Notts City Regatta

Two weeks after BUCS Regatta and exams are upon (almost) everyone, forcing most of the club's athletes to put some of that training and racing time into early morning and late night sessions in the library. However, there were still Loughborough Students in attendance at Notts City Regatta, with a particularly strong attendance from the senior girls.

James Ingle, 3rd in the M.Nov.1x (Photo: Ed Fisher)

First up was the Women's Novice Eight, where six of our girls and cox Nat Egginton joined up with two of the Nottingham RC girls to form a crew that won their heat and came third in the final. In the Coxed Fours, Nat again took control of Alex Beviss, Fiona Robinson, Emily Quimby and Kat Aguilar-Agon, coming 2nd in the Novice race while new Women's Captain Kirsty Brown jumped into NRC's IM2 boat which came 5th.

Hannah Wright got the girls under way in the sculling events, finishing 4th in the Elite Lightweight Single. Next up, Ruth Mckellar and Caitlin Boyland came 3rd in the IM3 Double. Sarah Bonar and Bethan Lloyd then took 2nd place in the IM2 Double before teaming up with two of the NRC girls to win the IM2 Quad!

Singles were generally the boat of choice for the few boys racing this weekend. Four of the boys on the club's Talent ID scheme were due to race in the Novice Single, however Ben Colman was forced to pull out due to a forearm injury. Unfortunately Jon Stimpson caught a crab that caused him to fall in and British Rowing to kindly deliver a racing incident report to the committee's inbox, leaving two members left to finish. Matt Brazkiewicz, who had to miss BUCS Regatta, came 6th while James Ingle (BUCS Regatta Novice 1x silver medalist) came 3rd. In the IM3 Single, Ayrton Carlton and new Men's Captain Alex 'Bertie' Watkins brought home a 1-2 for Loughborough Students Rowing! Stuart Walker was also racing, sitting at bow for NRC in both their IM2 and IM3 eights, finishing 6th and 4th respectively.

We're looking forward to a good weekend of racing again next time out, at Peterborough Regatta and Metropolitan Regatta.. watch out for us in Peterborough and at Dorney!

Alex 'Bertie' Watkins not posing (Photo: Ed Fisher)

AU Ball 2013 - Most Improved Club of the Year... almost

Another academic year of sport is nearing its end and exams are nearly (or already for some people) upon us which meant only one thing last Saturday night for Loughborough Students.. the return of the annual Athletic Union Ball!

The previous weekend was BUCS Regatta, our flagship event of the year for uni people not so knowledgeable on what the big events really are, and in our sport we are only just getting into our real racing season. Head racing and indoor 'racing' and testing through the winter just doesn't have anything on 2000 m (or less) side by side racing - yes, Henley Royal Regatta is a fair few metres longer but you get the point! Most of the other sports clubs' BUCS events have finished by this point in the year, though, and so it is that time for a big celebration of how well Loughborough did.. again. This year Loughborough Students won the overall BUCS Championship for the 33rd year in a row!

The timing of the event was good for us this year - it was after BUCS Regatta and none of the trialists had to be away either - so we got a fantastic turnout at the Athena in Leicester, representing the whole membership. As always, the boys enjoyed donning their dinner jackets and the girls could all compare tan lines in their ball dresses. Those who had them proudly wore their now old school LSRC maroon blazers, receiving a lot of attention and praise from people involved in all areas of Loughborough Sport. When we finally get hold of some purple, white and pink ones to fit in with the rebrand and new kit, there is no doubt heads will be turning for all the right reasons!

This year has been a particularly big year for the club. Founded in 1952, last year was our 60th anniversary and at the end of that year came the decision to move the whole club's base to Nottingham Rowing Club. Of course, there have been teething issues over the year but it has been seen to have been very successful by all involved and something that has laid the foundations for the continued progression of the club and its athletes over the coming years.

Prior to the AU Ball, the club was flattered to be nominated for the award of 'Most Improved Club of the Year'. Last year, Jonny Walton won 'Sports Man of the Year' so to be nominated for something two years in a row meant a lot. The reasoning as to why we were nominated follows:

"Moving the whole club this year to one base at Nottingham Rowing Club (NRC) - a British Rowing high performance centre - has enabled LSRC members to get and keep training and interacting together. Coaching, a great fleet and new gym facilities are available for all at NRC, on a 9 km stretch of the River Trent and the 2000 m racing lake at the National Water Sports Centre (NWSC).

In previous years, the membership was one of (if not) the most segregated of all clubs in the AU with Performance, Lightweight, Senior, Intermediate, Novice and Talent ID Mens and Womens sections training at different times and locations between:

• Campus - PowerBase gym
• Loughborough Boat Club (LBC)
• Nottingham and Union Rowing Club (NURC)
• Nottingham Rowing Club
• National Water Sports Centre

All under one roof now, there has been a good integration with NRC across all sections and a greatly improved feel within LSRC too.The club has entered significantly more races this year across all sections and shown success across the board, also racing as NRC composites when required. Most importantly, LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS ROWING is back and hungry for more progress!"

Unfortunately we lost out on the Most Improved Club award to Handball, a relatively young AU club in Loughborough who were very deserved winners. They have been very successful and put through an extraordinary number of triallists this year.

As always there was a lot of mingling with members of other clubs at the champagne reception that preceded the meal. As the evening went on the speeches were made, prizes awarded, tables' wine consumed in copious amounts and puddings eaten with no hands - as always seems to be the way at these events. Once the ceremonial business had been taken care of, people let their hair down a bit more, mingling once again on the dance floor and propping up the bar.

For those familiar with Loughborough nightlife, you will be please to know that the next stop after the ball was Mansion and then Echos - where else would you go on a Saturday night!?

The ball was a night enjoyed and fondly (if perhaps surprisingly) remembered by almost all. A huge thank you to all involved in organising the ball, runnning Loughborough Sport on the AU and SDC sides of things and those who train and compete week in, week out. Also, thanks to Nottingham Rowing Club and all involved there who have helped our club to progress so much this year. There is a great foundation for the future now.

BUCS Regatta Round Up

The 2013 edition of BUCS Regatta and the May Day bank holiday weekend has passed us and with that the end of the 2012-13 BUCS Rowing Season, just in time for everybody else's sprint racing seasons to start getting under way properly! The club managed to get '50' athletes taking part in the event which is the most we've had competing in one event for a number of years!

SATURDAY - DAY 1

Saturday was the day that all the novices had been waiting for since the beginning of the year. What was all this build up about? How many people were really going to be there? Would the weather really be that bad? Is it really that difficult to get boated and to the start on time and without some kind of panic? Would the time trial timing be correct? Would the starting lights and sound be in sync? All would start to be revealed not long before 0800 in the morning and the start of the time trials!

The men's beginner coxed fours were the first of the novice crews to come home in their finals. One of the crews raced pretty well a few weeks previously, winning at Leicester Regatta and the other had no side by side experience. As it turned out, the boys were in different finals. The Leicester winners won the H Final by 23 seconds, showing they really should not have been there and putting Bath in their rightful place (below Loughborough) which was good for the traditional rivalry. The more rookie crew also won in the G Final by a closer margin of 4.53 seconds. To really appreciate the feat, though, you should know that Matt Goodhead's footplate came off after 1850 m to go. The opposition crews started to catch up but cox Dan Mugall kept the boys well motivated with Matt's leg unable to support him when they got out of the boat.

Mens Novice 4+

The first A or B Finalists of the day were Ruth Mckellar and Nicky Gray out in the pair, who came home in fifth. Next up was Alex Evangelidis in the lightweight single who came second in the B Final after agonisingly missing out on the A Final. The women's championship four picked up a bronze medal in their final, beaten by strong Imperial and Reading crews and picking off the Oxford girls with a great push in the last 500.

Last up on the day was perhaps one of our most eagerly anticipated crews - the 'Big Eight', entered in the men's intermediate eight category. The crew's cox Rob Lawson had just about as many year's experience in the sport as all the boys put together, as four had only joined the started rowing with the Talent ID programme the previous autumn and three only started the year before. The amount of power in the boat is enormous - with the crew averages being both taller and heavier than either of the Oxford or Cambridge boat race crews - but expectation remained realistic! Fifth in the semi final to some slick crews from Newcastle, UL and Brookes, with Kingston taking 4th, the boys were looking make amends and come out on top in the B Final. Loughborough were leading after 500 with Kingston gradually pulling them back but stayed neck and neck until Jared Minnican caught one of those boat stopping crabs and nearly ejected with 700 to go - the boys rowed in fourth of four and absolutely gutted!

SUNDAY - DAY 2

With the first day out of the way, it was time for the novice girls to have their turn at finding out what BUCS Regatta was all about in the beginner's coxed four. In the G Final, they worked hard as a crew the whole way down but unfortunately came in 6th - the experience certainly doing them some good for future racing.

Novice Womens 4+

The novice boys came second to only Imperial in the beginner's eights E Final and beat the best of the other four crews by 18.3 seconds. Up next was the men's intermediate coxed four, where Louise Hart managed to sandwich coxing duties in between a busy racing schedule. The crew didn't have much time together and had been training in a coxless four so racing in the now heavier coxed boat that Nottingham Uni kindly let us borrow was something very different. After a slow start, the crew remained in touch but always had work to do to get in real contention and ended up coming sixth after catching a crab inside the last 200 m.

In the women's intermediate lightweight single, Alex Beviss came sixth in the C Final and Hannah Wright came fifth in the A Final. Next, Louise Hart came second, securing silver - and another medal to add to her collection - in the intermediate openweight even though she was very little over the lightweight upper limit. Katie Bartlett came fourth in the championship single, an event she was trying to defend for last year's winner Pippa Whittaker.

The men's lightweight quad was the next big hope of the day having been a much anticipated event for most of the year. Long time LSRC member Craig Turner was joined by Alex Evangelidis, Alex Kratzer and Stuart Walker, who was hungry to be the first LSRC BUCS medalist for a number of years who started at Loughborough and hadn't been recruited to the sport through any kind of Talent ID scheme. Gripping from the start, it was stereotypically close lightweight race where the boys settled in fourth for the first 1500. Called at 500 to go, Alex Kratzer led the boys from the stroke seat in taking the rate and speed up, taking lots of ground out of the other crews before winding it up again from 250 out. The crew delivered one of the most exciting finishes of the entire regatta to beat Nottingham Uni into third place and take the bronze medal.

Mens Lightweight 4x (from left): Alex Evangelidis, Stuart Walker, Craig Turner, Alex Kratzer

The girls finished the day's racing off with a fifth place finish in the intermediate eights A Final where Oxford, Cardiff and Reading were always just ahead. The Loughborough girls raced hard with UCL and Oxford Brookes in an exciting sub-plot and will feel unlucky to have come fifth.

MONDAY - DAY 3

Monday was a day that must have seemed a long way off only a few days previously but suddenly we were there - the last day of BUCS Regatta and nearly another year to wait. For the boys who made it onto the Talent ID programme at the beginning of the year, this was probably the race they had been looking forward for the longest. This was their chance to see how they matched up against not only each other but all the other uni students who had started rowing that year too. This was the race they could see how that change they made to the 'early mornings at the lake' lifestyle had worked for them. A highly competitive event this year, two made it into the semi finals from LSRC. James Ingle came second in the A Final to the sculler from Anglish Ruskin who we can only say smashed it. 'Jingle' (as he's known to most of the club) was the only person close throughout the race, eventually coming second, ten seconds ahead of third place to get his very deserving hands on a BUCS Rowing silver medal.

The girls raced their B Final in the intermediate coxed fours immediately after the singles. After starting well, they battled hard with Oxford for third place but were just beaten to it by 0.5 seconds. The intermediate double qualified for the A Final and came fifth.

In the lightweight double, Craig Turner and Alex Kratzer delivered a fantastic first gold medal of the regatta with an awesome sprint finish. 1500 m into the race, the duo were 3 seconds behind Imperial but ended up beating them by 2.37 seconds, with Durham a further three seconds back.

Katie Bartlett, Sarah  Bonar, Bethan Lloyd and Louise Hart were looking to back up their gold medal winning performance in the championship coxless four from BUCS Head with another victory here. A close race between the top five crews the whole way, Loughborough were in fifth place (3 seconds behind fourth) with 500 left, where the call came to make the move and the boat started to surge past Cambridge and UL. The crew took third place (behind Durham and Imperial) and a well deserved bronze medal after an intense weekend of racing.

Supporters base for the weekend kindly lent by Loughborough Students Athletics Club

The increased number of competitors and presence of lots of new Loughborough Sport branding in the form of our new kit, a large banner above one of the boat racking bays and a two gazebos (one of which was branded and used refreshments for coaches, friends and family members) sent out a message to the other university boat clubs that Loughborough Students Rowing Club is looking forward to bigger and better things. The weather was also relatively decent for once which helps things a huge amount - as long as everyone remembers to put on their suncream (*cough* Tom Hewlett).

Tied 7th with Oxford Brookes in the medal table and 10th in the BUCS Points table is pretty respectable but something we feel that we can certainly build on next year and look forward to doing so. The club lost two key members in Jonny Walton and Matt Gotrel to graduation and the GB Rowing team and two others in Ed Couldwell and Pippa Whittaker to injury so defending our medal table victory from last year was always going to be tough but we tried. We had a lot more members competing this year from the novice and intermediate sections of the club which shows that we have really progressed in making the club more rounded and hopefully next year these people will be looking to add to the medal count for Loughborough Students Rowing Club. There are too many people to name but thanks to everybody involved in the club this year and contributing in whatever way you have - you know who you are and what you've done - it is very much appreciated by all the members!

A final note - well done also to LSRC alumnus Pete Muhley who picked up a few medals racing for Newcastle Uni. Hopefully you heard us cheering for you when you weren't against us.