Newcastle University Boat Club
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Newcastle University Boat Club (NUBC) is the rowing club of Newcastle University (UK).
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowing | |||
| World Championships | |||
Competitor for  United Kingdom |
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| Gold | 2006 Trakai | WUC Double Scull - Henry Pelly, George Laughton | |
| Gold | 2000 Copenhagen | U23 Women Pair - Ros Carslake | |
| Silver | 2005 Amsterdam | U23 Lightweight Quad - Stephen Feeney | |
| Silver | 1996 Hazewinkel | U23 Coxed Four - Ed Coode | |
| Bronze | 2007 Stratchlyde | U23 Coxed Four - George Laughton | |
| Bronze | 1997 Aiguebelette | Coxed Four - Ed Coode | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
Competitor for  Northern Ireland |
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| Silver | 2006 Stratchlyde | Double Scull - Richard Francis | |
Contents |
[edit] The University Boathouse
University Boathouse is based at Newburn, a very short and easy drive from the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. There are 35 km of undisturbed water extending from the National parkland around Wylam to the coast. Along the river you are fortunate to pass under landmarks such as Newcastle’s seven famous bridges, including the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and other landmarks such as the Sage Gateshead or the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The club is currently renewing its Boat fleet and equipment. The club has just taken delivery of new men and women’s 8’s along with new 4’s, pairs and singles. Over the next few years the entire Boat fleet will be replaced.
The club has his own training facilities in the centre of the student accommodation in the middle of Newcastle. At Henderson Hall the university has a facility containing 15 ergometers and a weights room. This invaluable resource allows the club to benefit from good training facilities all year round regardless of weather and time. This also allows for greater use of time and offers excellent facilities for all club members, but in particular freshers who have their own gym on their door step.
The Club also uses the newly built University Sports centre based on Claremont road. This centre offers up to 12 rowing machines, weights facilities, fitness suite, circuit’s facilities and sports massages for club members
[edit] Staff
Since 2005 Angelo Savarino is Head Coach. The club has a part time Coach, Charlie Mulholland, who helps with the training of both the senior and novice squads, with the support of a network of volunteer coaches who have done an excellent job helping coach all in the club and in particular the novices. These coaches have been responsible for both the undefeated Novice Men’s crew 2006 and the undefeated Novice Women’s crew 2007. The club also has its own very skilled Boatman. Brad Jewell has spent more than ten years at the club and is responsible for the maintenance of the boats and equipment. Brad qualified as a naval architect from Newcastle University and has spent much of his life working on or with boats. Brads knowledge, skill and expertise are invaluable in the club.
[edit] History
[edit] Founding
Armstrong College Boat Club, was founded in March 1911 with the aim of promoting the art of rowing. The A.C.B.C. held the same status as any other Durham college and mostly competed in inter-collegiate races and regattas. One of the first races was against the Varsity 3rd crew who they beat and whose place they subsequently took at Durham Regatta. The club enjoyed success during this time with the establishment of a women's club in 1924 and the construction of a new boathouse in 1929.
[edit] The 1930’s - King’s College BC
By 1931 the A.C.B.C finally held all the Varsity Trophies after having waited to win the Senate Cup for nine years, an achievement described as a 'truly commendable feat'. The following year the club still held five of the Varsity trophies, despite the Graduate Cup B crew capsizing at the start, and despite a dip in success in the intervening years the club held the same record again in 1934-35.
The early thirties also brought successes for the A.C.W.B.C. when in 1932 they won two clinker races against Durham and Bristol and one cutter race against Bristol. However, the late 1940s and early 1950s really saw the women's side of the boat club take off, now as K.C.W.B.C. (King's College Women's Boat Club). In 1948 the KCWBC 'swept the river' at Durham when both the novice and 'B' crew beat Durham. The 'B' crew 'did not display the raggedness of some former women's crews when tired' and 'it was heard on the bank that they gave the best exhibition of women's rowing ever seen on the Wear'.
The Tideway Head of the River was first held in 1926 but the first mention of a Durham VIII that included KCBC oarsmen was in 1949. At that point there were three catergories: First, Sandwich and Clinker. First was the fastest twenty-five boats from the previous year, Sandwich was the remainder of shell VIIIs and any new entrants and clinker was the remainder of clinker VIIIs plus any new entrants. The Durham University crew started 90th finishing 41st in a time of 20 minutes and 57seconds, the winners being London RC.
[edit] The 1950's
In 1951 a KCWBC VIII was entered for the first time into the University Women's Rowing Association Eights Regatta in Oxford. It was also the first time that they had rowed on swivel pins. The crew made it through to the second round where they drew with Oxford, forcing a half course re-row which they regrettably lost. However, the same year saw the club win the Durham Intercollegiate Ladies Challenge Cup.
The women's club was often hampered by prospective novice's view of female rowers. The boat club countered this by stating that 'women's rowing is not full of brawny Amazonian types who develop terrific shoulder muscles'but includes varied physical types from a wide variety of departments'. Thank God for that!
In 1951 the land on which the boat house stood at Stella was requisitioned by the British Electrical Authority for the Stella South Power Station. The club had to move in with Tyne where they were able to store only four boats whilst a new boat house was designed by Mr. Fielden and Mr Wharfe of the University's School of Architecture and subsequently built. It finally opened in 1953 and was this time described as the 'finest boat house in the North of England'. In 1963 the campaign to attract freshers was boosted by the fact that there were baths at the boat house and in 1968 the renovations continued with the conversion of the hot water boiler from coke to oil-fired, a fact keenly mentioned in the King's Courier.
1957 saw the introduction of circuit training and 1959 brought with it the first training launch. Previously coaches had stood at three points along the river between Newburn and Scotswood from where they could see crews row past.
In the summer of 1961 a selected men's VIII went to Norway to the Norske Studenters Roklub where they entered international and local races. The boat house stood on an island in between two 2k regatta courses and was only accessible via boat and was an entirely men only island.
In 1963 three King's oarsmen rowed in the Varsity crew that won the Tideway UAU trophy, coming sixteenth overall and in 1969 the club had three crews in the top 170 despite the first VIII having fallen to 130th the previous year. A year on and the top VIII had swept their way back up to 42nd out of 337 crews whilst the second and third VIIIs came 109th and 177th, clocking up times of 19.41, 20.18 and 20.47 respectively, the first VIII coming 3rd in the UAU Ortner Shield behind Durham and Southampton. Also entered in this year was a 'Gentlemen's VIII', who having not trained since last years HORR fell from 205th to 279th in a time of '3 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 6.33 secs' but were undoubtedly going to look 'the most immaculate crew when the Tideway photographs appear'.
The top IV of 1969 due to a mix up in entries for Henley were entered into the British Universities Sporting Federation at Pangbourne where they had to borrow a boat, 'the only compliment which might be paid to this driftwood was that it floated after a fashion' despite this and a 'hair-raising trip on the London Underground with the oars' the crew went on to win beating Cambridge, Bradford and London in the final.
[edit] The social 70’s
The social side of the club has always been strong. In 1970 students were invited to 'a glittering ball. Entrance 5s. Free beer, chicken, women, straw, music, bogs, etc, provided'. Jim London just pales in comparison. Unfortunately the days of Rutherford 1985 have faded when the Senior 'C' VIII 'crunched aspirins on their way to the start to try to cure the hangovers from the previous night. Pat Willink however had no such problems'he was still pissed!! ' some have suggested this was the only way he managed to finish the course.'
Rivalry between the club and Durham is also a strong theme throughout the club's history, especially when the club moved up to competing at a university rather than a college level. In 1971 the first VIII came 32nd at Reading Head, only 4 seconds behind the 'invincible' Durham which apparently led them the make seven changes before HORR! ? Unfortunately these changes seem to have made the difference. Despite breaking an oar in a clash, the first VIII came 26th out of 337 crews, the best result for 8 years, however this placed them second in the UAU shield just behind Durham.
By 1982 NUBC had won the men's Championship VIIIs at the Northern Universities Regatta for eight consecutive years. Helped by these victories and the size of the club, 64 and 80 athletes respectively, the club won the Victor Ludornum in both 1981 and 1982 and then again in 1985.
In 1986 'the ugly issue of apartheid'muddied the usually tranquil waters of the prestigious Boating Club' when '400 (a contribution towards the '3,800 needed per year to run the club at the time) was accepted from Barclays Bank, who's offer of money to the union had been rejected due to their involvement in South Africa. Despite this, or perhaps due to this, victories were achieved at York Small Boats Head by the 1st IV and elite pair and Tyne Head in Senior III VIIIs. The former was also a successful Head for the club in 1988 when won Senior I and II sculls (James Valerino), Open and Senior I pairs (Simon Mepham and Nick Scott), Open IVs and Professor Jones won Veteran Open double sculls for York City. To balance these successes the Senior III IV was beaten by the Novice 1st IV.
[edit] The 90’s and new equipment
The club saw an influx of new equipment in 1990 and 1991 when a donation from Catherine Cookson provided for a new men's VIII, Tom named after her husband, and a new women's IV, named Dixie, which subsequently went on to win College Coxed Fours at Henley in 1995, the only win for Newcastle at Women's Henley.
Summer training was taken to a new level in 1993 when eleven guys from NUBC ran from John O'Groats to Lands End to raise money for charity. The adventurous group which consisted of Captain Rob Whitacker, Charlie Pryor, Hugo Elliott, Dan Innes, Dan Robb, Rob Latham, Dick Alhadeff, Tim Wadie, Ben Jukes, Jan Safranek and Hadley Dean (the van driver), completed 840 miles in just 9 days. No wonder they went on to win Open coxless IVs (the fastest crew on the river by 20 seconds) and Senior I IVs at Rutherford Head.
Men's and Women's crews finish as top Northern University (Courier, 27th Jan, 1999)
The first Durham vs. Newcastle boat race was held in 1994 (originally a race for Senior Men and Women with a Novice Men and Novice Women's race added in 2004) the same day as the Oxford vs. Cambridge and saw an eleven year run of victories for Durham. However the men's first VIII made university history in the same year when they made it to the third round of the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley. Further success was won by Jan Safranek and Rob Latham at National Championships where they won Bronze in a pair. Henley was also a successful year in 1996 when the club beat Princeton in the second round by half a length in 'a very fine race', a victory that made it into The Telegraph and The Times under the headlines 'Newcastle Ride Wind' and 'Princeton lurch to defeat in wild weather'. Clearly training on the choppy waters of the Tyne does occasionally have its advantages. The Times even mentioned stroke man Alex Robinson dying his hair a different colour every day for good luck.
[edit] The Millennium
Recently at the Head of the River Races the club has done well. At the Women's Eights Head of the River Race the 1st VIII finished 38th (2007) and 49th (2008). At the Men's Head of the River Race the 1st VIII won the Senior 2 Pennant and the Eric Halladay Trophy (for Universities) in 2006 finishing 17th overall, the Senior 3 Pennant placing 39th in 2008.
The Club came second twice in the Victor Ludorum at the British University Sports Association (BUCS) Championships in 2007 and 2008, behind an impressive Durham. The 2008 busa Regatta saw NUBC winning anyway 4 out of 6 heavyweight events.
Northumbrian Water Boat Races
The Northumbrian Water University Boat Race is now in its 12th year (2008) and is an annual challenge between the Universities of Durham and Newcastle in a similar vain to the more famous Oxbridge Boat Race. The event has been traditionally dominated by Durham, although rarely achieving a whitewash across the 4 events (2008). The event is held annually on the River Tyne in central Newcastle-upon-Tyne in May and is well supported by local spectators. Newcastle Universities Senior Men won the event in 2005 and 2007, although the trophy was shared overall.
National and International Achievements
Since 1996 the Club has been competing and medalling at the U23, Senior and University World Championships and other International Competitions such European Universities Championships, Duisburg Regatta, Memorial Paolo d'Aloja Regatta and Essen Regatta, with victories as well in UK at National Championships, in Henley Women's Regatta, pennants in the Head of the River Races and crews rowing at the weekend in Henley Royal Regatta. Recently athletes from the club have been in medal at World University Championships and U23 World Championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007, the highlight being University World Champions in men's double at the World University Championships in Trakai (2006).
[edit] See also
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