The University of York Boat Club took home a brilliant four gold medals at the BUCS Indoor Rowing Championships on Saturday. In a fantastic team performance, 100 Novice and Senior rowers got up early and made the journey to Sheffield for the annual event.
Stephanie Clutterbuck, Stuart Hosie, Ashleigh James and Hannah Lyons all struck gold on a great day for York.
Although York compete on a regional basis, against the likes of Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford Universities, the results are compiled nationally, and the winners selected from there.
The day was very long and nerve-racking for all competitors, with the thought of a public 1 kilometre test for the novices or 2 kilometres for the seniors proving daunting at first. Events got underway with the Novice Women’s races. There were stunning performances from the likes of Steph Clutterbuck, who won the Beginner Women’s event with a fantastic time of 3.37 minutes. There were also strong displays from Katie Peeke-Vouta and Yasmin Denney. Novice Captain Fran Howes was impressed by the results of the entire squad.
The Novice Men were next up, and they too demonstrated their capabilities in all races. Tom Siday, who pulled off a time of 3.06 to claim the silver medal of the Beginner Mens category, was in fine form. Novice Men’s captain Tom Calvert was also thrilled by the results, believing that it was a “promising start to the season ahead”.
The Novice men’s 1km races were quickly followed by a 500 metre sprint race which saw UYBC’s second gold medal of the day, as Stuart Hosie stormed home with a time of 1.23 minutes.
The lightweight women’s races were next on the programme, and with them came the White Rose’s next medal. Ashleigh James kept her cool and wiped out her opposition, remaining strong throughout her 2 kilometre race, giving a stunning time of 7.57 minutes to secure victory and take home the gold.
Following the lightweight women was the open weight women’s races. Nicole Hendy turned in a fantastic win, with a time of 7.49. There were also valiant performances by Pippa Pennycook, Rachel Long and Charlotte Waghorne, as Waghorne won the second race. An intense competition between Kate Beare, Jennie, England, Fran Howes and Jessica Munro dominated the third race, as York superbly stole all top four positions, with Jennie England winning it with an amazing time of 7.37 minutes.
The last women’s race saw York’s fourth gold medal. Hannah Lyons achieved an outstanding time of 7.30 minutes to narrowly win the Women’s senior event. Proud club president Patrick Somerville-Large says that it was his favorite moment of the day: “It’s unbelievable that Hannah Lyons clinched her victory by just 0.1 seconds – she caused Novice Men’s captain Tom Calvert to lose his voice, and dignity, through an array of high pitched shrieks”.
The Senior Men’s event brought the curtain down on a hugely successful outing for the White Rose. Robert Mills began by flying through his event, winning with a time of 6.43 minutes. Next came a strong performance by Alex Metcalf, coming fourth in his race after having to compete against the formidable Rob Cree, a rowing representative for Yorkshire.
The final race was a real nailbiter, match with York’s Oliver Degerstedt, Patrick Somerville-Large and Daniel Siemssen all involved. Degerstedt sealed the silver – another fantastic addition to add to the UYBC’s collection of medals for the day.
Overall it was a fantastic day for the club with the best results the club has seen at a BUCS indoors event. The hope is that these fast erg scores will transfer into great results on the water. It looks to be an exciting year ahead for both Senior and Novice squads.
Who is this Robert mills? He sounds like an excellent potential member of the squad for Rio.
Nice article, but the English language called. They want their superlatives back in exchange for the phrase ‘very average’