Nottingham Autumn Head
With the Senior British Championships cancelled last weekend this was the first race on the calendar for the club, bringing an opportunity on local waters to give new members a row in their new colours, and for crews to start testing their speed out.
The morning single sculls event saw 6 athletes entered, facing challenging headwinds down the majority of the course they come away with 3 wins (Imogen North, Lucy Gillbanks, and Freya George) and 2 second place finishes (George Crouchley and Aerin Thompson). These times included the 2nd fastest single sculling time overall from George, and fastest female sculler of the day with Imogen. These results are strong display of the sculling talent ahead of next weekend’s GB trials held in Boston.
After a lunch break the larger boats took to the water for the 3rd division, with the sun shining bright and a biting wind, eight more crews boated. Off near the front of the pack the men’s lightweight quad put in a huge effort to win their category and take fastest raw time of the day, setting the tone for the rest of the division and the rest of the club. With the sculling taken care of, the fours followed suit, the men’s and women’s coxed boats picking up wins with comfortable margins in what was the first race for UoNBC for most of them. Two men’s crews entering in the same category it was always going to be a fight for the title in the coxless fours, seeing the lightweight men pip the heavyweights to the line over the 4km course in the end. Not to be out done the pairs rounded off the day in style, racking up 3 first place finishes in just as many entries.
Still early on in the season, the day offered a great chance to demonstrate the abilities of the athletes at UoNBC, and a great attitude was seen across the board. The progress made already this year should be put down to the hard work of the crews every week, and also down to the unfaltering support of the coaching team without which we would be left struggling, their time is hugely appreciated by all those who compete. I would also like to thank all those at the university who have been helping in a myriad of ways since before term started, supporting our funding applications, promoting our events, and encouraging our development.
