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home water, and with the goodwill and donations that so many other river users had passed onto us along the way, we set a quick pace back to the boathouse, where friends and families had gathered to welcome us back. The relief I felt at seeing the boathouse come into view after so long was something strong – stronger than after any training session or race and, unfortunately, not something I will experience again, although I think this was the best way to have ended. We owe a large debt of thanks to Nick for his perseverance in the face of much timidity, and to Simon Croucher (Master i/c Rowing) for cutting short his post-marital bliss and following us down a river for four days in a leaky boat. His support, aided by Ashley Carter, was instrumental, and we certainly could not have come through without it. Rumours abound of Row 200… The crew was made up of Theo Patel, Patrick Kinch, Rupert Wood, Alex Patel, Nick Kharchenko, Tim Lynch, Seth Selbaraju, Tim Emkes (05-12) and Tom Kirk (07-12) Tom Kirk (07-12) The Alex Hemming Cup Bryan Hemming (42-47) has very generously presented a cup named in honour of his brother, Alex Hemming (40-44), to celebrate Alex’s long connection with rugby and his old school. The inscription on the cup reads:
Row 100 During the 2012 summer holiday, Nick
Kharchenko (Sixth Form) executed a brilliant charitable venture that raised more than £3,500 for the Mark Evison Foundation. Nick’s plan required nine others to do the hard work. Whilst he organised the whole affair – certainly no small undertaking – when it came to actually doing it, Nick just sat back and enjoyed the ride, or, even better, the row. The row in question was 108 miles from Oxford to Putney. In hindsight, I now realise that Nick’s gentle coaxing of a crew to join him on this was rather masterful, as I’m not sure any of us quite realised just how long it takes to do 108 miles! The eight that set off from Oxford was one of the more diverse to have paddled the genteel waters of that hallowed river. Ranging in age from 16 to 18, in height from 5’6” to 6’4”, and in weight from 48kg to 96kg, we looked every part the crew thrown together at a whim. Invitation was largely based on quality of ‘chat’ but, despite this, much poor chat was bandied around over the course of our journey. Rupert Wood’s jokes in particular stuck in my mind like bubblegum to the underside of a Lab B desk. 108 miles is a fairly long way. It is certainly do-able and our completing the course was never in question, but the actual grind of doing the distance was mentally tough. After the initial elation of departing wore off – about 20 minutes in – reality quickly reared its unwelcome and ugly head. Although a few of the crew had been rather sporty over summer, most had followed more sedate training programmes. I am ashamed to confess that I, along with the other ‘senior’ member of the crew, had actually gone cold turkey on rowing over the summer, following quite a serious overdose sometime around May. Luckily, the desire to maintain a reputation in front of the younger years trumped all else and prevented me from showing any sign of tiredness whatsoever. After four skin-shredding, mind-mollifying and posterior-petrifying days in the boat, I am pleased to be able to report that the rowing was actually ‘all right’. Through the sheer amount of time we had spent rammed in the same boat, we did actually gel quite nicely – something that cannot always be assured of a scratch crew. Once we cleared Richmond lock, the mood was particularly exuberant. Buoyed by being on
THE ALEX HEMMING RUGBY CUP PRESENTED BY HIS BROTHER BRYAN HEMMING OA FOUNDER’S DAY 2012 AWARDED TO THE BEST PLAYER OF THE SEASON
The cup was given to Alex by the Master on Founder’s Day 2012. Bryan Hemming lives in America and was sadly unable to be present. On 8 December the cup was awarded for the first time to Dominic WroeWright, captain of the 1st XV, on the recommendation of SamHoward (85-92), master in charge of rugby at the College. Alex Hemmingmade the presentation and was accompanied by his wife, Joan, son, Ian, and daughter, Sarah. By a very happy coincidence it was also Alex’s 87th birthday.
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