Merton College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Merton College, Oxford. It was established in 1838 and competes every year in

Torpids Torpids is one of two series of bumping races, a type of rowing race, held yearly at Oxford University; the other is Eights Week. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1,200 pa ...

and

Summer Eights Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the ...

, the intercollegiate bumps races at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, as well as external regattas. The club shares a boat house with Worcester College Boat Club on Boathouse Island, on the northern bank of

the Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...

The Club

Merton College Boat Club is run by a junior committee of current students at Merton who are guided by a Senior Member who is a current fellow of Merton. The committee reports to The Friends of Merton College Boat Club, a group of ex-rowers and alumni helping and supporting the boat club. Old members race every now and then on an ''ad-hoc'' basis as ''Merton Gannets'', an alumni boat club that was founded in the 1950s. According to the Club archives, the boathouse, which is still in use today, was finished in 1949 and is the last in the row of college boathouses built in the distinctive brick style mirroring the first boathouse built on the Isis stretch by Christ Church College in the 1920s. Currently plans are under way to extend the boathouse and funds are being raised for the project. According to the archives, Merton competed successfully at Henley, winning at least two events, namely the Visitor's Challenge Cup, for coxless fours at the time, in 1920 and 1956. Additionally, Merton reached the final in the Ladies Challenge Plate in 1920. One member, Mr J L Bland, rowed in the Grand Challenge Cup winning

OUBC Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the rowing club for male, heavyweight oarsman of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century. The Boat Race The club races agai ...

Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club The Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club is a rowing club on the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) in West London, United Kingdom at Chiswick Boathouse, 100 metres north-west of Barnes Railway & Footbridge – beyond which is Barnes Bridge ra ...

crew of 1981.

Recent years

Merton College Boat Club has fielded numerous ‘ Blues’. Between 2005 and 2014 Merton produced more female crew members representing the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

than any other college. Members of the club have also taken on the presidency of both the

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 H ...

and the Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club multiple times.

Honours

Henley Royal Regatta

References

External links

Merton College Boat Club websiteOxford Torpids and Summer Eights bumps charts
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs 1838 establishments in England Sports clubs and teams established in 1838 Rowing clubs of the University of Oxford

Boat Club A boat club is a sports club serving boat owners, particularly those interested in rowing and yachting, but also kayaking, canoeing, motor boats and other small boats. See also *Rowing club *Yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specif ...

Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames