News

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

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

Record Placing at Four’s Head

Following the GB Rowing Team 1st Assesment in Boston, Lincs in early November; four Brookes athletes headed to London this weekend to race in the quadruple sculls event at The Fuller’s Head of the River Fours. The lightweight crew, stroked by Ben Reeves and also containing senior internationals Peter Chambers, Jamie Copus and Niels van Zandweghe were the sole Brookes entry this year. Despite only forming the crew earlier in the week, the quad finished in third place- a club record and only losing out to two heavyweight Leander crews by 5 and 11 seconds respectively. BROOKES|Rowing return to their home stretch next week to race at Wallingford

European Rowing U23 Championships

Four Brookes athletes have spent the summer training at the GB Rowing Centre at Caversham in preparation for the inaugural European Rowing U23 Championships in Kruszwica, Poland. They have just returned from a successful weekend of racing, capping off an outstanding summer for Brookes athletes representing Great Britain, following success at the World Rowing U23 Championships in July. Sam Nunn raced in the men’s eight, with Aisling Humphries-Griffiths, Sophia Heath and Grace MacDonald racing in the women’s eight. The men’s eight came away with a hard fought silver medal ahead of France by 0.31s and just a length behind Romania, the silver medalists from the recent World U23

Golden Weekend at EUSA 2017

Last weekend, the Brookes contingent came home with 4 golds and 1 silver from the European University Rowing Championships in Subotica, Serbia. This was the largest squad OBUBC has ever sent to EUSA of 26 athletes, with every athlete coming home with a medal. On finals day, in truly testing conditions of 16mph cross-headwinds, the Men’s 4- comprising of mainly first-year students led from the first stroke, finishing a length clear of the field to win gold. The Men’s 2- had a slightly more interesting race, rowing through the crew from Proteus, NED at halfway and holding off a late charge from German Olympians Munski & Johannesen to win gold