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January
Race Report to follow.... Also video from our Nemesis on the Clyde December
A rescheduled event meant a good opportunity to test how well training had been going before the Christmas break. The men’s quad had a poor row but still did well to finish 3rd overall. Division 2 saw a thrilling race with Clydesdale in which the lads were narrowly beaten by 4 seconds. The Novice men had excellent rows despite equipment failure and meeting the bank. The Novice Girls crews also looked in good form to overcome SUBC. The Girls were understandably frustrated when a good row in R1 was ruined by equipment failure. Recently, the club has been helped by the advice of Bob Reid on boat maintenance so hopefully there will be no repeats. Our thanks go to Bob!
November
GUBC welcomed Argonauts old and new to the annual Club Dinner which this year celebrated 10 consecutive Boat Race wins. The GUU Dining room was at full capacity as around 140 guests enjoyed an excellent atmosphere. The speeches were led by Russell Jones, giving a unique and entertaining insight into his views of Rowing. Last years Captain, Gordon Du Cane, thanked the Argonauts for their support and encouraged the alumni to continue with their generousity, both in funds and coaching time. GUBC legend, Dave Russell, also recalled fond memories from his past experience as he made his 'toast to the ten in a row'. Dave then introduced Nigel Atkins, arguably the clubs most successful coach, to present the top secret 'Project X' to the club.
Nearly 60 members spread across 3 minibuses and a convoy of cars made their way North to the ‘totally baltic’ Fours Head. GUBC were victorious in Open Coxed fours with the mens 1st IV that included new members Jan Huckmann, Michael McNaul and Peri Stynes. The Girls also had an excellent row. The four of Nim, Anna, Anine and newbie Laura McGhie, coxed by Alanna were unlucky to be narrowly beaten by one second in the R1 class. Dave, Rob, Nancy along with Coleraine’s Eliott Clarke and Canadian Scott Durno also had a promising row. This was the first racing experience for GUBCs novices. To everyones surprise, none of the boats broke as all the Novice crews enjoyed good racing. The second division was more of a mixed bag. Such success in Division 1 led the Club astray in estimating how fast they could row up to the start. Subsequently all the crews were late and were turned back. All was not lost as an intra-club race was held over a 3k course.
All made it back to Glasgow in time for X-Factor, except for the bus that got stuck in the mud. October The traditional vest party went off with a bang on Thursday. Highlights included some exceptional punch and a Mark Mikkelsen spectacular in Viper.
The Club welcomed representatives of The Glasgow Humane Society on a windy Saturday morning. Mr George Parsonage, MBE and fellow lifeguards Tony Coia and Mark McKay spoke to the students, both senior and novice, about the importance of safety when rowing. Tony and George explained that the river Clyde is governed by its own set of rules that all the rowing clubs have signed up to. Abiding by these rules not only makes rowing much safer for us, but also all other river users. Among the main points raised were ‘Throwropes’. All coaches on the bank should carry one and they are available downstairs in the boat bay. Also, rowing should only take place during daylight. At GUBC the club rule is ‘No rowing when the streetlights are on’. The importance of coxes wearing lifejackets was also discussed. More information on the rules can be found in the safety section or on the Glasgow Humane Society website. The Club wishes to thank George and the Humane Society for the session.
September Taster Session 2009 The Boat Club was buzzing as loads of keen freshers descended on the Green for the club's annual taster session. Over two hundered bits of meat and half a dozen cases of beer seemed to keep the crowds happy. Dark clouds threatened to put a dampner on things, but some good thinking by the boys saw the BBQ covered by a makeshift tent. A team of girls, led by Anna, forced themselves into the lads toilets and showers for a military style cleaning operation. One Old boy commented "It has never smelt better". The Freshers themselves were entertained by a bit of rowing. This was hindered by a missing seat in the Novice Mens Eight, luckily Nick 'The Train' McShane was on hand. Despite 'a sore arse' he still managed to help get plenty of people on the water. The Erg challenge saw some hot competition and excellent times with GUBC kit up for grabs. A big thanks goes to all those who helped make the day a success. Hard work was rewarded with a few pints at Coopers.
We Want You! GUBC is on the lookout for the next generation of rowers at Glasgow University. Whether you have rowed before or have never been in a boat, we want you! The Boat Club is one of the oldest and most successful sporting clubs at the University. We take pride in turning complete novices into a Scottish and British International standard. In recent years, GUBC has represented Great Britain across the continent at the European Universities Regatta. Athletes have travelled to Zagreb, Brive in France and also this year to Poznan, Poland. Closer to home, we have multiple medals from the British University Championships. In 2008 we were Scottish University Champions and also outright Scottish Champions in all but two Open categories. This year the Men’s 1st VIII received the award for ‘Team of the Year’ at the GUSA ball. The club also picked up more ‘sporting blues’ than any other club at the University. GUBC is very well catered for with its own large boathouse on the banks of the Clyde at Glasgow Green. We have a modern, well maintained fleet of boats with our own fully equipped gym. The club also enjoys various training camps throughout the year. Recently, this has seen squads travelling to our twinned club in northern Italy, where good weather and stunning scenery have allowed for excellent rowing. If you’re an experienced oarsperson, or if you think you would just like to give it a go then come along and speak to us at the freshers fayre. We will also be running a taster session on Saturday 19th September at 12:00. Also sign up to one of our mailing lists. July Gold and Silver for GUBC Scottish Internationals Congratulations go to Amanda Larcombe and Kieran Docherty for there success at this years Home International Regatta in Nottingham. Amanda picked up a silver in the womens double as well as gold in the womens eight. This helped the team to finish 2nd in the overall match. Kieran helped the mens eight to a silver medal position after an excellent row. Henley Royal Regatta ‘Where every rower wants to be’ After encouraging results at the Met and Marlow regattas in London, the 1st IV of Dougie Thoms, Gordon DuCane, Rupert Bloomfield, James Goldberg and Aimee Hooper ventured south to the village of Henley-on-Thames. They faced a tough qualification round on Friday evening with only seven of the 16 crews going through to the main event. Despite what the lads described as a ‘poor row’, their time was sufficient for them to compete in the regatta. The first round on Wednesday saw GUBC pitted against Southampton. After a poor start, the Glasgow men fell behind early on. Despite a fighting comeback at the mile, Southampton held their nerve to finish ahead by two lengths. A disappointing result, but the boys could hold their heads high after competing in the world’s greatest regatta.
June Scottish Championships With the senior men abroad, the remainder of the club geared up for the Scottish Rowing Championships at Strathclyde Park. Rob Norman and Neil Duffin had encouraging rows in their heats, finishing 1st and 2nd. In a final with a tough headwind Neil came through ahead in 3rd with Rob close behind finishing 4th respectively. One of the top boats this season has been the Womens Novice Double Scull of Kirsty Mclartey and Jane Patterson. Their progress this season was rewarded with a silver medal in the final. Also rounding off a good season was the women’s novice coxed four of Anna Bain Pugh, Stephanie Gardner, Naomi Philbrick, Anine Maria Hallander and Liz McGirl. In a thrilling race, the girls were unlucky to miss out on Gold, being rowed through by Edinburgh in the last 50 metres. The novice men had a decent row in the eights, claiming the silver. Unfortunately, the following day in the four with Rob Wils, James Forster, Cormac McMurray, Nick McShane and David Jones, the crew snapped their rudder en route to the start. After a good start eventually they had to stop due to steering. Amanda Larcombe, Jenny Alex and Kerra Templeton again showed their quality, winning the Women’s Eights. Jenny and Amanda also had good performances in the sculls Claire Tracey, Alyssa Comberbach and Anine also rowed in the womens novice sculls. In the final Claire finished 4th despite having to change boat whilst Anine finished 5th, an outstanding result after only one year rowing. May Boat Race ’10 in a Row’ The Mens 1st VIII completed a historic decade of dominance in the 2009 Boat Race after thrashing Edinburgh by clear water. The crew was strengthened by the return of internationals Kerra Templeton, Chris Logan and Kieran Docherty. After falling behind at the start, the crew battled back to level going around the first corner that favoured Edinburgh. Glasgow pushed to take a half a length lead going into the big GRC bend and when they had come into sight of the boathouse they had a substantial distance of clear water. The men continued to push away and were cheered on by a large crowd on the green as well as the other Glasgow crews. The crews raced well to be only narrowly defeated by a strong Edinburgh crew that had medalled at BUCS. The reserve crews also raced well but were again overcome by a depth of Edinburgh talent. At the prize giving, victorious Men’s Captain Dougie Thoms picked up the trophy from GUSA president Euan Miller. A great days racing was then followed by an evening of celebrations at the Boat Race Ball, hosted by West Brewery. BUCS Regatta, Nottingham Following last years success, the pressure was on for GUBC to deliver at this regatta. There were excellent results for the girls. The intermediate double of Jenny and Amanda took silver, Jenny also claimed the bronze in the singles event. The lightweight quad of Jane Patterson, Kirsty MacLarty, Jo Murphy and Claire Baillie took the bronze in a thrilling race. The novice crews also achieved outstanding results considering the opposition. The four of Anna Bain Pugh, Catriona Phillips, Naomi Philbrick, Anine Maria Hallander and Liz McGirl came in 6th out of some 50 crews. The eight also performed extremely well to finish 10th. Well done to Amanda Larcombe whose result in the singles sees her qualify to represent GB Unis at the EUSA regatta in August. The mens squad were hit with extreme bad luck. The eight was unable to travel. All hopes rested on a strong coxless four. After qualifying from their heat they were then removed from the event as bad weather meant only a final could be raced. April Scottish Universities Championships Some great racing over the two days at Strathclyde Park saw some new stars for GUBC. The Womens Novice Double of Kirsty MacLarty and Jane Patterson were dominant in their final to be crowned Scottish Champions. Amanda Larcombe and Jenny Alex took the bronze in the Ladies Doubles. Amanda then went on to take the singles title, another gold for GUBC with Jenny getting silver in the 2nd sculls. There were also silvers for the Ladies Novice eight and four. The Men also won a good silver in the eight. The fours saw an epic race, with GUBC coming back at Edinburgh all the way down the course, just running out of steam in the last 250. Still, another excellent medal haul for the club, well done all! Senior Men’s Training Camp – Belfast Eleven of our senior men headed West across the North Channel to the lush green of Ireland for a seven day work out on the River Lagan. The weather on Day 1 was bright and promising, but turned out to be no refection on the rest of the week. High winds and horizontal rain resulted in a few capsizings. Luckily, the Irish mums came good, taking excellent care of their own son’s and the rest of the crew with warm grub and Sky TV. Local boy, Iain Rice, took charge of the coaching and was unforgiving. By the end of the week the lads were tired and broken, but good progress had been made in the led up to regatta season. Girl’s Training Camp – Inverness The Girls squad ventured North in search of the Caledonian canal. Decent weather and a good long stretch of water allowed for superb regatta preparation. The Girls also benefited greatly from the expertise of International coach Ian Hunter. A big thanks and mention goes to Inverness Rowing Club for hosting the ladies. March Women's Tideway The best conditons in years greeted our girls on their trip down to London town for the Women's Head of the River Race. With GUBC sending down two VIIIs and having representatives in a third boat there was a strong presence in the capital city. A makeshift 1st VIII did well to finish a respectable 177th despite a couple of late crew adjustments, while Chris Heaps' 2nd VIII also showed good progress to finish 230th. The stand out performance from Scottish crews however was a composite that contained two members of GUBC (Kerra Templeton and Amanda Larcombe) along with two Argonauts (Imogen Walsh and Fran Jacobs). After a new start placing of 200 they battled through lesser crews to finish a remarkable 6th overall. Well done to all crews involved, results here. February Clydesdale 8s and 4s The last head race before the Men's squad head down to HORR was one of two very different halves. The first division saw a very cumbersome looking VIII finish a long way off the pace despite the best efforts of cox Aimee Hooper to steer excellently around GRC bend with four VIIIs abreast. The second division was an altogether different story with the VIII finding rhythm and length to convincingly win the second division and pick up the Men's R2 pennant. Full results here. GUBC Sweeps the Floor at GUSA Ball GUBC dominated the awards at the GUSA Ball this month, picking up not only Team of the Year for last year's GB Universities VIII but also having seven of the crew awarded Full Blues along with Chris Logan being jointly awarded the Bob Wilson Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding male athlete. With the club taking up two tables at the event it was a fantastic evening of celebration of University Sport and all who attended had a great time.
GUSA Team of the Year and Full Blues - Men's 1st VIII BUCS Head Cancelled GUBC had been planning to pit themselves against the best of British Universities rowing but unfortunately due to flash floods in the area the event was cancelled. January Burns Supper After a hard days racing at the Western the club were able to let their hair down for the customary Burns Supper, this year held in West. A great night with some fine (some not so) fine recitals and poems in memory of the great bard. It was great to see lots of old faces mixed in with the new, hopefully this will continue at future events.
Photo © Niall Darroch 2009 Western Head
Saturday 24th saw us host our annual eights head of the Clyde, the Western Head. This year we were kindly sponsored by the aptly named West brewery, who provided this years prizes. After the dissapointment of last year's cancellation due to bad weather we were blessed with perfect conditions for racing. Good performances were had by GUBC but the Men's 1st VIII narrowly lost out to Edinburgh in the 2nd Division by 1 second. Congratulations to the Women's Novice VIII who continued their impressive season by being the 1st female novice university crew. A massive to thank you to James Hayhurst for organising the day. Results Here SeeResultspage for older news |
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Glasgow University Boat Club, The Stevenson Building, 77 Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8LT |