Better weather for British university rowing regatta

This is the biggest student rowing event in Europe and this year about 3000 student athletes raced over the three day regatta on the Nottingham National Watersports Centre course which has become renowned for inclement weather. This year, however, only two events of the 46 scheduled had to be cancelled with forecasted bad weather not eventuating. Although the water was rough, rowers handled it well.  

Overall Durham University finished first, winning the Victor Ludorum Trophy with 1145 points ahead of University of London with 828 points. The Durham team was by far the largest, bringing 74 crews to Nottingham. The next biggest teams came from Nottingham and Reading, both with 41 crews. This is the ninth year that Durham has won the trophy.

A number of under-23 national representatives raced during the three-day regatta including Jonathan Walton from Loughborough University. Walton helped put Loughborough at the top of the gold medals table with their total of seven golds. Walton’s golds came in the men’s single sculls and men’s double sculls and he also won silver in the men’s quadruple sculls.

“The rowers in the men’s single final were all at under-23 trials a couple of weeks ago,” says Walton who added that in the three years that he has been competing at this regatta the standard has become higher.

“I think university rowing is getting stronger and people now recognise the BUCS regatta as important,” says Walton.
The university rowing season in Great Britain goes from September to May with the first BUCS competition in October. Two-time under-23 national team representative, Walton says that it fits in well with the international season as the British under-23 trials are linked to the BUCS regattas.

This regatta is the last event of the season for many university rowing clubs although some will go on to race at the Henley Royal Regatta in late June and then the FISU Rowing World Championships in Kazan, Russia in September.

BUCS stands for British Universities & Colleges Sport and is the national organisation for higher education sport in Great Britain. They have been organising rowing regattas since the mid-1990s.

With the Olympic Games coming to London at the end of July, this regatta was part of the ‘Row for Gold’ programme which is aiming to make everyone involved in rowing truly feel part of the excitement this summer.

For more information about BUCS click here