Summer Eights: damaged rudder sends men’s eight into second

Oriel College’s men’s first VIII are no longer Head of the River in Summer Eights after being forced to pull out of the race due to a damaged rudder on Saturday.

The result came after three days of outstanding rowing on the Isis, lengths ahead of the Wolfson boat chasing them.

The crew included five students who rowed for Oxford against Cambridge in the 2025 Boat Race.

They were all set to defend their place on the final day of racing. But something was clearly wrong after just a few strokes. The boat was veering off-course, unresponsive to attempts at steering by the cox, who quickly became aware of the problem and called for “emergency pressure steering” from bow side.

The situation proved irrecoverable. The crew were forced to make an emergency stop before crashing into the bank. Olympic gold medallist Tom Mackintosh, in the seventh seat, climbed past the cox and plunged a hand under the boat to find the rudder bent to one side and back against the fin.

Lord Mendoza, Provost of Oriel College, said: “It’s a terrific shame but I am so impressed at the spirit, resilience and optimism of our students. There is no doubting the extraordinary ability of our talented crews.

“Our new men’s captain is determined to regain the top spot in our 700th year.”

There was good news for the men’s second VIII, who moved up two places to their highest place on the river in over 30 years. They are the only second boat in a second division and the highest second boat by nine places.

The women’s first VIII fell from eighth to 11th place but still managed to hold their own in the first division, avoiding spoons despite competing against boats with rowers back from the Oxford team.

Freiderikos Vassos and Merle Beerens are Oriel’s new Captains of Boats.