HORR

Saturday 21st March brought the return of the Tideway's biggest race, the Head of the River Race (HORR). With over 400 crews competing, the competition was vast. The Men's 1st VIII rowed the course in an impressive 19 minutes 53.55 seconds and 240th place. The Men's 2nd VII came in at position 380 with a time of 21 minutes 20.85 seconds.

Hammersmith Head

Sunday 8th March witnessed all three Men's VIIIs take to the river for the Hammersmith Head. The Weather Gods had once again decided to rage upon the crews with lightening, waves and hail throughout the race. The Men's 1st VIII rowed a time of 11 mintues 37.84 seconds. The Men's 2nd VIII rowed a time of 12 minutes 08.38 seconds. The surprise came from the Men's Novice VIII who came in only 10 seconds behind the 2nd VIII with a time of 12 minutes 18.51 seconds. The Novice VIII are quickly proving that determination, training and effort can bring awesome rewards!

WeHORR

Saturday 7th March heralded the Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WeHORR). The sun finally returned to the tideway and our Women's 1st and 2nd VIIIs lined up for the longest race of the season. Both crews pulled inpressive times with the Women's 2nd VIII achieving a position of 256th with a time of 23 minutes 15.46 seconds.

The Women's 1st VIII showed ICSM they were better by coming in 124th with a time of 21 minutes 25.78 seconds - beating the crew that won the UH Head by 6 seconds!

UH HEAD

Saturday 21st February saw the return of the UH Head to the Tideway.

The Women's division saw all three of our crews pull impressive times but were sadly pipped to the finish by ICSM by 1 second (Women's 1st VIII), 7 seconds (Women's 2nd VIII) and 44 seconds (Women's Novice VIII).

The Men's division saw the Men's 1st VIII come 2nd place to an impressive George's team with a time of 13 minutes 11 seconds. The glory, however, was had by our Men's 2nd and Novice VIIIs. The 2nds rowed a time of 13 minutes 39 seconds and the Novices 13 minutes 59 seconds.

UH WINTER REGATTA

Sunday 23rd November witnessed the RUMSBC Novice VIIIs return to the tideway for a second day of racing within the same weekend. Crews from each of the Medical Schools took part.

The Women's Novice VIII sadly departed in the first round but went on to win all of their repecharge races. Hopes are riding high for the UH Sprints in January.

The Men's Novice VIII showed their strength by gaining a place in the final. Sadly, they narrowly lost by a matter of inches to traditional rivals ICSM.

RUMSBC SOCIAL TOUR

Epic.

WALLINGFORD HEAD

The Gods of Weather continued to deluge upon RUMSBC as the Men's 1st and 2nd VIII made their way to Wallingford on Sunday 30th November. Racing in the first division, the Men's 2nd VIII rowed the course in 18 minutes 41.44 seconds, despite the freezing cold and relentless rain, giving them 100th place. The second division saw the Men's 1st VIII row a time of 17 minutes 57.95 seconds giving them 64th place.

UH NOVICE SPRINTS

Held on Sunday 23rd November, the gods of weather were not kind as the UH novice crews. Through rain, wind and hail they rowed. Unfortunately, neither of the RUMSBC Novice VIIIs were able to prove their strength and were knocked out of the competition. All the more to train for ...

ALLOM CUP

Saturday 22nd November saw the return to the Allom Cup to the tideway with 6 RUMSBC crews taking part. The boat house was packed to bursting with crews from throughout the University of London arriving to compete.

The Men's and Women's Novices sadly went out in the first round, both losing out to the eventual winners. The Women's 2nd VIII unfortunately caught a crab in the semi-final putting an end to their day. The Men's 2nd VIII narrowly lost out to a dubiously place Bart's 1st VIII in the final of the Intermediate category. The Men's 1st VIII, having to make last minute changes to the crew, lost by a matter of seats to UCL in the Senior category.

The overall success of the day was provided by the Women's 1st VIII who won every race to receive the Lady Ann Trophy.

Despite the disappointment, it was clear that RUMSBC had the stronger UH crews - something to watch out for when UH Sprints come around in January.

CAMBRIDGE WINTER HEAD

What a few weeks it has been! Saturday 15th November saw the four senior VIIIs take to the River Cam for the Cambridge Winter Head. The faithful chill returned to the porterloo laden field as the crews arrived to rig boats and prepare for their first race of the season.

Both Women's crews raced once the the Women's 1st VIII achieving a time of 10:54 (even following an incident with a wayward UEA crew) and the 2nd VIII a time of 11:27. The Men's crews raced twice in different divisions. The 1st VIII beat all other University of London (including UCL) crews with times of 9:11 and 9:15. The Men's 2nd VIII rowed times of 9:45 and 9:56, although did suffer a bank related difficulty in the latter.

All in all, an excellent start to the season!

WELCOME TO RUMSBC 2008-2009

Welcome one and all to the new year and new season! This year RUMSBC is bigger than ever and the early signs are indicating that this year will be seeing a continuation of last year's impressive successes. Since Bumps in May, the club has been busy beavering away: our new Hudson VIII has arrived, the bay has been painted and organised and the new committee members have been settling into their roles.

Wednesday 24th September saw Freshers' Day at the River. With over 70 new and eager faces all wanting a go at rowing, the day was busy to say the least! A huge thank you goes to all those that came down to help. The great effort that went into the event is shining through with the amount of Freshers who are still coming down to the river, especially shown by the competition already brewing in the Men's Novice group.

Boat Club activities are already in full swing. The Novice dinner on Tuesday 14th October is booked, Senior Training Tour is organised and plans for Social Tour are almost completed.

On behalf of all of the committee I'd like to wish you all a very successful year, both in rowing and in Medicine (or BSc).

Good luck RUMSBC!