House Head of the River, Summer Eights 2009
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House Head of the River, Summer Eights 2009

22 Jun 2009

The ChCh Men's 1st VIII re-took the Headship in Summer Eights this year after a gap of 24 years - an event that sparked a great deal of rejoicing among current and former members of the Club and college.

Following on from taking the Torpids Headship in Hilary the already potent crew was further strengthened by the addition of two of this year's winning Blue Boat oarsmen (Croatian Olympian Ante Kusurin and US Squadman Ben Harrison) and by the return of Jamie Schroeder, a winning Blue in 2006 and a US Olympic sculler at Beijing. This crew proved far too strong for those ahead to hold; Oriel succumbed just out onto the Greenbank on the Wednesday and Balliol likewise on the Thursday, culminating in a spectacularly violent bump when acknowledgement of the inevitable was not forthcoming. The last two days saw strong row-overs - that on Saturday ending in style; a huge crowd estimated at around 20,000 people saw the House storm home some eight lengths clear at the Finish - a sight not seen for many years.

While the Women's 1st VIII - a valiant but undersized crew - lost two places to finish Fourth, there were very positive results from the rest of the Club; the Ladies' crews all rose and now hold the Headships at 2nd, 3rd and 4th boat level - an unprecedented triumph. The Men's 2nd VIII gained two places to finish Head of Division Three and Head of the 2nd VIIIs, while the 3rd VIII rose six places to re-enter the fixed divisions and finish Head of the 3rd VIIIs - again a remarkable achievement, stressing the strength of the ChChBC at all levels.

It was, then, a memorable Eights, taking place in good weather, in good spirit and with a great deal of well-merited success for the overall Club. The dinner in Hall that followed and the Boat Burning ceremony were paradigms of their kind and celebrated in proper style by Boat Club members both past and present, by a large turnout of Faculty and Staff and by members of college; 2009 has indeed been a year to remember for the ChChBC.