The Lancaster University Boat Club (LUBC) has an extremely hectic year ahead, with numerous races and fundraising events. The club also has strong hopes for Roses in which they want the opportunity to earn maximum points, as opposed to last year where York pulled out handing Lancaster the points on a plate.
The Boat Club’s first race of the year is known as the York small boats head and it will take place on November 21. It is the main British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) competition before Christmas which gives pre-existing members their first taste of inter-university competition of the year, and novices an opportunity to transfer what they have learnt in to race conditions. It is seen as the perfect opportunity to determine where LUBC is up to as a club.
On the exact same date there is the British indoor rowing championship at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham for the largest indoor rowing event in the world. However with the clash of dates, it will mainly be the non-rowing members of the Club that attend. And finally, later in the term, with the date yet to be confirmed there will be the North West Universities indoor rowing championships held in Chester.
However the Boat Club is not just all about racing, they make a special effort to do at least one fundraising effort per term. The sponsored event for first term is a 24 hour erg, in which experienced rower Dan Morgan will be attempting to break the world record for most metres rowed in this time. Erg being the colloquial name for an Ergometer, the device used to determine the amount of work performed. This will take place in town in the early part of December; however the exact date and time are still to be confirmed. The proceeds will be split equally between LUBC and the Anthony Nolan Trust.
Second term sees the Boat Club attending the BUCS Championship and Beginner Head held at Peterborough rowing Club on February 19 of next year. The Women’s Head of river race and the Head of river race will be held on March 19 and April 2 respectively. These two events are both raced on the river Thames, from Mortlake to Putney. Last year the women came top 100 of over 300 teams, with the men finishing in the top 200 of 400. This is far more impressive than it sounds on paper, as this is competing against not only other University crews, but international crews.
The final and most hectic term begins on April 30 at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham for the BUCS Regatta, which last year saw the women’s team trounce their arch-rivals from York University. Up next for the club is the main event of the year for most clubs at the University, Roses, whereby the Club wants to help Lancaster retain the trophy by beating York on their own River. There are three more Regatta’s before third term finishes, these are; the Metropolitan Regatta, which will be held at Dorney Lake, the soon to be venue for the rowing at the 2012 Olympics.
The climax of the year for the women’s team is the Henley women’s Regatta, one of the most prestigious rowing events, with teams travelling from all over the world to attend. The women’s team has a lot to live up to after last year’s brilliant effort that saw them reach the quarter finals before narrowly missing out on a semi-final spot after being beaten by a ‘canvas’. And finally there is the Henley Royal Regatta which is the men’s equivalent of the same event due to be held between June 29 and July 3.
Although the club is already doing fantastically well and has an exciting year ahead of them, they are always looking for new members, no matter what their ability, or even if they have never rowed before. Novices train on Wednesday mornings doing circuits and have outings on the River Lune each Saturday and Sunday, while the seniors train almost every day. If you are interested in joining the club they can be found online or you can email the club Captain at j.williams3@lancs.ac.uk.
