BUCS Head 2018 – Results Day 2

More good news from Cork as Miles Taylor and Nathan Hull both took 2nd place in the U23 Lightweight 2X and the U23 2X respectively.

Back on Tyneside, race conditions had deteriorated somewhat and the remaining races were shortened to 3km. The Intermediate Men’s 8+ got the afternoon’s racing underway, along with a crew of Novice men, taking the opportunity to come up against a higher quality of competition. The Novices embraced the wilder conditions to post a time of 9.35.7, coming 37th out of a field of more than 80 Intermediate crews. A sign of how far they’ve come since taking up the sport in September. 

The Intermediate men came 10th with a time of 8.37.7, which would have seen them come 7th in the Championship category. A sign of how the standard of Intermediate rowing continues to rise year on year across UK Universities. 

After some thankfully unfounded fears of the remaining races being cancelled, the final two crews to race set off up the course. By this stage the Tyne had become more of a gauntlet than a race course. Rough water and powerful flow made for the most testing conditions of the weekend. 

The Women’s Championship Lightweight 4- were first to race. With a time of 10.12.1, the came 5th, a fantastic result in gruelling conditions. Finally, the Women’s Intermediate 4+ were the last Queen’s crew to race. Battling down the course, they came 4th with a time of 10.33.1, a gut-wrenching 1.5 seconds off the bronze medal position. An agonisingly difficult result to take but an exceptionally good row, and in time, no doubt a powerful source of inspiration for the rest of their season.

And so ended the weekend’s racing. Boats were broken, trailers were packed and the club set off back to Belfast with much to celebrate. With 15 crews entered, 12 finished in the top 10, 9 finished in the top 5, and 4 won medals. This was a remarkably strong performance from the club as it continues it’s resurgence, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed across the water, with plenty offering congratulations and expressing delight at Queen’s being back competing amongst the top rowing Universities of the UK.