The timings for the evening’s events are:

15:30-16:30 AGM at the Daubeny Laboratory opposite Magdalen

17:00-18:00 Waterpolo current members v. alumni match, Rosenblatt Pool, Iffley Road

18:45-19:15 Drinks reception at the Octagon Room, Hertford College

19:15 Dinner at Hertford College Hall

Please ensure that you have signed up and paid. We look forward to seeing you there.

President – Marisa Schubert
Men’s Captain – Kouji Urata
Women’s Captain – Naomi Vides
Men’s Vice Captain – Xander-Alari Williams
Women’s Vice Captain – Adenais Vachon
Treasurer – Jennifer Redmond
Secretary – Ben Allen
Social Secretary – Andrew Wills
Sponsorship & Publicity – Rebecca Achieng Bushell
Welfare – Anthony O’Driscoll
Webmaster – Cody B. Duncan

We would like to thank all the committee members 2012/2013 for the fantastic jobs they have done in ensuring the smooth running of the club resulting in a year of huge achievements.

The competition began in dominant style, with Tristan Goodfellow, Andrew Wills and Joe Northover securing 1-2-3 Oxford finish in the 200m freestyle, in a race which saw fresher Wills set his first Blues time in the process. Hannah Johnston would not be outdone however, crushing her opponents in the women’s event. As senior swimmers, best times can often prove difficult to come by, but they continued to come thick and fast over the course of the meet, outnumbered only by the gold medals secured by the OUSC swimmers.

Among the more outstanding performances of the day were Jack Marriott’s imperious displays in the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly: the latter receiving a standing ovation from swimmers and spectators alike as the venue was left stunned by the awesome power and speed of the reigning British Champion in the event. Less explosive, but equally impressive were the performances from Hannah Johnston and Jennifer Redmond who set club records in the 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, respectively.

The total medal haul amounted to 16 golds, 8 silvers and 5 bronzes as OUSC yet again demonstrated the strength and depth of the squad this year. The success of the team in the meet augers well for next year’s Varsity match, as the numerous freshers involved registered highly impressive times, which will surely serve as food for thought for the newly elected captains as they set up their squad plans for next season.

Points

Results: <under construction>

We will be looking to improve on our 6th place finish from 2012.

The competition started off as it was to continue for the Dark Blues with 1-2 finishes in both the women’s and men’s 200m Individual Medley as Naomi Vides, Rachel Andvig, Tom Booth and Xander Alari-Williams demonstrated Oxford’s superior all-round ability. The subsequent race saw Cambridge seal their first – and ultimately last – victory of the meet, as they put both of their strongest swimmers in the women’s 100m backstroke, gaining maximum points. The Dark Blues hit back immediately however, returning the favour in the men’s event: Human Sciences fresher Anthony O’Driscoll and Men’s Captain James Jurkiewicz again left the Cambridge men in their wake en route to 1-2 finish.

Next up was the 200m freestyle, which saw Addy Vachon and Lucy Spencer school the tabs in race tactics with their impressive back half speed to score maximum points. The men followed suit as Cody Duncan and Tristan Goodfellow both overhauled Cambridge stalwart and 5-time full blue Andrew Corley. Tristan came out on top of the tightest finish of the meet, storming back up the final fifty to take down the Cambridge distance specialist by just one one-hundredth of a second.

Hannah Johnston and Women’s Captain Rebecca Neal put in great performances to get 2nd and 3rd in the 100m butterfly despite strong Cambridge swims. This was followed by a fourth consecutive 1-2 for Oxford’s men by Kouji Urata and Joe Northover, with a great last 25m from Joe to surpass Cambridge’s top flier, out-touching the Light Blue swimmer by nine one-hundredths – a comparative lifetime alongside Tristan’s previous effort. Going into the break Oxford were ahead 50-30 having secured maximum points in every men’s event so far!

After the break the winning streak continued with Rachael Franklin and Lucy Spencer claiming a now familiar 1-2 in the 400m freestyle. The men then made it 5-for-5 as Cody Duncan and Kouji Urata returned to the pool to consign Corley to another unfamiliar 3^rd place finish. The women’s 100m breaststroke swimmers provided one of the more dominant 1-2s of the day, as Naomi Vides and Ellie Berryman-Athey crushed their opponents. The men followed with a victory and club record for Teddy Hall fresher Xander Alari-Williams and a strong 3^rd place finish from Anthony O’Driscoll.

In the final individual events Oxford were again victorious with wins from Rachel Andvig and Tom Booth in the 100m freestyle with Addy Vachon and Tristan Goodfellow both finishing fractionally behind in 3rd. The scores going into the relays were 89-51 to Oxford – an unassailable lead.

However, even with victory already sealed, the Dark Blues did not let up and the women produced a devastating performance in the medley relay, sealing victory by several body lengths. The men unleashed a similar performance, as O’Driscoll opened up a 5-second lead after the backstroke leg and the Oxford quartet never looked back. The women’s freestyle relay of Andvig, Vachon, Schluntz and Ajulu-Bushell swam to a club record of 1:47.48 to finish their meet in victorious fashion. This was followed by a final emphatic win of over 5 seconds in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

Despite the plethora of superb individual performances, Hertford fresher Naomi Vides took the swimmer of the meet trophy for her wins and meet records in both the 200IM and 100 breast. Just as they had last year, the Dark Blues secured both the Men’s and Women’s trophies, with a record margin of victory that will prove almost impossible to surpass, although given the youth of the squad, there’s no telling what they could produce next year.

In what ultimately proved to be one of the more straightforward qualification experiences for Oxford, the team overcame the unexpected loss of several key members of the squad due to a breakdown en route to the competition. In spite of this setback, the somewhat smaller squad set about their duty with little fuss and made it through to March’s final in second position, behind only the British Swimming ITC at Bath, with Cardiff taking up the 3rd and final qualification spot.

In the process, fresher Naomi Vides continued her record-setting streak with the club, lowering both the 50m and 100m breaststroke records to 33.89 and 1:13.66, respectively.

Oxford will be looking to continue their excellent performance in the BUCS in recent years, with a 6th place finish in the 10-team final to build on from last year. Cambridge however, will not be lining up against Oxford in Leeds as they have done over the last 5 years, as they finished in 5th place in qualification. This will put ever more emphasis on the light blues to perform at their home Varsity, which becomes not only the most important meet of the year, but Cambridge’s final meet of the year.

Full results:

1. Bath (Q)                  318
2. Oxford (Q)              275
3. Cardiff (Q)               254
4. UEA                          237
5. Cambridge               213
6. Southampton (R)    205
7. UCL (R)                    189
8. Bristol (R)                 187

This year’s Varsity Match will take place on Saturday February 9th at Parkside Pool in Cambridge.

The warm-up will start at 12:30, and spectators will be allowed in at this point. The event will get underway at 1:30 with the parade, followed shortly after by the competition itself.

We encourage all those with dark blue leanings to come up to Cambridge to cheer on the team. There will be plenty of home support, so all Oxford voices will make a big difference. Please see the Facebook event for full details.

For those who cannot make it down, there will be live updates on OUSC’s twitter account

Davis competed in the 4x200m freestyle relay for the United States of America, with a blistering 1:46.33 split in the prelims to send the US through as the clear favourites for the final, with second-placed France finishing well behind Davis’ team in 7:09.18 to the US’s 7:06.75.

Given the incredible depth of talent in the American swim team, they were able to draft in Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte – who boast 23 Olympic titles between them – for the final. The US team again dominated the field to finish in 6:59.70, making them the first ever team to go under the 7-minute barrier without the aid of the now-banned polyurethane suits.

Following his incredible feat, Davis returned to Oxford to visit the pool where he spent the 2009/10 season training with OUSC. The winner of the 2011 Oxford sportsman of the year award took part in a brief swimming session with other members of the OUSC squad for the media, and discussed his time swimming and studying at Oxford. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjfMC0gyNCk&feature=player_embedded

Congratulations Davis!