BUCS Regatta 2023

What a way to kick off regatta season! Another successful weekend for LUBC with more club records broken, as we continue to put ourselves on the map.

Saturday:

The first race of the weekend was the Men's lightweight single raced by Alfie Champion. He came 5th in the F final, beating many other boats even to make it to a final.

The next race was the Women’s Beginner 8+ made up of Ruth Burlison at stroke, Daisy Gilder, Elin Robinson, Emma Banks, Lucy Morse, Katie Bellhouse, Sam Grice, and Ellie Hammond at bow, with Morgan Williamson coxing. They made it all the way to the A final and came 5th. This is a new record for the club with the highest result the Novice Women have ever had!

The Men’s beginner quad made up of James Box at stroke, Chris Wood, Oli Heppenstall-Batty, and Alex Burroughs at bow also made it to an A final. They came 6th overall, which is another new LUBC record for a Novice quad!

The Men’s Senior 8+ made up of Leo Cowie at stroke, Harvey Long, Sam Pepper, Will Barker, Joe Aldridge, Oliver Wisbey, Roddy Carter, and Hector Glover at bow, with Katie Byrne coxing, placed 5th in the C final. This is another amazing result for the club, especially considering how competitive this category is.

The Senior Women’s quad made up of Lydia Willis at stroke, Niamh Peakman, Charlotte Martin, and Ellie Atkinson at bow placed 43rd in the time trial. Although they just missed out on a final by a matter of seconds, they still beat many other boats despite some very tough competition.

Sunday:

The Novice Women’s quad made up of Anna Kirby at stroke, Sam Grice, Imogen Honey, and Edith Brophy at bow made it to an AB semifinal and came 6th in the B final which is another club record!! This is the highest placing Women's beginner quad for LUBC.

The Senior Men’s 2x (A) of Sam Pepper at stroke and Joe Aldridge at bow made it to an AB semifinal and placed 5th in the B final! This is the highest placing Men's double in our club history. The 2x (B) of Dan Watterson (stroke) and Matt Paver (bow) just missed out on a final due to some technical issues, but were still faster than many other crews.

The Novice Women’s 4+ made up of Ruth Burlison at stroke, Daisy Gilder, Elin Robinson, Emma Banks at bow, with Amelia Aykroyd coxing, placed 2nd in the C final. This impressive result is the best we have had in this category since 2017.

The Senior Women’s 8+ of Alice Simms at stroke, Rosie Boden, Ellis Tubb, Alice Taylor, Jenny Overend, Emma Warhurst, Georgia Silver, and Natasha Egger at bow, with Katie Byrne coxing made it to an AB semifinal and placed 5th in the B final. This felt like a big achievement for the crew considering 7 out of 9 (including Katie) only started rowing last year.

The Senior Men’s 4+ made up of Roddy Carter (stroke), Will Barker, Oliver Wisbey, Hector Glover (bow), and Amelia Aykroyd (cox) came 6th in the C final. This was a really impressive result, and rivalled last year's coxed four which was considered one of the best in LUBC history.

Sammy Goodman competed in the Men’s beginner single category, placing 5th in the E final. This was an incredible result, especially considering he had only been in a single a handful of times.

One of our Senior Women Tara Johnson also raced in a single, only just missing out on a final but still beating many other boats.

Monday:

Sunday started off successfully with the Men’s Beginner double of Sammy Goodman (stroke) and Alex Burroughs (bow) making it to a C final. They placed 4th which is another record broken for the club!

The Senior Men’s lightweight pair of Rob Harris at stroke and Ben Fleming at bow placed 2nd in the C final. This was another incredible result thanks to the hard work they have both consistently put in.

The Senior Women’s 4+ was made up of Rosie Boden (stroke), Alice Simms, Ellis Tubb, Alice Taylor (bow), and Georgia Silver coxing. They made it to an F final despite the tough competition and proceeded to win their final!

The Senior Women’s 2x of Georgia Silver at stroke, and Tara Johnson at bow also won the F final in their category, which was a great way to finish off the weekend.

Round up:

This weekend has shown that all the hard work everyone has put in over the past few months has really paid off. We have had some record breaking results, and every single person should be really proud of themselves!

A massive well done to everyone who raced and a huge thank you to everyone who made it possible, especially our Novice Coach Callum Kemp who has put in so much hard work for the novices, leading to these history-breaking results. Also a big thankyou to one of our volunteer coaches James Brown for coming down regularly and coaching us. Another shoutout to our Captains Ellis Tubb and Sam Pepper who have put in so much hard work over the past few months and the seniors wouldn't have got these results without them. Finally, thank you to everyone who helped organise going to this event, especially our Secretary Emma Warhurst and our President Joe Aldridge.

Now we continue with the hard work and training as we continue into regatta (and exam) season.

Keep up to date with our progress and results through our Instagram page (@livunibc).

- Jenny Overend