It was great to have another full regatta season after interruptions due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. ICBC had some strong results across several events from our men to women, novices to seniors. The season wrapped up over the summer with international vests for two of our athletes.
GB Final Trials
The first regatta of the season took place at Caverhsam for our triallists at the GB senior/ U23 final trials. Rebecca Shorten put in another outstanding performance to win the women's pairs with partner Rowan McKeller, while Lizzie Witt finished a strong 2nd in the B final with partner Tricia Smith. Lizzie was the third fastest U23 stroke strider. Jake Smith and Max Ridgwell finished 6th in the D final while cox, Zahir Ala, was selected to continue the trials process.
Training Camp
We travelled back to Banyoles, Spain for our Easter training camp. We were treated to lovely weather on the lake and our novice athletes had the opportunity to try single sculling for the first time. It was great to build strong relarionships amongst our squad and create lifelong memories whilst getting some solid training and revision in!
BUCS Regatta
We returned to the UK to race at BUCS Regatta. It was tough to be on the wrong side of some tight racing but it was a credit to the high standard of university rowing across the country. Lots to learn and we took away bronze in the men's championship pairs and silver in the men's beginner fours.
Sveti Duje
It was a huge pleasure to attend the Sveti Duje regatta in Split, Croatia alongside Oxford and Cambridge. It was an unforgettable weekend with the men's eight finishing 4th in the sprints. Huge thanks to the organisers for an amazing event!
Metropolitan Regatta
We headed to Dorney for 2 days of racing at the Metropolitan Regatta. The women's first eight took an awesome win in the academic eights event, a testament to the growing numbers of the student women. We had several other good results throughout the weekend including 3rd in academic women's coxed fours, 4th in men's championship coxed fours and 5th in men's academic eights.
Reading Amateur Regatta
We had a great weekend with some development crews at Reading Amateur Regatta. ICBC took the win in five events: Open 4+, School 1x, Band A Women's 2x, Band B Open 4- and Wkmen's 4+.
Henley Women's Regatta
It was great to see lots of crews take to the water at Henley Women's Regatta. Our development fours put in a good performance in the time trial but unfortunately didn't progress in a very tough field. Both the aspirational double of Aoife Keane and Heloise Wormleighton (Twickenham RC) and academic aspirational coxless four of Emma Hall, Sophie Lee-Hoareau, Lucinda Douse and Ellie Wooldridge just lost out in the quarter finals. Finally, our championship pair of Laura Ellington and Lizzie Witt put in an outstanding performance to reach the final, losing out to a strong Leander crew.
Marlow Regatta
Marlow Regatta was a good opportunity to get some racing in for our men's squads ahead of Henley Royal Regatta. Unfortunately the coxed four were plagued with a back injury before the time trials, but a highlight was the novice men's eight taking the win in the beginner university eights category!
Henley Royal Regatta
After an unfortunate withdrawal for our Prince Albert Challenge Cup crew due to injury, we had two student crews at Henley racing in the Temple and Island Challenge Cups. It was exciting to have our first ever entry into the Island who put in a nail biting race against a quality UL 'B' crew to just miss out. The Temple crew put in a strong start against Nottingham University, losing out to Brookes 'B'. Alumni Henry Fieldman and Rebecca Shorten raced fantastically to win the Grand and Remenham respectively. It was fitting that we held the boat naming ceremony at the annual Henley BBQ to name our new men's and women's eights after them.
U23 World Championships
Lizzie Witt (2nd year Physics) was selected in the stroke seat of the GB women's eight for the U23 World Championships in Varese, Italy. The crew put in a fantastic race to win the heat, going on to win a superb silver medal!
U23 European Championships
Zahir Ala (2nd year Medicine) was selected to cox the GB men's eight at the U23 European Championships in Hazewinkel, Belgium. In an exciting race out in Belgium, the crew took home a fantastic bronze medal.
European University Championships
After a hiatus since 2019, we traveled to Istanbul, Turkey to race at EUSA, having qualified a men's eight, women's four, women's pair and men's pair. Despite pure organisational chaos, cancelled racing due to coastal conditions and boat rental difficulties, the crews put in some solid racing with the women's four taking home a bronze medal. The men's eight and women's pair finished in 4th, while the men's pair finished 5th.
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