In the doom, gloom, and solid red flag of early 2023, what better way to brighten a day than to look back at our glorious Summer Eights 2022 campaign?

Summer Eights is an annual intercollegiate competition held over four days in late May in which boats compete to 'bump' each other, getting close enough to make contact, overtake, or scare the other cox into 'conceding' their position in the running order.

St Anne's started on the back foot this year with many of our senior rowers unable to compete due to exams, and this hit our M1 particularly hard. With a new cox and predominantly novice crew, the men's racing week was not ideal, but strokeseat and then-SABC-president Leo White did a great job of keeping everyone's spirits up, and the squad had a great week of post-race snacks, watching, and cheering.

W1's strong torpids campaign set them in good stead, and they were relieved to be rejoined by OUWBC members Amelia Standing and Joe Gellett! Conflicting busy schedules meant that the final crew had only four outings together in which to prepare for racing, and while everyone was looking forward to a fun week they knew under the circumstances not to expect too much... how wrong they were!

By race week the stash had been swapped, the crews were all lined up, and the rowers had enjoyed their preparatory pasta party. Read on for a day-by-day account, or scroll to see a summary and find the photo gallery!

Women

Wednesday
The women started from the 4th position in Division 2, and knew that the day was important. They'd be chasing Linacre W1, trying to reclaim a contentious bump from 2019, and fending off Somerville W1, with whom they have done a lot of Torpids battle in recent years. From early on they maintained their distance from the chasing Somerville and held a long overlap with Linacre before bumping them along the greenbank! This was a hugely exciting start to the week, and everybody celebrated with some good brownies.

Thursday
With a slightly different crew line-up and some significantly better weather, the women bumped for the second time! They had a strong start and after Donnington bridge were already holding half a boat length of distance from St John's W1. Their passage through the gut involved a near-scrape, a lot of overlap and a lot of whistles before they finally bumped by blade-on-boat contact just before longbridges.

Friday
Friday was a special day for W1; the birthday of coxswain Joe Gellett! The crew all donned party hats for the race, which gave them the free speed needed to catch Balliol W1 before the gut. This put them at the top of division two, making them the sandwich boat for the next race, and the first Anne's boat to reach division one since 1997! After half an hour to rest and eat flapjack, they set out again to cement their place in the top division. They pushed against Jesus W1's fresh legs, and despite not being able to bump, were proud of shortening and holding their distance behind Jesus for the full course. Exhausted, everyone went home to rest for the final day of the campaign, hoping to make a bump and win some blades!

Saturday
W1 raced at the top of division two to defend their spot, and rowed the course without a worry, gaining such an early lead that they were able to paddle over the finish line at rate 23! Having saved some energy for the next race, and fuelled by cheers from  the many Anne's students and staff who had come to watch, they went on again to try to catch Jesus W1. Being a sandwich boat is never easy - starting on bungline 13 means being all the way down past the Isis Farmhouse and coming into the corner with a strong wind. The crew made a strong start, but Jesus bumped out impressively early, leaving Anne's with a large gap to close. By halfway down the course, the six boats ahead had bumped out, so no bump was possible. The crew still pushed on and rowed cleanly to the finish, where they were the final boat of Summer Eights 2023!
From the uncertainty of the start of the week, to end it by racing in division one was more than anybody asked for or expected, and the crew were enormously happy.


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Men

Wednesday
Our men started the campaign off with some questionable face paint and a lot of enthusiasm, aiming to chase down Somerville M1 and exact revenge for their blades-winning bump on us back in 2019. Sadly, following a poor start and some equipment failures, our M1 were caught quickly by the chasing Pembroke crew. A heated debate on the popular Facebook page “Oxrow” ensued, but the will of the Anne’s M1 prevailed, and they went into Thursday with a great deal of pride and optimism.
 
Thursday
On Thursday, our men were being chased by St Peter’s M1 – a blades-bound crew stacked with University rowers and Olympians. A second poor start sealed their fate, and the Olympic crew just about managed to catch our M1 within about 30 strokes. Chants of “you’re nothing special, we lose every week” echoed beneath Donnington Bridge as our M1 drifted through, generating applause from the Peter’s crew and supporters on the bank.
 
Friday
On Friday M1 welcomed Ed Lamb into the crew. Fresh out of the OU Lightweight Blue Boat (he was the President, apparently), Ed made the step up to the 6-seat of St Anne’s M1 and brought with him a wealth of experience and wattage. With fresh faces and even fresher legs, M1 had arguably their best row of the week, charging through the gut and along Greenbanks, before finally succumbing to a strong Keble M2 crew just before Boathouse Island. Cheers of “good row” filled the warm summer air as the crew headed home to prepare for the final day.
 
Saturday
Saturday signalled the end to M1’s bumps campaign. Despite their quickest start of the week, they once again found themselves being chased down by a crew on for blades. Linacre M1 hunted them down with efficiency and a great deal of welly, catching our M1 just before Donnington Bridge. Spoons once again for the men, but smiles all round as they stayed to cheer on W1.

Both tired and happy crews celebrated in style at the St Anne's barbecue, with some rowers still river-soaked as they listened to the entertaining speeches. 2023 will see the women build on their success and gaining ground into Div1, as the men use the years' experience to climb back up and hopefully win some blades!

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Summary:

Women
Bumped: Linacre W1, St John's W1, Balliol W1. Three row-overs. Ending position: top of Division Two
Men
​Bumped by Somerville M1, St Peter's M1, Keble M2, Linacre M1. Ending position: 10th in Division Three

Photo Gallery

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