Oxford's notoriously short competitive season has essentially finished, with standout performances from all of our teams throughout the year. Please do read on for a few of these highlights, as I can attest to the effort and dedication that they took.
In this newsletter you will find the Varsity and BUCS results, a smattering of member headlines, news on our alumni dinner, as well as our farewells section to OUWPC players and soon-to-be alumni. Last year we had an alarming number of mathematicians and physicists in the club, which has now given way to an influx of the humanities. From our Varsity contingent I count 17 STEM majors, 12 social scientists, and 12 humanities majors, including no fewer than six (versions of, I don't want to start any arguments) historians.
On the other hand, we have pretty even representation across the many colleges here, with Lincoln leading with just 4 members. This subject and collegiate diversity is a huge strength of OUWPC (gets us into different bars) and something to celebrate. One of the great privileges of being President was simply getting to know the players that make up our club. In fact, I have such a good handle on our talented members that should you want to hire any of our graduates then you can simply get in touch with me (only a modest commission will be taken).
Our AGM was held at the end of HT, and I can already see a most excellent incoming committee. I will use my final minutes on my soapbox to wish the incoming committee all the best for 2023-24. To the outgoing committee and coaches - thank you all for your many hours of hard work, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. To our alumni - please join us for the alumni dinner to celebrate the season!
We'd love to have as many alumni as possible join us for the annual dinner of our joint alumni association with the swimming club, OUSWPA. The dress code for the dinner is smart, blazers are encouraged! Plus-ones are more than welcome, please just fill in the form for each person attending:
Apologies for the short notice, but the deadline for signups is Thursday April 13th. The price of the dinner is £55, this includes a drinks reception at 7pm before the dinner, a 3-course dinner, and after dinner tea and coffee. There is an additional £6.50 charge if you would like wine served with your dinner. Also join the Facebook event here.
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OUWPC made a mid-season escape to Malta, where we were hosted by Sirens ASC in Qawra and made use of their new outdoor pool. For me, training by the Mediterranean with music and sunshine will probably go down as one of my favourite places to have trained. See more updates here and in the 2023 gallery.
Stash
Outside of the stash sales we do for swimsuits and other items, we do have a club store with Kitlocker which you can buy from at any time.
Our Men's Blues team have qualified for the European Universities Championships, held in Miskolc, Hungary this July. This is a hugely exciting opportunity for us, and we want to make the most of this biannual competition. It's also a great opportunity for branded sponsorship. If you or anyone you know could be interested in sponsoring OUWPC, please see this document and get in contact with us!
We also want to thank our alumni for your donations to the club this past season. While we continue to strive to make applications for funding through other bodies, it's always tremendously useful to have these come through. Thank you all!
Colin Named Head Coach of U17 & U19 GB Women's Squads
We're extremely fortunate to have signed Colin Gasper as men's coach this year. He has been a huge force for our team and pushed the development of all aspects of our game both in and out of the pool. So it was no surprise when Swim England followed OUWPC's lead and signed him too. Congratulations Colin, we know you'll do great!!
OUWPC's incoming President Rosie Huck has seen her second win of the month with City of Manchester's Super 5's League Win. An impressive 4th consecutive win, Rosie has played in the last 3 of these after returning from playing with ASU's Sun Devils.
Competition
M1's Win Prem South BUCS
The Men's Blues had stellar performances throughout the season, winning all of of the round-robin matches through league play with the exception of the first away game against Bristol. The reward for this consistency was an opportunity to snatch the Prem South title from a smug Bristol at the end of the season with a thrilling 4th quarter comeback against Imperial, also earning a place at the European University Champs. The Blues' run into the finals weekend was only cut short in a clash against reigning champs Edinburgh.
Our Women's Blues had a great performance this season, placing a commendable 3rd in their debut season in the Prem South League. The women put up impressive performances both at home and away, trading blows with some of the best teams in the UK, including a clinical dismantling of Cambridge at home. An electric home crowd may have helped the women, although at 11-2 it wasn't obvious they needed it. The Cambridge post-match report assumed "O*ford had set up a Cambridge Haters' event and the crowd was big", which is great but I want to go on record as saying no such (official) event was run.
The M2's deserve a huge shout-out for their determination and improvement throughout the season. Despite a rocky start with a spell of away losses, the team's dedication and passion saw them claim revenge with three wins at home. First, they destroyed East Anglia M1's 10:2, then a solid win against Oxford Brookes M1's 19:9, and sealed the home wins with a stunning performance against Cambridge M2's to take the win 11-8, definitely proving they are capable of big things in the seasons to come. Read the Cherwell and Varsity write ups of this shoeing.
Varsity 2023 - Women Win Big
It was a tough fought set of matches at the away Varsity this year, which is all the more credit to our women's sides who both picked up wins in fantastic style. It was also the first ever win for our Women's Seconds team, while the Women's Blues extend their streak to 5 wins. An exciting result showing the impressive depth of our current women's squad. On the other hand, the men's teams still put on admirable performances despite the huge away disadvantage. I never want to play in a half shallow pool again.
