A few days before Roses begins, SCAN talks to some of the biggest teams we haven’t yet covered in a Club Column in order to find out how they’re preparing for the biggest event of the University calendar.
As the countdown to Roses 2018 continues, SCAN had the opportunity to interview Lancaster Men’s Football Club Chairman Carl Airey, Lancaster Women’s Football Club President Maisie Stafford and Lancaster’s University Swimming Club’s Captain Carl Smith (talking about not just the swimming club but also touching upon both water-polo teams). Here’s their thoughts on the upcoming action and why their events will be must-watch.
SCAN: ‘How was last year’s Roses performance and what are your expectations for this year?’
Carl A.: ‘Last years’ Roses performance was phenomenal as we rose above the odds with 10 men to beat York. We expect to be strong this time being at home and hope that our 10 year unbeaten record will serve us true’
Maisie: ‘Last year was a well fought and fairly even game, we lost 2-0 having had a goal disallowed. We bridged the gap between the two teams quite significantly last year and I believe we have done so even more this year based on league performances and continual development throughout the season. I fully believe we’ll give the best performance we have in my 3 years of uni this year and will get that victory we’ve worked so hard for’
Carl S.: ‘Last years Roses performance was really strong and we won the swimming 8-0. We’re looking to get 8-0 on swimming this year again. The girls swimming was a close fought battle and I feel will be close again this year. Preparation is going well this year. We’ve had record breaking performances this year both at Short Course Bucs 2017 and Long Course Bucs 2018.
As for the Women’s Waterpolo they won their game last year against York and look like they will win their game again this year. They have had a strong season this year and have managed to stay up in their after being promoted last year. They’ve beaten York in games this year and also knocked Loughborough out of the Bucs Cup.
Finally, the Mens Waterpolo. They won their game convincingly against York last year and I would expect them to replicate this again this year. They’ve had a fantastic season of going unbeaten in their league and securing promotion. They’ve also won the Bucs Cup this year with a crucial win in the final against no other than York’
SCAN: ‘How is prep going for this year’s event?’
Carl A.: ‘This year prep is going extremely well, our St. George’s camp prep was something new and well worth it. The boys are excited as ever to play in the prestigious game’
Maisie: ‘As mentioned we’ve really been working all season on improving all areas of the team. We’ve continued our tradition of sweaty selfies and have been working on strength and conditioning, not only the cardio side of things. We are in the middle of our boot camp week now, finalising tactics and getting the two teams together to prep for the big weekend. Everyone’s working hard and everything’s going well’
Carl S.: ‘We’re doing 2 weeks of extra training during the last 2 weeks of the Easter break to make sure we’re on top form for Roses and that everyone is focused going into the event’
SCAN: ‘Is there anyone to particularly look out for at this year’s event? (e.g. a fresher who you’re hoping will do really well)’
Carl A.: ‘This year our team has been one unit and worked as team throughout. In particular our spine of the team has been held to enter by veteran centre back Ben Finch, our captain and talisman Robbie Kennedy who has scored numerous goals this season and our fresher Ben Anderson who has been a revelation at left back. But our key advantage is our team spirit and performance’
Maisie: ‘We’ve been so lucky this year to have had so many high-quality freshers join playing positions throughout the pitch, shoring up our defence and midfield or getting us goals. I could list 6 or 7, there are genuinely too many to name just one but our soon to be new captain Lilly Clark will no doubt be crucial in our success. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a goal or two from Erin Menzies too’
Carl S.: ‘People to watch out for in the swimming are Fresher Hugh Takemoto on Breastroke and Fresher Lauren Buckley on Butterfly who will both I’m sure produce strong swims. From the water-polo teams expect great things from Becca Talbot and Will Tomlinson from the women and men’s teams respectively.
Overall, as a society we will look to defend our 16-0 ‘RedWash’ in our home pool and will fight for every hundredth of a second in every race and will battle throughout every quarter in every match. #RosesAreRed’
