page_title: Oriel College, Oxford
section_title: Rowing
hierarchical_section_title: Oriel College, Oxford / Student life / Sport / Rowing
caption_attribution_description: English: Torpids double headship crews
context_page_description: Oriel College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford. In recognition of this royal connection, the college has also been historically known as King's College and King's Hall. The reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is the official visitor of the college.
  The original medieval foundation set up in 1324 by Adam de Brome, under the patronage of Edward II, was called the House or Hall of the Blessed Mary at Oxford. The first design allowed for a provost and ten fellows, called "scholars", and the college remained a small body of graduate fellows until the 16th century, when it started to admit undergraduates. During the English Civil War, Oriel played host to high-ranking members of the King's Oxford Parliament.
  The main site of the college incorporates four medieval halls: Bedel Hall, St Mary Hall, St Martin Hall, and Tackley's Inn, the last being the earliest property acquired by the college and the oldest standing medieval hall in Oxford. The college has nearly 40 fellows, about 300 undergraduates and some 250 graduates.
context_section_description: Rowing at Oriel is carried out from the college's own boat-house across Christ Church Meadow, on Boat House Island. Oriel has a reputation for its success in rowing, in particular the two intercollegiate bumps races, Torpids and Eights Week.
  As of 2018, Oriel holds 33 Torpids Men's Headships, the most of any college, with Brasenose in second with 22 the most recent of which was in 1894. It also holds 32 Summer Eights Headships, second to Christ Church at 33, from 1968 to 2018 Oriel won 25 headships.
  In 2006 Oriel claimed the first ever double headship in Torpids, rowing over as Head of the River in both the men's and women's first divisions. In 2018 Oriel repeated this victory with their second double headship. It remains the only college to possess a double headship in Torpids.
  In recent years, Oriel claimed the women's Torpids Headship in 2017 and held it in 2018. It has held the men's Headship in Eights in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. It regained men's Headship in Torpids in 2018. The women's and men's second boats are currently in "fixed divisions" in the bumps charts and, as such, are guaranteed a place in racing each year. The college usually fields third boats (and sometimes more) for the bumps events.
  More extensive information on the results of Torpids and Eights can be found here: http://eodg.atm.ox.ac.uk/user/dudhia/rowing/bumps/
  In addition to the Oxford-based races, Oriel crews compete in external events including the Head of the River Race, the Women's Eights Head of the River Race, the Henley Boat Races and regional events. In 2016 the men's first boat won the men's eights collegiate event at the Fairbairn Cup, it won again in 2017 and won the entire event in 2018.
  In Tom Brown at Oxford by Thomas Hughes, Oriel's win in the 1842 Head of the River Race, with Oriel bumping Trinity, was re-written as Tom's college, "St Ambrose" taking first place and "Oriel" in second place.
  During the 7th week in Trinity Term, the boat club hosts the annual Oriel Regatta; events in this competition are mixed and crewdate eights. Mixed Eights are crews from a single college that must contain at least four female rowers. For Crewdate Eights one enters as a group of four rowers with or without a coxswain and are then matched up with another group, where possible creating a mixed college and mixed gender crew. The final two crews have a crewdate paid for them by the Regatta. It is a fun event with which to end the years collegiate racing schedule. The course runs upstream from the Longbridges Boathouse to past the end of boathouses on Christ Church Island and races are conducted in knock-out format.
  The general emblem of the Oriel College Boat Club is the three feathers. In recent years this has been augmented by the addition of crossed-oars below the feathers.
  Further information and current news can be found at the Oriel College Boat Club website: http://rowing.oriel.ox.ac.uk/
caption: During the 2006 Torpids, the double headship winning Oriel Men's and Women's Eights maintained the college's reputation for success in rowing.
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