Congratulations to St Hugh’s Boat Club (SHBC) Novice Women’s team who won the Tamesis Regatta (formerly known as Christ Church Regatta) – the first time this has been achieved in 41 years. This was the first time the race has been held since 2022, when SHBC Novice Men’s team took the win.
Proving themselves faster than every other novice women’s boat on the river, the SHBC team battled through a grueling four-day race week to take commanding wins in every one of their races. W1 will remember racing in the very same boat, “Alea Iacta Est”, for bumps three years ago, and it is testament to the recent rapid growth and refurbishment of the fleet that she is now the official novice regatta-winning boat. The Novice Men’s A boat also had a good week, battling Pembroke in a close race; and the Novice Women’s B boat also had some exciting races – some of the team jumped straight into the boat in race week after passing their swim tests just the week before. The seniors have had a busy term too, entering a large variety of boat classes into the Isis Winter League and the Lion and Chough Regatta, the Senior Women taking the silver medal in the latter.
Michaelmas term was rounded off with a celebratory dinner at the Rickety Press, including speeches from the committee, and a number of awards for the novices. The regatta-winning crew were also very pleased to be invited by our Principal to High Table to celebrate their success. Georgia Macfarlane, President of SHBC, said ‘We were honoured to be invited to join the Principal at High Table and to have her present at the regatta, during which she reminisced on her own days rowing in the Novice Regatta and demonstrated to our crews that these experiences are those they will remember for many years to come.
‘I would like to thank our new Head Coach, Sam Frost, who has been overseeing the College’s rowing programme and preparing the SHBC squad for this term’s regattas and our imminent racing in Cambridge. We look forward to Hilary term in which we will be racing in Torpids and taking to the Tideway in London. We would love to connect with alumni at any of these events – keep an eye on the SHBC Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date!’
Below are photos taken at the Tamesis Regatta. Thank you to Lucy Darnell for the SHBC Men’s team photos.
