Pulling their weight

Credit: Tim Richards

The BUCS 4s and 8s Head on the River Nene in Peterborough never fails to be a challenging race for all involved and 2012 was no exception. In a weekend of two halves, the gales of Saturday played havoc with the beginner crews as many failed to complete the course whereas the relative calm of Sunday delivered more medals and BUCS points for ICBC’s seniors, both men and women, heavyweight and lightweight.

The lightweight men were once again worth their weight in gold, winning their two events with relative ease.

The Novices arrived at the course early and soon the men’s beginner eight (cox: Danya Husain/Jake Barker/Stephan Rossbauer/Martin Ebner/Jérémie Werner/Rayane Jackson/James Baker/Dan Ward/Elliott Jennings) were out facing the 25mph winds, and even stronger gusts. At the start, boats floated and crashed into each other as they were battered from bank to bank by the wind. Such was the extent of the carnage that only 32 of the 53 crews present completed the 2.5km course and several boats are thought to have capsized. Imperial’s crew was fortunately NOT one of these and the guys came ninth overall in a time of 13:33.6. The women’s beginner coxed four (cox: Ana Yong/Chloe Goulding/Anne Hardijizer/Giulia Zerbini/Nadine Kalmoni) was in the same shambolic division. During the race, the girls crashed with Southampton and Zerbini was inches away from attempting to decapitate their cox, followed by a “heated conversation” on the water. Despite this, the girls took tenth place in 18:04.8, much more successful than the ten crews that never made the finish line. The second beginner division was cancelled due to the inclement weather, preventing the women’s beginner 8 and the two men’s beginner coxed fours from racing.

As the Novices headed home/to Belushi’s, the seniors arrived in Peterborough, just as the weather began to calm. After crew meals of inordinate size and a good night’s rest, ICBC were ready to race. The gales had been replaced by lighter, yet still gusty, winds and freezing temperatures, which led to problems marshalling, even for the experienced crews. First to face the 4.5km championship course were the men’s quad (bow: Paul Jones/Myles Holbrough/Sam Cottrell/Dan Powell). Between the brie, wine and baguettes following Frenchman Jones, the lighter-than-lightweight bowpair, the constant chitter chatter from Powell and the hole in Cottrell’s hand, the quad completed the course in 13:12.4, taking sixth place in the category. Next was the men’s coxless four (bow: Rory Sullivan/Matt Pointing/Ali Hudson/Ben Spencer Jones) who took the bronze medal in a time of 13:32.6. Unfortunately the guys were unavailable for comment after the race. The men’s coxed four (cox: Jess Johnson/Hal Bradbury/Simon Steele/James Hobhouse/Danny Bellion) smashed down the power to take fourth place, the same position their time of 13:50.4 would have earned them in the coxless event.

For the first time since 2009, ICBC had a senior women’s eight entered into BUCS. Although they had had only two outings and some side-switching was required, the girls (cox: Libby Richards/Klara Weaver/Louise Connell/Lily Beadle/Hannah Patterson/Rosie Davies/Harriet Cross/Cat Buizza/Siân Morgan) smashed it to take fourth place in a time of 14:41.8. In another break with tradition, lightweight women were racing and the quad (bow: Maddy Whybrow/Steph Lunt/Ana Yong/Alice Pistolesi) consisted of three of Imperial’s finest novices and one from last year’s intake. The tiny girls battled against the headwind and crossed the line to take 7th in the event in 17:37.3. Their male counterparts continued to build on their practically unbeaten record in the men’s lightweight coxless four (bow: Paddy Hudson/Gareth Brown/Wilf Kimberley/Tim Richards) as they took the win in 13:20.6, 10s ahead of their competition and 12s ahead of IC’s heavyweights.

On the way up to the start of division 2, disaster struck the women’s lightweight coxless four (bow: Whybrow/Lunt/Pistolesi/Hannah Neenan) as the rudder string broke, forcing the girls onto the bank and into cheerleading roles; welcome encouragement for those racing at one of the toughest parts of the course. This left only the women’s coxed four (cox: Johnson/Patterson/Cross/Connell/Weaver) to represent the fairer half of ICBC. Despite a fracas with Edinburgh University, whose stroke girl decided the slower crew had right of way, the girls finished off the day in the smashing time of 15:08.0. They took the silver medal, just 2s behind winners and 24s ahead of third place and would have won the women’s coxless four category; a promising start to 2012 for the female students.

Leading the second division and wearing the coveted number 1 were the men’s championship eight (cox: L Richards/Spencer Jones/Sullivan/Pointing/A Hudson/Bellion/Hobhouse/Steele/Bradbury). Starting the division meant the eight enjoyed perfect water with only the gusty headwind to contend with. Great crew spirit kept the rate up and the power going down all the way along the course, with Spencer Jones and Sullivan bashing out a strong rhythm. The guys completed the course in 12:08.6, an agonisingly close 0.4s behind Durham, forcing them to settle for the Bronze medal behind the two north-eastern universities, with Newcastle taking the win. The next closest crew were more than 30s off the pace.

The lightweight men were back out in the same order (bow: P Hudson/Brown/Kimberley/T Richards) but with two blades each instead of one for the men’s lightw

Once back in London, some headed to Fiesta Havanas to dance away their last remaining ounces of energy. Over the weekend, 93 BUCS points were won between the ten championship boats, giving a running total of 123 so far this season. Now the focus turns to the Women’s and Men’s Heads of the River on 3 and 17 March respectively.