Competitions

Throughout the year we find ourselves vying for victory against a number of opponents, with the competition being at its fiercest within the United Hospitals Boat Club, where we face-off against other London medical schools and the Royal Veterinary College. To see the times we bested our rivals, look no further than our Hall of Fame!
Our first race is the Cambridge Winter Head, a time trial along a 2.2km stretch of the river Cam. As well as being an opportunity to row beyond the confines of the M25, this race is also special for offering the novice crews their first taste of competitive rowing and, more importantly, the spirit of RUMSBC on race day. But despite a hard day of racing, we always find the energy to celebrate with an evening of karaoke!
After comes the UH Novice Sprints, the first of four events organised by the United Hospitals Boat Club. The Novice Sprints are a series of head to head elimination races, where competitors sprint roughly 1000m along the Thames, nearby the University of London Boat House. This race is unique in that only the Novice crews of each boat club compete. It is traditionally followed by the UH Pub Crawl, the first of many United Hospitals events.
The third event is Allom Cup, a tournament organised by the University of London Boat Club. This event is much like Novice Sprints, except this time entrants consist of all crews from the constituent colleges of the University of London, pitting them against each other to find the best UL crew. Within the Allom Cup tournament the UH Regatta is held, an event limited to the UH Colleges, keeping the air thick with the traditional UH rivalries.
The final UH event of the spring term often becomes the most important race in the RUMSBC racing calendar. This is the UH Head race, over 3.6km from the Pink Lodge back to the Mortlake Anglian and Alpha Boat Club. We are often very successful in this race; in 2017, highlights included an exceptional victory for the Women's Novice VIII as well as the Men's 2nd VIII extending their winning streak, with victory also being achieved by the Women's 2nd VIII and Women's 4+. After the race is the annual UH dinner, where all the boat clubs gather for a meal and eagerly await the announcing of results.
The year culminates with UH Bumps, usually held at the end of May. All the crews line up along the river and race back to the boathouse, aiming to overtake or hit the crew in front (bump) before being taken over themselves. Crews get a chance to enjoy the springtime sun post-exams, as well as a day of fancy dress and an epic after-party to round off the year!
Our first race is the Cambridge Winter Head, a time trial along a 2.2km stretch of the river Cam. As well as being an opportunity to row beyond the confines of the M25, this race is also special for offering the novice crews their first taste of competitive rowing and, more importantly, the spirit of RUMSBC on race day. But despite a hard day of racing, we always find the energy to celebrate with an evening of karaoke!
After comes the UH Novice Sprints, the first of four events organised by the United Hospitals Boat Club. The Novice Sprints are a series of head to head elimination races, where competitors sprint roughly 1000m along the Thames, nearby the University of London Boat House. This race is unique in that only the Novice crews of each boat club compete. It is traditionally followed by the UH Pub Crawl, the first of many United Hospitals events.
The third event is Allom Cup, a tournament organised by the University of London Boat Club. This event is much like Novice Sprints, except this time entrants consist of all crews from the constituent colleges of the University of London, pitting them against each other to find the best UL crew. Within the Allom Cup tournament the UH Regatta is held, an event limited to the UH Colleges, keeping the air thick with the traditional UH rivalries.
The final UH event of the spring term often becomes the most important race in the RUMSBC racing calendar. This is the UH Head race, over 3.6km from the Pink Lodge back to the Mortlake Anglian and Alpha Boat Club. We are often very successful in this race; in 2017, highlights included an exceptional victory for the Women's Novice VIII as well as the Men's 2nd VIII extending their winning streak, with victory also being achieved by the Women's 2nd VIII and Women's 4+. After the race is the annual UH dinner, where all the boat clubs gather for a meal and eagerly await the announcing of results.
The year culminates with UH Bumps, usually held at the end of May. All the crews line up along the river and race back to the boathouse, aiming to overtake or hit the crew in front (bump) before being taken over themselves. Crews get a chance to enjoy the springtime sun post-exams, as well as a day of fancy dress and an epic after-party to round off the year!
Outside of UH events, HoRR and Hammersmith Head are common events and we now aim to get crews to both BUCS Regatta and to Henley Royal Regatta whenever possible. Our Women's Captain for 2013/14, Jess Rankine, rowed for UCL at Henley Women's Regatta 2014 and was in the winning team for the Academic VIII's category. Also rowing was Maja Donaldson (UL), who won gold in the Academic IVs.
Galleries
Fresher's Day at the River HoRR & WEHoRR UH Head BUMPS Summer VPs Alumni |