Parmigiani award winner receives Filippi eight

“It is about making the entire squad better, men and women, and hopefully inspiring a new generation of rowers,” said Cook who is a member of the ULBC.

The ULBC women’s squad has grown from eight rowers to 22 in the past two years, reflecting the growing popularity of women’s rowing, especially in Great Britain following the London 2012 Olympic Games.  In ULBC’s top women’s eight, five of the rowers learned to row at the club.

The new boat arrived two weeks ago and already the squad has achieved impressive results in the three races that the club has entered, including an 8th place finish out at the Women’s Head of the River Race (GBR).

“This boat is a new legacy. It will impact the team for years to come,” said Freya Hoyle, ULBC women’s captain.”Because it is such high quality, it allows us to have consistent training, not worrying about something breaking, or not being right. It has made such a huge difference to our ability to race against the top clubs in the country and indeed the world.”

The top-of-the-range Filippi eight was custom built to suit the needs of the women’s crew  and David Filippi, owner of the Italian boatbuilding company Filippi, praised James Cook’s generosity.

The ceremony at ULBC included a champagne christening of the boat, speeches from Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Jean-Marc Jacot and FISA President Denis Oswald, and a short training session in the Parmigiani Spirit 2013. 

Representatives from the World Rowing Federation (FISA), the University of London, Parmigiani Fleurier, Filippi Lido SRL and the British Rowing team attended the event.ULBC alumni and members of the British rowing team Frances Houghton and Jessica Eddie were also in attendance.

“It’s really, really nice coming home to ULBC. And it’s amazing to see all these people here, from FISA, from Parmigiani and from the university. It’s great that Jamie was able to make it a women’s boat. It would have taken them so many years to raise money for a boat like this, and it makes such a difference,” said Olympic silver medallist and World Champion Houghton.

World Rowing’s Parmigiani Spirit Award is for university rowers who have demonstrated the core values of rowing in his/her social, academic and sporting life, and, through these values, also enabled or inspired exceptional success in other people’s lives.

The nomination process for the 2014 Parmigiani Spirit Award will be launched shortly on www.worldrowing.com.