The season began with intense training. In the early stages of the term an explosive U16 and U15 first pair combination stunned Highgate who were lucky to get off lightly with a 12-2 victory, gained purely from a still teething U14 . The experience was valuable however and showed through in possibly the most talked about Fives event of the year. A relatively unknown and experimental U14 team took the Southern Schools Novices Championships by storm. Rose and Roberts as 1st pair, Kanetsuka and Richmond 2nd, Green and Stevenson 3rd, Enricos and Nazeer 4th, and outsiders Cowper Smith and Crawford at 5th walked away with every trophy and the 'Best Schools', Kanetsuka and Richmond coming out on top in an all Westminster final.
The Abbey tournament showed similar excesses of skill for the seniors. Adrian Lewis double teamed with last minute substitute and all round sports star Heneage Stevenson to lose valiantly in the pools but Green and Albert had better fortune, tactically dropping out of the main competition (at the hands of St Olave's 2nd pair, the eventual winners) to take home the real trophy of the day, a crate of cheap beer. It was perhaps symbolic that the winners cup was broken as it was being awarded.
Confidence gained in these triumphant Tournament performances ushered in a series of confident wins against Charterhouse and Ipswich (whose seniors flew in the face of inevitable defeat and cancelled) .
The three Harrow matches started poorly with all-over defeat at home but Westminster's true form was displayed in the two return games, the U14s (with convincing play by Page and Lahiri 3-0 at home) winning 4-1 and a good finale away match in which all years contributed to the staggering 8-3 victory, which, for the first time, left an awed Harrow licking their wounds.
The team, now fired up and confident, went on to crush Winchester away, swiftly followed by the devastation of St John's, Leatherhead. The unstoppable Cartwright/Grender-Jones pair set the trend for a side which, so promising in training, earned a well deserved victory under the pressure of competition. Craig and Page walked all over a battered opposition, Matthew and Wallenberg, Crawford, Christie, Harrison and Harrison followed suit with convincing performances.
The conclusion of the season with the Shrewsbury open tournament was perhaps a little disappointing. The first pair (Green and Albert) disappointed high hopes when a crippling injury sent Green into convalescence, so the first pair went out of the top 36. The highly seeded Boyd and Youngman pair who had played so promisingly during the season also went out in the pools. The rank outsiders, Adrian Lewis and Nick Fry, both ex-Highgate boys, now under the Westminster banner, winning one glorious game out of three, managed to save face and go out in the top 16. The Junior competition was a more positive finish to a season in which surely the seeds of greatness have been planted. Kanetsuka and Richmond reached the quarter-finals of the U14 open and the semi-finals of the novices competition but, after playing both tournaments in a single day, gave way to exhaustion and stopped there. Rose and Roberts did well to qualify for both (though facing similar over-played fatigue); Green and Stevenson did well to win both Pool competitions, snatching the Novices pool from a disappointed Lahiri and Page.
Overall the season has been one of the best in many years for which we undoubtedly have to thank the vigorous enthusiasm of John Troy and the expert fine tuning of Coach Hutchinson. Sports ties awards all around I thinkÉ
Lucien Green (Ashburnham)
John Troy writes
The success of the season is largely due to the willingness of the captain and secretary, initially to persuade the Fifth form that a new game is worth trying, and then to give up their time to coach those who took up the challenge. In addition, Saul Albert and Lucien Green were scrupulous in ensuring that their respective tasks were performed; for all of this much thanks.
One of the Lower Shell took over the captaincy from him for the 1995-96 season, and Tom Gentleman, supported by his colleagues, led the Station to one of its most successful summers ever in terms of events won. Over twenty trophies was the haul at regattas up and down the Thames, chiefly in the Under 16 category now encouraged by the Thames Punting Club, but with good wins over more senior competitors. The Station was present in force at most of the summer and autumn regattas with parents and family in most welcome support - we look forward to a continuing presence at this year's events.
Xandi Imboden, the present secretary, takes over the captaincy for the 1996-97 season: continuity is assured and future prospects bright. Tom Gentleman, while continuing to be as active as ever in punting, will explore the potential of skiffing for the Station - the two sports are twinned at regattas, and we are associated with the Dittons Skiff and Punting Club, from which we operate.
Also to be explored is the sport of gondola racing, which has been imported to the Thames from the Grand Canal. Westminster's colours may yet be seen competing in the Voga Longa.
Peter Holmes
The usual fear of caves has much to do with a perceived sense of claustrophobia. However, the cool of the cave and solid feel of the rock soon push these fears away: I myself loath the constricted feeling experienced when shopping in the Christmas scrum, but I'm happy to pass through the tightest squeeze that my frame will allow. In caves such as Swildon's Hole, the sound of rushing water and large chambers add to the sense of awe that is experienced underground.
Caving is a highly energetic sport, and once back on the surface, hunger overrides all feeling (even the cold air temperature!) and the quantities of food put away at lunch and supper are vast. Once the stomach has been satisfied, a great feeling of contented exhaustion puts you in the mood for the traditional caving 'after dinner games'. It is in this respect that the Mendip Caving Group (with whom we stay) excel. Old favourites include the broom game (contorting your body to fit through your hands and broomstick) and the notorious spoon game. The aim of the game is for two participants to don blindfolds and, using spoons in their mouths, to hit each other into submission. The trip was only possible due to the kind help of Martin and Yvonne Rowe, who spend their weekend guiding us down the caves. Our thanks are to them and Mark Tocknell for an excellent weekend.
Matthew Plummer (Grant's)
Each week, a group of eight of us (led by Mark Tocknell) spend an hour learning the skills needed to enjoy climbing safely to the full extent. We are taught how to maximise our abilities through various exercises, all aimed at developing our climbing technique and muscles! Rapid progress can be made, and it is an extremely rewarding sport, offering something for everybody (Lawrence Page's ability to climb up and down small holds on a 30û overhanging board without using his feet makes all of us feel decidedly weak!) However, most problems respond well to a gentle use of cunning and technique: muscle isn't always the answer!
Climbing, contrary to popular belief, is an incredibly sociable 'sport'. Problems are tackled in groups, and when we finish, most of us sit down for tea at the Wall's café, where videos are shown of the world's top climbers in action. Some use this as an excuse to climb for another few hours!
During the extended summer months, we hope to make several visits to the sandstone outcrops of the Weald during Tuesday afternoons offering a truly 'different' Station experience. With an extremely successful Lower School Expedition to Mid-Wales, it would seem that rock climbing at Westminster is on a roll.
Matthew Plummer (Grant's)
It was up to the players to build a successful season on these great foundations. Many of the first team had began playing rugby at the start of the year and after several productive training sessions were on a high. Unfortunately in our first two games we were comprehensively beaten and the 1st XV were brought down to earth with a painful fall. Yet it was in this atmosphere of shattered egos that the team mentality we had been lacking began to take hold. The mental and physical toughness that the game demands was forming game after game and our lack of experience was disappearing as the season progressed. The guidance and advice of Giles Brown, Kevin Bell and Martin Cropper were integral to restoring our confidence and reversing the downward slide of our season. The season's plus points were that our technique kept on improving, the team spirit flourished towards the end, and this resulted in many of the games being less one-sided.
It is unfortunate that this season's record will go down in Westminster Rugby history as 0 wins, 0 draws and 10 losses. This record does not do justice in the slightest to how we played in the second half of the season especially. We dominated the possession in many of our games but were punished highly for our silly mistakes as it seemed that our luck had deserted us for the whole season.
We must therefore put this season behind us as we look forward to the next and the fact that we will be a year older, stronger and wiser. Yet the 1995/1996 season has by no means been unproductive, for out of the ashes of this season has emerged a clutch of players, whose abilities contributed to some of our best performances. They are: Andrew Little, vice-captain, pack leader and number 8, a true team player, whose strength in the tackle and maul secured us much possession and some valuable points; Brevin Newman, prop, the personification of a bulldozer and the source of much inspiration through his defence splitting runs; Jan Scibor- Kaminski, blind side flanker/open side/No 8/other, tall, fast, very strong and able to place tremendous pressure on the opposition with his penetrative running and prowess for bringing others into the game; Yo Takatsuki, flanker, whose contributions were less conspicuous but were nonetheless integral to some of our best performances; John Seward, scrum-half, one of the most intelligent and committed players often called upon to relieve opposition pressure with his superb kicking (!) as well as directing our attacks in the backs with his quick accurate passing; James Welch, full back, very quick and an extremely good tackler with an ability to run all day, which meant he was the focus of much of our attacking play; James Schlesinger, the quickest of all the players in the team as well as being one of the most versatile, could switch from dazzling backs with his pace to leaving the opposition dazed with his tackling at Flanker; Nick Clark, wing, a truly great player with the ability to find a path through the tightest group of players and then inflict a deadly long range spin pass, giving the attack greater width, with his great vision. With these players and the Upper Shells who have distinguished themselves at under 16 level the Westminster 1st XV will be much harder to beat as well as being capable of having a great 1996/1997 season.
Srige Sri-Skanda-Rajah (Grant's)
Andrew Little (HH), vice-captain, adds
Srige Sri-Skanda-Rajah:
Fly-half, centre and wing, inspirational player with the ability to motivate the team. Pin-point accuracy kicks and exceptionally havoc-wreaking (for the opposition defence) power.
In the last week of the Easter holiday, the 1st VIII along with a quad made up of 4 Upper Shells went to Yianitsa in Northern Greece on a training camp. The Greek food was perfectly suited for feeding the squad, which rowed every day on a small river just outside the town. Although this posed a few transportation problems, trips were made to the archaeological site at Pella, as well as to Thessalonika. It proved a useful opportunity to start training for the summer regatta season, and also provided an alternative setting to revision for looming public exams.
The Election Term arrived, and circumstances meant that WSBC had to row in the Docklands at Royal Albert Dock where training sessions would be punctuated by planes taking off and landing alongside, at London City Airport. In April, various crews represented the South East in the Inter-Regional Championships with notable success.
At the main event of the first half of the Election Term, The National Schools Regatta in Nottingham, high winds and terrible conditions hampered success. Also, unbelievable bad luck meant that WSBC kept on being allotted the worst lane. The J14 Octo and J15 Eight just missed out on the medals by one place and the J16 four had to settle for silver after a dubious start. However, an outstanding J16 Tom Marston won J18 sculls and the J15 four romped home to win by a huge margin. The Sunday events were cancelled, depriving the girls of the best medal chance in years.
Shortly afterwards, a young 1st VIII and quad were selected for Henley Royal Regatta. At Marlow Regatta, the VIII showed its potential, beating Oxford eights Oriel College and Magdalen New College convincingly but later fell by three-quarters of a length to a very fast Eton 2nd VIII. Unfortunately, things started to go downhill when the quad failed to qualify for Henley and an over-confident VIII lost to Radley J16 VIII in the first round of the Princess Elizabeth Cup.
During the summer, an eager squad set out to the National Championships at Nottingham, with considerable success. After winning gold medals in J15 and J14 doubles and Ben Jesty's silver success in Singles the J15's teamed up with the J16 four to contest the J16 Eights. After a stunning finish another silver medal was added to the haul, capped with a bronze in the J14 doubles.
In the Play Term Exeat, the J16 eight took off to Boston, Massachusetts for the prestigious 'Head of the Charles Regatta.' Boys stayed with American host families attached to Milton Academy, where two mornings were spent in lessons, experiencing education from across the Atlantic. The week was an immense success - not only was it very exciting and enjoyable, the rowing also proved so, with the VIII coming fourth in the High School Eights Division, also beating both other English school crews - Latymer and Kings, Chester.
The crews climbed back into sculling boats after Exeat with a staggering degree of success. Fifteen divisional wins at four head Races! At the largest event Pangbourne Sculls; J16, J15 and J14 Doubles were captured together with Alexei Calvert-Ansari (BB) winning the Junior 15 division overall. The year ended with Westminster's first appearance at the National Indoor Rowing Championships. Competing over 2000 metres on the concept II rowing machine, Ivor Vanhegan (WW) set a 14 year old world best performance to win gold. Ben Jesty took bronze in the J15 event.
More Westminster boys collected international honours in 1995. Tom Marston rowed in the British Eight at the European Championships and Ben Gothard (LL) and Chris Waring (RR) were the second pair at the same event.
Old Westminster watermen and women continue to impress. Katie Bailey (HH 1991-93), Charlotte Pendred (DD 1991-93) and Claire Lloyd (BB 1991-93) have all led their college crews. Michael Lea (RR 1987-92) became President of the Cambridge University Lightweights and enjoyed a win over Oxford in the bow seat. Graham Smith (RR 88-93) qualified for the 1996 Olympics as part of the Great Britain Eight, coming sixth at the Senior World Championships.
Simon Piesse (College)
1995 Wins: 45 in total