BUCS Head 2023
On the 18th of February RUBC athletes travelled up to Newcastle to race at this years BUCS head. The race consists of a 4.6km course along the Tyne. The weekend saw very windy conditions which was challenging to all racing crews. Despite this, the Reading athletes prevailed.
Division 1 saw our championship men’s 4x and intermediate 4x ‘a’ and ‘b’ race.
The men’s championship 4x demonstrated there class as the top boat, placing first in the event ahead of closest rivals Bath university by 8 seconds. They also achieved the third fastest time of any boat class of the day, behind two top eights. They also won the head the previous year (with Olly Dix in the 2 seat), with the addition of Jacob Parrington in the 2 seat, they showed the dominance of themselves as a unit and as some of the top university scullers in the country.
Photo: ALLMARKONE Men’s CH4x: Louis Powell, Sol Hewitt, Jacob Parrington, Josh Lyon
The men’s intermediate boats also displayed there class, representing the depth of our squad at RUBC. The ‘a’ and ‘b’ boats achieved first and third respectively. The ‘a’ boat also achieved a time which would have placed them third in championship quads. An outstanding performance which will boost the confidence of the boys, showing they have the quality required for aiming for the top boat in years to come.
Men’s Int4x ‘a’: Jack Bates, Trent Abraham, Davvid Wise, Tommy Fuller Photo: ALLMARKONE
Photo: ALLMARKONE Men’s Int4x ‘b’: Dan Oakeley, Kabir Bedi, Will Buckingham, Jake Ingham
Division 2 saw the women’s squad and lightweight men take to the field.
The championship girls 4x raced a particularly strong race and despite missing GB U23 Lauren Maddison to illness, achieved a silver amongst the best university quads in the country. A massive credit to the girls illustrating their strength amongst the best in the country. We are excited to see what this crew can produce in the races to come.
Photo: ALLMARKONE WCH4x: Lara Brittain, Finnola Stratton, Ellie Cooke, Alex Grocock
The girls intermediate 4x raced fantastically in the rough conditions, with the ‘a’ and ‘b’ boats producing 9th and 4th respectively. Whilst this might not have been the results they went out for, they laid a solid foundation to build upon for the remaining season, coming into the regatta races.
Photo: ALLMARKONE WINT4x ‘a’: Leah Atkinson, Flora Robertson, Anna Turner, Emma Quaglieri
Photo: ALLMARKONE WINT4x ‘b’: Rosie Mammatt, Katie Gould, Zara Povey, Isobel Burridge
The men’s lightweight quad gave a strong performance, racing outstandingly to outclass their opposition for the first place. This all in all shows the great depth of the squad at Reading. This concluded that each member of the men’s squad returned to Reading with a medal, an amazing achievement.
Photo: ALLMARKONE MLWT4x: Jack Bates, Kabir Bedi, Charlie Ingham, Dan Oakeley
Overall, the weekend saw some great racing, allowing our athletes to perform diligently, displaying their hard winters training. #purplepride