With summer nearly over and the next season fast approaching, lets take a look back on the last few months at ICBC!
Training camp:
After a long, wet, cold winter our athletes were thrilled to go to training camp in sunny Banyoles to kickstart the summer season. Spending a week in the Spanish sun resulted in speed gains, blistered hands and most importantly tans!
BUCS regatta:
First weekend of May had the squad heading up to Nottingham for some racing fun. We had 18 crews boating over the three days, with many tight races. The highlight of the weekend was a fantastic silver medal in the women's championship pair!
Our novices also made their first regatta debut, racing well in their field and gaining confidence on the water.
"A unique and exciting experience to race side-by-side against other novices - tough but fun" -Joe
"I had an amazing time at my first BUCS regatta. It was great to watch the more experienced crews and participate in some side-by-side racing" - Caoimhe
Sveti Duje Regatta, Croatia:
Our men's eight was once again invited to beautiful Split for the 22nd Sveti Duje regatta. The weekend was full of lovely weather, great racing and even some time to explore Croatia. The lads raced well to come 3rd in the University Race, behind Cambridge and Tartu.
Perfect way to end exam season!
MET regatta:
A the first regatta of June, MET gave the perfect opportunity to get a good run down the tracks and test out lineups before HWR, Marlow and HRR. Great results came from the weekend with the women's coxed four winning in the championship category and our women's captain Lizzie winning championship eights with Leander.
"We didn't get much training in the four before the race (as someone khmm went on holiday), so we didn't know what to expect when we lined up for the TT. We came off the water satisfied and hopeful that it was enough for the A final. Finding out we made the final with the fastest time was exciting, but we knew we needed to keep our cool for the race. With our cox encouraging us that "We're flying" we managed to get a really good race in and take home the gold" - Lia, the one who went on holiday.
Henley Women's Regatta:
After a long selection proccess, we had 3 crews ready to race HWR, two Asp. Aca fours and a Champ four composite with Thames RC. Competition was tough, with only 2 crews making it past the TT. Lizzie raced in the Leander composite to just miss out in the final against a strong Oxford Brookes crew.
Champ 4-:
We felt confident with our performance coming off the water after the TT but knew we would need to find another gear in side by side racing.
Drawing LRC A in the first round came with the added rivalry of racing another Tideway crew. The LRC crew moved away off the start but we stayed with them through to the finish line with a strong rhythm.
Happy with how we raced overall, although disappointed of course that our HWR campaign ended on the Friday. Main lesson learnt? More watts needed for next year!
Asp. Aca. 4-:
Marlow Regatta:
The boys headed up to Dorney lake to fight for prequalification and get one final race in before HRR. We had 3 crews, 2 eights and 1 coxed four boating over the weekend.
Henley Royal Qualifiers:
Three eights raced qualifiers, fighting for the final few spots in HRR. Our women's eight had an unfortunate run in with the local woods, hitting the booms mid time trial and missing out on qualifying by a few seconds. Our 2 men's eights battled with eachother and the changing wind conditions, with our 1st eight qualifying and our 2nd eight just missing out.
One of our coxes made their Henley course debut, guiding the men's 2nd eight successfully down the course:
"I started coxing as a novice at IC last October and would never have guessed then how far I'd come by the end of the season, from coxing a novice 8 at Quintin head to coxing the 2V at Head of the River and Henley qualifiers. As a novice cox, it was initially a terrifying experience, but there were so many chances to learn, and everyone was so patient, even when I had a couple of night time encounters with some buoys. Honestly, it was an amazing experience, and if you enjoy it, it's such a rewarding role."
Henley Royal Regatta:
We had four crews racing with Imperial colours at Henley. Our men's four and eight, Lizzie racing in the Leander composite and Zahir, '23-'24 club captain coxing the U23 development men's eight.
The PA four:
What makes for a successful and enjoyable rowing career? Talent, fitness and ability to work in a team are all certainly useful, and many have competed at high levels with these traits alone. However, when it comes to a fulfilling and long-term enjoyment of the sport, I’ve found there to be no substitute for resilience. It’s a demanding sport; exhausting, repetitive and challenging with no guarantee of success at the end of the season. However, despite the sting of defeat and inevitable setbacks every rower will face if their career exceeds the honeymoon period, sometimes the game swings in your favour. The resilient among us will still be there when these moments arise. The week after Met regatta was diƯicult for some of those who didn’t make the cut for the men’s second 8. The selection was tight, with three athletes having represented the first 8 at some point prior in the season, and after some further reshuffling due to injuries the third 8 was left in tatters. An unhopeful start to a campaign for the Temple Challenge Cup to say the least. It was almost assumed that the season was over for the remaining 4-6 rowers + coxswain, until Pete proposed a run down the track at the Prince Albert Challenge Cup qualifiers. Every race on the Henley course is an honour, and it would have been a shame to forgo this opportunity after what had been a long and challenging season, so we decided to take it on. By Marlow regatta we had managed one outing in our racing lineup. All members of the 4+ would agree that the time trial was somewhat uninspiring, but a better race profile in the final allowed us to overturn some of the competition and showed that this lineup had some potential. At this point the HRR entries had been released, and despite the event being restricted to 12 crews, it was clear that we had a very real shot of qualifying if we got our act together. This unexpected turn of events, along with our new snazzy bucket rig, made for an incredibly productive training attitude within the crew, and after a couple sessions working oƯ the women’s first 8 it was clear that our standard of rowing was steadily improving. Then the stewards did something rather unexpected. “No f*****g way” – Francesco Calice.
What Fran had articulated so gracefully was the thought running though all our heads when we heard the news of prequalification. We were on the verge of ending the season just over a week before and now had a one-way ticket to Henley Royal. From the Friday of qualifiers, we began to train on the racing course, and the focus within the boat combined with some excellent direction from Pete made for some of the most memorable and enjoyable rowing sessions I’ve had, with significant technical improvements and fun moments between the booms with rival clubs. We were to be racing ULBC’s top 4+ and during our crew dinner on Monday evening we understood the quality of the opposition we would be facing, but were thrilled with how far we’d come since Marlow. Being the underdogs meant we had absolutely nothing to lose, and the lore of following in the footsteps of some ICBC legends to race in the PA against our tideway rivals had us all absolutely pumped on the morning of race day. The preparations we well drilled and soon enough we were on the stakeboats. We threw everything we had at them, led to the end of the island and held contact to the barrier, but they asserted themselves as the well-honed crew they were by walking away through the mid-race. We clawed back some distance down the enclosures and the oƯicial verdict was a length and a half. Although they clearly weren’t pushed to their limits it was a race that we could walk away proud of, and an unforgettable experience. On a personal note, I should make one thing clear. We were handed an incredible opportunity on a silver platter, and I’ll be the first to admit that luck played a significant part in this campaign. I feel immensely privileged to have been given that race and my heart goes out to those in higher ranked crews that weren’t as lucky this year. However, as I mentioned at the start of this report, it swings in roundabouts; and often those who experience the highs that rowing has to oƯer are the ones who stuck around through the tough times. I hope that those with more time left at the club find the resilience within themselves to stick with the sport, for the benefit of ICBC but more importantly the fulfilment of their student lives and development as people. As for me, it’s been an incredible way to round out a transformative four years at the club and all I have left is to thank my crew and coach for making it happen.
The Temple eight:
Ah, the joys of rowing! This summer, our Champ 8 went on a relentless quest to close the gap and catch up to our competitors which we had accidentally opened up. At the Metropolitan Regatta, we came within a tantalizing canvas of clinching the academic 8s title. It was a bitter-sweet result—so close, yet so far—but it proved we had the speed to battle at the front.
Confident, we thought this performance would pre-qualify us for Henley. Alas, the Stewards had other plans.
This twist of fate, granted us another precious opportunity to race together as a crew. For many of the crew this was our first experience rowing on the Henley course thus providing the invaluable experience of an extra race down these famous waters. Job done.
For our maiden, and regrettably only race, of Henley Royal we found ourselves lined up against Newcastle. While victory eluded us, we delivered our best performance of the season. Keeping contact the whole way down the course, we barrelled down on Newcastle at a rate of 38—something that just three days earlier was the best we could hit at the start.
Though not the triumph we envisioned, the race was a good one. It marked a fitting finale to a summer of significant improvement and an immensely enjoyable Henley campaign.
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