Students ready to prove themselves at BUCS Small Boats Head

From British Universities and College Sport:

Following on from the success of the Team GB rowers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where students and alumni brought home five of the six Olympic rowing medals, this weekend sees the first BUCS rowing event of the season take place at Boston Rowing Club, Lincolnshire.

A record 120 entries with almost 400 athletes from 25 university rowing clubs will be competing in the BUCS Small Boats Head. For the first time, the event is being run in conjunction with GB Rowing’s first senior trials, giving students the opportunity to gain a place in the national squad while at the same time being eligible for BUCS points and medals.

GB Rowing has just under 300 entries for the trials in the single sculls events, of which over half will also be representing their university. Many of those trialists will then go on to race in one of the BUCS events in double sculls and coxless pairs in the afternoon divisions.

All athletes competing in the trial will be required to do a 2km ergometer test on Saturday 25 October to qualify to compete the following day. Students who are eligible to compete for BUCS will be allowed to race on Sunday regardless of their result on the ergo, providing an opportunity to prove themselves on the water. The ergo test has also attracted entries from a few university students who are not taking part in the GB Trials, but are competing to be included in the BUCS rankings, including 19 entries from Oxford University Women’s Boat Club.

Sunday 26 October promises to provide some exciting racing, particularly in the Men’s Championship coxless pairs, which has a record breaking 30 entries, including 13 from Oxford Brookes University alone.

www.bucs.org.uk