By Joe Watson

Men's Captain 2013

 

After a nice, long summer break; it was finally time for the senior members of BUBC to return to the hallows of Bournemouth, and once again break the still waters of the Stour. On our return to Bournemouth, we proved to have an incredible amount of depth within the men’s and women’s senior squads. The focus for the first few weeks of training was to allow bonding between the current members, and to establish everyone’s current fitness levels.

 

Shortly after the start of term, it was our job to recruit as many new BUBC members as possible. After an outstanding job from all members at fresher’s         fair, we managed to gain a huge amount of interest. With great attendance at    both the water based sessions and land based session, it was clear to see that     this was going to be yet another great year at BUBC. With the addition of two   new senior members (Jack Stoddart and Mikey Lloyd), who have a great    amount of previous rowing experience, the men’s senior squad was also ever  growing.

 

Shortly after the fresher taster sessions, both the senior squads and fresher squads were beginning to establish crews for UBBC Head Race. At this point in  the year, the fresher squads were improving very quickly, mainly due to the   patience and commitment from our coach, Jonathon Carr-Brown (JCB). The  fresher men were looking strong in an 8, showing some great power and boat speed. The men’s fresher 4 had slightly fewer training sessions together, which considering they were also showing formidable potential. The women’s fresher squad were fielding an 8, which were proving to “gel” very well together, and showing great technical potential. Similarly to the fresher men's 4, the women's 4 had slightly fewer training sessions together, but they were showing a great sense of enthusiasm, and they were certainly moving the boat together. The senior men were fielding one 8, and the women's seniors were putting forward a 4.

 

With a limited amount of coaching, and with the emphasis being on the fresher squads for this term, both crews did themselves proud. Once the crews had been announced, there was only one thing left... This was to announce the long term fresher captains. The committee had decided that Elle Sorenti would lead the women's fresher squad, and Lee Knapp would lead the men's fresher squad. We believe that they will both do a great job, and that they will be great figureheads for the sport of rowing at Bournemouth University. Off the back of some great results at Bristol, training was beginning to wind down, as the festive season was fast approaching.

 

Shortly before the end of term, various members within BUBC were on the prowl of some additional coaches, in order to give JCB a helping hand. A new addition to the coaching team is Alan Kirkpatrick, who has previously won the boat race with the blues, and raced against various other big names such as Sir Steve Redgrave. This is a great addition to the club, and BUBC are very privileged to have two coaches, with such great levels of experience. I look forward to carrying all of these positives forwards to next term, and lets hope BUBC has something to show for all of the hard work which has been put into it! 

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