Bath University Boat Club win Victor Ludorum at British Rowing Club Championships for the first time
Last weekend was one for the history books for the South West GB Performance Development Academy (PDA) as athletes on the Olympic Pathway Programme and their University of Bath crew-mates won a flurry of medals to top the rankings at the British Rowing Club Championships.
Amid 162 clubs and over 3,000 competitors, the 13 athletes representing Bath University Boat Club brought home one gold, three silver and two bronze medals across three days of racing.
Poppy Kearney, British Rowing Satellite Coach for the South West, was delighted with the squad’s performance. “We had athletes racing multiple events, trying new disciplines and delivering across the board. From beginners to our more experienced athletes, the Championships really showcased the depth of the programme, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Gold came for Bath for the second year running in the Championship Women’s Double Sculls as Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Ella Fullman defended her title, this time alongside Chemistry student Beatrice Hughes.
“We feel great winning this medal,” said Hughes. “Our plan was to go out hard and stay hard. This isn’t the end of the season as we still have the Home International Regatta where we’ll be racing against each other – I’m representing Wales, Ella is representing England!”
Fullman, who studies Civil Engineering, added; “We’ve had such an incredible squad this year. It’s been amazing watching that develop, and seeing where we are at now.”
Mixed Eights is a new boat class for the World Rowing programme in Shanghai this September and fast gaining traction on the international stage. Closer to home, eight of the University’s rowers temporarily put aside their sculling oars and tried their hands at sweep rowing.
Luca Halozan Bayley, Hughes, Oscar Mitchell, Archie Norton, Jack Norton, Fullman, Freya Ridge and Phoebe Packman were joined by Olivia Greenwell from Avon County Rowing Club, also a rower at the University-based South West GB PDA, in Saturday’s Mixed Championship Eights event.
“It’s lively, it’s long, it’s punchy,” remarked rowing commentator Charles Barry during their heat as the newly-formed eight charged down the line, crossing more than 11 seconds clear of the next crew and earning straight qualification into their A Final where the Bath rowers continued to show their skill by leading a field of crews much more experienced in sweep rowing.
They were only denied gold by the defending Championships Thames Rowing Club, a crew stacked with Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race athletes and Henley Royal Regatta winners.
Silver also came for the Men’s Quadruple Sculls when Tom Hartley, Gyr Balmer, Tom Poulton and Luca Freudenberg took on an incredibly experienced field, finishing 11 seconds ahead of bronze. The feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that all but Balmer had only began rowing in October.
Aerospace Engineering student Toluwani Adelaja, who also took her first strokes in a boat late last year, achieved the third silver of the Championships, racing in the Women’s Beginner Single Sculls. Jack Norton won bronze in the Open Championship Lightweight Single Sculls and again in the Open Championship Double Sculls, which he raced with Archie Norton.
Speaking on the success, British Rowing Performance Development Coach for the South West Tom Selby said; “It’s really exciting to see Performance Development Academy athletes bringing home Bath’s first-ever Victor Lurodum after an amazing weekend of racing. The squad doesn’t stop here. This weekend we have athletes representing their countries at the FISU World University Games in Germany and at Home International Rowing Regatta at Dorney Lake.”
GB Performance Development Academies recruit individuals between the ages of 14 – 22 with no prior experience to become Olympic rowers. The guideline minimum height for those applying for testing is above 5ft 8in (176cm) for females and 6ft (185cm) for males.
The South West GB Performance Development Academy operates out of Bath, at the University’s Sports Training Village, and Bristol, and is always on the lookout for athletes with no prior rowing experience to recruit and develop into Olympians. Click here to sign up for testing.
Pictured top: The Bath University Boat Club mixed eight with their silver medals.
