Rowing and 'Elitism'

The past few days has seen a great deal of hue and cry about the actions of Trenton Oldfield, the 'anti-elitism' protestor who disrupted the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race at the weekend. No response to his actions could be more eloquent than that of Will Zeng, Oxford's two-man, and I don't intend to try and better it.

Mr Oldfield's protest has, whether we like it or not, led to a debate about rowing and 'elitism', which is what I'd like to consider today. Elitism is a term that has been bandied about so much it has almost lost all meaning. Those who use the term in connection with rowing seem to mean a variety of different things by it:


1. Rowing is an expensive sport, and can therefore only be practised by those who have the means to do so.

2. Rowing is associated in the public mind with 'elite' educational establishments: Oxford and Cambridge, the American Ivy League, and public schools. (Whether these institutions are 'elite' or 'elitist' is a question worth more in-depth consideration).

3. Rowing is 'elitist' in the sense that it is a competitive activity with clearly-defined winners and losers.

4. Rowing, and the characteristics it develops in those who practise it, can give rowers an edge in competitive situations in future life. If one believes that rowing is restricted to a small, privileged group within the population, then it might be considered to perpetuate that group's position and hence to entrench privilege.


There is something to these arguments, but I'd like to consider them from a different perspective.

Obviously, it is not the case that rowing is exclusively a pastime for the privileged. I know many people who do not come from wealthy backgrounds who derive a huge amount of pleasure from their sport and who give a huge deal back to it. To generalise these individuals out of the picture would be an insult to them. It is, however, also the case that rowing is practised disproportionately by the middle classes and above all by those who had access to the sport at school.

I can also see that there is some truth to the arguments that rowing and similar activities confer an advantage on those that practise them when it comes to any competitive situation they meet in their subsequent lives. These activities are not just athletic ones: drama, debating, student government and the like all teach hard-work, patience, organisation and other valuable skills. They are also all activities that are disproportionately made available to those receiving an education in the independent sector.

This is surely part of the reason why the graduates of independent schools go on to be disproportionately successful in their later careers. It is not simply a matter of the 'old school tie', but rather that these individuals have been given the opportunity to enhance their human capital outside of the classroom.

We should not be objecting to is not the right of our fellow-citizens to enjoy their leisure pursuits, but rather demanding that these opportunities be made available to a wider section of the population. Every time a middle-class bleeding-heart objects to these activities as elitist, all I can hear is the sound of the ladder being pulled away from those who actually might benefit from them.

For every Trenton Oldfield making a noisy protest against a group of abstract nouns, there are hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life who, united by nothing more than their passion for a sport, are quietly seeking to improve people's lives. The most ostensibly 'elitist' organisations are often at the forefront: the Henley Stewards give huge sums of money to support grass-roots rowing, for example. Oxford University Boat Club itself is a backer of London Youth Rowing. I personally am surely not alone in having given up huge amounts of my spare time to teaching rowing (and debating, for that matter) to those who did not have the advantages I had. And I myself ultimately owe my background in rowing to the generosity of others who, in the first place, put up scholarship money to enable me to go to an independent school and who subsidise the costs of equipment for impecunious students like myself.

If rowing is elitist, then it is elitism that should be made available to all.

Torpids Day Three Report

The sun came out for most of Day 3, making the racing seem distinctly eights-like. Another good day for KCBC on the river as well...

M2 - the second boat were unfortunately bumped twice off the start, but stayed in the hunt and were rewarded with a thrillingly violent bump on Oriel's 2nd VIII entering the finishing straight. Although the first time this week a Keble crew has moved down a place, the boys rowed their best and bravest race of the week.

W1 - those watching the webcam coverage of the racing will already know the result, with our women bumping Worcester right in front of the camera. Nice work.

M1 - this was always going to be the toughest day of the week. We were chasing Wolfson, a very strong crew and blades-winners at Summer Eights last year. Unfortunately, despite rowing our best race of the week, we couldn't quite hunt them down. Damn. Still, tomorrow's another day....
It was heartening to see, however, the disappointment our boys showed. Last year to row over against Wolfson and Lincoln would have been regarded as a good result. This year our standards are that much higher.


Julian Bubb-Humfryes
Men's Captain

Torpids Day Two Report

Another rather cold day's racing on the Isis. Here's what happened:

M2 - registered their first bump (and the first of many novices' Oxford careers) on St Benet's first boat. Unfortunately, they were also overtaken by a rapid Lincoln second boat. A perturbing result given that M1 were chasing Lincoln's first boat.

W1 - with the day's e-mail entitled 'The day Univ die', there was never going to be any messing about with the women's crew. A pity the women didn't get to practise their stride though... Bump!

M1 - a damn close-run thing. Coming up to the gut, the race was shaping up to be a carbon copy of yesterday's. With a canvas between us and Lincoln M1, however, we caught a monstrous crab, wiping out at least 10 strokes of rowing. I think most of us believed it was all over with our race, but we hit a beautiful rythmn coming through the Gut and sweated a bit of blood to hunt Lincoln down once more, finally taking them with an almighty push coming onto the Green Bank.



Julian Bubb-Humfryes
Men's Captain

Torpids Day One Report

Torpids are go. What seemed almost inconceivable just a couple of weeks ago is actually happening. Unfortunately, this meant that the river only became rowable the day before the race. In that short time, M1 had to fit in three outings, leaving us considerably sharper if somewhat heavy-legged.

Reports:

M2 - rowed over. A good start for our boys, most of whom are novice rowers and lacking water time. Starting to get a bit ragged and dead in the final stages of a tough race, but crucially less ragged and dead than everyone else.

W1 - rowed over. A jammed seat at bow may have hampered W1's speed a little, but massive props to Rose Robson for some superb recoveries in difficult circumstances.

M1 - bumped Merton. They conceded just as we were entering the Gut. Job done. Like a carbon fibre knife through butter.


Julian Bubb-Humfryes
Men's Captain

Achtung! Torpids!

Not long to go now. Torpids is rearing its slumberous head and we have not even been in a boat for the last two weeks. I'm starting to forget that rowing is in any way connected with water. As far as I can discern, it involves staring at a small screen while sweating in a chilly squash court. We may, however, actually be able to race this coming week. This is something to be faced with equal amounts of enthusiasm and trepidation. On the debit side of the equation, we have been unable to do our usual fine-tuning on the water and are in a relatively disadvantaged position to clubs which have the logistical capability of training on the Tideway or at Dorney lake. On the credit side, we made the most of what little green flag we did have by rowing almost every morning we could, while the melt-water to come was still conveniently frozen. One can only hope that our sheer machismo will reap the rewards it deserves. There were some excellent patches of paddling - we removed the strap we've been tying around the hull to increase the resistance and the boat just flew underneath us. I was jubilant for the rest of the day.

In other Very Exciting News, our very own KCBC hero, Alec Dent, has provisionally made the Isis boat for the race against Cambridge! Check out his profile on the Boat Race website:

http://www.theboatrace.org/article/thecrew/oxfordcrew/2009/alec



Julian Bubb-Humfryes
Men's Captain

Testing times

Red flag. Still red flag. If there is one colour I hate it's red. Fortunately, just about everyone in Oxford is in the same predicament. As it so happens, perhaps it is a good a time as any for KCBC to save their strength, because it is Test Week - our chance to see whether the winter miles have had the desired effect. 2nd Week's main business consists of two tests - the first is a 2k at rate 26, the same as we did last term for ease of comparison. The second is a different beast altogether - 2x6k at 16. I'm sorry, what? What?! 2 by 6 kilometres is our regular session, but rate 16 will be a little different from our usual 18-20, which normally ends up at a cheeky 21 as everyone tries to outdo the man next to them. Cruel and unusual punishment. These tests are for everyone in the men''s squad, from the 1sts down to the novices. We will know more when the dust settles, but in the thick of it as we are things are looking encouraging. The Erg Sheet is (sad I know) my pride and joy. In theory, all of the data from every ergo by every oarsman is entered into it. Any personal best times get a rather fetching red fill. So far, every single test has got the Microsoft Excel mark of approval. Admittedly, many of these represent the first time people have done this erg, but even among the seniors there have been some remarkable improvements - a solid 4.5 seconds from Will Seamer, our stroke-or-six man to take him over the plateau he's been on for a while and 7.5 seconds from yours truly, although not being ill may have had something to do with it.


More news after all the results are in....



Julian Bub-Humfryes
Men's Captain

The best Christmas present a Captain could have...

Well, that was a surprise. From the idea being mooted at the end of last term, the dream has become a reality. Keble now has a dedicated 8-erg room. Monday of 0th week saw the arrival of sixteen intimidatingly large boxes containing shiny brand-new concept 2 indoor rowers. Or rather, the parts thereof. It took surprisingly long to construct our beautiful machines, but now it is done, they are a thing of beauty. And we haven't been hanging around when it comes to using them - the new ergs have already done about 200,000 metres - good work from Keble's men and women, given that not everyone is back from Christmas vac...


Julian Bubb-Humfryes
Men's Captain