Trialling for OUBC in 2023
Former BNCBC President Ella Shalom writes...
I learnt to row around the age of 13 and from then on rowing, or more specifically sculling, basically consumed all of my (and my parents) time, thanks to the never-ending catalogue of winter head races and summer regattas. On acceptance into Brasenose, college rowing felt like a no brainer for me. Despite a rocky start with covid in my first year, I learnt to sweep and, as captain and later president, became fully indoctrinated into the cult of college rowing and learnt to fall in love with the chaos that comes with running BNCBC.
Now in the 4th and final year of my undergrad with fewer deadlines, a much quieter social life, and presidential responsibilities safely relinquished into Matthew’s capable hands, I decided that now was as good a time as any to try my hand at trialling with OUBC. It’s not hard to be inspired by the likes of Katie Anderson and Jack Tottem, who have proudly represented Brasenose in past boat races. I knew, however, that the possibility of making a crew was likely out of my reach, and so trialling for me has been far more about seeing how far I can take my own personal development (and trying not to get cut in the first week!)
I moved back to Oxford a month early at the start of September, fully expecting to get cut after a few days and suddenly have an awful lot of time on my hands for the rest of the month. Of course the training was hard – the erg tests felt relentless, the water sessions were long and cold, and I felt like a little part of me died every time my alarm went off at 4:50am. But by far the hardest thing for me was maintaining the discipline to continue to turn up and work hard even when the training felt monotonous.
I firmly believe that the only thing that got me through this was the camaraderie I developed with the other girls, which has definitely been the highlight of my whole trialling experience. It was intimidating to turn up to training surrounded by returning blue boat athletes, as well as new faces who had represented their countries at international events. But no matter your level of experience, there is something about struggling through rainy water sessions and brutal erg sessions together for months on end that creates a really special bond and makes all the hard work worth it.
Although my time trialling has now come to an end, I definitely have no regrets. I made it much further than I ever expected, and my technique and erg times have improved exponentially in just under 3 months. More importantly it has been a real honour to experience first hand how much blood, sweat and tears goes into training for the boat race, and win or lose I can’t wait to cheer my teammates under Chiswick Bridge come March.
I hope this brief recap might inspire someone to get involved with OUBC - I really couldn’t recommend it enough and the summer development squad is a great way to start. Especially with the recent merging of lightweight and open weight clubs, and a new coaching team, now is a really exciting time to join OUBC. I of course would like to thank the Bowman Fund for the grant that helped me cover extra accommodation during pre-season, and their support in all my rowing endeavours!
Now in the 4th and final year of my undergrad with fewer deadlines, a much quieter social life, and presidential responsibilities safely relinquished into Matthew’s capable hands, I decided that now was as good a time as any to try my hand at trialling with OUBC. It’s not hard to be inspired by the likes of Katie Anderson and Jack Tottem, who have proudly represented Brasenose in past boat races. I knew, however, that the possibility of making a crew was likely out of my reach, and so trialling for me has been far more about seeing how far I can take my own personal development (and trying not to get cut in the first week!)
I moved back to Oxford a month early at the start of September, fully expecting to get cut after a few days and suddenly have an awful lot of time on my hands for the rest of the month. Of course the training was hard – the erg tests felt relentless, the water sessions were long and cold, and I felt like a little part of me died every time my alarm went off at 4:50am. But by far the hardest thing for me was maintaining the discipline to continue to turn up and work hard even when the training felt monotonous.
I firmly believe that the only thing that got me through this was the camaraderie I developed with the other girls, which has definitely been the highlight of my whole trialling experience. It was intimidating to turn up to training surrounded by returning blue boat athletes, as well as new faces who had represented their countries at international events. But no matter your level of experience, there is something about struggling through rainy water sessions and brutal erg sessions together for months on end that creates a really special bond and makes all the hard work worth it.
Although my time trialling has now come to an end, I definitely have no regrets. I made it much further than I ever expected, and my technique and erg times have improved exponentially in just under 3 months. More importantly it has been a real honour to experience first hand how much blood, sweat and tears goes into training for the boat race, and win or lose I can’t wait to cheer my teammates under Chiswick Bridge come March.
I hope this brief recap might inspire someone to get involved with OUBC - I really couldn’t recommend it enough and the summer development squad is a great way to start. Especially with the recent merging of lightweight and open weight clubs, and a new coaching team, now is a really exciting time to join OUBC. I of course would like to thank the Bowman Fund for the grant that helped me cover extra accommodation during pre-season, and their support in all my rowing endeavours!