Summer Newsletter 2019

Published by Evie Hair on

PCBC at Henley Royal Regatta 2019

After their successful showing last year, Pembroke College Boat Club and Clare Boat Club again joined forces and put together a composite crew with the aim of qualifying for Henley Royal Regatta in July 2019. After a few training sessions on the Cam after May Bumps, the crew made a strong effort, but unfortunately did not manage to qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup. The rowers enjoyed the racing day, however, and we look forward to entering another strong crew next year and we wish them the best of luck in 2020! Congratulations to the 2019 crew: 

Cox John Hughes (PEM)
Stroke Greg Drott (PEM)
7 Calum McCain (PEM)
6 Matt Simpson (CLA)
5 Stephen Kindness (CLA)
4 Peter Rees (CLA)
3 Bence Kovács (PEM)
2 Rob March (PEM)
Bow John Hudson (PEM)

We would also like to congratulate the Pembroke trialists who rowed at Henley this year. Rob Harris and Jonty Page rowed in a IV+ for CUBC in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup. They easily beat Purdue University from the USA in their first heat before losing by a length in the second to Harvard University, who ultimately won the final against Durham University. Lily Linsday raced with the CUWBC IV- in the Town Challenge Cup, losing to the ultimate winner of the cup, Hollandia Roeiclub from the Netherlands. Congratulations to all of our rowers for an excellent showing at Henley 2019 against such strong international competition!

Kicking Off Michaelmas 2019

The Budapest Training Camp

From 24th September to 1st October, five senior Pembroke rowers eager to take their rowing to the next level participated in a training camp in Budapest. This was the main training camp for the PCBC men’s side, kicking off our year with an international experience. There were amazing conditions on the Danube, with perfect temperatures for rowing, clear skies and minimal wind. Complemented by a wide river – so different from our beloved Cam – this allowed for side by side training in sculls, pairs and coxless fours, shells that we don’t often use on the Cam. No one was let off easy, as our new Head Coach Seb Matthews had put together a training plan of twenty sessions throughout the week. On Sunday the 29th of September, we took part in the Széchenyi Balatoni Regatta a coastal rowing race in Tihany on Lake Balaton. In the PCBC men’s side’s first international race in years, we are pleased to say that our 4x+ posted the fastest time on the course (36:14.0), and we look forward to building on this success in the coming year on the Cam. We would like to thank our alumnus, Bálint Homonnay for hosting us at Soroksári Rowing Club. Excellent work from the racing crew:

Cox Bálint Homonnay
Stroke Rob Perry
3 Bence Kovács
2 Ben Edmans
Bow Dan Shailer

Women’s Side on the Cam

In the week before the start of term, while some of our rowers were training in Budapest, the PCBC women returned to the Cam for their own training week. The week proved a fantastic opportunity for all rowers to improve technically, despite the river closure under the Railway bridge and a couple days of torrential rain! The women’s side trained in IVs during the week, with two sessions run each day, coached by Pembroke alumna, 2019 Blue Boat and W1 Mays stroke Lily Lindsay, and Head Coach Seb Matthews. On the weekend, former Blue Boat and French International rower Myriam Goudet coached two VIIIs sessions. Throughout the week, seniors from both the men’s and women’s side also helped cox-train semester students, who are sure to be assets to the club in the weeks to come. The women’s side is lucky this year to have experienced rowers returning to Cambridge and PCBC for Masters degrees and from a year of studying abroad. The whole side is looking strong, and ready for the term ahead.

Welcoming New Novices

PCBC is very excited to welcome an absolute horde of new novices this year! Our committee made a significant investment in our PCBC BBQ on 12th October, ensuring that the event was well-publicised, well-run and, of course, well stocked with food! Our LBCs did a fantastic job in converting that interest into actual sign-ups for seats in novice boats, with the women’s side able to field three full VIIIs and one IV and the men’s side currently with four VIIIs. We are very happy to report that we’ve had exceptionally high interest in coxing this year as well! Coming into Week 5 of Michaelmas term, there are nine novice coxswains training with the aim that they will cox novice boats on both sides. Some are also being considered for M2 as they have shown significant improvement since the beginning of term. 

Your PCBC LBCs, Coxing Rep and coaching team have been hard at work to convert the enthusiasm shown by our new undergraduates, graduates and semester students into on-the-water speed. If you are in the area, make sure to stop by novice Fairbairns on 5th December to cheer them on!  

Pembroke Trialists in the University Squad

We are pleased to report that two Pembroke trialists rowed for CUBC in the Head of the Charles in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 19th October. Congratulations to Rob Harris and Jonty Page for earning their seats in the first VIII, which placed 10th overall in the Men’s Championship Eights category. We look forward to following the success of all our Pembroke trialists in the upcoming months!

Diary Dates

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! 

4th-8th November – University Fours
10th November – Queens’ Ergs
16th November – Winter Head
24th November – Emma Sprints
30th November – Clare Novices’ Regatta
5th-6th December – Fairbairn Cup
7th December – Christmas Head

Alumni Rowing Opportunities

Furthermore, we would like to enter an alumni crew into the Fairbairn Cup on 6th December and Christmas Head on 7th December. If you are interested in rowing for PCBC again, please email the Sponsorship and Alumni Reps (Štefan Stanko and Sophie Van Horne) with your details and availability at sponsorshipalumni@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com by 15th November.

Staying Connected in the Year Ahead

If you would like to be involved in the ongoing success of PCBC through coaching, please get in touch with the overall captain, Jenny Hill, or the Sponsorship and Alumni Representatives. It would be fantastic to see our current crews inspired by previous successes! 

Overall Captain: captain@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
Sponsorship and Alumni: sponsorshipalumni@pembrokecollegeboatclub.com

Follow our social media for the latest news!

Website: www.pembrokecollegeboatclub.com
IG: www.instagram.com/pcbccambridge
FB: www.facebook.com/PCBCCambridge
Twitter: twitter.com/pcbccambridge
We are pleased to have rolled out a new Facebook group for PCBC alumni in September. Please visit us here to join! 

The 2019-20 Committee

We are also proud to introduce your new PCBC Committee for the 2019-2020 academic year!  

President: Sir Richard Dearlove
Senior Treasurer: Dr Johannes Kromdijk
Boatman: Kevin Bowles Esq.
Captain of Boats: Jenny Hill
Men’s Captain: Bence Kovács
Women’s Captain: Julia Ruddick-Trentmann
Men’s Vice Captains: Paul Cumner, Ben Edmans
Women’s Vice Captain: Abby Robinson
Men’s Lower Boats Captains: Charles Dudley, John Hudson, Julian Kitsz
Women’s Lower Boats Captains: Tilly Harrison, Jade Jesty, Najung Lee
Coxing Representative: Victoria Moreland
Junior Treasurer: Robert Perry
Secretary: Petra Bachrati
Social Secretary: Daniel Harwood
Regatta Secretary: Roxy Southern
Internet Secretary: Evie Hair
Sponsorship and Alumni Representatives: Štefan Stanko, Sophie Van Horne

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