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 a ...

club in Oxford. It used to be the boat club of now 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 Catholic church, Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the ...

. It is based on the

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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. More than 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in twelve divisions: six each of men's and women' ...

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 Colleges of the University of Oxford, intercollegiate Sport rowing, rowing event of the year. The regatta takes ...

. 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, Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), University of Oxford, Oxford. It was founded in 1976, when a women’s division was finally established. As t ...

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 {{England-sport-team-stub

History

See also

References