DUBC returns to Durham Regatta

Whilst DUBC’s women were training hard in the south preparing for Henley Women’s Regatta, the men took on the 189th rendition of Durham Regatta on the 10-11th of June, affectionately known as the “Henley of the North”. On Saturday our development squad represented the club brilliantly with entries into the quad, coxed four and singles events. A fast start for the quad meant they rattled a more experienced Sheffield University crew, however a couple of unfortunate encounters with the bank meant the result ultimately went Sheffield’s way. The coxed four also took on a more experienced crew in their first round of the intermediate category but raced well for a three-length victory over York University. They would go on to face Collingwood College and Sheffield University, beating both by two lengths in order to reach the final. In a close fought battle with Berwick ARC they emerged victorious, taking home the Durham City Plate and kick starting a winning weekend for DUBC.  

Sunday saw the senior men join the development programme on a packed-out racecourse. The Devs were once again well represented, racing and beating more experienced crews. The same coxed four from Saturday beat Hatfield in the final of the Durham University Challenge Trophy, to go undefeated for the weekend and defend the trophy also won by last year’s Devs. These five athletes will be travelling down with the senior squad in an attempt to qualify for the Prince Albert University Coxed Fours event at Henley Royal Regatta. An exceptional achievement in itself, the club knows they will perform well down the Henley course and wishes them the best of luck. 

For the senior men, Sunday morning also saw racing in coxed fours. Both crews won their respective heats down the long course, with expert navigation of the infamous Elvet bridge, and faced off in the final. A highly anticipated event saw lots of support down the course with an exceptionally close race. Whilst Levin Gräf’s crew were first across the line, an unfortunate missed buoy caused a disqualification and Dom Newton’s crew took the win.  

Regardless, an excellent exhibition of our top male athletes, Durham was victorious in this, the Grand Challenge Cup. The afternoon saw eights take to the course for a 700m sprint down the short course. In the Open Championship B category, the 3V were given a scare by hosts, Durham Amateur Rowing Club, who jumped them off the start, but the boys remained calm (ish) and rowed through the local crew to win their opening heat. The 2V and 1V faced their respective Newcastle University crews in their opening heats of the Open Championship A category. A fierce rivalry resulted in fierce racing with both Durham crews emerging victorious to force an all-Durham affair in the final for the second time of the day. The 3V also took on their opposite Newcastle crew in their semi-final. A superb victory by clear water completed the clean sweep of wins over Newcastle and overturned the disappointing result at Boat Race of the North, ensuring Durham defended their home water on the Weir and showed who truly runs the Tyne! Unfortunately, they would go on to lose to Tyne ARC in the final. Congratulations to Tyne, who like DARC took it to the boys hard off the start, but this time managed to hold on for a victory by barely a canvas. 

The final of the Durham alumnus, Reverend C.J. Saunders Cup, Champ A category may have been a foregone conclusion, but the second eight were determined to test their speed and pushed the first eight all the way to the line. With all eights separated by only six seconds in their respective finals, Durham showed not only their speed but also their depth. Each eight joins the women and devs at Henley, looking to qualify three boats for the Temple Challenge Cup for the first time in the University’s history. Thank you to DARC for hosting an excellent event, to all the crews that came from across the country to compete, and to all the supporters of Durham University who made the journey to cheer on the atheletes. 

11 Athletes at GB Final Trials

DUBC had 11 athletes attending the Final GB Senior/U23 April Trials. This is a record number. It has been decades since Durham has managed to produce that many athletes with such a high level of calibre that won them their invite to the Final April Trials.

We had 3 men’s pairs racing; Andrew Mettrick & Gus John, George Reed & Jack Roberts and Levin Graf & Tom Cross (ULBC). All performed exceptionally well, racing the time-trial hard and securing themselves positions in the C-Final, D-Final and C-Final, respectively. We had 2 women’s pairs racing and a women’s lightweight single; Philippa Emery & Evelyna Davies, Jordan Kingston & Anna Grace and Izzy Sellers. All raced impressively, securing themselves positions in the B-Final and C-Final, respectively. Izzy Sellers was the fastest U23 Lightweight Woman which was an incredible result for both her and the club. 

In the finals, Andrew Mettrick and Gus John’s pair stormed the C-Final, leading out the pack in the early stages of the race and ultimately taking a third place finish which solidified them as the 3rd U23 men’s pair. Levin Graf and Tom Cross took a 6th place finish in the same final. George Reed and Jack Roberts managed to finish 4th in the D-Final after a tough race.

On the women’s side, Philippa Emery and Evelyna Davies managed to place 4th in the B-Final which positioned them as the top women’s U23 pair. A huge achievement for them and the club. Jordan Kingston and Anna Grace managed to place 2nd in the C-Final after a close race against some stiff competition. 

All of our athletes were invited to testing and seat racing the week after the initial trials, in which they all had the opportunity to row with others from different clubs in fours and eights. Overall, an awesome weekend for our trialists and the boat club.

Victor Ludorum at BUCS Regatta 23

Last weekend, DUBC travelled down to Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, to compete at the annual BUCS Regatta. We had a record number of boats and crews entered into the event, with 3 full trailers being driven down. Historically, DUBC had seen great success at the event, winning the Victor Ludorum in multiple consecutive years on both the men and the women’s side. The regatta is always an important event, as it gains the university valuable BUCS points which helps to solidify its position on the national sporting scene. Success at the regatta also aids the boat club financially as it proves to the university that we are still the premier sporting team.

This year was perhaps the most successful regatta that the boat club has had in over a decade. We won the overall Victor Ludorum by 80 points, which has not been done since 2015, and also the women’s Victor Ludorum by 16 points, which was a massive achievement for our women’s squad and pays testament to the hard training they have been taking on over the last few months. We also medalled in both the men’s (silver) and women’s (bronze) Championship Eights, arguably the blue riband event of the entire regatta, which is something that also has not been achieved in many years.

Our day by day results became more and more impressive as the weekend went on, with Saturday seeing success in events such as a gold in the Women’s Championship Lightweight Double, a silver in the Men’s Championship 8, and a silver in the Women’s Championship Pair. There were a number of close 4th place finishes in the Men’s Intermediate Eight, the Women’s Championship Quad and another of our Women’s Championship Pair.  

Sunday saw gold in the Women’s Intermediate Lightweight Single for Carrie Rijkse, who went on to win 5 medals over the course of the weekend. There was gold in the Women’s Championship Lightweight Four, bronze in the Women’s Championship Eight, the Men’s Championship Coxless Four, the Men’s Championship Coxed Four and the Women’s Championship Lightweight Single. A strong middle day for DUBC.

Monday was certainly our most successful day. We picked up medals in events such as gold and silver in the Women’s Lightweight Intermediate Pair, a gold in the Women’s Championship Coxed Four, a gold and silver in the Men’s Intermediate Pair, a gold and bronze in the Men’s Championship Pair, a gold in the Women’s Lightweight Intermediate Quad and a silver in the Women’s Championship Double. A huge well done to all of the lightweight athletes who competed, who doubled up on events on all of the days, rowing in up to 6 races per day. 

This success allowed us to regain the Victor Ludorum after a long 8 years of falling short. It truly marks DUBC’s resurgence onto the national stage. We’d like to say a massive thankyou to all of the parents who helped out with the food tents. The provision of food for our athletes was absolutely essential and undoubtedly played a huge role in the club’s success over the weekend.

DUBC Take On WEHORR

On the 5th of March DUBC competed at the prestigious Women’s Eights Head of the River event, on the famous Tideway course. Eighteen of our women’s squad travelled down south a few days before to get a feel for the tricky Tideway conditions and lines. With some good final pieces in preparation done through Chiswick to Barnes, this event was hoping to tie off a long winters graft and step on after a great BUCS head.

The first 8+, coming off a strong BUCS victory, rowed hard to come 12th. The race began just behind home water rivals, Newcastle University, who were worked hard on to gain upon. Hot on Durham’s heels came Leander D, who gained up until Hammersmith where a great shift was put in, holding the attacking crew off until the finish, demonstrating an exciting basis for the upcoming regatta racing. Despite best efforts and some of the most impressive results in the last few years, the race was considered a somewhat of a lacklustre performance compared to the result achieved at BUCS. With a lot learnt and a renewed fire, the women’s squad will be hungry knowing there is much more speed to come and be excited to see what summer brings.

Next up was the turn of the second eight, coxed by Cecily Kay. This crew produced their best performance yet, rowing hard and long, to finish a strong 32nd complemented by an excellent line. This demonstration of the dedication and graft put in over the dark winter months resulted in them achieving the fastest time in their category by an impressive 28 seconds which also happened to be a course record within their category. This was an exceptional performance and one that the whole crew can certainly be proud of. It bodes exceptionally well for the future of DUBC with many freshers being included in this crew.

Now our attention turns towards our next block of hard training and the subsequent regatta season, post Head of the River, where we are excited to get stuck in to some side by side racing and finding some real speed.

Huge Success at BUCS Head

BUCS 4's and 8's Head returned up North for the second year running, racing over the 18th and 19th of February '23. Universities across the country came to the River Tyne, to compete for the Victor Ludorum (VL), as well as capture sacred BUCS points in a sport that has few BUCS affiliated competitions. Durham University Boat Club (DUBC) had big shoes to fill, once again racing on their home waters. 

DUBC took the event by storm. Almost every single athlete medalled at least once over the course of the weekend, which truly is a phenomenal feat. 

Women's Squad

The women’s squad came away with the women’s Victor Ludorum for the first time since 2015, going home with 3 golds and 1 bronze medal; with every woman who raced winning at least one! The squad started the day with two eights in Division 1. Their first eight won gold in the Championship category for the first time, beating Edinburgh and Newcastle by 4.5s. Whilst the second eight took bronze in the Intermediate category. In division 2 the 8's split and raced a Championship coxed four, coxless four, quad, and lightweight coxless four. DUBC's quad and coxless four put out strong performances, both coming 5th, whilst the coxed and lightweight fours brought back two more golds, with the lightweights winning by a huge 105 seconds. With such a massive success from such a strong group of women, the squad and their coaches are definitely excited about what’s to come from the rest of the racing year, starting with Women’s Head of the River in two weeks and building into regatta season…

Men's Squad

The Tyne actively welcomed all competitors in the first division with quintessentially rough conditions making it not only a physically but also technically challenging race for all crews. DUBC’s men's squad took on the first division in fours and quad combinations; bringing home 5 medals to start the day with the standout performance coming from the Championship coxless four, who stormed to a gold medal with a lead of 56 seconds to the nearest crew from Imperial College London.

In the afternoon, the second division saw picture perfect conditions where DUBC men's squad assembled into three eights; one in the championship event and two in the intermediate event. All three men's eights rowed long and hard putting their work over the winter season to the test, with the men's first and second eights securing further BUCS medals. The second eight placed a close second against a very strong crew from Bristol, whilst the men's first eight defended their BUCS head title and extended their winning margin from 2022, against an impressive crew from Imperial College London.

Summary of Results

MCh8+- Gold

MCh4- Gold
MInt8+- Silver
MInt4x- Silver
MChLwt4- Bronze
MCh4x- Bronze
MCh4+- Bronze
WCh8+- Gold
WChLwt4- Gold
WCh4+- Gold
WInt8+- Bronze

Following the extensive medal haul from both the men's and women's squad, DUBC were able collect the men's and women's Victor Ludorum, as well as being awarded the overall Victor Ludorum for the first time in 11 years. This shows great promise for the squad leading into summer racing, following the Easter period. DUBC will look to overturn Newcastle at the Boat Race of the North for the first time in many years, hoping to officially turn the Tyne Palatinate once again. An incredibly successful weekend for the club and for everyone involved.

Fixtures against the Cambridge Blue Boat

On the weekend of the 28th of January, both men’s and women’s First VIII’s travelled down to Ely for some side by side competition with Cambridge University Boat Club as they prepare for the upcoming Boat Race. The opportunity was a great honour for both squads as never before has DUBC been invited down to partake in the Boat Race fixtures, a testament to the athletes’ recent successes at head races and regattas. It was enormously valuable not only in terms of racing experience but also in establishing personal networks between athletes and coaches. As a result, we hope that this marks the beginning of a regular event in the DUBC annual calendar, perhaps even spilling out onto the tideway in future years. 

As for the racing itself, Cambridge unsurprisingly demonstrated their strength and speed immediately. Our men’s First VIII raced the blue boat over two 3km pieces, performing admirably and giving the Cambridge crew a bit of a dogfight down the Ely straight. Likewise, the women’s First VIII came up against a strong coxed four comprised of half of the Goldie boat as the Cambridge women were unavailable due to internal testing. Although victory belonged to the light blues that weekend, our men and women put on a promising display of speed that will be readily built upon into the final head races of the season and into the summer months. 

We are very grateful for the efforts of our coaches, Rob and Will, for organizing this event and being responsible for the transport of equipment. Additionally, we thank CUBC for accommodating our athletes and we wish them all the best for the Boat Race. For our athletes back in Durham, however, it’s back to the grind with GB u23 trials coming up as well as BUCS Head, WeHorr and Horr. It’s a busy time here at DUBC but an exciting one no less.

Alumni Fun After Success at Rutherford Head

This weekend our athletes took on one of the biggest races in the North of England; Rutherford Head. The club came away with some promising results as we approach the conclusion of Michaelmas term and begin our post-season training camp.

The first division saw the men's eights race and the women's fours. The weather was fair but brisk, with glassy water blessing all of the crews racing. The 5km course ran from the A1 bridge back towards the boat clubs and finished at the "man with the blade" about 300 metres past the boat house. All of the crews put in monstrous efforts to come away with strong results. The Men's 1st eight came second overall, closely behind the winners; University of London. The Men's 2nd eight were the 4th fastest 2nd eight, propping up the rear of the band. Similarly, our Men's 3rd eight came sixth in their band, putting out a strong performance for a newly formed crew.

Our Women's fours also did very well in division one. We acquired a win in the women's coxed four; a great achievement for our women's squad. We had a number of women's fours place highly in their band, with our women's lightweight four doing especially well in amongst a majority of heavyweight crews.

In the second division, it was the turn of the women's eights and the men's fours. Our Women's first eight came second in their band, coming in closely behind Edinburgh. A very strong result. The Women's second eight came fifth in their band. We gained a win in the Men's coxed four, who happened to be the 2nd fastest four of the division. We had a number of other strong performances from our men's fours throughout the division, with many placing high in their bands.

We also had a number of alumni racing with our crews, which was great to see. The racing was followed by the annual Rutherford Dinner, where a great time was had by all with some celebratory drinks and food. It's always great to catch up with alumni and relax after a tough day of racing. Thank you to everyone who helped organise and allow Rutherford Head to run smoothly.

Success for DUBC at the Northern Rowing Series

This weekend saw DUBC take part in a series of private fixtures with our neighbours Newcastle, Tyne and also Edinburgh, who made the journey down to partake in some great racing. The fixtures consisted of a 4km Time Trial rate capped at 26spm and two 1k pieces which were done at free rate. DUBC took the time trial by storm, which ran from the A1 bridge, past the infamous Scrapyard corner, up Blaydon Strait to finish at Newburn bridge. Our athletes dominated the race, putting to use all the grim winter miles that have been gained so far.

Our men’s 1st eight won the TT by 19 seconds over Edinburgh’s 1st eight and put a minute into Newcastle’s 1st eight; an impressive result this early in the season. Meanwhile on the women’s side, the 1st eight came second overall in the their TT, placing behind Edinburgh by 4 seconds. However they beat Newcastle by 26 seconds. So far very promising results for our top two eights.

Back to the men’s side, our 2nd eight beat Edinburgh and Newcastle’s 2nd eights, and they placed only 2 seconds behind Newcastle’s 1st eight! They raced very hard in the TT so this result really reflects the hard work that they put in. Similarly the women’s 2nd eight performed exceptionally well. With a number of freshers relatively new to sweeping making up the crew, they placed just behind Edinburgh’s 2nd eight but beat Newcastle by 30 seconds! A very exciting result indeed and a great start to the day for DUBC.

After a short break to let the athletes recover and refuel, it was time to hit the water again for the 1k pieces which started at Newburn Bridge and finished just before the S-bend. The 1st and 2nd eights were matched up with their respective opposition and the racing began. The men’s 1st eight dominated both of their pieces, winning the first piece by a length and the second by a length and a half over Edinburgh, Newcastle and Tyne.

On the women’s side, our 1st eight placed second in both pieces, only narrowly losing to Edinburgh by just a canvas. They raced hard in both pieces, charging all the way to the end, keeping Edinburgh under pressure the whole way.

Our men’s 2nd eight didn’t have it all their own way. After a stellar performance in the TT in the morning, they placed 4th in the 1k pieces behind Newcastle and Edinburgh, despite an impressive sprint to the line both times.

Our women’s 2nd eight smashed the 1k’s, only just losing to Edinburgh but beating Newcastle by clear water on both pieces. Again, an impressive feat for a boat with limited sweep experience.

Overall, it was a great day with extremely positive results for Durham. These fixtures are a great way for everyone to get some coveted race experience in before the important head races during winter so we’d like to thank everyone who organised the event and helped out. It could not have happened without everyone chipping in. We now look forward to Rutherford Head next Saturday, where DUBC will aim to capitalise on these strong results.

DUBC at November GB trials 2022

DUBC travelled down to Boston en force, boasting 18 athletes: 10 women, 6 men and 2 coxes. DUBC turned up to the trials process last year, wide-eyed at the professionalism of some of the athletes - the trials required the athletes to level up. This year DUBC returned with an assurance that they belonged at this grand stage, with results from the previous year and with a solid block of training in small boats under their belts.

The trial began on Saturday, with a 2k ergo test: the athletes had to achieve prescribed cutoffs to proceed further in the process. The DUBC athletes rose to the occasion, delivering 13 PB’s; a special mention must go to Dom Newton and Caroline Rijkse who pulled out two heroic performances, each taking off over 6 seconds off their previous PBs to make the cutoff.

On the next day, a misty November morning provided the stage for a 5 kilometre time trial on the water. Conditions were kind, the glassy water glistening for the small boats to cut through. The first down the track was our men’s pair of Gus John and Andrew Mettrick; despite a low six minute 2k still heavy in their legs from the day before, they produced a classy row, finishing as the 5th u23 pair. The men’s singles were next, where Levin Gräf displayed his European sculling prowess, as the fastest DUBC sculler of the day, taking a 14th place overall finish back up North with him. The other men’s singles, George Reed, Dominic Newton and Peter Goodfellow, all put out gutsy performances - they demonstrated the competitiveness of the Durham programme, as they finished within a couple seconds of each other.

The men set the tone for what would be a successful day for DUBC. Fresher Anna Grace demonstrated her pedigree, as the quickest DUBC woman of the day, and managing a 5th u23 placing to go with it. The performance of the day would wait however for 2nd year Izzy Sellers, attacking the 5 kilometre course ferociously to take the crown, as the fastest u23 lightweight. Fresher Mia Vickerman followed closely in her footsteps, moving her single very effectively to finish 4th in the u23 lightweight category. Caroline Rijkse formed the third and final piece to DUBC’s lightweight women group - Caroline placed as the 8th u23. The other DUBC women raced the scull fearlessly, anticipating the February trial, where they will be able to manifest their better practised sweeping skills in pairs.

It was inspiring to DUBC athletes present at the trial and those who remained at base camp on the Tyne to witness recent DUBC alumni performing at such a high level. Matt Rossiter stroked his pair to the fastest time of the day. He was chased hard by Ryan Todhunter, who flew down the track to finish as the 4th quickest pair. Last year’s women’s captain, Natasha Morrice, now rowing under the Leander colours stamped her mark on the field placing 13th overall on the 2k test followed by a strong performance in the single on the Sunday with her eyes now set on returning to sweep rowing where she earned a silver medal in W8+ at the U23WRC’s this summer.

The focus for the whole squad now turns to Rutherford Head on our home waters in 4 weeks time.

Photo from https://www.allmarkstore.co.uk

Welcoming 4 new Filippi boats to our growing fleet

Set at DUBC’s Robert Gillespie boathouse at the Maiden Castle Sports Centre in Durham, a group of current athletes, alumni and friends of the boatclub gathered in the sunshine this past Saturday, to mark the addition, and naming, of four new Filippi boats into the Durham fleet. Named after DUBC’s first three Olympians - Sam Hobbs ’52, Diana Bishop ’76 and Tom Bishop ’76 - and a distinguished recent alum, Jock Wishart, the new boats bring the top end of our fleet to parity with the best clubs and universities in the country.

We were lucky enough to have both Diana and Tom with us at the ceremony to christen their respective boats. They shared anecdotes with the squad about their time both at DUBC and on the GB team, giving insightful stories about their journey, trials and eventual successes on their way to the top of the sport. Diana’s journey from the DUBC development squad into the first women’s 8+ at Durham and further - onto winning the first ever Women’s Sculler’s Head of the River Race and coming 1st at GB Championships in both the W1x and the W4x - is a history that DUBC is incredibly proud of. The alumni present reminded us of our past successes and of the hard work required to achieve more in the future. It’s a good time to be at Durham.

Sincerely,

Ollie Gordon-Brown

President of DUBC ’22-’23

#BleedPalatinate

George Bourne wins Silver at the World Championships!

This past Sunday alumni George Bourne raced for Great Britain at the World Championships in Racice, Croatia, in the M4x. After qualifying 1st from their heat and second in a tightly contested semifinal, they pushed back on powerful competition from both Italy and the Netherlands to claim a close silver medal, losing out by only 1/3 length to a powerful Polish crew. George graduated from Durham in 2020, and marked his first senior appearance for the GB Team with a medal - it’s a huge achievement, and one that the whole squad is incredibly proud of. We’ll be waiting and watching this space for more great things to come.

Sincerely,

Ollie Gordon-Brown

President of DUBC ’22-’23

#BleedPalatinate