Bann Head Race Analysis
Spirits were high on the morning of Saturday, November 17th, as Queen’s travelled up to Coleraine to race the Bann Head of the River, for some their first race not on the Lagan.
In the first race of the day, Queen’s Intermediate Eight won a clear overall victory with a time of 12:56, while the Women’s Inter Eight performed strongly with a time of 18:00 and experienced some tight racing which included a collision with the Coleraine Inst. Junior 18 Eight. They finished as the second fastest women’s crew, losing to the Bann RC Women’s Inter Eight.
The Queen’s Ladies and Mens Novice Eights in both races were ‘time only’ entries yet they all gave great performances and times worth taking note of. To have four novice eights from each club consistently training as we come closer to Christmas is a sign of the impressive commitment and team work among the Novices and their coaches. The two Queen’s Ladies crews in the first race achieved times of 17.50 and 19.43 and the Mens crews in this race finished with times of 17.19 and 19.24 respectively. In the afternoon race, the two Queen’s Ladies crews finished with times of 19.34 and 20.09, while the two Mens crews finished with 20:55 and 21:32, which is particularly impressive for the Novice Eight which finished ahead here, seeing they were rowing with only seven men.
The Ladies Club had consistently impressive performances throughout the afternoon race, with the Novice Coxed Four finishing as the overall fastest Women’s crew at 18:00 and excellent performances from Women Scullers Aoife Leahy, who finished 23rd, with a time of 19.42 and Emma McGleenan, who finished 31st with a time of 26.03, in her first head race in the single scull.
The Mens Club’s Coxless Intermediate Four won the second race well with a time of 14.57, James McKelvey competed in the single scull as did Mark McMullan, with McKelvey finishing 3rd overall with a time of 16.36 and former Coleraine Inst. Rower McMullan finishing 17th with a time of 18.48.
The Mens Club also entered a second Coxless Intermediate Four for a time entry only, which managed to finish with a time of 15.56 after some small racing clashes, making it the second quickest time in the second race if entered fully.
Strong performances all around at Bann Head- well done to all competing and thanks to coaches and supporters.
Below are some pictures provided by Queen’s Rowing and Queen’s Rower Mark McMullan.
James Bond Theme Party Success
The James Bond Theme Party fundraiser held at the Mandela Hall on Tuesday night, November 13th was a great success, with a large turnout from students outside the club. There was a lot of great feedback indicating a good night was had by all who attended and many ‘007 style’ tuxes and ‘Bond Girl’ outfits were on display. A big, big, well-deserved thank you is warranted to everyone who gave up some (or a lot) of their time to come and down to the Students Union to sell tickets and help promote the night in the run-up to it.
Queen’s Rowing Athletes give Top Performances at Irish and GB Trials
Student Athletes from Queen’s gave top performances at Irish and GB trials taking place over last weekend, November 24th-25th. Aoife Leahy competed in the Women’s Lightweight Under-23 trials at Irish Trials in Newry with a Saturday 2k erg time of 7:47 and 23:24.6 for the 5km single scull time trial on Sunday.
Donald Evans and James McKelvey competed at the GB trials in Boston, England last weekend, with the Sunday single scull time trial being cancelled due to poor conditions. James achieved a 2k erg time of 6:29.4 in the Men’s Lightweight Under-23 category and Donald did particularly well in the Lightweight category, with a time of 6:14.7, making him the fastest lightweight of the competition!
Fantastic efforts all around, well done to our athletes!
BUCs Indoor Erg Competition
Queen’s were one of the many UK universities taking part in the British Universities Indoor Erg Competition today, Saturday, December 1st, where university clubs would complete 2k Erg tests for it to be recorded and ranked against each other. The Intermediate and Senior groups from both clubs participated in the standard 2km test, while Novices completed 1km tests. Queen’s Coxes also competed in the 1km test, dedication! Well done to everyone who did the test today!
Reminders of upcoming events and races
- Lady’s Club and Men’s Club Dinners: The Men’s Dinner will be on Friday evening, December 7th at 7.30pm in the Great Hall. The Lady’s Dinner will be on the following day, December 8th, at 7pm in the Great Hall. Tickets on sale now, use the link here to go to the website to buy tickets and for further details http://www.queensrowing.org/events
- Festive Head and Match Racing: The Annual Lagan Festive Head Race will be taking place on Saturday, December 16th, with the majority of the club racing, while the Lady’s 1st crew and Men’s 1st and 2nd crews will be going to Newcastle that same weekend for ‘Match Racing’ on the Tyne river against crews from the top University Rowing clubs including Newcastle, Durham and University of London.