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OUAC and CUAC members who have competed for their
University in the annual Varsity Match are
invited to join the Achilles Club. The Achilles Club was formed in 1920, by
and for past and present members of
Oxford University Athletics Club (OUAC) and
Cambridge University Athletics Club (CUAC), and traces its roots back
to the first Oxford v. Cambridge Athletic Sports ('
Varsity Match') of 1864, an event it still helps to stage each
year.
The Club rapidly rose to the forefront of
British and indeed world athletics, and members have won 18 Olympic Gold
Medals, 17 Silver and 15 Bronze, and held 38 World Records
The Club is exclusively for past and
present CUAC and OUAC members, and exists to help strengthen and maintain
for life the friendships forged between University club mates and their
rivals at 'the other place'. To this end the Achilles Club shoulders the
following responsibilities:
Every fourth year Achilles arranges a tour to the USA for a series of
matches against the Ivy League Universities: this tour is exclusively for
Oxford and Cambridge students, and all OUAC or CUAC members are eligible for
consideration for selection for one such tour. In the intervening years,
Achilles hosts reciprocal matches for visiting American teams, which
OUAC and CUAC athletes are expected to support.
Other major overseas tours are arranged which are open to all Achilles
members, past and present students alike: these are a particularly enjoyable
way of broadening athletic, social and geographic horizons. In September
2002 Achilles visited Singapore (winning 14 medals in their National
Championships) and Australia (where they were royally received by Sydney
University AC). In recent years Achilles teams have toured to Austria, China
(twice), Japan, Hong Kong and South Africa, and undertaken shorter domestic
trips to e.g. the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.
Achilles enters teams for several matches in the UK each year. They offer
good class competition and a friendly opportunity for past and present
members of CUAC and OUAC to compete together.
Several Achilles events are held each year, including dinners and dances.
There is always a dinner for old members after the Varsity Match; a dinner
in New York is becoming an annual fixture; a Ball is often held in London;
and impromptu barbecues and curries after matches are commonplace.
An annual magazine is circulated free to members,
drawing together reports on Oxford v Cambridge and Achilles matches,
rankings lists, news of members, reminiscences and many other items of
interest. A fixture card is included, listing forthcoming CUAC events
plus Achilles and OUAC events, social occasions and planned
tours. Updated bulletins are circulated by email and on this website.
Most of the organisational structure which gives continuity to the Varsity match and other events in the OUAC/CUAC calendar is provided by the Achilles Club. The President, Captain
and Hon. Sec of OUAC/CUAC, and their immediate Past-President, are all ex officio members of the Achilles Club committee.
OUAC and CUAC could not thrive in the way they do without the financial assistance they receive from Achilles members' subscriptions and older members' voluntary charitable donations to the Achilles Trust.
To be invited to join Achilles' illustrious
membership is an honour, and is reserved for athletes who compete in
Oxford v Cambridge matches. Election is for life and enables members
to maintain contact with contemporaries long after they have gone down.
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