Head Season 24/25 Race Report

After a surprisingly dry and mild 2025 head season, LUBC is in a fantastic position to take regatta season by storm.

We kicked things off at BUCS Head. With the late notice that beginners wouldn’t be able to race on Sunday, plans quickly changed to accommodate our two beginner novice eights on the Saturday instead. Our ten senior crews made waves on the Tyne, with particularly strong performances from our men’s and women’s top fours—achieving 7th and 9th in their respective categories—and our men’s and women’s novice eights, finishing 10th and 9th. We left BUCS excited, ready to apply everything we learned as the season progressed.

Next came Runcorn Spring Head. On a sunny day perfect for racing, we enjoyed seeing our novices and seniors working alongside our neighbours at Runcorn. With the home advantage, we were thrilled to show off our stretch of river in beautiful conditions. Racing across eights, fours and quads, we picked up wins in the W8+ Band B and W4x- Band A.

Then it was on to WEHoRR, with yet another lovely day! Despite a light headwind, our three crews set off strong. We entered our top women’s eight along with two beginner eights, finishing 80th, 178th and 266th overall—and claiming 14th, 4th and 15th in our respective categories.

After that came North of England Head, and suspiciously, the perfect conditions held. We sent both senior and novice men’s and women’s eights, and were rewarded with some great results: a win in W8+ Band 2, second place in W8+ Band 3, and third in both the OP8+ Band 2 and Band 4 categories.

Finally, HoRR. With our coxes experiencing a sense of déjà vu, everyone was fired up to see the men finish off head season with a bang. With only a little bit of rain, spirits were high. Our two men’s eights—one senior and one beginner—enjoyed their paddle up and raced back to Putney with energy. We finished 134th and 278th overall, placing 38th and 10th in our categories.

We’re incredibly proud of one another for sticking together and working as a team this season. This especially goes out to our novices, who’ve thrown themselves into LUBC and are already making their mark on the rowing world. The strength and development across all squads has us excited—not only for regatta season but also for the year ahead.

With our Easter training camp set and momentum on our side, we’re seizing the progress we’ve made to make a splash at BUCS Regatta and take full advantage of summer rowing. With great socials, fundraisers and training coming up… we’re still ready to row!