BUCS Head 2018 Race Report
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Senior Men
Division 1 saw the Edinburgh Championship 4x got off to a strong start, overtaking Imperial college, but unfortunately were heavily affected by waves from the safety launch at half way, taking on a lot of water. Even with this the quad still managed to place 3rd. Edinburgh's Championship 4- finished 4th behind UL, Durham and Newcastle. EUBC's Championship 4+ finished 5th behind UL, Newcastle, Durham and Imperial.
Division 2 saw EUBCs 1st 8+ set off in what was a shortened 2nd division, down to 2.5k. They were followed by UL who had previously beaten them by over 40s at Rutherford head and managed to reduce this gap down to just 6s, taking silver in championship 8+ ahead of IC and Durham. EUBC's 2nd 8+ finished a tight 4th behind Newcastle A, UL A and Newcastle B.
Report by Matthew Curtis
Senior Women
With very little time on the water due to ice, and some very last minute substitutions, the Senior Womens squad managed to show their adaptability and laid down some solid performances this weekend. The first 8+ were a close 1.6 seconds behind a very strong UL crew, which is a substantial improvement from Rutherford head back in November. The Second 8+ had a good race and just missed out on bronze, coming 4th behind a Bristol first crew. Our 3rd 8+ was mainly made up of novices with our senior women Hannah Davis in the stroke seat setting up a silky rhythm to follow. They came 22nd out of 40 crews in their category, many of who were not novices!
Second division was cut short to a 2500m race due to the choppy waters, meaning a big change of race plan was needed. The championship W4- took silver (4 seconds behind UL). The championship W4+ came 6th, WInt4+ (A) 6th and WInt4+ (B) 19th.
Report by Lauren Gray
Novice Men
The past weekend was the first real test at BUCS Head for our Novice Men, determining where in the country they would be ranked amongst other university novices. The Tyne can be tricky to steer and row at this time of year but already in the first race, they showed that they are extremely strong. Coming away with a Gold Medal in the Men’s Beginner 8+, they showed their team spirit and exceptional dedication towards this sport involving the hard training of the past months. The second division saw them taking the second fastest time in the MB4+ and the Silver in the MB4x - a boat they have never previously rowed or trained in before! Sunday was their chance to reproduce a good race by putting out the 8+ in the MInt8+ category, beating several universities’ A and B boats along the way.
As tiring and exhausting as the weekend may have been, our Novice Men have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with and that they are in a position to challenge for the rest of the season. After all, they have come away from BUCS Head being the most successful Novice Men’s squad EUBC has ever had!
Saturday: Men’s Beginner 8+ - 1st, Men’s Beginner 4+ - second fastest time, Men’s Beginner 4x - 2nd
Sunday: NM in Int8+ category - 31st out of 41
Report by Gina Geffers
Novice Women
BUCS Head was a challenging weekend for the Novice Women with many ups and downs. Our WBeg4+ A took home the Bronze despite a footplate malfunction in bow and our WBeg4+ B placed 9th, and we were the only university that had two Beginner crews place in the top 10 proving how strong a team they are. The WBeg8+ had a standout performance, where everyone truly left everything on the water, coming home with the fastest time of the day. On Sunday, our Beginner crews held their own in the Intermediate categories placing 22/40 in the WInt8+ and 19/28 in the WInt4+. This weekend highlighted the strength of these Novice Women and despite it being a difficult weekend, they have come out knowing they are a force to be reckon with and the only way is up for them.
Report by Brianna Siddle
Photograph by Al Johnston



