As a new season dawns, the focus of both clubs turned to Novice recruitment. Novice rowing has long been the lifeblood of Queen’s Rowing and we set about recruiting a new intake with renewed vigour, keen to build upon last year’s Novice successes.
Fresher’s Week began and arrived at the Lanyon Building, with boat, blades and trestles in tow. From there we spread out all over campus, seeking out enthusiastic people keen to try something new, something brilliant. Interest was strong among the fresh faced new students. As the week went on the weather began to conspire against us but with an ever-swelling list of interested recruits we retreated to the boathouse to make plans for the Fresher’s Fair.
A more targeted event, with a captive audience, the Fresher’s Fair is an essential day in the recruitment stage of the season. With all Clubs and Societies on display, it’s an opportunity to present Queen’s Rowing as the professional and prestigious outfit it is known to be. With medals, trophies and our promo video on display, and this time protected from the elements, we once again descended upon the Fair in numbers.
As the day the progressed, the sign-up sheet grew longer, and as the crowds peaked we averaged one new recruit every minute. This was a fantastic display of both clubs at their very best, with never fewer than 20 members espousing with genuine affection and enthusiasm the virtues of not only rowing but of Queen’s Rowing itself. In doing so we were able to more than double our number of signups in one day alone, a fantastic achievement and hopefully a good omen for the season to come.
Exhausted but content with another successful recruitment drive, we packed up our stall and began to make plans for the first taster sessions. With more recruits than we dared to hope for, the emphasis now shifted to giving them a first taste of Queen’s Rowing and giving them a great start to their rowing careers.