A fantastic performance from the University of Surrey Boat Club at BUCS Head, putting us 3rd overall in the medal table.
Over the 26th-27th February weekend, our squads travelled to Newcastle for BUCS Head, a moment we have all been counting down towards following a tough winter training block since our Seville camp. It was now time to see all our hard work pay off, racing other university crews in a time-trial competition across 5km (for the seniors) and 3 km (for the beginners). After some very windy and stormy weather in the weeks leading up to the race, relief was felt amongst all athletes as the sun shone Saturday morning.
DAY 1
Day 1 saw our seniors racing across the intermediate and championship events. Some of our beginner crews also stepped up to race over the longer distance. First up in division 1 was our intermediate women’s 8 made up of our beginner women. They showed everyone what they were made of and placed in the middle of the rankings, even beating some top senior boats.
Three men’s intermediate quads were next down the course finishing in 6th place, 14th place and 22nd place.
It was later time for our men’s coxed four to come down the course, made up of James McMullan, Ed Stracey, Sydney Burnard, Jamie Gamble and cox, Ellie H-D. The boys put in a stela performance crossing the finish line in 16:06.2, earning themselves a silver medal in the Intermediate M4+ category. Our men’s intermediate 8, then later placed in the top 10.
In the women’s intermediate quad event, we had two boats entered with our top boat placing 7th, beating some of the big names in sculling such as Edinburgh and Reading. We look forward to seeing what these girls can do come regatta season! Our ‘B’ boat, made up of mostly beginners placed in 26th.
Our lightweight women also brought home some medals:
- Silver medal in the Intermediate WLwt4x
- Gold medal in the Championship WLwt4-
With pressure on them following their success at BUCS regatta last year, they delivered. Having recently turned to sweeping in search of another medal, they truly did an incredible job over the weekend, winning USBC’s first gold medal for the weekend.
Despite the wind picking up, we were still ready to go again on day 2.
DAY 2
Day 2 was time for the beginners to show all the crews that surrey was here. With crews racing in fours, eights, and quads across the 3km distance, it was going to be a busy and exciting day.
- First up, our women’s beginner quad secured 5th place.
- Our ‘A’ women’s beginner coxed four boat secured a gold medal with a huge 30 second lead over Durham in 2nd place.
- Our ‘B’ crew just missed out on a medal by 5 seconds coming in 4th place.
A quick turnaround for our girls who were up in the first race of division two, racing the WBeg8+ category. The girls were looking strong down the course and delivered yet another gold medal performance! What a way to inaugurate the newly named women’s Hudson Eight, the Eleanor Stevens; named after our incredible Development Coach who also won British Rowing’s Rising Star of the Year Award. The beginner men’s quad also had a strong race, crossing the line in 10th place.
Coming home to Guildford with 3 BUCS gold medals and 2 silvers only drives us to work harder. WEHoRR, BUCS Regatta and Henley here we come!
