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Oriel’s 1969 and 1970s Rowing Crew Return for Exhibition Row at Summer Eights 2022
The 1971 Crew in Action on the River
Oriel 1970s Rowing Crew Reunite For Exhibition Row
Orielensis Crew In Good Team Spirits
1970s Oriel Crew Display the Back of Their Rowing Tops
1969 Oriel Rowing Crew on the Hall Steps
9 June 2022
Rowers from Oriel’s 1969 and 1970’s crew returned to the river for an Exhibition Row on the final day of this year’s Summer Eights on Saturday 28th May. The event was arranged by Orielensis Peter Grove, who was also in the boat on the day.
The crew for the Exhibition Row, some of them now 54 years post-matriculation, included members of the crews that placed third on the river in the First Division between 1969-71. In the boat were: Guy Mansfield, Mike Chamberlayne, Dudley Hilton, Mike Wright, John Scott, Vernon Sankey, Peter Grove, John Bolt, and Mark Sankey, Vernon’s son and a graduate of Cambridge.
You can watch a short clip of the Exhibition Row, which was well-supported by chanting crowds of Oriel supporters, below.
Vernon Sankey (1968, Modern Languages), a member of the Exhibition crew, has fond memories of his experience at Oriel and as a member of the Rowing club. He commented on LinkedIn:
“Very many thanks, to Peter Grove, to my Oriel College Fellow Rowing Vets, to Oxford Uni, to the incredible and vocal Oriel supporters, who won all their races, men and women, and to our families and friends, for a brilliant day at the conclusion of Eights Week on the Thames this Saturday!
It was great to be back on the river with the crew that was in the top 3 boats in 1970! – with the lovely addition of son Mark who filled in at bow and is a tad younger! Thank you all!”
Before the start of the Exhibition Row, the current Oriel crew were on hand to assist the crew of ’69 and ’70 in launching the boat to begin the race. You can see them in action below.