We have just learnt of the death of one of our long-term members and supporter of the club, Jerry Oliver. He was found dead yesterday but no further details are currently available. Jerry migrated from Vesta to Quintin in 1975 and gradually made his way up from Senior C status (for example, winning Senior C coxed fours at Monmouth Regatta in 1980) to elite status in 1986. Jerry soon became identified with the original “barflies” who competed mainly in Veteran B events in the 1980s.
Your correspondent recalls racing in coxless pairs with Jerry on a couple of occasions; once at Molesey Regatta in Garrick Pairs (one “elite” oarsman at most) where Jerry at bow steers was for some reason unable to compensate for a pull to bowside, resulting in defeat, and then at Richmond in 1985 doing the opposite and steering the boat round the severe strokeside bend to victory in Elite B pairs – two very contrasting races. [Roger Hine]
John Peters recalls:
“I looked forward to meeting Jerry each year at the Boat Race where I would inform him that he was banned and he reminded me why he joined Quintin. I was captain in 1975 when he joined. In those days having raced through to August a lot of rowers then joined in the Skiff racing season through August and September. Quintin and Vesta members tended to favour the Skiff Club. There Jerry discovered that Quintin members were stalwarts at propping up the bar. Apart from Quintin having the top Elite eight, the attraction for Jerry was that we had crew wins in the other 4 statuses. So he and several other Senior C/3 rowers from Vesta jumped ship up to Quintin. Subsequently on winter evenings in the Quintin bar after training Jerry would subject us to very long-winded jokes which were always rescued by a great punch line. A real character.”
