Saturday
With memories of glorious weather bringing a certain hope to BUCs Regatta 2019 the club descended on the National Water Sports Centre. Saturday was the turn of the men’s 8+, novice 4+ and women’s 2-. Tom, Evan decided this wasn’t enough for one day’s work and doubled up to compete in the LwtC1x and Int1x respectively. Tom proved that recovery is merely a luxury and not a requirement when he jumped out the eight, following their semi, into his awaiting single only to comfortably win his following repechage and carry this momentum into coming away with a bronze medal.
The Women’s squad fielded 3 pairs on the first day of BUCS. All the girls put in strong performances throughout the day, improving with every race. This resulted in a 4th place in the championship category, qualifying the girls for EUSA, and IC battling down the track for a very closely fought 4th and 5th place in the intermediate A final.
For the men’s eight training had been limited due to some busy exam timetables, we knew we’d have to perform at our best to build on last year’s bronze to challenge some strong crews from Newcastle and Brookes. Despite an aggressive and well executed 1st 500m, our lack of time in the boat showed during the middle of the race, and we ended slipping in behind Newcastle to a disappointing 4th. With the Intermediate 8 also finishing the day in 4th position, this left everyone extremely hungry for medals in the 4s in which we had spent more time preparing.
The other medal of the day came from the Novice 4+ with some tight racing against well drilled crews from Surrey and UEA, in the end bringing home the bronze medal. The 2nd Novice 4+ also gave a highly commendable performance coming 2nd in the B final, proving to be not at all phased by Luca’s last minute substitution into one of the intermediate 8s meaning some more runs down the track. These results gave coach Jamie great confidence moving into the beginner 8+ on Sunday.
MC8+: 4th
MB4+: Bronze, 2nd B final
MLwtC1x: Bronze
MInt8+: 4th A final, 1st D final, 1st F final
WC2-: 4th A final
WInt2-: 4th,5th A final
MInt1x: 3rd C final
Sunday
Following some close finishes on Saturday bringing home 4 x 4th place finishes, IC returned on Sunday hungry for medals. After the top coxless four's good performance in the time trial and Toms 7th race of the weekend, they placed 4th and were going into the repechages in good shape. Fuelled by Pete's snags off the barbie, they cruised through the repechage and managed to one up their TT performance to bring home the bronze medal in the A final. The 2nd MC4- put down a good performance in the TT however were unfortunate to be knocked out in the repechage.
Sunday meant new beginnings for the men’s championship coxed four. Having trained in this boat class throughout camp, with countless ‘pieces with swaps’, the crew was drilled and raring to go. After a disappointing time trial in the eight, it was evident that something had to change, and with eyes on the top two spots heading straight to the final, hearts and minds were set on one goal; pull really hard. With somewhat faster results processing this year at BUCS, we came off the water to find ourselves safely in front of third position, with a relaxed afternoon ahead of us while the rest of the field battled it out for spots in the final.
After a well deserved leave of absence, the four returned to the course, ready to try and rattle the Brookes cage. A dodgy first stroke of the final got our adrenal glands pumping, sending us out in the first five hundred meters next to Brookes, walking away from the rest of the field, much to Jack’s dismay as he tried to calm Noam’s aggressive rhythm. Unfortunately, we weren’t strong enough to hold on, but comfortably held the silver position to the finish line. All in all, it was a day of redemption for the four, with a first time BUCS medal for fresher and seasoned veteran (Ben??) alike.
There were only 7 entries in the Women’s Championship 8+ on Sunday. This meant that the Imperial girls only had to beat one crew to get into the final but in such a stacked event, it wasn’t going to be easy. They hit the time trial hard, beating Durham to secure their spot and maintained their 6th place in the final.
All the novices in the 8 were very excited for BUCS, being our first regatta, and unfortunately our last race as a boat before some rowers leave uni after exams. The commitment shown in training and working out these past few months paid off over the weekend. The determination to make Jamie, Kieron and the other novices proud of us showed in the time trial where we placed 2nd. We won our semi-final with ease, saving energy for what we knew would be a hard final. The final set off and the Surrey 8 had half a length on us from the beginning and although we managed to keep that distance the same, we weren't able to walk up on them. A great experience for everyone! I end by quoting Jamie Kirkwood ‘If these boys medal I’m jumping in the water!’, something we didn’t let him forget.
WC8+: 6th
MB8+: Silver
MC4+: Silver
MC4-: Bronze, 6th Repechage
MC2x: 6th
WLwtC1x: 3rd Repechage
WC1x: 5th Repechage
WB4+: 1st B Final
MInt4+: 1st B Final, 3rd E Final
Monday
The final day of BUCS regatta 2019 was always going to be a tough one for the WC4-, with a stacked field of equally stacked girls. Nevertheless, taking a solid fourth place in the time trial, 9 seconds ahead of 5th and 5 seconds off 1st, we were able to carry that confidence through the repechage and ensure a comfortable win. It was then time for the big one, the final. Despite out greatest efforts and a row to be proud of, we did not come away with any bling. However, we did secure our W4- EUSA slot for the third year running by crossing the line in the top 4. We would like to thank Scooter ( aka Jamie) for providing the perfect hype tunes, and Pete for the snags, without which the third and final day of BUCS would have been a much greater struggle.
On the third day, Casper and Max set out in the pair for the first time since late January. In the time trial, Casper and Max were 11 seconds off second (purely down to the headwind), a perfectly executed plan to put Durham boy into a false sense of security. They won their repechage, as did the other IC pair who posted a .3s better time and so Casper and Max ended up with a worse lane. What Casper and max lacked in weight, they made up for in chat, and thoroughly rattled Durham on their way to the start line. After an average start, Durham had clear water, at the 1k, IC made their push and started to reel them in. By this point, Oscar had blown, and so Casper made the call to finish him. However it had transpired that he hadn’t fully blown, but IC still managed to valiantly claw back the margin to 4 s to take the Bronze with the other IC pair coming in a close 5th with a margin of 0.03s to Cambridge in 4th.
MC2-: Bronze, 5th
WC4-: 4th
WB8+: 4th B final
WC4+: 5th Semi Final
MC4x: 4th
WInt2x: 6th D Final
MB1x: 43rd TT
