New College Boat Club

New College Boathouse (right half) and rowing blade
Location	Boathouse Island
Coordinates	51°44′34″N 1°14′57″W / 51.74290°N 1.24910°W / 51.74290; -1.24910
Home water	River Thames (known in Oxford as the Isis)
Founded	1840 (1840)[1]
Key people	Charlie Orton (President) Eamon Coates, Christoph Allin (Men's Captains) Jess Wilks (Women's Captain)
Head of the River	Men: 1887, 1896-99, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1911-13, 1921, 1922, 1937, 1950, 1986 Women: 2004, 2005
University	University of Oxford
Colours
Affiliations	British Rowing (boat code NEC) King's College BC (Sister college)
Website	www.newcollegeboatclub.co.uk

New College Boat Club (NCBC) is the rowing club for members of New College, Oxford. The club's existence can be dated to 1840 when it first raced on The Isis in Oxford.^[1]

The club shares a boathouse on The Isis (part of the Thames) with Balliol College Boat Club, as well as using boat racks at Godstow for the Men's and Women's first boats.

History

The first record of a New College eight is in 1840, with another appearance in 1852. Only from 1868 did the college start to fully represent itself on the river. In these early years New achieved 'Head of the River' in the Eights in 1887, 1896-1899, 1901, 1903-04 (inclusive). In Torpids the club was 'Head of the River' in 1882, 1896, 1900-04.^[1]

The 1912 Stockholm Olympics

The New College Boat Club represented Great Britain at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm and won the Silver medal in the men's eight.^[2]

The two British crews - New College, and a Leander Club boat largely drawn from Magdalen College, Oxford - were the favourites for gold so started at opposite ends of the draw. They both worked up through the competition to make the final.

According to New College records, the final featured controversy over lane choice. The course in Stockholm was not straight, and one of the two lanes was clearly favoured, the other requiring the cox to steer around a protruding boathouse and then back under a bridge. Before the final, the two British captains met to toss for lanes. New College won the toss and following gentlemanly tradition offered the choice of lanes to their opponents, who would - in a gentlemanly fashion - refuse this offer. However the Leander/Magdalen College captain accepted this offer and chose the better lane. Leander went on to win the gold medal, leaving New College with the silver.^[3]

According to New College tradition, King Gustav V of Sweden was so disheartened by this display of ungentlemanly conduct that, as a consolation, he presented his colours to New College; ever since then, New College have raced in purple and gold, the colours of the royal house of Sweden.^{[clarification needed]} A further tradition has been the adoption of the toast: 'God Damn Bloody Magdalen!', the supposed words of the New College stroke Robert Bourne as they crossed the line. The abbreviation GDBM has been used commonly ever since, and is still on bottom of the NCBC letterhead.^[3]

Henley Royal Regatta

The club has won four events at Henley Royal Regatta in its history.

Recent form

Christ Church Regatta

In 2019, the Men's Gold Boat won the Christ Church Indoor Regatta, beating Christ Church in the final in their own boathouse.

In 2021, the Women's Purple Boat won the Christ Church Regatta, competing against all the novice boats from other colleges.

Eights

In 2023, the Men's 1st VIII started 15th (3rd Div 2) and finished 14th, the 2nd VIII started 39th (3rd Div 4) and finished 35th. The Women's 1st VIII started 10th and finished 14th, the 2nd VIII started 49th (1st Div 5) and finished 53rd.^[4]

Blues

A number of members of New College have gone on to row for the University.^[1]