2012 Annual Report - Jesus College - University of Cambridge

102 SPORTS CLUBS I Jesus College Annual Report 2012
safety to beat both Oxford competitors in the pole vault. On the track Sam Ashcroft
placed 2nd in the 5000m whilst Matt Fried recaptured the form of his youth to place 2nd
in the 100m and 200m, helping the Cambridge team to victory over a formidable Oxford
side.
A thrilling men’s Blue’s match ended in a narrow victory for Cambridge, which
wouldn’t have been the case without valiant Jesuan efforts. Ex Jesus Captain Robin
Brown ran in the 5K, whilst Sam Hyatt-Twynam narrowly missed out on victory in the
pole vault. Jon Cook spearheaded a victorious campaign in the middle distance. After
outpacing his competition in the 800m, he went on to complete an epic double victory,
running 4:13.09 in the mile, in one of the most impressive displays of distance running
at Iffley road since Roger Bannister’s breaking of the four minute barrier.
I’m sure the enthusiasm and youthful zeal of next year’s Captains, Zaamin and Fiona,
will take the Jesus Athletics team to unprecedented glory. Good luck!
Sam Hyatt-Twynam
Boat Club
It has been an exciting and challenging year for JCBC that has seen the hard work of
rowers, coxes and coaches pay off. The women had a good number of seniors return so
were in a strong position for Michaelmas term, building on the work of the previous
year. In contrast, the men’s squad retained few seniors therefore had a fantastic
opportunity to create a new squad for the coming year and allow novices to progress
quickly.
Michaelmas term saw a large fresher sign up and both men’s and women’s lower
boats captains worked tirelessly with the novices to get them ready for the term’s races.
At Queen’s Ergs NM1 put in a fantastic performance to finish in 4th place, with one of
the crew pulling the fastest erg of the competition. A large number of novices carried on
rowing throughout the term which culminated in Fairbairns. Our NW1 came 14th and
our NM1 came 9th, showing that whilst there was room for improvement there was
promising talent that would come to help bolster the senior squad. The seniors enjoyed
success in Michaelmas with a win for W1 and M1 coming 5th in the Autumn Head. In
Fairbairns the men achieved a very respectable 6th place; while W1 managed to come
2nd, even though a last minute injury meant a sub had to be found for the race.
Training and racing in Lent term was made difficult by terrible weather giving crews
little racing practice prior to Bumps. Many external pundits predicted JCBC would drop
down the league; however, both M1 and W1 went up two, positioning them for a chance
of head of the river in 2013. W1 spent a fifth day racing, travelling to London to compete
in WEHORR coming 146th even though exhausted after bumps.
Easter term saw the countdown to Mays and the return of Blues rower Caroline Reid to
the women’s side along with triallist cox Ruth Coverdale to the men’s squad. JCBC crews
underwent a gruelling training regime but were rewarded with dramatic technical
breakthroughs. M1 and W1 started in 6th position and dispelled any doubts on the first
day bumping Pembroke and Emma respectively. M1 went on to get two further bumps
and were only denied a final bump by a experienced Downing crew, so finished in 3rd
place. W1 also continued to bump so that only Newnham W1 stood between them and
blades. A strong start set W1 up for a bump by the Plough but drama ensued as a strong
cross wind caused them to crash. However, a superb restart saw W1 push off Pembroke
and back onto chase Newnham. Blades were won on the reach in sight of Jesus Paddock.
M2 also deserve special mention after holding off Eddies, whose crew boasted multiple