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BUCS Regatta
Nottingham, 1st - 3rd May 2010

Whilst most students use the Easter break as a chance to go home to their family or revise for their upcoming exams, the Kent rowers know that the holiday is synonymous with Easter training camp- a relentless three week session in which they will spend up to five hours a day training under the critical eye of their coaches. The camp, which took place this year on the Peterborough Rowing Club Lake, begins every day at 7.30am with a quick 5k run to the boathouse followed by three water sessions where the athletes can be expected to row an excess of 40k per day. The gruelling training plan is designed by the club’s captains in order to prepare the rowers for regatta season: the most exciting part of the rowing year.
 
This year Kent kicked off the season with some truly phenomenal results. BUCS regatta, the pinnacle of the rowing calendar to many university boat clubs, is perhaps one of the most difficult competitions many university rowers will ever face; however this didn’t deter Kent! The intermediate category, notorious for how fiercely competitive it is, saw two Kent crews through to the final- a first in Kent Rowing history.

The women’s coxed Four: Sarah Fish, Alice Mason, Briony Rose, Antonia Gerlach and cox Catherine Pateman came sixth overall in one of the tightest heats of the day, a mere ten seconds behind Cambridge who took gold. The crew, who all began rowing at Kent and who have been rowing competitively for just over a year, were up against athletes who have been competing since their school days; yet Kent still managed to knock out crews such as the goliath Oxford University in the semi finals.

The Kent women’s Double, comprised of the accomplished Kate Tatchell with many wins to her name and novice Sarah Harvey who began sculling this year under the guidance of her experienced teammate, placed fourth overall in the intermediate category. The race had fellow Kent students screaming in support as they watched the Double cross the finish line less than a second behind third place, battling it out in the final heat against two Durham crews, two Oxford Brookes crews and a Reading crew: all universities infamous for their wins in the rowing world.

Kent’s other crews who raced the day previously were not only up against some fierce competitors, but also some fierce weather conditions. Nottingham’s water centre where the competition was held is famed for offering very little shelter when the wind picks up; this year saw crews capsizing, boats breaking halfway down the course and the commentators musing over the tannoy, “well these athletes are simply eating water.” In spite of these conditions, all other Kent crews went on to finish their races in respectable places.
 
Kent Rowing club, recently named sports club of the year, has moved from strength to strength recently. The last coxed Four to reach the BUCS final was back in 2005. In 2006 Dan Ritchie, now rowing in the stroke seat of the GB Eight, competed under the Kent name to come third in the Championship Sculls category at BUCS. Following the success at BUCS, the women's coxed four have already tasted further triumph, winning the Bedford Amateur Regatta and in doing so, promoting themselves from Novice to Intermediate 3 status. Now, with the prestigious Marlow and Henley Women’s Regatta in sight, the Kent rowers plan to put themselves right back on the sporting map.

Jen Fisher.

Photos from the day