Established 1965 (1965) President Elliot Warriner-Bacon Women's Captain Alexandra Pitchford | Location River Thames Men's Captain Alex Dobson | |
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Sister college Homerton College, Cambridge | ||
Mansfield College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Mansfield College, Oxford. It was founded in 1965 by a group of students led by Michael Mahony, later College Dean. It is run by the Boat Club committee, which is elected annually by members of the Mansfield College student body. It is affiliated to Oxford University Rowing Clubs (OURCs).
Contents
The club currently shares a club room and boat storage space with St Hilda's College Boat Club at the Longbridges boathouse, which opened in April 1997. On 4 July 2005 Longbridges boathouse was hit by an arson attack which destroyed most of the equipment owned by MCBC. However, thanks to the efforts of the committee, the college and the generosity of alumni, the club was able to replace old equipment with newer boats and two new sets of blades.
Early years
The club fields a Men's First VIII and a Women's First VIII in the annual inter-collegiate Torpids and Summer VIIIs bumps racing competitions. As a new entrant, initially placed at the bottom of the rankings, the club achieved several years of regular success in the 1960s and 1970s as it slowly worked its way up through weaker boats to reach its natural level.
Present
In May 2016 the club achieved its highest positions in Summer VIIIs to date, with the Men's First VIII gaining 3rd place in Division Two and with the Women's First VIII reaching sixth place in Division Two (winning blades in the process).
The club also usually fields a Men's Second VIII and a Women's Second VIII. The Men's Second boat won 'blades' in the 2016 Summer Eights which was a considerable achievement.
In 2009 the Women's First VIII won blades with a crew featuring three university level 'blues' rowers and were the 10th crew in Division Two. The presence of three 'blues' in one boat was unprecedented in Mansfield's Boat Club history, and goes some way to proving the oft-repeated notion that Mansfield College punches above its weight at inter-collegiate sport.
Notable members
The most famous alumnus of MCBC is Donald MacDonald, who was President of Oxford University Boat Club in the mutiny year of 1987, the events of which received considerable publicity in the book True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny and the film True Blue.