Articles

Brookes success at U23 World Championships

Brookes athletes claim Gold in Plovdiv, Bulgaria In a hugely exciting week of racing, eight Brookes athletes represented Great Britain in multiple crews at the U23 World Championships being held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After a great build up to finals, several British crews looked to be in contention for fighting alongside the world’s best competition for medals. Having won their Heat, the Men’s Eight with Tom Bryce, Fergus Woolnough, Toby Lassen and Louis Nares who recently claimed glory at Henley Royal Regatta progressed straight to the A-Final. After making a good start in their Final they were in 5th place at 500m. However, with some great pacing and explosive rowing in the

Henley Royal Regatta 2023 : 7 for 7

BROOKES|Rowing takes step into immortality after outstanding performances at Henley Royal Regatta After qualifying 94 athletes to the regatta, across 15 crews, the stage was set for a phenomenal week of the highest quality racing against the best crews from around the world. The week culminated in a record-breaking set of results with 7 wins out of 7 finals on Sunday. The first ever clean sweep of student events. A feat that was never fully planned nor its gravity comprehended at any point during the season. The largest ever trophy haul for the rowing club in the history of the regatta. Finals day began with the Prince Albert Challenge Cup

Henley Women’s Regatta caps off a great weekend for BROOKES|Rowing

Oxford Brookes Women claimed both the Championship and Academic Eights at Henley Women’s Regatta while the Men put on a dominant display at Marlow Regatta  In a first for the regatta, Brookes took home both the Ron Needs Challenge Cup for Championship VIIIs and the Colgan Foundation Cup for “Aspirational” Academic VIIIs. It personifies the huge strides the women’s group has made in recent years led by coach, Hugo Gulliver. These results set the entire group up towards mounting a challenge towards Henley Royal Regatta next week. After a fantastic display of rowing across the previous two days of competition, including a win in the time trial, Brookes faced Leander in

Metropolitan Regatta 2023

Brookes take on Metropolitan Regatta 2023 Brookes took to Dorney lake this weekend to race the Metropolitan Regatta which provided the whole squad a great opportunity to prepare on a multi-lane course in the lead up to Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta in the approaching weeks. In the morning, after severe delays and complications by the regatta organisers with results from earlier racing, the Brookes Women lined up in the Championship VIIIs A-Final with three crews after some strong time trial results; with time trial winners Brookes A re-drawn in Lane 1, Brookes B in Lane 2 and Brookes C in Lane 4 to accommodate for a strong

Duisburg International Regatta 2023

This weekend saw Brookes take to international waters for the second time in two weeks at the International Wedau Regatta 2023 in Duisburg, Germany. Following a dominant display at Ghent International the previous weekend, greater challenges awaited with strong international crews racing in both the Men’s and Women’s Eights events. Saturday’s racing saw, two Brookes Eights line up for the final where lanes were seeded. With a field of racing, Brookes 1st VIII produced a powerful start to lead a fast moving German Development crew and Leander. Approaching halfway, Brookes 2nd VIII were able to move themselves into 3rd place just behind Leander. At the finish, Brookes secured a 1-2,

BUCs Regatta 2023

Brookes Rowing take on BUCs Regatta Over the weekend, the first multi-lane racing of the year took place for the whole of the Brookes squad. Some fantastic performances were seen throughout the weekend by the team. Saturday Six men’s VIIIs took to the water at Holme Pierrepoint, Nottingham, for the first day of racing. In benign conditions, the Brookes 1st VIII, coxed by fresher Tom Bryce, took first place in the time trial and one of two spots straight into the A-Final. The 2nd VIII, won their Repechage to line up in the Final against some tough competition. In the Final, Brookes I took an early lead out of the

GBRT Final Trials 2023

This weekend, 27 BROOKES|Rowing athletes raced over two days at the GB Rowing Senior, U23 and FISU Final Trials at Caversham. The crews were treated to 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. Morgan Bolding & Rory Gibbs, who raced in the winning Men’s 1st VIII at the recent Head of the River Race, came away with 2nd in the M2-. Tom Digby, partnered by James Rudkin came 3rd. Oli Wilkes placed 4th with his partner Jacob Dawson. Matthew Aldridge 5th with his partner Sholto Carnegie. Sam Bannister and

San Diego Crew Classic

Last weekend Brookes competed in the San Diego Crew Classic in the USA with both the men’s and women’s first VIIIs. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges that Oxford Brookes would face in its history and a phenomenal opportunity to compete against some of the fastest crews in the United States on their home waters. The men, competing in the Copley Cup Invitational, raced in a three-way dual on both days at the weekend between the Canadian National Team and California Berkley. On the Saturday, Brookes started second best to a powerful Californian crew who stretched their lead to ¾ length by halfway. Brookes clawing their way back

Oxford Brookes Annual Taurus Dinner

On Saturday night, the Oxford Brookes annual dinner took place in Phyllis Court, Henley-on-Thames. It was cohosted by Taurus – OBUBCs alumni. A great evening was had by all, celebrating the last years success of the boat club. Particularly the meteoric rise of the women’s team and last seasons success at Henley Royal Regatta. Around 160 current and ex-Brookes rowers attended the event, in regatta dress. The event took place after the Head of the River, which happened earlier in the day, where Brookes broke a course record that had previously stood since 1987. This crew was coxed by Harry Brightmore, who became Senior World Champion last year in the British National VIII. Harry

Oxford Brookes break Course Record at Head

Last Saturday saw the last Winter Head race of the season on the Tideway, the Head of the River Race, held between Mortlake and Putney. Brookes fielded eight VIIIs for the first time in history. The Brookes 1st VIII was made up of members of the British National team, the majority of whom became Senior World Champions last season. This crew was chased fiercely by an equally talented Leander crew, in a match up that could barely be separated the whole way down the track in a race of the highest calibre. Conditions were not of the fastest nature, however, the reason why both finished significantly inside the previous record