Whilst DUBC’s women were training hard in the south preparing for Henley Women’s Regatta, the men took on the 189th rendition of Durham Regatta on the 10-11th of June, affectionately known as the “Henley of the North”. On Saturday our development squad represented the club brilliantly with entries into the quad, coxed four and singles events. A fast start for the quad meant they rattled a more experienced Sheffield University crew, however a couple of unfortunate encounters with the bank meant the result ultimately went Sheffield’s way. The coxed four also took on a more experienced crew in their first round of the intermediate category but raced well for a three-length victory over York University. They would go on to face Collingwood College and Sheffield University, beating both by two lengths in order to reach the final. In a close fought battle with Berwick ARC they emerged victorious, taking home the Durham City Plate and kick starting a winning weekend for DUBC.
Sunday saw the senior men join the development programme on a packed-out racecourse. The Devs were once again well represented, racing and beating more experienced crews. The same coxed four from Saturday beat Hatfield in the final of the Durham University Challenge Trophy, to go undefeated for the weekend and defend the trophy also won by last year’s Devs. These five athletes will be travelling down with the senior squad in an attempt to qualify for the Prince Albert University Coxed Fours event at Henley Royal Regatta. An exceptional achievement in itself, the club knows they will perform well down the Henley course and wishes them the best of luck.
For the senior men, Sunday morning also saw racing in coxed fours. Both crews won their respective heats down the long course, with expert navigation of the infamous Elvet bridge, and faced off in the final. A highly anticipated event saw lots of support down the course with an exceptionally close race. Whilst Levin Gräf’s crew were first across the line, an unfortunate missed buoy caused a disqualification and Dom Newton’s crew took the win.
Regardless, an excellent exhibition of our top male athletes, Durham was victorious in this, the Grand Challenge Cup. The afternoon saw eights take to the course for a 700m sprint down the short course. In the Open Championship B category, the 3V were given a scare by hosts, Durham Amateur Rowing Club, who jumped them off the start, but the boys remained calm (ish) and rowed through the local crew to win their opening heat. The 2V and 1V faced their respective Newcastle University crews in their opening heats of the Open Championship A category. A fierce rivalry resulted in fierce racing with both Durham crews emerging victorious to force an all-Durham affair in the final for the second time of the day. The 3V also took on their opposite Newcastle crew in their semi-final. A superb victory by clear water completed the clean sweep of wins over Newcastle and overturned the disappointing result at Boat Race of the North, ensuring Durham defended their home water on the Weir and showed who truly runs the Tyne! Unfortunately, they would go on to lose to Tyne ARC in the final. Congratulations to Tyne, who like DARC took it to the boys hard off the start, but this time managed to hold on for a victory by barely a canvas.
The final of the Durham alumnus, Reverend C.J. Saunders Cup, Champ A category may have been a foregone conclusion, but the second eight were determined to test their speed and pushed the first eight all the way to the line. With all eights separated by only six seconds in their respective finals, Durham showed not only their speed but also their depth. Each eight joins the women and devs at Henley, looking to qualify three boats for the Temple Challenge Cup for the first time in the University’s history. Thank you to DARC for hosting an excellent event, to all the crews that came from across the country to compete, and to all the supporters of Durham University who made the journey to cheer on the atheletes.