St Benet's Hall Boat Club is a

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically at ...

club in Oxford. It used to be the boat club of no defunct

St Benet's Hall, Oxford St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed down in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern e ...

. It is based on the

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

History

The club was founded in 1981. It regularly participates in the

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 ...

. Women joined the club in 2016 after purchasing their first boat called Ithaca. In its relatively short history the men’s boat has enjoyed periods of considerable success. In the mid 2000s the club was especially successful, moving up to division 4 in both Torpids and Eights. During this period the club won blades on several occasions. In 2015 the men's crew secured discretionary blades for their performance in Eights, with the crew re-established firmly in fixed divisions. In 2019, they secured blades again in a monumental Torpids run that saw them move up 7 places into fixed divisions. The first women's boat, 'Ithaca', was purchased in 2016, the year when women could first join the Hall as undergraduates. The St Benet's Hall women have since competed in several regattas, qualifying for their first Summer Eights in 2018, and then their first Torpids in 2019. In Summer Eights 2019 they achieved their first bump, and bumped on three out of four days (missing out on the fourth bump, and blades, because of a klaxon). Their newest boat, ‘Gowney-Hedges’, was kindly purchased by Rhys and Gillian Hedges after their impressive 2019 bumps campaign, and they now hope to win blades. For the first time in the club's history, St Benet's Hall women won blades in Summer Eights 2022, moving up 7 places and achieving five bumps in five starts. The men's boat is stored at the Corpus Christi College Boat Club boathouse, whereas the women's boat is racked in the

Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club (LMHBC) is a rowing club for members and staff of Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), Oxford. It was founded in 1899. History LMHBC first competed in inter-college OURCs racing events in 1977, when a women's division ...

boathouse. Since May 2021 the official main sponsor of the boat club has bee
Fintalent.io
Since St Benet's Hall closed in 2022, the boat club has continued to operate independently.

References

Rowing clubs of the University of Oxford St Benet's Hall, Oxford Sports clubs and teams established in 1981 Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames Sport in Oxford Rowing clubs in England {{rowing-club-stub

History

See also

References