Boat Club Freeze Out Competition

By Lara Wainwright

On a weekend when most sports fixtures were called off due to bad weather, the University of York Boat Club multi-layered the lycra to the max to cut up the River Nene for BUCS Beginner and Championship Head of the River.

Saturday 20th February witnessed the debut of both the Novice men and women’s squads in the Beginner Eights category, racing 2.5 kilometres. The Men’s Beginner Eight coxed by previous rower Ellie Donaldson, produced a promising time of 11 minutes 41seconds, coming 24th in a highly competitive pack of 42. With such tight competition there were only seconds between the top half of the crews for medal positions.

The women’s crew, placed amongst tough competition, came in 21st out of 30. A crew that have had minimal training together pulled a competent time under the watchful eye of experienced cox Ellie Cooper.

Sunday witnessed the descent of an altogether keen Senior squad, ready to race the 5 kilometre course of Championship Day. The First Division witnessed the Senior Women send out two eager eights; the First Eight competing against an elite competition inclusive of GB squad members, the Second Eight against numerous respectable universities. The First Eight fought against all odds to come in within a minute of the pack in the Championship category, having encountered a broken rigger and broken seat during the course of the race. Moreover the Second Eight stormed upstream, coming in with a time of 21.28.

Men’s captain Dan Steele made the choice to race his men twice, sending out two fours in the morning division, followed by an eight in the afternoon; stroked by Ben Coverdale, the 1st four came 12th in the Championship Four category, with a second four bringing up the rear at 30th, encountering boat problems during the course of the race. Racing Intermediate in the afternoon, the men’s eight came an impressive 16th, especially considering that the crew had raced the same course hours before.

With Varsity and Head of the Trent next weekend, BUCS provided a good start to UYBC’s battle plan of the season. This can only be bettered with the new launch UYBC have been generously granted, with crews now being able to be coached by two coaches in the future.

Varsity Sprints are this Saturday. York St John doesn’t stand a chance.