{"id":4003,"date":"2026-10-30T12:37:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T12:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/?p=4003"},"modified":"2026-10-30T12:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T12:38:48","slug":"alumni-aboard-the-summer-viiis-dinner-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/2026\/10\/30\/alumni-aboard-the-summer-viiis-dinner-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni aboard the Summer VIIIs dinner, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Justine Potts<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the many joys of taking up the BCBC captains\u2019 invitation to join the spry and spirited crews at this year\u2019s Summer VIIIs dinner was to discover how many alumni had similarly, in a rush of blood, signed themselves up to step aboard that evening. Sole representatives of VIIIs gone-by, their comrades-at-the-catch still vivid in their mind\u2019s eye, had travelled from afar (in one case, Iceland), deeply touched by the club\u2019s invitation to share the thrill of the day\u2019s races, the mirth of the evening and the sense of belonging to the BCBC family.  Alumni were not only welcomed with open arms, but were \u2013 the greatest sign of affection, of course \u2013 even sconced: \u201cI sconce anyone who rowed at Balliol before the fall of the Berlin Wall!\u201d\u2026 . Age proved its use, when it became painfully apparent that the tune of the Gordouli had been all but entirely forgotten by this generation (a casualty of the pandemic?). Enthusiastic and full-throated commitment was, however, still as passionate as ever the Trinity walls had witnessed. Previously unacquainted BCBC alumni found immediate camaraderie for the evening. The spirit of inclusion extended beyond the boathouse and the dining hall and the Lindsay bar, to even the post-prandial gym, where encouragements to kick off the shoes, and strap in the feet, and erg \u2013 erg for your life \u2013 against the brave brawn of youth were, on the whole, gracefully declined (maybe next year\u2026). It was a joyous evening all round. Any BCBC alumni hesitating to take up future invites through fear of intrusion, or imaginings of relegation to an age-appropriate corner, need not worry; the welcome back to the Balliol hearth could not be more warm, nor more spiriting. Support for the current crews, too, was evidently deeply appreciated on the day, and into the night. With the headship in sight for the Women\u2019s 1st<\/sup> VIII, next year will afford an even more central role to BCBC camaraderie; that dinner, and its preceding events at the river, promise to be just as welcoming, and no doubt even more uplifting still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Summer Eights Dinner, Saturday 30 May 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Justine Potts One of the many joys of taking up the BCBC captains\u2019 invitation to join the spry and spirited crews at this year\u2019s Summer VIIIs dinner was to discover how many alumni had similarly, in a rush of blood, signed themselves up to step aboard that evening. Sole representatives of VIIIs gone-by, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_3666-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4003"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4014,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions\/4014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcbc.ballioljcr.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}