Pembroke College Boat Club Name New Boat

On 11th February the Pembroke College Boat Club (PCBC) hosted a naming ceremony for a new Empacher Eight boat. The purchase of the boat was made possible by a legacy gift and generous donations from Friends of the PCBC. 

Edward Rolls, the current PCBC President, spoke alongside Pembroke’s Bursar John Church, who reminisced about his involvement and interaction with PCBC throughout his 15 years at Pembroke. 

John recounted that the daily ebb and flow of the boat club has remained largely unchanged in this time; the commitment to training is as strong today as it was when he joined the College in 2003.

The Club is especially grateful for the continued support of the College and alumni. At the ceremony the boat was given its official title ‘Jeg’, named after PCBC coach John Gearing, who the PCBC describe as ‘a mainstay of the PCBC men’s first VIII programme.’ 

Through this gesture the club celebrated the significant role that Gearing has played for members of the PCBC, past and present. The men’s side, as winners of the Oxford Hilary Term intercollegiate bumping race every year since 2012, currently hold the ‘Torpids Headship’, and they defeated the odds to win Summer Eights (the Trinity term bumping race) in 2013. Gearing’s input into boat speed has come to be affectionately known as ‘jeg magic’. 

After the naming ceremony, the boat was introduced to the water for the inaugural Sub Rosa (a team comprised of PCBC alumni) versus PCBC race; the first of many races to come.