Monday, March 30, 2015

The Quintin Head

The Quintin Head on the 31st January has probably been RURC’s biggest race so far this year. We entered both a men’s eight and a woman’s eight. For some of our newest members, it was their first race, so everyone was excited to get going.

Unfortunately, the weather was freezing and there were a few showers, leaving both crews cold and wet. After paddling down from our Balm Elms boat house to the start of the race near Chiswick Bridge, we then had to marshal at the side of the river to wait for our race time. It didn’t help that the men’s crew was boat 182 and the women were 243. By time the women were ready to race, we had been waiting two hours. Although, we were well prepared and had packed the boat with energy drinks, snacks and plenty of warm clothes, so we weren’t doing too badly.

The race went well for the women, and after an inspirational speech by our club captain Maddie, we were off. Our cox Toni, did a great job, despite the cox box running out of battery in the middle of the race. One of the best quotes from her was when we reached Hammersmith Bridge, the finish line was in sight and we heard her scream: “Do it for me! Do it for the team! Do it for Roehampton!”

As RURC’s first race of the year, it went successfully. The women completed the course in 16 minutes 36 seconds and came 8th in their division. The men completed the course in 16 minutes. After our success, we soon warmed ourselves up in the pub and went on to celebrate throughout the evening.

Personally, I really enjoyed the day. It was a great race to have as my first race, and I loved the team I was with. The entire day was fun, from setting up at the boathouse, to nearly crashing into some of the hundreds of boats all trying to marshal at the sides of the river in bad weather, and ending in one of the best times a Roehampton women’s crew have had in years. RURC are now looking forward to the upcoming regattas in the next few months. 

By Alice Hobby

Thursday, March 12, 2015

RURC take on Oxford


This weekend saw the second race of the year for Roehampton University Rowing Club at an indoor event in Oxford on Sunday. Men's captain Ben Thompson took on the challenge of driving twelve excited rowers to the race in a minibus, and despite some tricky manoeuvres and questionable parking techniques we got there safe and sound with time to spare. The race was a friendly, three kilometre indoor event using rowing machines. Four rowers per team break up the distance into 250m relays, taking care to make the change-overs snappy to get the time as low as possible.

Fuelled on service station snacks, the girls; Abi, Isabel, Helene and myself, smashed our category, coming in a whopping twenty seconds faster than second place. The novice men; Aniket, Alfie, Andrew and Pawel, also won gold, while the senior men Ben, Josh, Nick and Scott took home a more than respectable silver medal.

After doing so well in the Quintin Head race last weekend the rowers were over the moon with another promising achievement, but the winning doesn't end there. After a jolly drive back to Roehampton with spirits high, we went on to come third in the Sunday night pub quiz - there's just no stopping the rowing team this year! Although we may not have actually “taken on Oxford” so to speak (we're not quite at their level yet...) as Varsity fast approaches it's safe to say we are looking forward to some University rivalry and winning some more races.

Natalia Jackson


Getting Started

Coming to university is a BIG change. You're suddenly dumped in the middle of a whirlwind of various bit of paperwork, new surroundings and new faces. Although Roehampton is really a tiny university, it can seem huge until you've figured out your way around.

One of the most important events of Freshers' Week is the Activities Fair. This is a whole day event where all the societies and sports set up stalls on Froebel Lawn and encourage new freshers to sign up.

Keep an eye out for the rowing stall- we're easy to spot in our lycra unisuits!




Once you've signed up for rowing, you'll be added to a mailing list, and to our facebook group where the captains will regularly post. Make sure you keep checking back for more information!

Things you'll need to row:

-Wellies- there are wellies available to borrow at the boathouse but they're normally wet and cold. I would suggest investing in a pair from Primark, and a pair of thick socks!

-Close fitting clothes- The handles of the oars can get caught in loose clothing, so you'll need a close fitting jumper (not a hoodie- the pocket catches the oars too) and leggings. 

The first few sessions you have will be in the 'tank'. This is a large pool of water with a concrete platform in it. Here you will be taught the basics of rowing before we let you loose on the river. The tank is designed to teach you how to row 'sweep'. Sweep rowing means there is one oar per person and we normally row like this throughout the winter. 'Sculling' is when you have two oars each and we mainly scull during the summer.

After a few sessions in the tank, you'll be allowed in a boat for the first time! Exciting stuff. Remember to pay attention to your 'cox', the person who steers the boat and shouts instructions to you. The coach will also be alongside in a 'launch', a small light motorboat. 

Roehampton University Rowing Club (R.U.R.C) is very casual, and 99.9% of people join as total beginners. We enter competitions throughout the year, but you can choose whether to buy a social or competitive membership if you don't want to race. We have a social at least twice a term, and usually everyone ends up living, working or drinking together on a regular basis!

Check out my blog post on the Roehampton website for my first impressions of the rowing team.

Maddie Lukes

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Welcome to the new RURC blog!

Here you can find out all about rowing at the University of Roehampton for any new or potential rowers. We'll aim to periodically update our blog so you can see what we get up to throughout the year.

You can also learn more about our new sponsors, Rowperfect or visit the Sport Roehampton website for more information