The day after the Women’s Head and it was UCLBC men’s turn to take to the Thames. The conditions the day before had been pleasant; with a strong stream carrying the boats down the course, there was little wind and a relatively mild temperature. The boys were not to be so lucky, enduring North Sea-like conditions; wind picked up considerably, the water was rough (to say the least) and a bitter cold air only added to the horrors. The result was that four boats had to be rescued after taking on too much water, and two rowers collapsed during the race due to suspected hypothermia (all are fine now). Despite this, UCLBC had two crews race at Hammersmith Head on Sunday the 10th of March, on a course which ran from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge.

The Senior Men’s first VIII started at number 20 and completed the race in a time of 12.28.19, putting them in 13th position overall and 5th in their IM2 category, despite being out of the stream for a considerable part of the race due to overtaking crews. The VIII achieved a solid result yet know they can only improve on that going into the Head in a week’s time.

It was the first time that UCL’s second senior VIII had raced together, after four crew members had moved up from the novice squad. Finishing 55th overall and 13th in the IM3 category, the second men’s VIII proves it has great potential for the rest of the year.

As the last race before the Head of the River Race, both men’s crews achieved successful results which they can take confidently to the start line next weekend.

Athena Mellor, Fundraising & Publicity