BUCS 4s and 8s Head 2012: BUCS Head on the River Nene in Peterborough never fails to be a challenging race for all concerned and 2012 was no exception. In a weekend of two halves, the gales of Saturday played havoc with the beginner crews as many failed to complete the course whereas the relative calm of Championship Sunday delivered more medals and BUCS points for ICBC’s seniors, both men and women, heavyweight and lightweight. The lightweight men were once again worth their weight in gold, winning their two events with relative ease.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
The weekend began early for the Novices again [breaking them into morning people] as they caught the train from King’s Cross/St Pancras. As soon as they arrived at the course, the wind struck them (25mph with even higher gusts). The Don and Sophie Clarke-Hackston’s attempts to erect the marquee were scuppered as the framework was demolished by the wind and a tangled wreck of metal was all that remained. The MB8+ (cox: Danya Husain/Jake Barker/Stephan Rossbauer/Martin Ebner/Jérémie Werner/Rayane Jackson/James Baker/Dan Ward/Elliott Jennings) was first out on the water and carnage soon struck. Boats floated and crashed into each other as they were battered from bank to bank by the wind. Such was the extent of the melee that only 32 of the 53 crews present on the day completed the 2.5km course and multiple boats are thought to have capsized. Imperial’s crew was fortunately NOT one of these and the guys came ninth overall in a time of 13:33.6.
Photo Courtesy of Martin Ebner
The WB4+ (cox: Ana Yong/Chloe Goulding/Anne Hardijizer/Giulia Zerbini/Nadine Kalmoni) was further back in the same shambolic division. During the race, the girls crashed with Southampton and Giulia was inches away from attempting to decapitate their cox. After a “heated conversation” [read swearing] on the water, apologies were made from both sides. The girls took tenth place in 18:04.8, much more successful than the ten crews that never made the finish line. After the bloodshed [figurative, not literal – hopefully at least] of division 1, the second beginner division was cancelled due to the inclement weather preventing the WB8+ and the two MB4+s from racing. The novices headed to Belushi's once more to drown their sorrows/celebrate but the absence of Capt Paddy [and his buying of sambuca] was keenly felt by all.
Photo Courtesy of Martin Ebner
Once the gales had subsided, the Men’s Championship 8+ and 4x arrived at Peterborough, ready and raring to go but the guys were hampered in their rigging attempts as the [rather necessary] riggers lay in the truck at the hotel; unfortunately Dizzle had overestimated the length of time the minibus would take. After a quick paddle, everyone headed back to the hotel for a quick shower before heading out into the Cambridgeshire countryside in search of food [despite the best attempts of the hotel receptionist, nowhere was able to accommodate 20 hungry rowers on a Saturday night]. Some stayed for the fare at the next-door Harvester restaurant with all-you-can-eat salad and free ice cream sundaes, while another group headed towards the largest Tesco in Europe to buy the next day’s lunch and then on to Frankie and Benny’s for the BIGGEST calzones know to man - 15 inches of folded goodness [rumour suggest Hal Bradbury finished it in under 15 mins]. The Women’s Squad and the Lightweights arrived at the hotel late in the evening but still had time and energy to head to the Harvester.
Photo Courtesy of Simon Steele
After a good night’s sleep, everyone was up bright and early, ready for the day’s racing. The lightweights scrimped around breakfast, wary of eating too much before the dreaded weigh-in after not bringing the club scales [fail]. Another rapid rigging session followed at the course and the lightweights weighed in [a sweat run for Paddy Hudson lead to the perfect weight of 74.9kg]. The conditions improved on the previous day but strong winds lingered leading to some interesting arrangements at the start of the first division as boats drifted left, right and centre, much to the annoyance of the marshals.
First to face the 4.5km Championship course (shortened by 500m compared to previous years) were the MC4x (bow: Paul Jones/Myles Holbrough/Sam Cottrell/Dan Powell) starting second in the entire division. Between the brie, wine and baguettes following Frenchman Jones, the lighter-than-lightweight bowpair, the constant chitter chatter from Powell and the hole in Cottrell’s hand, the quad completed the course in 13:12.4, taking sixth place in the category. Next up was the MC4- (bow: Rory Sullivan/Matt Pointing/Ali Hudson/Ben Spencer Jones) who took the bronze medal in a time of 13:32.6. Unfortunately the guys were unavailable for comment after the race. The other half of the Men’s eight (racing in division 2) were in the MC4+ (cox: Jess Johnson/Hal Bradbury/Simon Steele/James Hobhouse/Danny Bellion) and smashed down the power to take fourth place, the same position their time of 13:50.4 would have earned them in the coxless event.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
For the first time since 2009, ICBC had a WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP EIGHT [yes, you read that correctly] entered into BUCS. Although only two outings had been had and some side-switching was required, the girls (cox: Libby Richards/Klara Weaver/Louise Connell/Lily Beadle/Hannah Patterson/Rosie Davies/Harriet Cross/Cat Buizza/Siân Morgan) smashed it to take fourth place in a time of 14:41.8. In another break with tradition, lightweight women were out racing. The WLwt4x (bow: Maddy Whybrow/Steph Lunt/Ana Yong/Alice Pistolesi) consisted of three of Imperial’s finest novices and one of last year’s. As Sophie pushed the girls off the bank, she wasn’t sure the full complement was in the boat as it was so light but all four crossed the finish line, battling against the headwind in 17:37.3, taking 7th in the event. Their male counterparts continued to build on their [almost] unbeaten record in the MLwt4- (bow: Paddy Hudson/Gareth Brown/Wilf Kimberley/Tim Richards) as they took the win in 13:20.6, 10s ahead of their competition and 12s ahead of IC’s heavyweights.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
As well as shortening the course this year, BUCS reduced the number of divisions to two and thus a more leisurely break was had between boatings. On the way up to the start, disaster struck the WLwt4- (bow: Wybrow/Lunt/Pistolesi/Hannah Neenan) as the rudder string broke, forcing the girls onto the bank and into cheerleading roles; welcome encouragement for those racing at one of the toughest parts of the course. This left only the WC4+ (cox: Johnson/Patterson/Cross/Connell/Weaver), a boat of four bowsiders[!], to represent the fairer half of ICBC. Despite a fracas with Edinburgh University, whose stroke girl decided the slower crew had right of way, the girls finished off the day in the smashing time of 15:08.0. They took the silver medal, just 2s behind winners, Reading, and 24s ahead of third place, Durham and would have won the WC4- category; a promising start to 2012 for the female students.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
Leading the division and wearing the coveted number 1 [thanks to the absence of last year’s winners, Cambridge] were the MC8+ (cox: L Richards/Spencer Jones/Sullivan/Pointing/A Hudson/Bellion/Hobhouse/Steele/Bradbury). Starting the division meant the eight enjoyed perfectly flat water with just the gusty headwind to contend with. Great crew spirit kept the rate up (aim of 36) and the power going down all the way along the course, with Spencer Jones and Sullivan bashing out a strong rhythm. The guys completed the course in 12:08.6, an agonisingly close 0.4s behind Durham, forcing them to settle for the Bronze medal behind the two north-eastern universities, with Newcastle taking the win. The next closest crew, Southampton, were more than 30s off the pace.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
The lightweight men were back out in the same order (bow: P Hudson/Brown/Kimberley/T Richards) but with two blades each instead of one for the MLwt4x. The glassy water experienced by the MC8+ had turned to vicious waves by the time the quad arrived [thanks to the MInt8+s]. The skinny boys soldiered on regardless, wearing their new tartan leggings and camouflage lycra combination, adding another gold to their ever expanding collection in 12:46.6.
Photo Copyright of Iain Weir
Once back in London, some headed to Fiesta Havanas to dance away their last remaining ounces of energy. Over the weekend, 93 BUCS points were won between the ten championship boats, giving a running total of 123 so far this season. Now the focus turns to crews for the Women’s and Men’s Heads of the River on the 3rd and 17th March respectively.
Many thanks to Iain Weir for the use of his photos in this article. Many more can be found here.
Libby Richards