The Queen's College Record 2023

Selected reports
David Craven
Captaining the University Men’s Blues Gymnastics Team
to Varsity success
With the funding from the 650 th Anniversary Trust Fund,
I travelled for extra training sessions and training camps
for both rowing and gymnastics where I made the
improvements I needed to achieve beyond what I ever
thought was possible for just my second year at university.
In gymnastics at British Universities & College Sports (BUCS) I won the gold medal
on parallel bars and the gold medal in the all-around competition in grade 2, beating
all 30 other gymnasts over the six apparatus. Also at BUCS, I captained the Men’s
Blues to place Oxford 2 nd out of over 25 universities that had entered, which was the
first time we had placed this high in club record. At Varsity I won gold in the all-around
competition and in three out of the six events. I also captained the Men’s Blues team
to beat Cambridge for the first time in over 10 years, with us also beating them on
all six pieces. Furthermore, all four Oxford teams beat their respective Cambridge
counterparts which was also a first in club memory. It was an historical year for the
club and one that I know I will never forget. On top of this, I raced in the College first
eight for both Torpids and Summer Eights even though I had only first stepped in a
rowing boat the year before.
Old Members’ Activities
I had grown up a competitive gymnast and diver so was quickly taken in by the
Gymnastics Club. I had a pretty successful first year, winning a silver medal on
the parallel bars at BUCS grade 2 and being selected for the Men’s Blues Varsity
Squad where I went on to win a bronze medal in the all-around competition being
the highest scoring male Oxford gymnast over all six pieces. However, we had lost all
four team competitions to Cambridge: Men’s Blues, Women’s Blues, Men’s Seconds
and Women’s Seconds but I was hooked by the sport and wanted to make sure we
didn’t repeat this the following year.
I ran for Men’s Captain the week after Varsity and won unanimously. Alongside the
Women’s Captain we tried to reinforce a spirit of competitiveness back into the club
that was picked up strongly by our athletes and we got to work. I had also become
the Queen’s College Boat Club President at the start of Michaelmas so was having to
balance training and organisation for both sports alongside studying for my Materials
Science degree. Thankfully there wasn’t normally timing clashes but it meant that a
day would often consist of waking up at 5:30am for rowing, a breakfast in Hall that
often broke 2,000 calories, a race to finish my food and then cycle to lectures at
9am, either tutorials or labs in the afternoons, and then as much work as I could fit
into the evening before dinner which almost solely consisted of a microwaved portion
College Record 2023 | The Queen’s College 73