Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club
# Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club

Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club (OULRC) is the university rowing club for lightweight men at the University of Oxford which selects crews to race against Cambridge University Boat Club in the Lightweight Boat Races at the end of Hilary term. These races are usually held in late March each year.

## Membership and racing

Membership of OULRC is by competitive selection drawn solely from student members of the university. OULRC commences the selection process in September prior to the beginning of Michaelmas term, recruiting from both undergraduate and postgraduate members of the University. By the end of Michaelmas, the squad is reduced to two trial eights which compete in a Trial Eights race in London over the course used for the race against Cambridge. From this squad the club selects a first crew, known as the Lightweight Blue Boat, and a reserve crew, known as Nephthys.

The Blue Boat goes on to race Cambridge. From 2000 until 2006 Nephthys also raced against a lightweight reserve crew from Cambridge, Granta. Since 2007, however, Cambridge has declined to field a Granta crew, and Nephthys has raced in the Head of the River Race and other external races. The squad also participates in BUCS championships.

Nephthys derives its name from the Egyptian goddess of the same name who was claimed to be the sister of Isis. Isis is the name given to the heavyweight reserve crew, and is also the term used within the university for the reach of the Thames between Osney lock and Iffley lock on which the college crews row. Although the Blue Boat does not compete in regattas after racing against Cambridge, OULRC does occasionally field crews in the Henley Royal Regatta, which often compete as Nephthys.

The Blue Boat crew have the right to wear a distinctive uniform. With lightweight rowing a full blue sport at Oxford, they wear an Oxford blue blazer with the club insignia on the chest pocket. Previously a half-blue sport, this replaced a blue and white striped blazer with OULRC embroidery or a blue blazer with white piping and embroidery worn in the early years of the club. Nephthys members wear a white blazer with blue piping, with crossed blades and the word Nephthys on the chest pocket.

## Organisation and history

The first Lightweight Boat Race was in 1975, and the first lightweight crew originally raced under the auspices of Oxford University Boat Club. OULRC was formed soon after. The management of the club is in the hands of an elected committee composed of students, although the day-to-day running is mainly in the hands of the president, who is elected by Blue Boat and Nephthys members each year. Like all Oxford University clubs, it also has a senior member, who is a university don.

Along with OUBC, OUWBC, and OUWLRC, OULRC is part of Oxford University Rowing Clubs which is the body that oversees all college rowing in Oxford.

### 1987 mutiny

In 1987, at the time of the OUBC Mutiny, a similar dispute also arose in relation to the selection of the Lightweight Blue Boat. This dispute threatened the running of the 1987 race. The President, David Whittaker, who rowed the previous year, had lost a selection race against another rower, Sean Sinclair. As president, Whittaker claimed the right to select the crew against the recommendations of the coach, and former OUBC Blue, Rob Clay. The crew, in turn, refused to row with Whittaker in the boat. The matter was finally resolved when an extraordinary meeting was called and life members from London travelled up to Oxford to elect Bob Macdonald as president. Ironically, one of the American OUBC mutineers, Dan Lyons, was called in to assist in coaching the 1987 crew after the original coach, Rob Clay, was called out of retirement to stroke Isis.

## Facilities and training

For much of its history, OULRC trained outside of Oxford, variously at Radley (downstream) and at Godstow (upstream). Since 2007 OULRC has been based at the Fleming Boat House at Wallingford alongside OUBC.

## Past OULRC crews

This is a list of OULRC crews who have raced the men's lightweight boat race against Cambridge.

| Date | Result | Winning time | Winning margin (lengths) | Crew (rowers are listed left to right in boat position from bow to stroke, followed by the cox) |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1975 | Lost | | | J. Simpson, C.R Birrell, M. Taylor, J. Britton, A. Ball, N.W Hunt, J.S Thompson, K.I.M Beddall, C. Darrell |
| 1976 | Won | | | Rob Warren, Alastair Watson, Ben Heywood-Smith, Chris Jones, Sam Menefee, Pete Evans, Adrian Ball, Gordon Woods, Chris Alwright |
| 1977 | Won | | | Mark Atkinson, Pete Smith, Mike Ridley, Dave Bean, Sam Menefee, Tim Leitzke, Mark Gleave, Gordon Woods, Jim Baker |
| 1978 | Lost | 5:48 | +2⁄3 | John Chadwick, Bob Maguire, Sam Menefee, Rob Johnson, Adrian Ball, Bill Baker, John Bell, Al Watson, S.W Orme |
| 1979 | Lost | 5.39 | +2⁄3 | Julian Bickersteth, Bob Maguire, Dan Harvey, Rod Thomas, Fergus Fleming, John Rawlinson, Christopher Ainsley, Ian Schofield, John Baker |
| 1980 | Lost | | 2 | C. Samuel, S. Charles, R. Zeghibe, R. Porfilio, C. Marcam, N. Jordan, P. Allen, M. Tyndall, S. Higgins |
| 1981 | Lost | | Canvas | N. Martin, J.D.F Coombe, A.P Bunting, C.R.F Tidmarsh, R.F Hamlin, N.C Robertson, N.D Powell, M.L Richards, M.G Rowan |
| 1982 | Lost | | 1⁄3 | A.C.M Gane, M.J Henderson, K.D Palithrope, G.J Davies, N.J Edison, B.K Thompson, D. Ornadel, C.R.F Tidmarsh, G.S Topping |
| 1983 | Lost | 6:53 | 3 | Anu Dudhia, David Foster, Simon Mills, Ian Tatchell, Paul Castle, Geraint Davies, Nick Martin, Richard Morgan, John Brann |
| 1984 | Lost | | 1+1⁄3 | A. Dudhia, A.J Bird, D.P Behan, T. Anderson, S.P Lowis, J.C Thompson, A.W Boyle, D.J Foster, L.J Clare |
| 1985 | Lost | | Canvas | Alexander Bird, Simon Jones, David Wilson, David Whitaker, David Foster, Angus Bogle, David Boulter, Ian Robson, Juan Sabater |
| 1986 | Lost | | 2 | J.P Varwell Rendle, Jim Hawkins, Gavin Watters, David Whitaker, Andy Booth, Andrew Tuberfield, Jim Kirwan, Angus Bogle, Neal Tebbutt |
| 1987 | Lost | 6:09 | 1⁄2 | Phil Hollows, James MacDonald, Brian Smith, Malachy Smith, Bob MacDonald, Graham Lidell, Jonathon Pink, Sean Sinclair, William O'Chee |
| 1988 | Lost | | | P. Rudd, A. McJannet, J. Morris, T. Knight, D. Busvine, A.Smith, G. Crocker, J. Nimmo, P. Drew |
| 1989 | Lost | 5:51 | 4+1⁄2 | P. Nicklin, A. Smith, N. Taylor, R. Smalman-Smith, G. Crocker, S. King, P. Thomas, J. Lane, D. Horner |
| 1990 | Lost | 6:40 | 4+3⁄4 | J. Batt, T. Ceccarelli, D. Long, N. Blaydes, G. Crocker, A. Beale, P. Thomas, L. Howard, Hilary Norris |
| 1991 | Lost | 6:39 | 1⁄3 | S. Liddle, V. Mayadas, S. Kenyon, T. Waters, R. Bates, L. Howard, A. Ferguson, D. Neary, E. Chick |
| 1992 | Won | 5:40 | 2+1⁄2 | Paddy Gillespie, Luke Howard, Steve Grant, Steve Brown, Paul Thomas, Chris Hobbs, Dan Wood, Tim Waters, Rabin Tambyraja |
| 1993 | Lost | 5:39 | 1⁄2 | M. Lauder, R. Daron Smith, E. Mark Anderson, O. Kingsbury, I. Harding, S.P Brown, J. Milward, D. Emes, Hilary Norris |
| 1994 | Won | 5:35 | 3⁄4 | M. Giles, D. Smith, M. Lauder, O. Kingsbury, L. Howard, P. Thomas, J. Milward, R. Weeks |
| 1995 | Lost | 5:29 | 1⁄3 | Dave Lindgren, Alex Skinner, James Bailey, David Bridges, Christian Schoof, Pete Bance, Jonathon Hall, Will Wadsworth, Leila Hudson |
| 1996 | Won | NRO disq | | Nathan Tamblyn, Marc Bleeze, Stephen Wooton, Pete Richens, Pete Bellenger, Jon Watkinson, Paul Bollyky, Ollie Kingsbury, Leila Hudson |
| 1997 | Won | 5:49 | 1 | Dan Brocklebank, Alistair Chirnside, Henry Byam-Cook, Ollie Kingsbury, Richard Jackson, Charlie Perkins, Alexander Van Tulleken, Christoffer Van Tulleken, Leila Hudson |
| 1998 | Lost | 5:45 | 1⁄2 | Neil Archibald, George Aitken-Davies, Jonathon Watkinson, Ben Grout, William Wagner, Charlie Heise, George Pounder, Piers Gatenby, Bethan Bell |
| 1999 | Won | 5:31 | 1+1⁄2 | Matt Wicks, Richard Catlin, Jon Watkinson, Richard Todd, Pete Catalino, Ben Brookes, Alexander Van Tulleken, Christoffer Van Tulleen, Ruth Holtham |
| 2000 | Lost | 5:40 | 2 | Alex Eggman, Richard Law, Hugh Wright, Richard Catlin, Raman Nanda, James Benson, Jeremy Fagan, James Backhouse, Ben Crystal |
| 2001 | Lost | 6:33 | 4 | Justin Gill, Andrew Karmy, Ben Bowles, Paul Banham, Patrick Bamber, Hugh Wright, Ashley Hulme, Nick McSloy, Meghan O'Brien |
| 2002 | Won | 5:21 | 2 | Mike Bull, Ed Biden, Dieter Dijkstra, Will Mulholland, Tankred Finke, Richard Catlin, Andrew Roberts, Ewan Davis, Nicola Gust |
| 2003 | Won | 5:55 | 1+1⁄4 | Dave Allen, Jonny Taylor, Simon Risoe, Ed Biden, Tankred Finke, Peter Ralph, Alex Hammacher, Ewan Davis, Jeni Tod |
| 2004 | Won | 5:36 | 1⁄2 | Justin Accomando, Mark Baillie, Alex Eggeman, Jake Goodman, Richard Godfrey, Neal West, Alex Hammacher, Ewan Davies, Jeni Tod |
| 2005 | Won | 5:51 | 3 | Bradley Hull, Aaron Espin, John Todd, Graeme Murray, Alexander Woods, Andrew Berridge, Michael Dolan, James Newman, Esther Hobson |
| April 1, 2006 | Won | 5:18 | 2+1⁄4 | Christopher Cole, Gareth Jones, Graeme Murray, James Stanier, Andrew Berridge, Hugh Mortimer, Graham Davies, Alexander Woods, Phillip Clausen-Thue |
| April 1, 2007 | Won | 3:44 | 1 | Oliver Lough, Bradley Hull, Peter Smith, Henry Sheldon, Oisin McNeela, Tom Cassidy, Louis Rooney, James Solly, Patrick Yu |
| March 23, 2008 | Won | 6:15 | 2+1⁄2 | Bradley Hull, Simon Janes, Andy McGrath, Will Canestaro, Thomas Harvey, Bodo Schulenberg, Henry Sheldon, Ben Harrop-Griffiths, Colin Groshong |
| March 22, 2009 | Lost | 5:49 | 3 | Peter Nordberg, Alex Simmons, Kevin Cunningham, Joe Sadowski, Jonny Coppel, Ben Harrop-Griffiths, Dan Harvey, Lewis Roberts, Tom Hosking |
| March 28, 2010 | Lost | 5:28 | 2 ft | Martin Henstridge, Tom Roberts, Paul Crewe, Joe Sadowski, Bodo Schulenberg, Matt Neve, Dan Harvey, Lewis Roberts, Ruth Barber |
| March 27, 2011 | Won | 5:54 | Canvas | Paul Crewe, Jakub Kwiecinski, John Kiely, Oliver Dicks, Samuel Albanie, Bodo Schulenberg, Chris Gamble, Andrew Craig, Jack Carlson |
| March 25, 2012 | Lost | 6:00 | 3⁄4 | Richard Watson, Edward Lent, Jasper Warner, James Thom, Till Hackler, Till Wirth, Benjamin Walpole, Tyler Spencer, Victoria Stulgis |
| March 24, 2013 | Won | 6:49 | 1+2⁄3 | James Kirkbridge, Benjamin Bronselaer, Kier Macdonald, Frederick Foster, Jasper Warner, Benjamin Walpole, Andrew Sayce, Max Dillon, Christian Proctor |
| March 30, 2014 | Lost | 5:30 | 3+1⁄2 | Dan Bowen, David Zimmer, Marcus Henglein, Robert Leonard, James Ellison, Rowan Arthur, Andrew Saul, Matt Kerin, Hannah Keenan |
| April 5, 2015 | Lost | 5:55 | 4 feet | Jack Shuttleworth, Sooraj Mahesh, Alec Trigger, Andrew Saul, Rowan Arthur, Edward Stace, Edward Rees, Robin Veale, Thomas Clode |
| March 19, 2016 | Lost | 6:19 | Easily | Frederick Hamilton, Alexander Pavitt, Arturo Villanueva, Alec Trigger*, Aidan Walker, Graham Baird, Henry Smith, Alexander Rowe-Jones, Joanna Brown |
| March 26, 2017 | Lost | 6:07 | 1+3⁄4 | Tom Schwantje, Henry Smith, George Watkinson, Alexander Pavitt, Rowan Arthur*, Sooraj Mahesh, Alexander Miles, Douglas Chesterton, Caroline Roden |
| March 19, 2018 | Lost | 6:26 | 1⁄3 | Roman Girn, Alexander Rowe-Jones, Agamemnon Crumpton, Sooraj Mahesh, Jonathon Martin, Dr Iain McGurgan, Alexander Pavitt, Dan Bowen, Dhaval Desai |
| March 23, 2019 | Won | 17:44 | 2+1⁄4 | Tom Schwantje, Dr Iain McGurgan, Jan Ole Ernst, Henry Smith, Nick Ryan, Dr Sooraj Mahesh*, Arthur Arnould, Douglas Chesterton, Frankie Satchwell |
| March 15, 2020 | Won | 18:50 | 3+1⁄2 | Agamemnon Crumpton, Arthur Arnould*, Harrison Kieffer, Ed Lamb, Jan Ole Ernst, Nick Ryan, Tom Schwantje, Matthew Hamilton, Chloe Tubman |
| May 23, 2021 | Won | 14:19 | 1+1⁄2 | Ed Campbell, Daniel Craig-McFeely, Harrison Kieffer, Ben de Jager, Nick Ryan, Agamemnon Crumpton, Edmund Mortimer, Ed Lamb*, Cici Hong |
| March 20, 2022 | Lost | 18:01 | 5 | Olly Featherstone, Agamemnon Crumpton, Harrison Kieffer, Matthew Hudson*, James Halsall, Nick Ryan, Ed Campbell, Alex Wythe, Rollo Orme |
| March 20, 2023 | Lost | 18:17 | 11 | Zac Abel*, Harrison Kieffer, Alec Berry, Samuel Baker, Adam Pattenden, Olly Featherstone, Matthew Hudson, Agamemnon Crumpton, Rollo Orme |

(*) denotes President of the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club

