Henley Regatta 2013 and Reading Town Regatta
The Queen’s Rowing Men’s Club featured at this year’s Henley Royal Regatta in the shape of their Novice Eight, who competed in the Friday Time Trial for a place in the Temple Challenge Cup. The Novice Men were unsuccessful in qualifying yet achieved a strong time for a Novice crew over the 2112m course of 6.58, with the fastest non-qualifying time this year at 6.45.
The following day, the Novice squad travelled to Reading to compete at Reading Town Regatta, a 700m sprint race, in the Intermediate 2 Eights Category, the Intermediate 2 Coxed Four Category and the Intermediate 3 Single Sculls category. In the Eights competition, the Novice crew went up against Trinity College Hartford, losing by two lengths to the American Crew, the coxed four was formed on the day as a scratch crew and competed against a J18 crew from Hampton School, losing by one and a half lengths, and finally, Novice Sculler Andrew Beatty competed against N. Mills from Molesey Boat Club in the Intermediate 3 Single Scull category, losing by four lengths.
While these results were obviously disappointing for the crew and their coach present at Henley, Steven Lockwood, the decision for the Novices to compete at this year’s Henley as well as Reading Town Regatta event had always been one fuelled by the prospect of good racing experience at a particularly high level, against much more experienced and international crews, as well as enjoying and appreciating the experience of Henley Royal. Thus, the crew were able to take in the racing as a positive experience overall and good training for the Irish National Championships.
Holland Beker Regatta 2013
In a first for the club, the Men’s Intermediate and Senior Crews travelled with Head Coach Mick Desmond and Assistant Men’s Coach Trevor McKnight to Amsterdam to compete in the Holland Beker Regatta, a top Continental regatta taking place over the 28th to the 29th of June this year, which annually attracts international standard competitors.
On the Saturday, QUBBC competed in five race categories, Tiernan Oliver and Club Captain Andrew Little competed in the Under-23 Pairs event, coming third in their heat and advancing to the A final and finishing in second place with a time of 7:09.1.
Donald Evans competed in the Lightweight single sculls event, coming fourth in his heat with a time of 7:36.15 and progressed to the Sunday stage of Heats, along with James Cook and Mark McMullan, competing for Queen’s in the Lightweight Double scull, who finished fourth in their Saturday heat with a time of 7:24.11 which allowed the Scullers to progress to the Sunday Round of Heats. The Men’s Lightweight Pairs race was a straight final as was the Heavyweight Men’s and in the Lightweight Category, Chris Beck and Luke McCann raced hard to achieve the 3rd place position with a final time of 7:19.02 and Charlie Cunningham and Matt McKibbin finished fourth in the Heavyweight Men’s Coxless Pairs Final with a time of 7:12.54.
On the Sunday, Donald Evans competed in his second round heat, finishing in fourth place with a time of 7:24.58 and unfortunately missing out on a place in the Final. James Cook and Mark McMullan found themselves in a similar situation, as they finished 5th in their Sunday Heat for the Lightweight Double Sculls with a time of 7:13.37 and also unfortunately missed out on a place in the final for their category. QUBBC also competed in the Men’s Coxless Fours category, with a boat steered by Kevin Coughlan. The crew was knocked out in their heat, finishing in 5th place with a time of 6:25.29.
In an unexpected move, QUBBC convened with another UK club present at the Regatta, Aberdeen Boat Club, in order to create another entry for the Coxless Fours event. Queen’s Rower Luke McCann rowed in the Aberdeen Four, which finished 4th in their heat with a time of 6:23.5.
In one of the most anticipated race categories of the day, QUBBC raced their Senior Eight in the first heat of the Senior Eights Competition to finish third, allowing them to progress to the A final, where they finished in 6th place against competition of a particularly high standard, with a time of 5:53.4.
Solid results for some of the crews were achieved over the weekend and many thought the event a good experience and an interesting alternative to competing at Henley.
Queen’s Rower Luke McCann, finishing his first year of study at Queen’s for his undergraduate degree and having rowed previously at Junior Level for Methody College Belfast, expressed how it was a ‘‘great experience to be able to have the opportunity to row alongside international level rowers.’’
Women’s Henley 2013
The Ladies Club entered their Novice Eight at Intermediate Level at this year’s Women’s Henley, accompanied by assistant coaches Emma Kerrigan and Ellen Thompson and Ladies Head Coach Julie Lynch. The Ladies made a strong account of themselves despite their comparative lack of racing and rowing experience to other crews at the event. The Ladies achieved a qualifying time in the Time Trial on Friday, June 21st, allowing them entry to race in the Intermediate Academic Eights competition. Their first race was the next day, where the Ladies achieved a clear two-length victory over HMSG school but were then up against a much stronger crew, University College London, who very tightly beat the Queen’s Ladies by two feet.
Coach Ellen Thompson commented on the Ladies performance, saying that considering that ‘‘this is a Novice Crew competing at Intermediate level getting to the quarter finals of Women’s Henley, which is a great result, a great learning experience and is good for next year.’’
Lady’s Club Captain and crew member of the Ladies Eight competing at Women’s Henley, Rebecca McGookin commented on the racing, saying how ‘‘ the competition was tough and experienced, however the racing was unforgettable and reaching the quarter final was a good experience despite losing by two feet. The race has taught us how to handle different crews and has proved to be a good bonding experience and good preparation for Irish Champs this year.’’
New Club Committees for Next Season
Following the recent Annual General Meetings for the Lady’s and Men’s clubs, each club has now allocated the Club Committee positions to specific club members for the next season.
The Lady’s Club Committee for the 2013-2014 season is as follows:
Captain- Catherine Campbell
Secretary- Mary Beth Toner
Treasurer- Carol Moorehead
Novice Captains- Jill Thornton, Rebecca Mackey, Emma McKee
Kit Officer- Hannah Todd
Logistics Officer- Roisín Maguire
Fundraising Officers- Jane Cunningham, Niamh Menary
Social Secretaries- Rebecca McGookin, Rebecca Edwards
The Men’s Club Committee for the 2013-2014 season is as follows:
Captain- Mark Magill
Vice-Captain- Andy Beatty
Secretary- Luke McCann
Treasurer- Mark McMullan
Novice Managers- Jason Armstrong, Max Fuller
Secretary of House and Grounds- Andy Beatty
PR Manager- Jason Armstrong
Fundraising Manager- Carol Moorehead
Logistics- Peter Ramsey
Annual Dinner Co-Ordinator- Aaron Shaw
Annual Regatta Co-Ordinator- James Cook
Congratulations to the recently elected committee members and best of luck for next season!
Athlone Regatta Cancelled
The Novice Men’s Squad travelled down to Athlone on Friday, June 14th, only to be met with disappointment upon hearing the news soon after arrival that the regatta had been cancelled. The event had been due to take place the following day, June 15th and the Novices were intended to compete in a multitude of races beyond sweep rowing races, including the Novice Single Sculls and Novice Coxed Quadruple Sculls, and the following day the squad were intended to travel to Galway to compete in the Galway sprint regatta. Due to the forecast of poor weather conditions which resulted in the cancellation of Athlone, the decision was made for the Novice Men to travel back and forgo the Galway regatta, with the intention of training at Camlough Lake on Sunday instead.
Boat Race Day 2013
This year’s Annual Boat Race on June 8th was met with great weather, great crowds and great racing from all the rowers involved. The photographs from the event and Official Results for the events were Queen’s were competing can be seen below:
Senior Men Final
QUB beat UCC by 1 ¼ lengths,
Time – 5:56mins
Senior Women Final
DUBLBC beat QUBLBC by 2 ½ lengths
Time – 6:48
Fresher Men Semi 1
QUB beat DUBC ‘B’ by 2 ½ lengths
Time – 6:19
Semi 2
DUBC ‘A’ Row Over
Time – NTT
Final
DUBC ‘A’ beat QUB by 1length
Time – 6:08
Fresher Women
QUBLBC beat DUBLBC by 1 ¾ lengths
Time – 7.01
Overall, another good performance from the entire club, the Queen’s Senior Men provided a demonstration of all their hard-work throughout the season up to the Boat Race with a commanding victory over UCC and while the Senior Women did not fare as well, they came off the water with their heads and their morale high, collectively agreeing that they had raced their hardest against a much more experienced crew with a greater level of cohesion. The Novice Men also did themselves proud, having raced a seriously fierce battle with the Trinity Novices, both crews being level for much of the race until the last stretch to the PEC beyond the Ormeau Bridge. The Novice Ladies enjoyed the fruition of their high levels of enthusiasm and determination that they have put in throughout their first year of rowing in the result of their race, achieving a clear victory over their Trinity rivals.
Boat Naming Ceremony
On a the sunny evening of June 6th, Maurice Warnock, Captain of the Queen’s Rowing Alumni Boat Club, Lady Victoria, presided over a Boat Naming Ceremony at the Boathouse, where he officially named three Men’s Eights for QUBBC, which went with the theme of boats being named after Irish Mountains and Irish geographical sites. The recently added Filippi Eight was named the Slieve Croob, which is the source of the Lagan River, the Janousek Eight was named the Slieve Commedagh and the Empacher Eight was named the Slieve Donard. The four recently added Men’s Filippi pairs were also named after the iconic Belfast Dock Cranes and the Construction company which originally Produced them: Harland, Wolff, Samson and Goliath. At a seperate event later in the month, Captain Warnock also officially named the Empacher Eight used by Lady Victoria, after the current Club President for Lady Victoria, Ricky Carruth.
Upcoming Races, Events and Reminders
- Irish National Championships, National Rowing Centre, Inniscarra Lake, County Cork, 19th– 21st of July
- End of Season Club Meal, Lee Valley Golf & Country Club, County Cork, Sunday 21st of July, 7pm