Men’s Fixture Report vs. Cambridge
OBUBC came out on top with both men’s eights in the first of Cambridge’s official Boat Races media fixture. Both crews raced their respective Blue Boat and Goldie counterparts over two pieces – from Putney to the Eyot, then restarting again at the Eyot, and finishing at the University Finish Post by Chiswick Bridge. With a stronger Cambridge Blue Boat than last season, and the 2016 Temple-winning Brookes lineup as the weekend’s sparring partner, one would expect some fiercely competitive racing. In the first piece, Brookes took an early lead out the blocks from the Middlesex station, by Harrods saw Cambridge taking the lead by 3 seats. In their rhythm, Brookes took the lead back round the
113 tankards top off Wallingford Head
OBUBC went one better than last year, bringing home 113 pots to 2015’s 109 – winning 17 of 19 categories entered – marking this as the strongest showing ever by BROOKES|Rowing at Wallingford Head. On a gorgeous winter morning with still waters and blue skies, the women brought home twice as many category wins this year, with the 1st VIII winning Senior & Elite 8’s in the fastest women’s time, and the 2nd VIII trumping opposition in IM1 and IM2 8’s. The women’s program continues to go from strength to strength, and highlights the ever-increasing depth and standard across the squad. Without a helpful tailwind this year, the men’s 1st VIII were only 7
Scullers Head & GB Trials Report
Jamie Copus came frustratingly close to retaining the headship of Scullers Head this year. After winning in 2014, and with 2015 cancelled due to bad weather, he went off bow #1 and came home 3rd in a stronger field than in 2014. 2 weeks later at the GB Rowing Team’s 2nd Trials Assessment at Caversham, Brookes athletes had a good set of results in their respective boat classes – Matthew Tarrant came 2nd in the M2- with Alan Sinclair, and Annie Withers had a good first trial in the W1x in her first season with the GB Senior squad. Jamie Copus won the LM1x trial, with fellow OBUBC member Joel Cassells coming 2nd.
New boats named for Rio Olympic medallists
On November 10th, the University welcomed Rio medallists Scott Durant and Olivia Carnegie-Brown back to campus, in order to celebrate their Olympic successes with the naming of two new 8’s in their honour, to be raced by the men’s and women’s 1st VIII’s later in the season. The ceremony was also to acknowledge the record-breaking accomplishments of the Boat Club’s performance in the 2015-16 season, across both the men’s and women’s squads. Vice Chancellor Alistair Fitt, Director of Sport Keith Kelly and the BROOKES|Rowing coaching staff were joined by a wealth of rowers past and present, as well as non-rowing students there to celebrate in our alumni’s success. Olivia Carnegie-Brown came
Brookes place 3 VIII’s ahead of every university 1st VIII
At the British Senior Championships this weekend, the boat club took 112 athletes to Nottingham for the first race of the new season. Representing the club in 12 eights and a 4x, both the men’s and women’s squads had a very strong showing, with the largest contingent of men & women ever to represent Brookes at any competition. The women’s 1st VIII finished a solid 5th in a very close final of Elite VIII’s, with the best women’s 8+ field the British Championships have ever seen – only just behind Oxford’s 1st VIII, with the 2nd VIII going on to come a close second in the C-final. The men’s squad emulated last year’s
Olympic Success for Brookes athletes
‘Super Saturday’ strikes again, with Brookes athletes Scott Durant and Olivia Carnegie-Brown winning a gold and silver medal, in the men’s 8+ and women’s 8+ respectively. These final, emphatic medals brought Britain to the top of the Olympic rowing table, with 3 gold and 2 silver medals. The women’s 8+ pulled strongly through the field to claim silver – GB Rowing’s first ever Olympic medal in this event. The men’s 8+, with Scott Durant crossing the line first in the bow seat, brought home the Olympic gold for the first time since Sydney 2000. This caps off a phenomenal series of World Championships for the men, with GB winning every World Championship
OBUBC’s International summer
This summer, BROOKES|Rowing has a total of 18 athletes representing Great Britain on the international stage. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games officially begun and the Olympic Regatta well underway, GB saw five Brookes rowers performing strongly in the initial rounds. Scott Durant (in the M8+) and Olivia Carnegie-Brown (in the W8+) both came through their respective heats in a winning position – with the men’s 8+ leading from the front, and the women’s 8+ commanding the second half, both to qualify direct to their finals. Richard Chambers led his LM2x heat to halfway, well ahead of the rest of the field to qualify for the A/B semis. Brother Peter
Raking in European golds at EUSA
OBUBC are now double European Champions in the men’s and women’s blue riband 8’s events. It was great to see a repeat of BUCS Regatta earlier this year, where OBUBC took home the Championship titles in both the men’s and women’s categories Members of the squad went to Zagreb, Croatia to contest events at the EUSA European University Championships, with BROOKES|Rowing made up the largest contingent of the GB Universities squad, with 20 athletes representing in three events. The Women’s squad continued with more firsts since HRR, winning their 8+ event by 7 seconds over crews from Hamburg GER, Newcastle and Zurich SUI. On the men’s side, the guys repeated their win from last year, retaining their
HRR Win 28 – Temple Challenge Cup
What an end to an amazing year! OBUBC wins the Temple Challenge Cup for Student 8’s, having also won the Head of the River Race with an all-student crew, the BUCS Championship, and the National Championships. Through the early rounds, the VIII was tested by both tough opposition and adverse conditions, rowing into strong headwinds. Wednesday saw the crew hold their nerve against a fast-starting Dutch crew from Njord, Thursday comfortably dispatching Newcastle University. Friday and Saturday saw them break clear of two top American lightweight programs by halfway, from Columbia and Yale respectively, to book a place in the final against long-term rivals Harvard from the USA. Burying demons for coach Henry Bailhache-Webb, having
WHR Report & HRR Qualifiers
Every cloud has a silver lining, and that was certainly the case this year with Henley Women’s Regatta. Having won Senior 8’s last year, expectations were high for the repeat, and for the new depth in the squad to emulate the win in the Academic 8’s category. In the semi finals of both Academic and Senior 8’s, Brookes wowed the spectators by producing the most entertaining semis of the regatta – a local derby in Academic 8’s against Oxford, and a full-on boxing match against Princeton, USA in Senior 8’s. To be on the wrong side of two canvas-losses, while hugely frustrating, certainly fuels the fire for next season’s summer projects – for the
