Close racing at the Windermere Cup
The BROOKES|Rowing Men’s 1st VIII recently returned from a week-long trip to Seattle, where they were invited by the University of Washington to take part in this year’s Windermere Cup. The race took place on the world-renowned Montlake Cut between Oxford Brookes, the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. It is one of the highlights of the collegiate rowing calendar, with recent competitors including New Zealand, China and Great Britain. This year’s race was dubbed the “World Series” of university rowing because it featured the top crews from Britain, Canada and the United States. The race itself, which can be found here, started with a huge push
GB Rowing Final Trials Report
This weekend, 18 BROOKES|Rowing athletes raced over two days at the GB Rowing Senior, U23 and FISU Final Trials at Caversham. The crews were blessed with great conditions which made for some tight racing throughout the weekend. The time trials and semi-finals were raced on Saturday, with the finals taking place on Sunday morning. Matt Tarrant, who raced in the winning Men’s 1st VIII at the recent Head of the River Race, came away with a win in the M2- partnered by Alan Sinclair. Matt was in the bronze medal winning M4- at last year’s World Rowing Championships, and will be looking to gain selection for the top heavyweight men’s
Brookes retain headship at Head of the River
The Men’s 1st VIII retained the headship in a dead heat with Leander A. As a result, they won the Academic Pennant and were the joint winners of The Fairbairn Trophy and holding their place as the headship crew. The 2nd VIII won the third place pennant- our highest ever placing for a second ranked crew. The 3rd VIII finished 5th, winning the Bernard Churchill Trophy for the fastest full student eight. The 4th VIII finished in 11th- the 5th best result in the university category The 5th VIII finished 17th, ranking them 7th amongst the university crews The 6th VIII came 34th, moving up 87 places from the last
Women’s Head Report
Three BROOKES|Rowing eights travelled to London on Saturday to race in this year’s Women’s Head of the River Race. The race was part of a long weekend of racing which also incorporated the Head of the River Race and Schools Head- the first time all three have been run in this format. There were a record 320 entries at Women’s Head- more than the men’s race for the first time ever. The women’s 1st VIII, featuring GB Rowing Team member Annie Withers, finished in a very strong sixth place overall, winning the senior pennant for the first time in the club’s history. The 2nd VIII put in a great row
Brookes make history on the Tideway
The BROOKES|Rowing men’s squad made history this weekend, where they were victorious over the two Cambridge University crews who will take part in the Boat Races in three week’s time. This is the first time a Brookes crew has beaten both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year, and it is testament to the strength in depth of the squad that the 2nd VIII also beat both Goldie and Isis. The Cambridge Blue Boat won the toss and elected to take the Surrey station for both pieces. The first ran from Putney to Chiswick steps. It was Cambridge who scored the first blow, and by Fulham Football Ground, the light
Oxford University Fixture Report
BROOKES|Rowing opened their spring season this weekend against local rivals the University of Oxford. Two men’s and two women’s crews lined up on the Tideway in one of the official Boat Race fixtures- which takes place on 24 March. The highlight of the day was the Men’s 1st VIII winning both pieces against the OUBC Blue Boat. All races featured two pieces- the first from Putney to St Paul’s, and the second from Chiswick Eyot to the University Post. In the men’s race, Brookes made the first move and had edged out to a few seats by the end of Putney Embankment. They drew out to almost a length by
Four BROOKES|Rowing crews to face University of Oxford
This Saturday 24 February, BROOKES|Rowing will open its spring racing season against local rivals, the University of Oxford. The top two eights from the men’s and women’s squads will battle it out against their dark blue counterparts over two pieces on the championship course, where Oxford will race Cambridge University in 4 weeks time. Timings for the races can be found below: Women’s 2nd VIII vs Osiris @ 15:30 Women’s 1st VIII vs OUWBC Blue Boat @ 16:00 Men’s 2nd VIII vs Isis @ 16:20 Men’s 1st VIII vs OUBC Blue Boat @ 16:45 The men’s squad will face Cambridge University the following week, with the women heading to Reading
Jamie Copus wins GBRT 3rd Assessment
Final year student Jamie Copus headed the strongest showing in recent years from BROOKES|Rowing athletes by winning this weekend’s GB Rowing Team 3rd Assessment. Copus, who raced in the LM2x at last year’s World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, took victory in the LM1x by just 0.3s over his doubles partner Sam Mottram. Brookes had three athletes in the top 5, with FISU hopeful Ben Reeves finishing 3rd and Joel Cassells taking 5th. Matthew Tarrant, with his partner Josh Bugajski who raced in the Ladies Plate for Brookes last summer, secured 7th spot in a large field in the men’s pair. This result was followed up with 8th place for Rory Gibbs
BROOKES|Rowing to race at Windermere Cup
BROOKES|Rowing will head to Seattle, USA to race in the Windermere Cup for the first time ever on 5th May. The Men’s 1st VIII will face the University of Washington and the Dutch National Team in what will be the first British crew to participate since Brookes alumni Scott Durant, Mason Durant and Matt Tarrant helped the Great Britain VIII to victory in 2014. The Huskies have only been defeated four times in the 31 year history of the event. It will be a busy weekend for BROOKES|Rowing, with the squad split between the USA and Nottingham, where the rest of the squad will look to defend a number of
Dominant Performance at Wallingford Head
BROOKES|Rowing produced the fastest men’s and women’s crews in every boat class with a dominant performance on their home stretch at Wallingford Head this weekend Four first years helped the second eight to overall victory in a course record of 13:26.4, winning by just a second over the first eight. Henry Bloise-Brooke, Seb Newman, Ari Cohen and Matt Rowe all started studying at Oxford Brookes in September, and this result shows how well they have made the transition to university rowing. The win, in Open 8+, built on their performance in the morning division, where they posted the fastest time and claimed victory in Open U23 8+. In addition to these
