Mallory Club Summer Update

Much has taken place over the summer, from June Eights Regatta to Henley Royal Regatta all the way to boat naming. Here are some highlights of the summer along with some introductions and some very important future dates to bear in mind...

June Eights Regatta

With the May Bumps cancelled in 2021 to minimise disruption and maximise safety from COVID, the races were replaced with a side-by-side regatta up the Long Reach. Although this meant M1 had lost their second chance at winning the Headship, this was at least something to look forward to for the whole club. 

Obviously, COVID had other ideas. An en masse outbreak across Cambridge coupled with pings galore (amplified by phones left at the boathouse within track-and-trace distance during outings artificially cross-contaminating squads) meant almost all Magdalene crews had to scratch before racing had even begun, with more crews across the Colleges dropping like flies throughout the regatta.

Eventually, M1 and a M2-W1 hybrid managed to race the full regatta, with M1 easily securing the win against Caius in the final (twice) to round off their undefeated year on the Cam. M2-W1 finished with 3 wins, losing out to the eventual winners Pembroke M2 after some amusing attempts at steering from Emmanuel M1 the day before led to their disqualification and M2-W1's progress into the semi-final.

Triumph at Henley

After a historic campaign from Magdalene at Henley Royal Regatta 2021, both the Men's and Women's VIIIs were knocked out by very strong University of London 'A' crews on the Friday. This was a brilliant piece of history for MBC as well as Cambridge Colleges as a whole.

The Junior Committee of MBC as well as the Mallory Club would like to extend a huge thank you to all the supporters who attended, cheered on from the online videos and made tickets available at the event. Many students had never been to Henley before and appreciate your generous donations immensely. We have had messages coming in from alumni all over the world from the USA to Australia to congratulate the crews!

Full Results

Temple Challenge Cup - Quarter-finals

University of London 'A' beat Magdalene & Sidney Sussex
Barrier: 1:55
Fawley: 3:13
Finish: 6:47
Verdict: 2 lengths

Magdalene & Sidney led to the quarter-mile mark but were then reined in by UL. Magdalene & Sidney are the first Cambridge College crew to reach the Friday since Lady Margaret Boat Club in 2000. Since then, there have been 17 attempts, 5 reaching Thursday until MBC bucked the trend. 

Island Challenge Cup - Heats

University of London 'A' beat Clare & Magdalene
Barrier: 2:06
Fawley: 3:41
Finish: 7:59
Verdict: Easily

This was a great experience for an inexperienced crew with one member having only learnt to row during Easter term! MBC has an excellent cohort of novices deprived of rowing throughout most of 2019 and 2020 so we expect this experience to be a huge boost to the whole club.

Crew Lists:

Men
Magdalene Boat Club & Sidney Sussex Boat Club
B: S. Clarke (M)
2: A. Konshin (M)
3: J. Chapman (M)
4: H. Durward (S)
5: S. Vosper (M)
6: R. Highnam (M)
7: P. Elwood (M)
S: P. Johnston (M)
C: H. Hudson (M)

Women
Clare Boat Club & Magdalene Boat Club
B: P. Vellasco-Herrejon (C)
2: M. Przybylak (C)
3: E. Greatorex (M)
4: A. Cox (M)
5: D. Burgess (M)
6: L. Britten (M)
7: R. Testa (C)
S: J. Pemberton (C)
C: P. Slay (C)

Coaches
G. Wallace (M)
S. Cass (M)
A. James (C)

Boat Naming in Cambridge

Magdalene's fleet has been expanding for several years now thanks to the extremely generous donations of members and utilisation of MBC funds set aside over several years to help fund replacements of the ageing shells. However, COVID has prevented our intended naming ceremonies on several occasions. Early in September, MBC was finally able to arrange a small naming ceremony for their new boats.

Anne Kjersti - Empacher VIII+

Named after Mallory member Ian Beaton's mother, Anne Kjersti has already claimed silverware galore for M1 with hopefully plenty more to come in the future. Ordered in anticipation of M1 gaining the headship in 2019 but delivered just in time for the first lockdown, we look forward to seeing MBC's first splash of yellow making waves on and off Cam.

Antony Grey - Stämpfli IV+

Named after the Magdalene alumnus and LGBT rights activist who was once said to have "done more than any single man to bring this social problem to the notice of the public" by playing a prominent role in bringing forward landmark legislation that partially decriminalised homosexuality in England & Wales in 1967.

Spirit of '67 - Aylings 2+

An acquisition made from downstream on the Cam, this lesser-spotted coxed pair will allow crews to train and improve technique in smaller boats without the need to worry about steering. Again, a collaborative donation from a group of alumni from the 60s, Spirit of '67 will join Spirit of '62 to form a pair of pairs that enable larger squads to go out with other larger boats to maximise coaching time on the water.

CPZ - Swift 2+

With our older tub pair being borderline dangerous to manhandle out of the doors and into the water, let alone get back out again, MBC's novices will be in far better stead using the lighter but still stable new tub. Even more so, given it is named after Mallory Club President Charles Perran Ziar, a man who has given so much time to novices at MBC with many of them going on to race at the highest levels in the University and off-Cam.

Anonymous Donor - Stämpfli IV+

Across the years, many alumni and Mallory Club members have contributed generously to MBC either directly, through the College or through the Mallory Club itself, equipping students with much-needed safety gear, coaching aids and new boats. This new IV+ recognises all these contributions and is testament to the excellent community fostered by many decades of College rowing.

MBC would like to thank the Rev. Sarah Atkins for her continued support and blessing of the new boats, as well as Lady Greenwood for carrying out her first official duties as the Club's new patron following the departure of Lady Williams in 2019.

A message from the new Mallory Club Archivist

Dr Tony France (1972)

Have you got any memorabilia from your days in MBC? Photos, crew listings, Bumps programmes, anecdotes and other souvenirs etc? If so, I would be very pleased to hear some details.

The Mallory Club is keen to enlarge its collection and make the archive available to club members. We hope to do this in partnership with the new College library, working with newly appointed College Archivist, Katy Green. The College library may be able to store original material or copies. I hope to discuss details with Katy in the autumn.

Meanwhile, please have a look in your loft or photo albums for any appropriate material. In particular, do you have crew listings for the Magdalene boats in the Fairbairn Cup and events other than the Bumps?

More details to follow in the next newsletter.
Tony

Please feel free to send in any finds to info@malloryclub.com.

Mallory Club AGM

The Mallory Club Annual General Meeting will be held via Zoom on Sunday 3 October at 5:00pm BST. The last AGM was well attended due to the lack of travel restrictions getting in the way of everything and everyone practically living their life on Zoom anyway during the pandemic! 

We will be updating everyone on progress with the Mallory Club, voting on officers and taking any questions from the floor. The agenda and link to the meeting will be circulated closer to the time, however if you have any specific points you would like to be raised, please send them to info@malloryclub.com by Thursday 30th September.

We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

MBC Training Camp & Mallory Club Excursion

MBC held very successful training camps at Lake Bled, Slovenia, in 2018 and 2019 thanks to the generosity of Suzana and David Crawley. MBC has booked to return in 2022 but there will be a difference - Mallory Club members will be invited to join the party and see MBC in action.

Members will be able to go out with our coaches on their launches and enjoy the facilities at an excellent 4* hotel close to both the Olympic rowing centre and the villa where MBC are quartered. Moreover, this is a very attractive part of Slovenia with much to do and see. In fact, it is just the place for a few days of fun and relaxation with like-minded rowing enthusiasts.

Right now, we are exploring whether this is an attractive idea and worth developing. Clearly there could yet be difficulties with travel restrictions but if you think you may be interested or have suggestions, please email your thoughts to info@malloryclub.com FAO Perran.

The dates for 2022 will be Wednesday 6th - Thursday 14th April but we expect members to be able to book the hotel for as many or as few days as they wish.

Future Racing Opportunities

We anticipate the Fairbairn Cup to be back on schedule this year with entries available for alumni IV+s and VIII+s. The Mallory Club has previously placed very successfully against College crews and Alumni crews alike and if you would like to race again this year then make a note of Friday 3rd December.

There will of course be ample opportunity for post-race lunch/dinner and a trip to the pub.

We hope you have enjoyed hearing about the latest exploits of the Mallory Club, and if you are keen to become more involved then please get in touch!

We are also always keen to hear more about the post-Magdalene adventures of our members, and would welcome submission for future editions via info@malloryclub.com.

GTF,

The Mallory Club

This article first appeared in the Mallory Club Summer Newsletter update.

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