History
The early records of the club have been lost, but there are references to a Jesus College boat in material that survives from the early 19th century. There are references to "pleasure boating" at Oxford in letters and poems written in the late 18th century, but races between crews from different colleges did not start until the early 19th century. Rowing in eights (boats with eight oarsmen, each pulling one oar, and steered by a coxswain) began at Eton, where there is a record of the school owning three eights by 1811, and then progressed to Oxford. The first record of an inter-college race, between eights from Jesus College and Brasenose College, dates from 1815. These may have been the only two colleges who had boats racing at that time, and the Brasenose boat was usually victorious. There were few rowers, and races between fours (boats with four oarsmen and a coxswain) tended to attract more interest than races between eights. Students would row to the inn at Sandford-on-Thames, a few miles south of Oxford, and race each other on the way back. The races would start at Iffley Lock and finish at King's Barge, off Christ Church Meadow. Flags hoisted on the barge would indicate the finishing order of the crews. Crews would set off one behind the other, the trailing boat(s) trying to catch, or "bump", the boat ahead. The bumped boat and the bumping boat would then drop out and the bumping boat would start the next day's race ahead of the bumped boat. The aim was to become the lead boat, known as Head of the River. For identification, crews wore college colours and emblazoned the rudder of the boat with the college coat of arms. Crews from Jesus College painted leeks (an emblem of Wales) on their oars for further distinction. In early races, some rowers wore high hats while others, including the Jesus crews, wore Tam o'shanters in college colours (green with a white band for Jesus); crews from Jesus College wore these until at least 1847.
In 1822, crews from Jesus and Brasenose raced each other to become Head of the River. One Brasenose rower apparently "caught a crab", slowing the boat. The Brasenose boat was bumped by the Jesus boat, but rowed on regardless and claimed that it was still Head of the River. Jesus and Brasenose men competed over which college's flag should be hoisted to denote the winning boat. One of the Brasenose crew ended the dispute by saying "Quot homines tot sententiae, different men have different opinions, some like leeks and some like onions", referring to the emblem on the Jesus oars, and it was agreed to row the race again. The Brasenose crew won the rematch. The incident has been said to be shown in an 1822 picture, the earliest depiction of an eights race at Oxford, painted by I. T. Serres (Marine Painter to George IV). However, the print was published on 1 March 1822 and it would have taken several months to prepare and engrave. It also shows a summer scene. Both of these points suggest that the print depicts either an imaginary scene or an unrecorded event from 1821.
Races gradually became more formalised, and regulations were introduced prohibiting colleges from using professional rowers or members of other colleges. A race for the colleges' second boats (Torpids) was introduced in 1826, and eventually boats with less than eight oars were excluded from the races. During the late 1820s and early 1830s, Jesus did not take part in races, but the college was mentioned as having a second boat by 1836. The formal foundation of the club dates from 1835, and official records of inter-college races begin in 1837. The Jesus College 1st VIII started the competition that year in second position, behind the Christ Church 1st VIII, but after being bumped on successive nights by Exeter, Balliol and Queen's colleges, Jesus took no further part in that year's competition. In 1838, the Jesus College boat rowed in last place on one evening, but did not participate in the races again until 1844. The club's fortunes varied in the years thereafter. In 1859, the eight achieved an unusual "overbump" (catching the crew that had started three places ahead of them, after the boat immediately ahead of it had bumped the boat it was chasing) and so went up three positions in one race. However, the college boat did not compete in 1860 and it finished in last place in 1864. From 1864 onwards, said Ernest Hardy (in his 1899 history of the college), "the boating record of the College has not been good" – the college did not take part in the races in many years, and it seldom improved its position by more than one or two places when it did participate. The college resumed regular participation in the races in 1882; although it was in last place in 1889, the college improved its position, and went up by nine places between 1894 and 1896. Hardy also commented that the 1896 Jesus College boat had a reputation of being one of the faster boats in the university. The crew entered for the Ladies' Challenge Plate at the Henley Regatta, but lost to Eton, the eventual winners.
By 1930, the college 1st VIII had reached its highest position on the river for thirty years. In 1947, the college chaplain Leslie Cross presented a new set of oars to the club. He retired that year, and the college magazine, noting that Cross had been a particularly generous supporter of the club, stated that the oars had already been used to good purpose. The 1st VIII progressed further in the 1950s, making five bumps in 1951 and four in 1952 to reach the first division, with a high point of seventh in 1957. It later returned to the second division, before re-entering the first division in 1970. Its highest position in recent years was seventh in the first division in 2000; it has been back in the second division since 2004, and finished eighth in the second division in 2011.
Women were first admitted to Jesus College in 1974; the college was one of the first five men's colleges to do so. The women's 1st VIII was Head of the River in Torpids between 1980 and 1983. In 1993, the women's 1st VIII won their "blades" in the first divisions of both Torpids and Eights Week, an achievement that led to the crew being described in the Jesus College Record as vying "not just for the College team of the decade, but perhaps for the team of the last three decades", in any sport. The same crew also won the Novices' Trophy at the Wallingford Regatta in the same year. The women's 1st VIII has not maintained its position since then. After some years in the third division, it ended the 2011 Eights Week in twelfth place in the second division, winning blades in the process.
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