British Universities Championship (BUCS) Regatta 2011: BUCS Regatta 2011 was a successful one for ICBC as 13 medals (6 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze) were brought back to Putney Embankment as well as 145 BUCS points to add to the 147 gained over the winter season, with the club coming third overall in the Victor Ludorum (686 points) and in the medal table. Five of the six golds were won by the skinnier half of ICBC with the lightweights winning almost every race they entered.
With the extended bank holiday weekend, Imperial journeyed up the M1 to the wonderful city of Nottingham, awaiting all the delights that Christina Duffy (aka POD) had pitched in Rowing and Regatta the previous month. Unfortunately, as always, the “glorious” weather was not to last as strong winds and even stronger gusts were predicted for the three days of racing ahead. Nevertheless, early Saturday morning the men’s beginner (B) coxed four (cox: Jess Johnson/Tom Carpenter/Robbie Hernandez/Alex Quigley/Tommy Hirst) headed to the course for their time trial, where they were in the top 12 qualifiers and through to the semis for the top finals. As the heats of the men’s intermediate (Int) and championship (C) lightweight (Lwt) singles came down the course, the conditions at Holme Pierrepont worsened and scullers appeared to be either sat on water or surfing over the crests. At this point, the powers-that-be decided to postpone racing whilst a plan was hatched for the rest of the day. After a mini meeting, it was announced that racing would be shortened to the first kilometre of the course. The lightweight four of str:Tom Pearson/Tim Richards/Wilf Kimberley/Paddy Hudson set the tone for the weekend as they won their heat [despite Hudson not sitting on his seat from the second stroke of the race] and their final ahead of Nottingham and Newcastle (on both occasions) by more than 6s.
The MB4+ was unfortunately squeezed out of the A Final by a mere 0.5s and eventually came fifth in the B Final. Gareth Brown brought home a silver medal in the MIntLwt1x, while Paul Jones battled hard whilst sinking in the waves in the MCLwt1x. Eventually that title went to… NOT JAMIE KIRKWOOD. Roehampton’s golden boy was pipped to the post by John Preston of Leander (sorry, University of East London) [Note: Jamie is IC when he wins, Roehampton when he doesn't, soz Jaimdawg]. Hal Bradbury was entered in the MC1x, moving on from winning silver in MInt1x in 2010. After taking second in a strong heat, the final was tough but Hal performed marvelously, coming in fourth behind [basically] three GB rowers (Innes of Durham, Sinclair of University of East Leandon and Walton of Loughborough).
The depleted women’s squad had two championship boats out on the Saturday in the shape of the WC4x of str:Louise Connell/Christina Duffy/Georgie Phillips/Chloe Symmonds and the WC2- of Connell and Symmonds. Both boats qualified for their finals but couldn’t quite smash the competition. The women’s lightweight double of Josie Bowler and last minute recruit Alice Wickham put up a valiant effort in their heat but the competition was stiff and the girls narrowly missed a spot in the final. Harriet Cross was extremely disappointed by the cancellation of the women’s beginner singles, due to the adverse conditions. Sources say she would have won by a country mile, having already contended with similar waves on the Tideway. The women’s intermediate pairs were also abandoned.
The men’s championship 8 (cox: Henry Fieldman/Matt Whaley/Rory Sullivan/Ben Spencer-Jones/Ali Hudson/Simon Steele/Henry Goodier/Kimberley/Leo Carrington) were feeling the pressure after their win at HoRR and, over the short distance, they couldn’t quite beat Queen’s University Belfast or Newcastle in their semi. Focus quickly shifted to the final where vindication was theirs as they rowed through QUB and Durham [always sweet] to take the bronze medal behind Newcastle (massively improved since HoRR) and Oxford Brookes.
Despite the IC contingent dwindling due to exams and revision, Sunday was another early start for the women’s beginner coxed 4 (cox: Johnson/Sarah Tattersall/Maddy Whybrow/Rosie Davies/Harriet Cross) ahead of their time trial and for the weigh in of the lightweight crews; the MCLwt8+ (cox: Libby Richards/Pearson/P Hudson/Kimberley/Brown/T Richards/Carpenter/Paul Jones/Ben Joakim), MCLwt4x (Pearson/T Richards/Kimberley/Brown), WIntLwt1x (Bowler), WCLwt1x (Symmonds) and WCLwt4- (Bowler/Wickham/Lucy Adkins/Symmonds).
It was a tense moment as the eight tested the scales; most were bang on or below target, with the exception of Paddy Hudson (400g to sweat out) and Team Kimberley, who had managed to drink water in his sleep and was 800g overweight. Both managed to lose about 500g in sweat during biking/erging/running but Kimberley was having trouble losing the last 200g. A quick change of lycras with Gareth ensured a further few grams were lost but, despite multiple trips to the facilities and removal of underwear, a stubborn 100g would not budge. Wilf announced he had one idea left, returned to the bathroom one more time and confirmed every urban legend about lightweight rowing weight loss. The final visit had been enough to just tip the scales to 72.5kg dead. As the crew prepared for their heat, stories of how the last 100g had been lost flourished around the lake and all the way back to London/Facebook. Every last ounce of sweat [and the rest] was worth it as the eight stormed easily through their heat over the full 2km course. Apparently half the crew (those involved in the MCLwt4x later) were not putting down any pressure. In the final, they beat off the competition, winning gold in the event after two years of taking silver; absorbing the futile late pushes from a strong Nottingham crew and the Cambridge Lightweights.
In the MLwt4x, the domination of IC’s lightweights continued as they won their heat easily. Even after the celebrations of winning in the eight, there was no rest for the members of the quad. The guys jumped out of the eight and into the quad and were back at the start in no time. The foursome took the race by the horns and lead from start to finish, despite three of the four members catching crabs at some point during the race. Wilf Kimberley, once again, was the talk of the lake as he caught a crab just as he was turning round to yell at bowman Brown for doing the same thing mid race [oh the irony]. Somehow they still won by 1s.
More medals were brought home by Imperial’s championship female scullers, gold for Mel Wilson in the heavyweights and bronze for Symmonds in the lightweights. In spite of being petrified by the waves/wind, Wilson made her heat and final look like a lesson in UT2 sculling, barely rating over 25 and slicing through the water and the competition. Unfortunately Bowler was not quite as lucky as she capsized in her heat of the WIntLwt1x and was not allowed back in her boat to complete the race, much to her frustration. In the WInt1x, [almost] Dr Duffy and Phillips had a tough time as one began to sink and the other thrown up and down in the waves.
In the coxed fours events (MInt4+ cox: Johnson/Joakim/Jones/P Hudson/Danny Bellion; MC4+ cox: L Richards/A Hudson/Spencer-Jones/Goodier/Steele), the heats went well with both crews qualifying for their finals in second place. The MInt4+ was scratched to concentrate on the Lwt 8 but the MC4+ were determined to beat Durham, who had pipped them to the post in their heat. As the waves soared over the splashboard and cox’s head, tough conditions interfered with Imperial’s rhythm and they took bronze behind strong Newcastle and Durham crews. The WB4+ made it through their semi into the A Final and came fifth overall.
The MC4- (Adam Seward/Jake Lea-Wilson/Bradbury/Sullivan) were less than a second off direct qualification to the final and so faced the repêchage. Disaster struck as Birmingham crashed around the course; shouts from the bank were heard and many athletes raised their hands over the line but despite their protests, the crew proceeded no further. There was better fortune in the men’s double sculls (MC2x Sullivan/Hudson; MInt2x Bradbury/Steele) when the latter brought another silver to the growing collection.
With racing finishing late on Sunday night and more of the squad returning to London, everyone felt pretty tired by Monday morning. Once again, there were time trials and weigh-ins (with less desperate measures) before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. The women’s beginner eight (cox: Wickham/Bowler/Whybrow/Davies/Cross/Tattersall/Joanna Taylor/Rowena Harrison/Adkins) managed to qualify third and were confident for the day ahead, so much so that the WCLwt4x was scratched. The girls battled hard in their semi but were denied a place in the A Final. In the B Final (all finals were raced over 1000km, due to more adverse weather) their determination shone through and second place was theirs.
Even after a full cooked breakfast and plenty of BBQ, the lightweight 2x (Pearson/ Kimberley) and 2- (T Richards/P Hudson) managed to smash both their heats (2km) and win their finals (1km) easily, proving that IC are a force to be reckoned with. Tim Richards casually mentioned that “I haven’t come anything other than first in any race as an IC Lightweight at BUCS” [yes this includes every heat/final of the regatta and the head races in February].
The MC2- of Goodier and Spencer-Jones eased through their heat, more than 10s ahead of their nearest competition and continued to smash it in the face as they came third in the final, again behind a strong Newcastle crew who have been rowing together since school. The men’s quads (MC4x Goodier/A Hudson/Sullivan/Steele; MInt4x Seward/Bellion/Spencer-Jones/Jones) had two differing fates. Drama ensued for the MC4x when a rogue wave trapped Steele’s blade beneath the boat, as other crews rowed off into the distance and unfortunately stole their place in the final. Conversely, fortune smiled on the MInt4x, who were put through to the final as one of the quickest in the heats. In the final they won the last medal of the weekend, a bronze.
Man of the Regatta award would have to go to Mr Wilf Kimberley for not only getting the most medals of anyone at the club (4 gold and 1 bronze) but also for providing so much banter. Thanks go to Mr Andrew Goodier for once again providing scrumptious barbeque and fuelling the annihilation of the competition. Thanks must also go to Iain Weir for kindly allowing the use of his photos. For many more, see http://iainweir.photoshelter.com/gallery-list. Now all eyes turn to the rest of the regatta season and the road to Henley 2011.
For full results, see the BUCS Regatta Website
Libby Richards