boat for 3 months, they were rowing like a May’s crew. The women’s side showed rapid improvement throughout the week in both power and boat set, and also had fun training some of the senior rowers to cox, leaving all the rowers with a much greater appreciation for everything coxes do! Overall, training week was very successful and has set us up well for the beginning of term, which starts with senior crews racing in Autumn head.
Additionally, on the 6th October the PCBC committee and senior squad hosted the PCBC Barbeque at the Boathouse. This was an opportunity for those who had not rowed or coxed with the club before, both novices and otherwise, to meet members of the club and have a go at rowing with PCBC. Despite the inclement weather, we had an excellent turn out, with a large number of the new first years coming to see what being a member of PCBC is all about. We are looking forward to welcoming new members to the club in the coming weeks.
PCBC at Henley Royal Regatta 2018
As has become customary in recent years, M1 put together a crew with the aim of qualifying for Henley Royal Regatta. While the full bumps crew was not available, PCBC managed to form a composite with Clare, our neighbours on the Cam, who we had both bumped and been bumped by in the previous week. The crew successfully qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup: the first time since 2015 that a Pembroke crew had made the regatta proper, and only the second time since 1999.
For the first race, we were drawn against University of London ‘A’. Cheered on by Valencians past and present (many distinguishable by the red martlets on their blazers) the crew gave it everything they had, but unfortunately it was not enough, losing by 2 1/4 lengths. Despite the disappointment, M1 enjoyed the rest of the week, meeting members of PCBC crews from years gone by, including the winners of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate (Men’s Intermediate VIIIs) in 1964.
The crew wish to thank Andrew “Gripper” Watson, former Pembroke coach and current Clare boatman, who, in the space of just two weeks, moulded the crew into a unit who did PCBC proud at Henley. The crew list and link to race video are below.
Cox John Hughes (PEM)
Stk Stijn de Graaf (PEM)
7 Sam Ringer (PEM)
6 Gabriel Bliard (CLA)
5 Will Broadbelt (CLA)
4 Gregory Drott (PEM)
3 John Hudson (PEM)
2 Robert March (PEM)
Bow Jonathan Vibhishanan (PEM)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=95CyXukNnVQ
Pembroke Triallists in the University Squad
Over the summer, there have been many achievements by Pembroke members with the university squads. Three Pembroke undergraduates, Emma Andrews (3rd Year), Jonty Page (3rd Year) and Rob Harris (2nd Year) qualified to participate in the European Universities Rowing Championship. Emma (3rd Year) received a bronze medal in the Women’s 4x and Jonty received a gold medal in the Mens 4-. The same M4- were also runners-up in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Further afield, incoming graduate fresher Lily Lindsay was part of the USA W8+ which won bronze at the U23 World Rowing Championships.
Additionally, PCBC offers its belated congratulations to Emma Andrews and Jonathan Vibhishanan who have been elected as Vice-Presidents of CUWBC and CULRC respectively.
Dates for your Diaries
For anyone who lives in Cambridge, or fancies making the trek on a weekend, we would love to have the support of PCBC members past and present on the bank at our upcoming races!
13th October – Autumn Head
17th November – Winter Head
24th November – Clare Novices Regatta
29th-30th November – Fairbairn Cup
Finally, PCBC would like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors, King and Spalding. They provided us not only with the money to travel to and from Henley Royal Regatta, but have also allowed us to make investments in the future success of the club. Firstly, we have been able to acquire a wattbike to help with injury prevention and recovery, which is available for all members of the club to use. We have also put some money towards the purchase of a Women’s 1x, to promote the success of women’s rowing at Pembroke, especially within the university squads. Lastly, we have been able to increase our coaching budget in order to ensure that both rowers and coxes are getting the maximum benefit out of their sessions and are able to grow and progress as athletes in the club.
The Year Ahead
If you would like to be involved in the ongoing success of PCBC through coaching, please get in touch with any of our captains, or sponsorship and alumni, it would be fantastic to see our current crews inspired by our previous successes.
sponsorshipalumni@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
captain@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
menscaptain@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
womenscaptain@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
Follow our website and our Instagram for the latest news!
www.pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
www.instagram.com/pcbccambridge
2018-19 Committee
