Hayward Cup

Even Valentine's day could not perturb GCBC rowers from their dreams of victory. So on Saturday February 14th GCBC ventured on mass into the unknown realms of Stockton.

As well as awakening the rowers to unexplored territory, the X12 also delivered them at Hayward Cup. The event is a four kilometre head race, stretching from Teal Corner to the Infinity bridge on the River Tees. Held annually, Hayward cup is jointly hosted by Stephenson College Boat Club and John Snow College Boat Club. The cup itself is a Victor Ludorum prize for the colleges of Durham and is presented to the highest point scoring college across all eight events. In addition the Queens Cup is also an esteemed trophy awarded to the fastest timed college across the event.

A wealth of support was hurled by Women's Captain
 - Harriet Freestone, from the Infinity Bridge
(sadly race day was much less picturesque than that captured in this image)

GCBC donned their lycra in force, (some also sporting amorously festive facial artwork, enforced by Tim) with representatives from all squads - senior women and men as well as fresher women and men. 

The Women Freshers Eight performed a particularly impressive race completing the course in just 0:17:32 whilst also beating Hatfield, St. Johns and Butler College Boat Clubs. So congratulations to the girls who are providing a very promising vision for GCBC future.

The Senior Womens four also shared in this success coming second in their division with a time of 0:19:08, which contented the squad as it was an improvement on their Rutherford time. Nicola, the cox affirmed she was elated with the efforts of the 'Hayward Honnies.'

Senior Women's four 

Likewise, Fresher Men achieved a valiant time of 0:16:34. They battled the elements - weather conditions were not preferable and caused great discomfort to all teams which was only worsened by the joyous head race wait - attacked the course and gained invaluable racing experience. 

The experience of the Senior Men was evidenced through their sterling performance in which they finished with a time of 0:14:17, resulting in a triumph over St John's and Hild Bede College Boat Clubs. Whilst their rowing was on point however, it was noted by other member of GCBC that their stash was somewhat lacking and not quite up to the pristine standard of the rest of the club.

Senior Men's Eight
Anna making a fab replacement for their eighth member 

Whilst this year Grey were unable to secure either the Hayward Cup or the Queens Cup - which were awarded to St. Cuthberts and Hild Bede respectively -  they did attain 4 points overall in the cup ranking, levelling them with Collingwood and ensuring domination over Stephenson, St. Chads and arguably most importantly their neighbourhood chums, Butler.

A massive congratulations to all who raced as well as Grey College Boat Club's coaches who have impressively trained such promising amateur rowers and supported squads for the whole club to be proud of. No doubt, GCBC will only build upon their success from Hayward Cup..      

Boat Camp 2014

In preparation for regatta season Grey college Boat Club went down to Maiden Head for a gruelling week of rowing. The camp tested our crews to their limits but, with three training sessions a day, led to vast improvements for all squads. Crews were shaken up and rearranged as the coaches tried to find the optimal line up, that would hopefully secure victory in the regatta season soon to begin.

The fresher men's eight practicing blade placement 

Many members got their first taste of sculling, unfortunately leading to quite a few capsizes. Others enjoyed the chance to scull and quickly got better. Josh Goswell also exhibited his impressive skills in a single scull.

Laura Fitzgibbon and Hannah Bettridge in a double

Josh doing the Gondola

The use of launches allowed more personalised coaching, which quickly yielded dramatic technical improvements. The open river allowed us to practice side by side racing for the first time and let the freshers experience a wider variety of boats. 

After a week of intense training we left Maiden Head, feeling more confident about the regatta season to come. We would like to thank Maiden Head rowing club and Michael Cannon for their help in making the camp a possibility.

Boat Club Ball

22nd February 2014
The club's ball is part of GCBC's great traditions. As the last event organised by the outgoing social secretaries it had a great atmosphere. Many members of the club returned for a fun night and met people they used to row with and coach, as well as the new members of the club.

The evening started with a reception in Grey college, which welcomed members old and new to the annual ball. After everyone had arrived we headed for Bowburn Hall hotel. Once there we enjoyed an exquisite three course meal followed by the speeches signalling the official hand over of power to the club's new executive. Next the dance floor was opened up, to continue the festivities. Even when the coaches returned everyone to durham most people carried on having a great time by heading straight for the clubs in durham.

Members of GCBC at Bowburn Hall Hotel

The club would like to thank the triad of Jonny Davies, Tim Long and George Hutchinson for their work on this event and on the other events during their year as social secretaries. We would also like to welcome the new club executives to their roles.
Thank you to all who came and we hope you had an entertaining time.

Head Season 2013/2014

The senior squads took part in the Senate Cup on 11th December 2013. Training for this had been hindered by high levels on the Wear, severely reducing water time. Despite this Grey entered two IM3 women's coxed fours, a novice women's coxed four and an IM3 men's coxed four. All crews performed admirably finishing with similar times to some of the best crews in Durham.


On 5th March 2014 it was a chance for the fresher crews to show what they could do after 6 months of training, in Butler Head. The women's four of Milly Alexander, Miriam Cogni, Florence Cook and Katie James and cox Anna Kenton looked like an experienced crew who completed the 1800m course  in a respectable time (beating some of the male crews). They showed promising technique but lacked the raw power which some of the other crews displayed. It was time to hit the gym for the Freshers.

First races for the fresher women

The Fresher men showed some great rowing putting out two novice fours. This was the first time that Robert Cooper, James Quitmann, Harry Dodds and Toby Weston raced together, and it proved to be the beginnings of a very good four.

The fresher men getting ready for the final push

 The highlight of the day was the senior men's four of Tim Peterson, Richard Pearce, Sean Waring Mitchell, Andrew Loucks and cox Rebecca Moore. They won their event with an outstanding performance. They showed great stamina and technical prowess to record a very impressive time.

The Butler Head crew which won the novice coxed fours

The Head season showed off the hard work and effort that the coaches had put in to their squads. Laura Fitzgibbon, Ipek Akay, Richard Pearce, Tim Peterson, Callum Stayton and Josh Goswell used their experience to mould a very impressive collection of squads.

Admiral's Regatta

Admiral's Regatta

River Wear, Durham

750m

19th June 2013

After a slingshot start, the motley pirate crew of Grey College captained by the ever raspy sounding commodore Moore took an early lead in the first race of Admirals regatta 2013. The fresher men’s crew stunned the small crowd as they stormed down the race course, jolly roger flying high, to eventually finish the race 3 lengths ahead of the ill-fated Cuth’s senior boat. Having made it all the way to the finals the crew were not able to pull off a victory and secure one final pot for the Grey trophy cabinet.

Next up to race were the (extra) heavyweight senior men’s crew. Having decided on taking out a restricted training IV they weren't expecting much in the way of a momentous victory, and appeared more interested in their stockpile of Belgium’s finest. However after a speedy start and having taken an early lead, much to the dismay of Hutchinson and Hatch, the crew decided that the prospect of another race was just a little too much for this early morning booze cruise. So to the dawn chorus of a bemused commentator, the crew crawled across the line, tinnies aloft, to a gracious (and predictable) defeat.

Having been put together at the last minute and to the surprise of half the crew, it was the turn of another Grey Senior men’s IV. Having rustled together a mixed bag of costumes resulting in a theme labelled ‘miscellaneous’  the crew set off for the start were a fully race prepared Castle crew awaited them. After a clunky start the crew managed to overhaul their opponents cruising to a comfortable two length victory, this tower of power show was then repeated to storm a similarly well prepared Van Mildert crew.

Next it was the turn of the Senior Women’s VIII. Having actually made an effort to get matching costumes the cast of The Sound of Music made their way to the start line knowing a single victory would secure them an overall win. After a lightning start (and some divine guidance) the crew trounced the crew from St. Mary’s boat club and took home the only Grey pots of the day.

The final race of the day was the college mixed VIII’s, combining a fresher 4 with 4 from the senior women’s crew. Being an eco-conscious/ not-motivated-enough-to-get-more boat club, costumes were reused from previous races resulting in a nuns/cowboys crew. Having entertained the crowds on the way down to the start line the crew lined up against an all too familiar, non-costume-wearing, Castle crew. After a strong start from Castle the Grey boat fell behind by a bow in what would prove to be the most closely fought race of the day. However having narrowly lost to Castle in the final of Durham regatta the fresher boys gave it their all in order to pull off one final act of vindication and claim a momentous win. (The women were good too). After having exhausted themselves the crew rowed straight back to the start to face their next opponents, Van Mildert. With the sun sinking lower than the motivation levels and the pub calling, there was only one course of action for the crew as they lined up for what would be the final race of an inspired season of rowing for Grey College.

Seen as though this will be the last blog post this season, I think it only fair that a special mention go to the Fresher men’s VIII for providing GCBC with possibly the greatest photo ever taken in rowing. 

York Spring Regatta 2013, (No freshers were harmed in the making of this photo)

Durham Regatta

Durham Regatta

River Wear, Durham

750m

8th - 9th June 2013

There was mixed success for GCBC at Durham Regatta this year. On Saturday the Women's squad came up against some strong crews from Van Mildert college and Strathclyde University. In the 4 and the 8 they pushed them hard but were unable to secure a win. 

photo by Al Johnston

The fresher men's 8 raced well and led for the first half of their race but unfortunately a well timed push from Hatfield at the Hild Bede landing stage saw the opposition edge in front and take the win.  However all crew remained the right way up in the boat which can be taken as a significant improvement from their last Regatta.

On Sunday a fresher men's 4 competed in the Maiden 4s. This is a college event for novices new to rowing that was won by GCBC two years ago at the last Durham Regatta.  The crew comfortably beat St John's College followed by University College to secure a place in the final. What followed was an extremely exciting racing against University college that proved to be popular with the crowd but despite a strong performance from the freshers they lost it by a canvas.

photo by Evie Harrison Photography

After a late decision and a few last minute training sessions the senior men entered a Novice 4 on the Sunday for the Lady Herschell Plate. In the first race against DUBC the Grey crew took advantage of a strong start to get almost a length ahead off the line which they increased to three by the finish.  The next race was against York City who pushed them harder and it wasn't until around the halfway point that Grey were able to get some clear water between the boats before taking the win. In the final a St Cuthberts crew were easily beaten by multiple lengths to conclude a successful morning. 

James Huskisson

WeHORR 2013

Women's Eights Head of the River Race

River Thames, London

6.8km Head Race

9th March 2013

With a top 150 finish position, and as the second fastest college, you might imagine WeHORR 2013 was a well planned and organised day. It started with the cox and coach in a mad dash to get the cox-box charged and a very late boating. Thankfully, things picked up from there. The girls were off the start very quickly, pulling away from the crews around them as they reached Barnes Bridge.

The women held their rhythm and speed as they came into Hammersmith, closely followed by Hatfield. After they were overtaken the race became a struggle, but with strong calls from Lucy the cox, and with Kaz at stroke, no other boats were allowed to pass them before the finish. 

The post race festivities began with wine on the riverside, moving on very quickly to cocktails, meaning most were feeling merry for the annual alumni dinner. As with last year, there was a big turnout of both old and current members. The star of the show was of course Mike Veldman for his unmatched generosity with buying drinks and even helping Lucy home, albeit in a roundabout way. With the girls in such a good position, and hopefully with some committed Easter training, we should see success next term. Any and all alumni are of course welcome to attend our annual boatclub cruise, and it would be great to see you there.

George Hutchinson