The last week of October gave the club the chance to prove themselves in the way they love best... after all, who doesn't love a good 2k? The men's squad and Meg Hollands from the Women's side (along with many supporters providing Soreen) made their way to the Imperial Boat Club. After leaving the comfort of the water, RUMSBC had an impressive number of both heavyweight and lightweight rowers competing. The RUMS athletes held their own amongst the others that had entered, and some personal bests were achieved. A special mention must go to Jamie Glenister for being the fastest RUMS athlete with an impressive time (and a really striking style of erging).
A very promising day for all; hopefully this will translate back to the water for Allom Cup!

With an even earlier start than usual, RUMSBC gathered outside Bloomsbury gym ready to leave at 6am for Cambridge. This was our first opportunity to prove to the other clubs on the Tideway that we are the UH Champions for a reason, and after a brilliant day of rowing, we are confident that we achieved that. 


Women's Senior Squad
Captain: Eimear McKavanagh
With a 4:30am start, the women prepared for the first race of the year with a carb-heavy crew meal the night before, an early night and lots of hydration!! Everyone was very excited to start the year off with a bang and show all other UH Crews that RUMSBC senior women are a force to be reckoned with.
W1 were up first in Division 2. With a bit of a rough first half of the race, they hit their stride when it was time to overtake ICSM right in front of the supporters. If there’s one word to describe W1 it’s ‘competitive’ and a bit of side-by-side racing was all they needed to spur them on for the last 750m. Coming off the water, the girls admitted it wasn’t their best race and that they have a lot more to give. However, they came 6th place in their category with a time of 10:29, beating all other UH crews as well as being only 1 second behind UCL! This is a crew that is ready to win some medals and the results from the weekend have only increased the fire in their bellies and the determination in their hearts to prove once again that we are the best UH women’s senior crew on the Tideway.
W2 were up in Division 4 when the rain had started to steadily increase from a mere drizzle to pretty miserable, however this was not going to stop W2. They had a few incidents along the way and a seat jammed at the end but this was nothing they couldn’t handle. They pushed through with a solid rhythm, all backing each other through the bends and across the line. All of the girls came off the water knowing that they had rowed a good race and excited for the races to come. They came in 6th in their category beating all other UH second’s crews and a whole 27 seconds faster than their nearest UH competition! Roll on Novice Sprints!
Extra well done to Alice and Hannah K for their first race with RUMSBC and to Hannah H and Grace for their wonderful coxing.
Special thanks goes to Henry Fieldman, our wonderful coach who encouraged the aggression and drive that is going to win us medals this year and was the inspiration for the “Do it for Henry” call in the last 500m sprint finish. We are the ladies of RUMSBC and we are ready for UH.  

Men's Senior Squad
Captain: Will McCaughran 

After an early start on a cold and damp day, the men of RUMSBC arrived in Cambridge huddled under the umbrellas provided by Mr Shadwell. M2 raced first, coming down the course looking neater and more together than ever before. Though they had started to tire coming down the straight, on hearing the cheers of the rest of the club the whole boat sat up, picked up the rate and squeezed for the finish. Their game plan of a lower rate and bigger strokes payed off nicely with them finishing in 10:07 minutes, the fastest of RUMS crews to hit the Cam and fifth overall in their category! Closely behind M2 and eager to prove their continued dominance over all things rowing was the Age four. Quoted as "a really nice row" and "the best it's ever gone" they glided past with what was undoubtably some of the prettiest rowing ever seen at RUMS, picking up the rate and power through the bridge for what was probably one of the finest finishes to a rowing race since the 2012 Olympics and crossing the line in 10:30 minutes, second in their category!

Last to boat and race of the Men's crews was the Beauty four. With an average erg somewhere in the mid 6:30s and a deep set desire to beat Age across the line it was always going to be a good race. Chunking down the course at a slightly higher rate to Age the Beauty boys did themselves proud, and though they came off the water furious at the two boats which caused them to stop a length before the finish line, they nonetheless finished in the very competitive time of 10:30 minutes, a joint second place overall with Age! Overall I'm very happy with how Cambridge went, it was an excellent day's racing all round topped off by the best results RUMSBC's men have had in many years and many bottles of well earned port!

Lastly, a quote from the one and only Alex Cowan...
"Maybe rowing is like the top gear test track, if it looks slow then it's actually fast."

Women's Novice VIII
Captain: Georgie Lloyd

As is tradition, on a damp, very early morning, the ladies of the novice squad were ready for their first race. Despite the chill and the rain, the girls were raring to go and show off their new rowing skills. They proved themselves out on the water, showing some impressive technique and avoiding any crabs. Unfortunately Greg could not avoid the bank. Despite a brief pause, they got back into their rhythm and finished the race in a very respectable 8th, ahead of one of the UCL crews. All in all, a very good days racing from the women’s novices, bring on Novice Sprints!

Men's Novice VIII
Captain: Sam Jackson

On a cold Saturday morning, the newest members to RUMS BC got their first taste of a rowing race. Being deprived of any social activities on the previous night, the whole crew managed to make the 6am coach on time and we were soon on our way to Cambridge. Once there and boat assembled, they cheered on the other RUMS BC crews as their own nerves rose. With a final crew chat conducted and race plan discussed, the eight made their way onto the water. Calmed by our seasoned cox Hannah on the row up, the crew settled into a good pre-race rhythm and got a decent sighter of the evil bowside corner. After a nervy wait at the start line, the boys were off! Bryan Foong and Christian Pugsley as stroke pair set a fantastic rhythm right where we wanted it and the crew was soon at full speed. With the engine of the boat being comprised of Bart Soper, Chris Pauw, Will Ning and Adam Jones, the speed kept constant and the boat completed a very good first half of the race, beating the other UH competition at the half way mark – let’s hope this continues at next week’s Novice Sprints. Dawid Akala and Josh Dey put in the extra power to get the Dilworth round those Cambridge curves. Before long, the crew was nearing the end of the course and being cheered on by the cries of MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE, they recovered from an earlier crab and got back into their rhythm for crossing the finish line. The eight finished a very respectable 12th out of 18th in their category and the improvements that they have made in the last few weeks has been phenomenal. Everyone gave everything that could be asked of them and the team of Hannah, Adam Pickard and myself were immensely proud. Special mention goes to Christian who produced one of the greatest rowing faces I have seen in a long time. A massive congratulations to the whole squad for their effort so far. Let’s put in that extra effort now and show UH what we've got at sprints.
​ A very proud captain, Sam Jackson.

​The new season is off to an exciting start on Saturday with Cambridge Head, with the novices rowing their first head race and all of the crews proving that they're the best on the Tideway. A very early start on Saturday morning should be the start of what is one of our favourite days on the racing calendar. Now for a few introductions of the new fresh, and lists of the crews who will be racing on the River Cam.

Men's First IVs

New men's captain, Will McCaughran, is kicking off the season by putting out two equal men's fours to race; he has proclaimed that one boat is named as the 'age' squad, and the other 'beauty', with a squad wide bet on the fastest boat. We shall leave it to you to decide which boat is the more beautiful.
Stroke - Ali Williamson
3 - Aubrey Capern-Burgess
2 - Neel Raja
Bow - Rory Shadwell

Stroke - Connor Price
3 - Jamie Glenister
2 - Sam Gunning
Bow - Luke Martin

Women's First VIII

After an amazing first few weeks of training, this boat is at their fittest and ready to take on the crews on the Cam. After an impressive set of 2k scores, they're excited to prove that they can turn that power into speed and pull out an impressive race.
Stroke - Jess Rankine
7 - Eimear McKavanagh (C)
6 - Caitlin Healy
5 - Gloria Smith
4 - Elizabeth Sinclair
3 - Matilda Williams
2 - Tintin Larsson
Bow - Meg Hollands

Men's Second VIII

This crew is full of ex-novices and old faces, and are full of potential. As the only senior men's eight rowing for RUMSBC, we have faith that they will do us proud and leave the other crews far behind them. 
Stroke - Callum Fields
7 -  Fabian Ace
6 - Jack Maddicks
5 -  Jack Merritt
4 -  Ben Schapira 
3 - Charlie Hensher
2 -  Martin Furlepa
Bow - Patrick Hanna

Women's Second VIII

As one of the fittest seconds crew that the club has ever had, this boat is full of fighting spirit and a lot of potential. They've been training hard for Cambridge, and we are sure that this race will be the start of a great year for the seconds. 
Stroke - Beth Hughes
7 - Nadia Eden
6 - Hannah Karet 
5 - Laura Cousins
4 - Alex Scholey
3 - Beth Jones
2 - Alice Storrie
Bow - Claire Shadwell

Novices

This is the first race for the novices, and the start of their time at RUMSBC. The seniors have been impressed with their training, and how quickly both the men and women have progressed. Cambridge is followed on swiftly by Novice Sprints, and we are confident that these new crews will impress in both cases. 

Men's Novice VIII (Captain Sam Jackson) 
Stroke - Bryan Foong
7 - Christian Pugsley
6 - Bart Soper
5 - Chris Pauw
4 - Will Ning
3 - Adam Jones
2 - Dawid Akala
Bow - Josh Dey

Women's Novice VIII (Captain Georgie Lloyd)
Stroke - Steph Williams
7 - Georgie Stagg
6 - Nicola Skajaa
5 - Jen Whitehead
4 - Emma Kerr
3 - Tanya Nour
2 - Pooja Shah
Bow - Shefali Patel