Ghent Regatta brings stiff competition
This year saw probably the strongest field of entries in the last 7 years at the Ghent May Regatta in Belgium. With Essen, Duisburg and Ratzeburg cancelled due to conflicts with, and prioritising the German Olympic Trials, many a National squad, club and university crew chose to race at Ghent instead. Trialist crews from Germany, selected Swiss and Dutch crews turned up in force, making for a very exciting regatta. The Boat Club came away with a number of medals in both sweep and sculling disciplines, as well as winning the Victor Ludorum of the regatta for most successful all-round team. Imogen Mackie took 3rd in a strong Lw1x field, with Ollie’s
BUCS Regatta – Race Report
7 golds, 3 silvers and 5 bronze medals rounded off OBUBC’s best ever BUCS Regatta this weekend. Entering one of our largest squads to date, the boat club endured testing conditions over the 3 days of racing, to come away with wins in five Championship events – most notably both the Men’s and Women’s 8+ events. This is the first time ever BROOKES|Rowing have taken home both crowns, with the women’s 1st VIII winning theirs by an emphatic 10 seconds over Cambridge, London and Newcastle. Day 2 saw a flurry of medals in the space of 30 minutes, with OBUBC taking home gold in Women’s Championship 8’s, Men’s Championship 4- and 4+,
Brookes win Head of the River 2016
This weekend, BROOKES|Students made history by winning the Head of the River for the first time, and claiming the University pennant in the process. Having come close a number of times, the Headship hasn’t been won by a full student crew for over 50 years. Quoting British Rowing’s race report, “Leander started first, but it was clear from Hammersmith that Oxford Brookes were making the running. They had closed on #2 Molesey and had overtaken as they came to the start of the Fulham wall. The provisional results saw Oxford Brookes record their first ever headship in a time of 17 minutes and 34 seconds, nine seconds ahead of Leander. “This is a massive
Women excel at WeHoRR
Brookes’ women’s squad had a fantastic set of results at this weekend’s Women’s Head. Previous years has seen the top crew come 17th in 2014 with the IM3 pennant, 8th in 2015 with the IM2 pennant, and this year was no exception, picking up the IM1 pennant. The women’s squad had a strong showing from all 3 boats, culminating in the 1st Eight finishing a fantastic 4th overall out of 325 crews competing on the day. With the standard and field getting stronger and stronger every year, it’s great to see Brookes’ women constantly in the upper echelons and beating a lot of the top programs in the country. 7-seat Susie
Boat Club Success at Reading University Head
9 event titles and 81 medals completes another strong weekend of racing for OBUBC. As the Boat Club begins final preparations for Women’s Head this Saturday (March 5th) and the Head of the River (March 19th), this is a very encouraging show of speed and depth. The men’s squad produced 5 of the 7 fastest times of the day, with the women producing the fastest time of any women’s crew – including over BUCS Head-winners University of London. WINS: Men’s Elite 8+ Women’s Elite 8+ Men’s Senior 8+ Women’s Senior 8+ IM1 8+ W IM1 8+ IM2 8+ W IM2 8+ IM3 8+ Photos courtesy of Mark Ruscoe, and Iain
Men’s Fixture Report vs. Oxford
At 12pm on 21st February, Oxford Brookes University raced Oxford University in an official fixture for the Cancer Research UK Boat Races. Not to be outdone, the women’s squad raced Oxford’s Lightweight Women in some friendly pieces back home in Wallingford, and had a successful day with both boats. In the fixture against Isis, Brookes’ 2nd VIII got out to an early lead, holding 2/3 length advantage round the Fulham bend. After much close racing and many clashes, Isis capitalised and won the piece finishing at Chiswick Eyot by one length. However, due to an injury, the second piece was not rowed out. For a blow-by-blow report of the 1st VIII’s fixture with the Oxford Blue Boat, you
Squad Fixture Report vs. Cambridge
For the first time since 1994, the Boat Club raced an official OxBridge fixture for the Cancer Research UK Boat Races, against Cambridge’s respective men & women’s squads CUBC and CUWBC. Racing took place on the Tideway course in the form of two pieces splitting the Boat Race in half. The men raced from Putney to Chiswick Eyot, and then on to the finish, while the ladies stopped at Hammersmith, and restarted at Eyot. The men’s 2nd VIII dispatched Goldie handily, winning by 3 and 5 lengths in the respective pieces, while the battle between the 1st VIII and Cambridge’s Blue Boat was a more interesting affair. After a minute, Brookes’
109 pots won at Wallingford Head
This weekend at Wallingford Head showed the fantastic form the Boat Club is in. Photos courtesy of Iain Weir @ Rowing Photography. The highlight of the weekend had to be the performance of the top Men’s and Women’s eights – both these crews won Elite 8’s, breaking both course records in the process – the men by 11 seconds, and women by a hefty 25 seconds. It’s great to have both the fastest men’s & women’s times ever recorded at Wallingford Head under the OBUBC name. It wasn’t only the top end of the club that was successful, as the Boat Club took home 109 pots, winning 16 of the 22 categories
Brookes, National Champions
At the weekend, the Boat Club had an incredibly successful regatta at the British National Championships, with the top crew winning the Championship ahead of Leander, Molesey and U.L. Fielding 9 eights, with 96 athletes racing, this was the largest Brookes contingent of men & women ever to represent Brookes at any competition. After a great day’s racing, the Brookes crews came away with a fantastic set of results – one of the highlights being the women’s squad, winning a Bronze in the Women’s Elite Eights and their first podium ever at this event, along with the 2nd VIII going on to win the B-final. The Men’s squad then topped off the
Brookes haul in medals at EUSA
The Boat Club had a fantastic domestic season in 2015, and capped it off by winning multiple medals at the European University Rowing Championships in Hannover, Germany. OBUBC became European Champions in two events – winning the Lightweight Men’s 2x and the Men’s Eight – including being the first British university to win the Men’s Eight Gold in the history of the event. They also picked up Silver in the Women’s Coxless Four event. Brookes rowers also formed part of the GB Rowing Team who went on to win the overall competition: The Brookes Men’s 8+ comprised of students Harry Brightmore (cox), Morgan Bolding, Henry Swarbrick, James Stanhope, Rory Gibbs, Matthew Aldridge, Michael Glover, Will Hall and Richard
