"Please write something!”...Various Taurus committee members words ring in my ears...But what? I ask myself as I stare out of the window during this most extraordinary and challenging time. It’s ok, I don’t propose to dwell on that subject. But I do want to send a massive message of thanks out to the huge effort the Taurus committee have been and are putting in to promote the Taurus message as they seek to extend the family.
I joined Oxford Poly when we had an amazing “club spirit”. We, the students, ran the club for the members. We had socials amongst the whole club, we trained hard and partied hard. In our own way we have always wanted to recreate that spirit within Taurus. We all have shared experiences of rowing with Oxford Poly/Brookes. We are working to promote our friendship and create connections. It seems more appropriate right now than ever before, that we are here and Taurus is relevant. We have a huge cross section of members spanning over 40 years! If needed, we can be the “support bubble”, the connection for the new job or simply an additional news service for what is going on with our members and the current elite squad of Brookes athletes.
Rowing was the making of me and my time at Poly/Brookes moulded me into the person I am today. Odd for me to say this as a Poly/Brookes oarsman...but through adversity and the disappointment of not quite succeeding at my ultimate goal It has led to me achieving arguably bigger and better than I could have ever imagined. My message is that for many this period is a massively challenging time, and many are facing adversity and disappointment whether in work or, of course in rowing objectives for the younger members. If you can muscle through you will end up stronger and more capable and better equipped to cope with future challenges and undoubtably what life will throw at you.
Now is our time to come together and support each other. We did in the gym, on the runs and on the water. By being a member of Taurus you are part of something special. The network is far and wide. You can simply follow the social media posts, or be more proactive and connect with past friends. Or indeed take part right now in the current physical challenge that the committee have initialed. It’s great to see athletes from the 80’s not daunted and posting daily endurance scores and matching present day athletes.
Through adversity great things can happen. As Taurus members let’s support each other. With the huge effort the committee are making at this time let’s emerge a stronger and even more relevant Taurus boat club.
Future dates:
7-8pm Saturday 20th March - Virtual AGM and questions for the committee. (Invites to follow),
Careers after rowing, an evening with; Pete Lowe, Tamsin Bryant, Simon Speirs and James Symington. Details to follow.
The Taurus BBQ - Saturday of HRR (August fingers crossed!),
Head of the Charles - We would love to still race at HOCR however, we will follow guidelines and make a decision closer to the time.
Taurus Aerobic Challenge:
It has been fantastic to see so many of our members join the Taurus Strava group that we created during the first lockdown. Simon Speirs has been working hard on creating a tracker where you can log your daily miles run/cycled, km on an ergo or time in the gym to score points. Join the Strava club and the discussion here.
Get involved by logging your miles on the google sheet here
Kirsty Hunter (nee Myles) pictured in the centre above
"I started studying Sports and Coaching Studies but transferred to study Physiotherapy after my second year. One of the Physiotherapy lecturers was treating the rowers and knew I was applying through UCAS for the following year. About a week before starting my 3rd year he called me to say there was a place available and did I want it! I had just finished a week of work experience and said YES! I had rowed from age 13, starting at school (George Watson's College) and came through the GB junior programme which is why I ended up coming to Brookes.
My fondest memories are 'Battle Paddling' on a Wednesday afternoon, spending summers with some of my best friends on the river, winning lots and thinking we were dominating the world of woman's rowing (we dreamt big and nothing would stand in the way!). I also miss running 10km's faster than I can dream of now!
Since leaving Brookes I went on to row full time for a few years at Leander which was brilliant. Unfortunately a back injury stopped my rowing career earlier than I would have liked so I moved into London to work in private practice physio and played around in Triathlon. I held a lecturing role in Sports Therapy for an academic year which is an aspect of the profession I would love to do more of.
My most recent career move has been into a Specialist Physio role in a private practice outside Reading and I am the Lead GB Rowing Junior Team Physio. This role involves travel with the team for training camps, trials and international competition and is so rewarding leading education sessions to our up and coming Olympians! They love to learn and I love to teach and giving back into a sport I know so much about.
Advice I would give to current athletes is to take opportunities that are given to you and don't be scared to take the next move if you are losing motivation or not learning every day. For me my life balance needs: a challenge (like completing a masters), a physical goal (like running a marathon) and a great social bubble! When you complete the challenge or goal move on to the next!"
The Temple Challenge Cup crew of '93 - by John Cooper (stroke)
"The journey for me & a number of the 1993 winning crew (& squad) started well before. It was 1991, a dark autumn evening, some damp portacabins up at Headington full of wannabe rowers being asked to scribble down on a bit of paper what they’ve done & why they might be good enough to make the cut in the new Poly/Brookes system under coaches Richard Spratley & Tim Levy. It was a nervous time. Was I, were any of us good enough? So you probably know the Henley 1992 story. We were joint favourites…it was a total disaster, broken seat just after the island on Thursday, game over. But for that mishap could we have gone the whole distance? No one will ever know, but IC would have made tough opponents.
1992 started off like groundhog year. The winter grind ahead, running & weights twice a week (followed by ‘Riots'), ergo tests on a Monday, Wallingford on Wednesday & 2’ on 2’ off all weekend down at Wallingford. Slotting in & out of whatever boats we could get our hands on & getting the measure of each other, the coaches & the Wallingford stretch. Notable winter markers included included top billing in small boats trials at Henley being narrowly beaten into second place in the fours, just behind GB's Olympians! There was also a notable win at the 4s Head (including a close shave with the bill on the way home from the very liquid prize giving…Pete!). However, the disappointing 8's head results showed us that we still had a lot of work to do. A brutal Wimbleball trip in the snow ensued to get things back on track…
Seat racing continued into early May, keeping everyone on their toes. Wins over the French National Champions at Paris seemed to set things up & confidence was building nicely (the real victory was smuggling Mike Reynaud into France under the kit bags & out again without a passport). There were many wins that year but I can't actually remember them too well, the reason being, whilst nice, none of them mattered. What I do remember is being deep into multiple 8 min pieces on a still summers eve a couple of weeks before Henley. Richard strangely for once not driving the launch over the stern, he was some distance back just watching & then a weird thing, several nods of approval. The boat was really flying. All that training all that desire being thrown into the last heavy sessions before a slight taper. It’s that beautiful feeling, the boat set steady with everyone at full bore & with every pass we dragged extra meters out of the shell.
Henley week- It's still a blur but collectively we all recall Richard serving up Seb Coe videos the basic message being favourites sometimes don’t win, so get out of the blocks like a lunatic, like Coe did (when he wasn't favourite but won). Routines - mini bus stopped in the same lay-by every day of regatta week to relieve nervous bladders & Survivor's Eye of the tiger always came on as we crossed the bridge. So to racing. The only wobble was Thursday against Cardiff where we all seemed to interpret "do enough” into “everyone do your own thing & it should be fine”. It nearly wasn’t enough & coming into the enclosures a load of geese got in the way just as we were trying to make it look like we weren't finding it too hard. The remaining heats went without incident & unbelievably we were through to Sunday.
Finals Day. Nerve filled journey over, check gear, pre-race Richard talk over, warm up, into the boat. It's all surreal but then once you're into the pre-race routine on the water you settle. You want perfection in that warm up but its Henley finals day, the sun's out, motor cruisers & wash everywhere & it's noisy & rocky. Nerves settle slightly then before you know it you're on the start. Richard & Tim are behind in the Umpire’s launch. Richard can't, doesn't, need to say anything as you know its come down to 9 blokes who have got to empty the tank, everything. All the training, all the previous years hurt, the '92 f*** up. Could it happen again? You’re going to wring every last drop of juice out of the tank. Our opponents, Trinity College Dublin, their third final in as many years, seasoned sly opponents who were ready to do the same, give everything they’ve got & trash our campaign.
The boat straight, blades set, we were away. High 40's off the start & we meant business. Each stroke the cleavers did their work, until by the end of the island we were in control & had really settled into a rhythm you seldom get when you know every man is at the edge serving up everything they’ve got including Matt (cox) who made sure TCD felt & saw the power being put down by the boys. It was beautiful but savage for TCD as there was no stopping us. Following a brief settle there was a push at the Regatta enclosure then a further raise at Stewards & a ramp up through the grandstands which meant we put almost 4 lengths on TCD. Afterglow basically consisted of Rich telling us not to get too drunk before prize giving.
Thank you Browny, Rusty, Jezza, Cheesemaster, Mikey boy, Peiller, Hoody & Matt for the season of a lifetime. It was an honour to serve. Special thanks to Richard for his practical & pragmatic approach to getting the boat club to where it was then on a shoestring with all of us begging & borrowing whatever we could. Thanks also to to Tim levy & big shout out to all the club’s previous members who got the club to where it was then & is now. Peter Lowe gets a special mention too as he was instrumental in setting up the machine with Richard at the helm. A masterstroke of something which has ultimately changed the DNA of GB & International rowing. Chapeau to everyone involved with the club past & present".
Richard Chambers- Women's Coach
"I was a Brookes rower (sometimes cox) from 2003 to 2009. Oxford Brookes was my catapult into the British Rowing Team and I have always wanted to come back to a club where I benefited so much from. After retiring from my career as an athlete in rowing I took up the assistant coach role at Cambridge working alongside Steve Trapmore as well as being a GB Rowing Team U23 crew coach. I feel privileged to have experienced different rowing teams and environments and hope that I can use what I have learned to be a coach that the Brookes women’s team deserves.
When James asked me to write about my time as a coach at Oxford Brookes for the women’s team I was unsure what to write. No-one expected that we would be heading for a global pandemic in September 2019, so I have not had the chance to have a full season with the women's team yet. In the early part of my first season our women’s team performed well at Upper Thames Head before going on to beat both Oxford and Cambridge boat race and reserve crews in their annual fixtures on the tideway.
Then the world stopped and so did the rowing. The challenges of being a coach shifted from thinking forward towards Henley and those hoping to compete at U23’s but to navigating the women’s team through the pandemic. Rowing isn’t a sport where you can stop and then pick it up again in 6 months expecting to be where you left off – so the training had to continue. Ergo’s were handed out, a training log put together and we got our heads around running, cycling and plenty of time on the ergo!! Zoom quizzes and speaking via facetime became the new normal.
Training through the lockdowns has evolved. Lockdown 3 see’s the women complete the standard ergo sessions each week but they have more control and autonomy over the rest of their training. The training log still exists so there is an element of accountability in completing their training. On the 16th January, 22 of our women did an online zoom ergo fixture against Tideway scullers. While it was good to do some racing we all hoped our next fixture would be on the water. Racing will return one day and our women want to be ready to pull on their Brookes racing kit and get after it.
I am proud of how they have adapted to the challenges they have faced and I am confident that they will thrive because of this in whatever they do after studying and rowing at Oxford Brookes."
Richard Spratley- Director of Rowing
"As I am writing this, we are currently in the middle of the third lockdown and have just heard today that the Head of the River Race has been cancelled, as was the Women’s Head of the River last week. Since the end of March last year, we have certainly been experiencing very troubled times and our rowing teams have been no exception to any other sport at Brookes or indeed the whole country.
We are still very hopeful that Women’s Henley Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta will proceed. All of the athletes have been training hard at home and we are monitoring daily each athlete’s performance and training scores. If any university rowing team is ready to re-start training and competition, then we are probably the best placed to do so in a strong healthy fashion.
We have certainly our strongest ever Women’s squad assembled and very professionally coached by Richard Chambers. We have high hopes of competing with distinction in the inaugural Women’s University Eights event at Henley and still have aspirations to become champions in the Eights, primarily in the BUCS Regatta in May which is still scheduled to go ahead.
Our Men’s team is unquestionably the strongest group we have ever assembled and we have very high hopes, if the summer season progresses, to be highly competitive in the Grand Challenge Cup, the Ladies Challenge Plate and the Temple Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta.
We are currently also experiencing some of the most challenging river conditions we have had over recent months.
As coaches we are doing all possible to remain very competitive and are hopeful that the summer season will progress and that all of our athletes can resume river training as soon as possible. Henry Bailhache and Richard Chambers have both prepared excellent graphs showing the progress of our Women’s crews in the Women’s Head of the River race over the years and, likewise, the Men’s crews over the years, from the 1990’s onwards, showing how each of the Brookes boats has fared. This makes exciting reading showing the high levels of achievement year on year."
"Rowing training in lockdown has been challenging to say the least. This involves training in isolation, away from teammates, away from facilities, a change of scenery and absence of rewards attached to testing and racing. I think I speak on behalf of many rowers around the country when I say our back gardens have become our new training grounds, and our routines have been turned upside down. However, I hope I speak on behalf of many rowers when I say that there have been positives along this unknown journey. When in the darkness, the search for the light is vital, and I know many of my teammates and friends in the rowing community have excelled in finding the light. Although we are stuck in the unknown, our determination, motivation and goals have not changed. We are still striving to be the best we can be for Brookes, for ourselves, and our teammates around us, ready for when we can get back in the boats to go backwards but keep moving forwards. The efforts from our coach Richard, to help us excel in these times has been incredible, and his determination to keep the squad working together from different locations will in no doubt show when we can get back to rowing and racing.
Many of our male and female athletes have achieved astonishing PB’s on ergo tests, taken up new hobbies, excelled in their university work, and unlocked new strategies to stay positive. We’ve had numerous athletes take on exercise challenges for charities, which was amazing to see! We’ve also had athletes working for the NHS, whether that be on placements or jobs, exhausted from their duties, but still remaining focused and training in the early mornings and late evenings.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully we are approaching the end. We can’t wait to start putting our work from behind the scenes onto the water, wear our Brookes colours, and be the best we possibly can be in the summer." Beth Dutton, Senior Women's Squad.
The very talented Izzy Wedderburn has created a print of the Brookes Rowing stretch as pictured above. Checkout @wizzhandmade on Instagram and order from 'WizzHandmadeGoods' on Etsy.
"Oli Wilkes, Josh Bugajski, Morgan Bolding, Matthew Tarrant and Rory Gibbs attended the first GB Mens training camp of the 2021 Olympic season. The two and a half week land based camp at the start of January took place in the home of England's football teams, St George's Park, Burton-upon-Trent. Providing world class facilities and a Covid secure environment, St George's Park was the perfect alternative to the GB Rowing team's usual international training camp. The team isolated at home for ten days before the camp and follow strict Covid guidelines during it to ensure a Covid safe environment. The lads from Brookes made good progress developing their physiology over the two and a half weeks and are now preparing for the next stage of selection for Tokyo 2021". Morgan Bolding.
Lastly, a few words from the committee….
As you are all aware, we are having a big drive to update the database & re-launch Taurus again after some quiet years. From it’s roots, as a club to raise money for the existing boat club, to where we are today, with nearly 500 members, our direction is changing & moving towards a club where members can use their past connections to network & socialise & remain friends long after they leave Oxford. And new members, especially existing undergraduates, can tap into the pool of experience out there, & use it to assist them in taking their next steps after rowing.
This is undoubtably one of the most valuable assets we have, & therefore we are actively putting together plans to make this happen & be accessible to all, most likely based around various existing social media platforms. It will be called Taurus Connect.
Finally, we would be really grateful if you could respond to our vice chairman, James, (if you haven’t already), to his email request to you to confirm your details to him, thanks!
