SJC Boat Club Alumni e-Newsletter - Trinity 2026
I hope everyone is well and has managed to enjoy the lovely weather over the last couple of weeks. Firstly a massive thank you to Joe for leading the club this year - it’s been a pleasure to work with him as Men’s Captain and I look forward to continuing his work as the newly elected Captain of Boats.
It’s been an eventful year at SJCBC this year, and we have faced our fair share of challenges with weather being our primary adversary.
Despite this, I am immensely proud of how well the club stepped up to adapt. Trinity saw another trip to Bedford, where we entered 2 8+s and 2 4+s for a great day of racing in great weather, giving our novices vital race experience before bumps. We had a successful Summer VIIIs, with the standout crews being the W3 (+5, just missing out on blades) and the M2 (+3). We are heading into the new academic year in a strong position, made stronger by the incredible summer training plan created by our head coach Kieran Storer.
Beyond the club, we were immensely proud to support Hugh Lohan representing OUBC in the Isis/Goldie race this year. We were very lucky to have him back in M1 for Summer VIIIs.
As a result of your donations, we hosted a training camp for 50 of our rowers before trinity term, managing to put out 4-6 outings a day for 5 days! After a land-based Hilary this was incredibly helpful for our Summer VIIIs campaign. The camp was accompanied by several socials planned by our amazing social secs - meaning everyone had a great time.
I’m hugely looking forward to the next academic year, and working with the new captains to keep growing the club.
Best wishes,
Jamie Warren
Captain of Boats, 2026-2027
Women’s Captain - Sofia O’Casey. Written by Elsa Reid
Trinity Term has been all about preparing for a great summer VIIIs from the get-go!
We started at the end of April with our Isis training camp. Everyone made massive improvements during the week, novices especially! By the end of the week, we were all set for City Bumps, where the W1 went +3 and gained some really valuable racing experience.
Next, we entered Bedford Regatta, entering an 8+ and 4+ into the club categories. Both crews had very strong races, with lots of novices getting their first chance at racing.
During Eights, the women's side had another strong showing, with three women's crews racing. The W3 performed well in Rowing On, finishing 19th out of 51 crews, and continued this by going +5 over the week, with a spectacular overbump on Peter's W2 on Friday. W2 and W1 both had four fantastic and gutsy rows, with some speedy crews around them. With lots of very strong novices racing for the first time, we are so excited to see how the women's side develops over the coming year. Every one of the rowers put their all into both training in the run up to Eights and during the week itself!
During the sunny last few weeks of Trinity, we've had plenty of new coxes and quads out, also entering two crews into Oriel Regatta.
In Week 8, we once again ran taster sessions, getting those inspired by watching the crews over Eights week out on the water. These went very well and will certainly add to the number of novices joining our ranks in Michaelmas. Thanks to the hard work of our vices Grace, Becca, Judah, and Archie.
This year the women's side has continued its strength from last year, once again winning the Women's Sports Team of the Year shield. Now with a squad of almost 50 women, we are looking to continue developing the depth of the club.
Three of the John's women were asked to race Henley Women's with the OUBC Development Squad this year, and we are all incredibly proud of their performance.
Trinity has been a great term of racing on the women's side, and we are excited to see how the club continues to grow into the next year!
Men's Captain – Peter Kovacs
Hi, I'm Peter, the Men's Captain for the 2026/27 year. I've been rowing for two years now, and started in my very first term at John's, taking the vice-captain role at the first opportunity.
Trinity stared off with a wonderful training camp, getting everyone up to scratch after a term of all but now rowing. The yearly pilgrimage to Bedford was repeated, with both crews putting up strong fights against their opponents and everyone enjoying some sun on the water at last. After facing many challenges in the lead up to 8s this year, the Men's crews still managed to put out a strong performance, with M2 going +3 again with many familiar faces making a return to the Isis.
I'm very excited for the direction the club is headed next year, with the fantastic novice intake this year having paid off and resulting in excellent depth in the team, and very many eager rowers. We will be targeting Head of the River again, and Wallingford Head as a lead-up race to it. The new coaching plan from this year will be continued, and I'm looking to see similar drops on erg times as we have had in the last few months.
I'm grateful to be given the opportunity to lead the Men's side thus coming year, and looking forward to see what they can do.
Captain of Coxes – Ruth Magedera
At this year’s Summer VIIIs, we had a novice cox, Sofia O’Casey. Despite coxing for the first time in Trinity, her commitment and dedication, led the M2 to +3 overall.
After eights, we were blessed with the rarest of upstream commodities, a genuinely quiet stretch of river, where St John’s also saw five novice coxes make their debut this term.
While the graduation of several senior coxes has left something of a vacuum, this quintet has already demonstrated the characteristic St John’s combination of keenness, capability, and composure.
If this generation of coxes is any indication, I for one believe SJCBC is in very safe hands.
Reflections on a 40-year career as boatman: Jim Ronaldson
Jim has now been at St John’s College Boat Club for over 40 years, and has been a constant for many of the more recent alumni community in their time at St John’s. We asked him to share more with us about his career and rowing journey. I think it’s safe to say that not many of us knew about Jim’s major rowing achievements!
How did you first get into rowing
I left school at 16 and was an apprentice wooden oar, scull and mask maker. The man teaching me was a coach at Abingdon Rowing Club, he suggested I try rowing and I got hooked. That was back in 1974, I won my novices that year. In 1976 I joined City of Oxford, where I am still rowing.
How did you end up as the St John's boatman?
I became part-time boatman at Hertford in 1984. The St John's job came up in 1985, I applied, and at interview they asked if I could start in July. I said no, as I was part of a University Expedition rowing 1,000 miles down the Peruvian Amazon. It was halfway down the Amazon that my wife told me I'd got the job, and I started in September.
I have never thought of it as a job, but an extension of my hobby and being able to pass on some of my knowledge.
Any memorable projects?
We built a clinker scull one summer with another boatman, making a complete boat was nice.
What's the worst incident you remember?
Probably the M2 Empacher. This incident was before klaxons were used, where the boat was broadside in the gut and the crew behind speared it at full power. The bows went through the side at five-seat and injured his legs. They managed to get it back to the boathouse, and three boatmen patched it up ready for the next day.
And the best memories?
- Getting through to Saturday at Henley Royal, the atmosphere from the enclosures was amazing.
- Winning 24 head races and regattas in one year.
- Winning Head of River at Fours Head.
- Rowing a Greek trireme around the Greek islands.
- Rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.
- Winning gold medals at the Veteran National Championships and World Championships.
- Being in the same crew as Sir Matthew Pinsent, we rowed elite eights and won at Oxford Regatta in 1992, just after he won Olympic Gold.
- Walking up through town to college carrying a full wooden eight with the cox sat astride on top, when the Ladies went Head.
Any advice for the Boat Club?
Everyone should try to help a little bit rather than expect a few people to do a lot. It is everyone's Boat Club. Rowing is a great sport for so many reasons, train hard and enjoy it.
PS. Always look after your boatman.
We will share a feature in a subsequent edition about his 3000-mile row across the Atlantic, where Jim and his rowing partner beat the world record for the oldest pair to row the Atlantic, an incredible achievement!
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