Winter Newsletter - Jan 2019

Upcoming Events for RUBC:

·      Bucs head March 2-3: Gloucester

·      RUBC Formal:9th of March –  (Details to follow)

·      RUBC Head of the River March 9th: Caversham

·      Training camp April 8-13: Banyoles, Spain. 

Autumn Term Results 2018:

·      Reading Small Boats Head: 

Wins for:George Lawton - Open 1x, Lucy Ryan - W. Open 1x,  Rob, Alastair, Charles and Edoardo - Open 4x, Joe Pitt - Beginner 1x,  Charlotte Bawn - W. Beginner 1x,  Lucy, Kate, Sophie and Charlotte - W. Open 4x, Johannas and Harry W - Beginner 2x,  Victoria Norton - W. Intermediate 1x and David Few - Intermediate 1x.

·      British Rowing Senior Championships:

Day One wins:Univ Shield O2x and W2x.

Day Two wins:Univ Shield O4x and 3rd in W4x.

·      Fours Head:

Men’s 1st quad - 4th fastest overall 

Men’s 2nd quad - 3rd in Acad Champ 

Men’s 3rd quad - 5th in Acad Champ 

Women’s 1st quad - 1st in Acad Champ and 3rd fastest overall 

Women’s 2nd quad - 4th in Acad Champ 

Women’s 3rd quad - 10th in Acad Champ

·      Trials - GB first assessment – November 2018:

M1x: 

George Lawton 4th in U23,

Rory Harris 6th in U23 

Dave Few 12th in U20 

Alex Badcott 14th in U20

LM1x: 

Franklin Hamilton 3rd in U23

Sean O’Mahony 8th in U23

W1x:

Kate Lyster 12th in U23

LW1x:

Chloe Knight 3rd in U23

·      BUCS Indoors:

Once again we hosted BUCS indoors. Here there were PBs from almost all athletes, which puts everyone in a strong position for the summer season. 

Our top men’s boat winning the Open U23 quads at Senior British Rowing Championships

This term has been a busy one for our athletes and coaches. Competing in a variety of events such as smaller local heads to national events and GB trials we achieved excellent results. Pushing for better results was helped by a new programme introduced in September, which has made this goal very achievable for all athletes at RUBC. We look forward to the results this year.

Success at Fours Head!

RUBC had yet another great set of results at Fours Head this year. We entered six boats in total. The day ended in success with both our top women’s and men’s quads coming a fantastic 1st in Academic Champ (which they will be celebrating their success this coming Thursday in London). The men’s quad came a well-earned 4th fastest overall putting them in a strong position for the rest of the season. Moreover, we showed a brilliant level of depth in both women’s and men’s squads with a 4th and 10th in women’s and 3rd and 5th in men’s quads too.

Thank you to Angus from WeRow for this shot of the women’s top quad. (Rachel, Chloe, Kate and Lucy)

GB First Assessment success!

After yet another successful weekend of racing at GB Trials we came away with a very impressive 3rd from second year Chloe Knight in the LW1x (U23). Accompanying Chloe in success was Franklin Hamilton, Rory Harris and George Lawton, who achieved 3rd in LM1x (U23) and 6th in the M1x (U23) and 4th in the M1x (U23). All four later got invited to the GB camp in Caversham over the winter break (but unfortunately due to illness George was unable to attend). Other notable achievements from that weekend were from Sean O’Mahony who came 8th in the LM1x (U23) and from Kate Lyster who came a well-earned 12th in W1x (U23). 

Chloe Knight in her 5k on the Sunday. Credits again to AllMarkOne.

Rory Harris at GB First Assessment 2018. Again, thank you to AllMarkOne for this great shot.

Captain’s Reports: 

Lucy: Women’s Captain 2018-19

This season has started off well, with a strong contingent of returning students being joined by the freshers of 2018/19. 

We’ve already got many highlights of the term so far. These include picking up a bronze medal at the British rowing championships in the quad, with the three triallists being joined by coach Charlie Taylor to row through Molesey in the last 10 strokes. The top boat of fresher Rachel Heap, Chloe Knight, Kate Lyster and myself picked up a win in the academic quads at fours head where we will be attending the presentation at the brewery in January. The second and third boat were both in the top ten, a great achievement in challenging tideway conditions. A quad of freshers, and Vic Norton in a single also picked up wins in tier 2 at Gloucester Head, where we travelled in preparation for BUCS head in March. At GB trials, Kate Lyster pulled a PB on the 2k, with Chloe knight rounding off the weekend placing 3rd u23 on the water, a remarkable result.

Along with these water achievements we’ve had many PBs on 2ks and 30@20s, which is filling us with huge confidence moving forward to a solid block of winter training.

We are very excited to see what’s to come at BUCS head and BUCS Regatta, and through to the exciting summer races

Rory: Men’s Captain 2018-19

The Men’s Squad has had a very positive start to this season, creating a good squad vibe. New faces have added more depth, as they join the returning members. Training hard and together, we have produced some great results to kickstart the year. Competing at Brit Champs, Trials, Fours Head, Reading Small Boat head and Gloucester. At Brit Champs we managed to come away with the University shield in the double (Alex Badcott and Eduardo Marshall), and a win in the Open u23 quads (Frank, Luke Reiser, George Lawton and myself), as well as a 4th in open doubles (George and myself). At GB trials George came away with a brilliant 4th U23 sculler and Franklin managed a very impressive 3rd U23 Lightweight Sculler. David Few and Alex both had a good weekend all round with strong performances on the water and some pb’s on the 2k ergo. 

Fours Head provided an excellent 4th overall for our Top Men’s Squad of Frank, Luke, George and myself. We had two other quads that also performed very well in some very challenging conditions, coming 3rd in Academic quads (Sean O’Mahony, Eduardo, Alastair Holbrough and John Cooper) and 5th (David, Joe Pitt, Alex and Charles Powell). 

Reading Small Boats provided a chance for the full squad to compete. We came away with a win in Inter Quads with three freshers (Eduardo, Alastair and Charles) and a returner in Rob Mchphereson. George won Open Singles, David won Inter singles, Joe won beginner singles, and Harry West and Johannes de Jong won beginner doubles. 

Once again Gloucester allowed the whole squad to race, with wins in the single (Sean), and top quad. Luke, John, Rob, Alex and David all raced in their singles as well performing at a high standard all round. We had four quads all entered in open quads, in preparation for BUCS head which is taking place at Gloucester this year. All the quads raced well, gaining good experience. 

We have also seen huge progress and steps being made in training from all members of the squad, on the ergos, in the gym and on the water. PB’s in the 2ks, 30 minutes and 5ks this term have been encouraging to see. Big thanks must go to our coaches, Chris Bartley, Charlie Taylor, Will Rand and Roddy Slater for all their work. I am very excited to see what we can achieve for the remainder of the season from the whole squad.

We have had a big intake of Novices this year which has been fantastic to see. Above is one of our beginner women’s quads being taken out for a technical session with coach, Charlie Taylor.

The men’s squad at British Senior Rowing Championships.

A perfect photo opportunity! (The men’s 4th quad)