St Peter's College Boat Club

St Peter's College Boat Club was established in the year of St Peter's Hall's foundation, in 1929. With only 40 undergraduates in the entire year group of 1929-30 and most of them without previous rowing experience, they still improved their position on the river, both in Torpids and in Eights.[2][3] The St Peter's Master, Christopher Chavasse, was a dominant influence. He encouraged all activities which could help the Hall's reputation, in particular sport. Chavasse and the College Bursar, Toby Tinne, an Old Etonian and one-time rowing Blue, were the team's coaches.[4][5]

The Times, February 27 1930, p. 7 - St. Peters' Hall made a brilliant debut, for they only came into existence two years ago. They made a bump every afternoon, and from the ease with which they made them would have gone a long way into the Third Division before reaching the end of their tether. Their performance is the more noteworthy as they have only 40 members on the books. Next year their prospects will be hardly as good, as most of those rowing this year in the Torpids will be requisitioned for their Summer Eights.

The club acquired its very first boat in the second year of its existence and named it St Peter of Galilee, in spirit of the evangelical mainspring of the Hall's foundation.[5][6] As St Peter's Hall could not afford its own College Barge to store equipment and kit, it used one of the Salter's Barge instead.[6]

The Thirties were a good period for rowing at St Peter's. The immediate predecessors had gone through the other colleges' second and third boats in the lowest division at the rate of a bump a day. 1936 saw the second boat, on the first day, scoring an exceedingly rare double over-bump: five places gained in one afternoon. And in the Reading 'Head' the First Eight finished sixth - equal with Bristol University who were twenty-first on the Tideway a fortnight later. Hilary 1937, saw the college boat getting smashed, when it went over Iffley Weir. Having to row in a hired, very much older and heavier tub from Salters Streamers they went down each day of Torpids. The recovery set in during 1938 (1st VIII winning blades).[7]

During the Second World War, smaller colleges were grouped together to enable them to compete in inter-collegiate events. In 1940, Pembroke, Corpus and St Peter's boated together.[8] There are no records of St Peter's rowers participating in 1941-1945. However, the women of Westfield College – who were housed in the rooms of St Peter's Hall – were using the facilities of St Peter's Hall and entered competitions on the Isis.

Two St Peter's boats competed in the first post-war Torpids and Summer Eights in 1946.[9][10] The Bursar C. E. Tinne was still coaching, "bicycling, megaphone in hand, and bawling instructions anywhere between Sandford and the end of Port Meadow",[11] and the Boat Club moved with their fleet into the old OUBC boathouse.[12]

In the 1950s, the oarsmen of St Peter's Hall enjoyed significant success and their Hall had a strong reputation for sporting achievement.[13] The club entered up to six boats in each regatta. For the first time a St Peter's Torpid entered the First Division in 1950.[14] In 1955, the First Torpid went up 6 places, ending up as number 6 in the First Division (where they stayed for two years). In Eights Week the College's five boats achieved a total of eighteen bumps without being bumped with the First Boat ending up as number 1 in the Second Division.[15][16] Both finish results are now regarded as the highest achievements of a St Peter's First Torpid or First Eight.

In the 1960s, the club used the facilities at the OUBC boathouse as well as Abingdon Boys School.[17]

Bump Suppers, still not a regular tradition at college, were only held celebrating a blade winning crew as it happened in 1972 for the Schools (Second) Eight. This Bump Supper saw the burning of two old Eights in front of Hennington Hall, the erection of a brick stone wall in front of the chapel's entrance, an attempt to colour the Christ Church pond purple and an encounter with the local police.[18]

1979 saw the first admission of women to the College. In the same year, one Torpid and two Eights were entered for the St Peter's Ladies Boat Club.[19]

Emily Guilder Cena recalls:

As a short history, in the fall of 1979 Lauren Chapin, P.J. Long, and I thought it would be a wonderful idea to learn to row, and we managed to find enough other girls at SPC who were also interested to put together a single eight for Torpids.  That first crew was:  Clare Gilham (stroke), Lauren Chapin, Belinda Jemal, Judith Wilson, Emily Geilker, Eileen Scallen, P.J. Long, and Gillian Chedzoy (bow).

Since it was obvious we were having so much fun rowing, more women wanted to participate and we fielded two ladies eights for Eights Week.  Those crews were:  1st Ladies Eight: Julia Ferguson (cox), Emily Geilker (stroke), Judith Wilson, Clare Gilham, Eileen Scallen, P.J. Long, Gillian Chedzoy, Laura Byatt, and Lauren Chapin (bow); 2nd Ladies Eight: Geordie Royle(cox), Caryn Minnit (stroke), S. Tinker, Belinda Jemal, K. Moore, K. Clarke, J. Frank, J. Brown, and A. Gelling (bow).

1979 saw the first admission of women to the College. Depicted here is a Women's crew training for Torpids in 1980.

In 1999, the Victorian listed University Boathouse burned down and with it SPCBC's entire fleet, memorabilia like trophy blades as well as archive material of the club.[20] Later identified as arson, the loss of the boathouse put the club into a devastating situation and it took the club over five years to rebuild its fleet but only by severe cut backs in the quality of its boats. 2007 saw the opening of new University Boathouse, which replaced the older boathouse on the same site.

In 2008, St. Peter's Men's Novice A boat beat six other men's A crews and one B crew to win Christ Church Regatta for the first time in the club's history. In Torpids 2009, SPCBC finished not only with two sets of blades (5 and 6 bump blades for M1 and M2) but +15 net bumps, and five competing crews which is the most the club has put out since 1998. 2009 saw the Men's 1st VIII also winning the novice plate event at Bedford Amateur Regatta.

A St Peter's Boat Club Women's crew competing in Summer VIII's on the Isis.

In 2010, SPCBC was the Most successful Club in Torpids. With 9 bumps for two women's boats and with 14 bumps altogether St Peter's climbed up the bump charts. 2011 saw the Men's First Eight winning the Novice Division at Bristol Head and coming 245th in the Head of the River Race ahead of several other Oxford Colleges. In 2012, the men's side won the Worcester Sprint Regatta in a coxed four. In 2013, SPCBC won Oriel Regatta as well as the Senior Women's event in the New College Indoor Regatta.

St Peter's experienced somewhat of a downturn in 2015, with St Peter's Men's 1st Eight being awarded two sets of spoons and sitting at the lowest position on The River since 1931.[21] SPCBC's Men's 1st Torpid suffered a similar fate. Similarly in 2017 the crew found itself in the lowest position on The River since 1930.[22]

Yet things improved, St. Peter's Women's 1st Eight won blades in Summer Eights 2019, 27 years after the last time this happened. SPCBC's Women's 1st position in Torpids 2019 is the highest since 2008.[23]

2022 was a remarkable year for SPCBC. In Summer VIII's all top 4 boats finished +4 and won blades. This made 2022 the most successful year in recent history.[24]

Most recently, in 2023, St Peter's women's 1st boat won blades in Torpids, whilst the women's 2nd boat successfully won blades in Summer Eights 2023.[24]

The same year SPCBC also created its first YouTube "hype video" to the popular Queen song "Don't stop me now" (https://youtube.com/watch?v=_Rfth75KmwY&feature=share). The video was modelled off a previously popular video made by Trinity college boat club video a year prior and proved to be very well received.

St Peters created its first YouTube "hype video" in 2023, to the song "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.