Rhubarb December 2025

MARTYRS BOAT CLUB

Reports by Rupert Singfield (Field House, 2011-2016) OXFORD REGATTA AUGUST 2025

Pub Evening after Head of the River MARCH 2025 T here was a good turnout from OSE in London after racing at the Head of the River in March. Outside space was booked at the Half Moon in Putney for catch-up drinks enjoyed by leavers ranging from 2016 to 2023. Stay tuned for further updates about this event in 2026!

MARTYRS

O n Saturday 16th August the Martyrs Boat Club went on their annual venture to the City of Oxford Royal Regatta. It’s been a regular fixture on the calendar since 2017 with our eights competing in the Open Eights event over 1000m and the lunch time ‘Sprint’ category over 350m.This year saw two men’s eights racing (Shrek & Donkey), and a first ever Martyrs Women’s Eight (Fiona). ‘Shrek’ raced first against a crew from Curlew RC and swiftly disposed of the opposition to win by a commanding two lengths. ‘Donkey’ was drawn against Reading RC and after a strong start rowed out to a one length lead. Reading closed in but were unable to overhaul ‘Donkey’ and the final verdict was a 3/4 length win for Martyrs BC, setting up an all Martyrs clash in the final. In the final ‘Shrek’ jumped out to an early 1/4 length lead over ‘Donkey’ in an attempt to replicate their performance against Curlew. However, a strong mid-race rhythm from ‘Donkey’ saw them take the lead. Both crews remained in contact throughout, but ‘Donkey’ inched away through the second half of the course to win by one length. The lunchtime sprints took place immediately afterwards on a 350m course.After winning the Open Eights,‘Donkey’ received a bye to the semi-final, and ‘Shrek’ raced against Southampton University in the first round.A win against Southampton meant that there was a rematch between the Martyrs in the semi-final.‘Donkey’ was again victorious by 1/2 a length to set up a final against Hertford College, Oxford.The result for that was never in doubt as ‘Donkey’ stormed ahead and won by two lengths. Our women’s 8,‘Fiona’, raced against Oxford Academicals BC in their semi-final of the Women’s Open Eights.‘Fiona’ jumped into an early lead and rowed away to win comfortably by three lengths. In the final ‘Fiona’ were drawn against a well-drilled crew from Reading RC.A fast start had ‘Fiona’ into an early lead, but unfortunately they showed the disadvantage of racing in scratch crews, as a slightly more cohesive rhythm from Reading RC through the middle of the race meant they were able to stretch ahead to win by two lengths. Due to crew members having work commitments the women were unable to race in the lunchtime sprints. All in all, it was a great day out and there was once again some great headwear on display from all racers, in keeping with tradition from recent years.

Martyrs Boat Club currently has three World Champions!

GB Representation J osh Brangan (Apsley, 2020-2022) was once again representing GB at the Under 23 World Championships.This year he was selected in the men’s eight.A strong time in the heat saw the crew progress straight to the A Final, where they repeated their performance to win by a length over New Zealand and claim gold.This means that Josh is a back-to-back U23 World Champion, after his victory in the men’s four last year. 2025 leavers Elam Hughes (Kendall, 2023-2025) and Felix Jamieson (Segar’s, 2020-2025) were also selected to row for GB in the U19 team. Elam was stroking the men’s four and Felix coxed the men’s eight. Both were crowned World Champions, meaning Martyrs BC currently has three World Champions!

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