Women win Academic Eights at Henley Women’s Regatta
The women’s squad have just returned from one of the best club performances to date at Henley Women’s Regatta, where 23 athletes reached finals day. The highlight of the weekend was claiming a win in the Academic Eights, which saw two Brookes eights in the semi finals of the event. In the final against close rivals Newcastle University, Brookes got off to a fantastic start which gave them an unassailable lead by the time they reached the enclosures, and pushed out to a 1.5 length win by the finish, and crowned them Academic Eights Champions for the first time in the club’s history. In the Championship Fours event, Brookes got
Fastest Four Times in Club History
On the Saturday of Ghent Regatta Henry Swarbrick, Morgan Bolding, Rory Gibbs and Oliver Wilkes won the men’s coxless fours by 0.32 seconds. On Sunday, the new combination of Ed Grisedale, Quentin Antognelli, Henry Swarbrick and Oliver Wilkes rowed a sensational race to cross the line 2.49 seconds in front in a time of 5:53.31. This is believed to be the fastest time ever rowed by a British coxless four outside of the national team, also breaking the Ghent course record by 11 seconds. The men’s eights finished with a 1-2 on both days. On Sunday, the 1st 8 set a new all time club record and broke the Ghent
Women win first ever VL at BUCS Regatta
The squad returned this week from a packed weekend of racing at BUCS Regatta in Nottingham, where the women’s squad were victorious for the first time ever in the Victor Ludorum, sharing the honours with Newcastle University. The weekend started off strong, where the men defended the BUCS Championship Eights title despite having 10 athletes away in Seattle, USA racing in the Windermere Cup. To top this off, a dominant performance secured the Intermediate Eights category- the fifth time in a row that BROOKES|Rowing has won both titles. Highlights of Day 1 for the women included winning the intermediate women’s pairs, and finishing fourth in a close sprint for the
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
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
