News
After many years of service (and some "minor" wear and tear) Liz Hatfield (Hudson Men's 8+) is back on the water having been restored to her former glory.
UBBC Alumni funds allowed a full refurbishment and repair of the boat, which has served UBBC well since it was first bought in 2006. This refurbishment was only made possible by our members’ monthly donations. Thank you to all those who donate!
This December, UBBC alumnae Hannah Walton (2012-2015) and Florence Ward (2011-2015) will be setting out to break two world records in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Their goal is to become the fastest, and youngest female trio to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
Together with friend Georgie, Hannah and Florence will row 3,000 miles from La Gomera to Antigua. They will be supporting two charities: RTHM (founded in memory of UBBC alumnus René Zamudio) and Women in Sport.
To support the trio in their mission, you can join their "250 club", through which you can fund their row and get your name on their boat.
To find out more, head to www.atlanticantics2020.com or get in touch with Hannah or Florence at atlanticantics2020@gmail.com.
We wish the girls the very best of luck as they gear up to face the challenge!
We are pleased to announce the introduction of the UBBC Alumni Student Support Grant Scheme. Through this new initiative, we hope to promote the development of UBBC by offering support grants to students whose participation may be limited by their financial circumstances.
We as UBBC Alumni know how much we valued our time at UBBC, and hope to share these opportunities with the next generation of rowers. The UBBC Alumni Support Grant funds are intended for students who gain significant personal development value from rowing, and in return make a positive contribution to UBBC culture (but would otherwise be unable to participate due to financial constraints).
The types of activities we will be providing grants for will include:
Training camp costs.
Transport and accommodation for major events such as EUSA, FISU, GB Trials, BR Sculling Festival.
Race fees for major events.
Essential UBBC racing kit.
All UBBC Alumni Grants rely exclusively on all of our members’ generous monthly donations, so thank you very much for your continued support!
In October 2019 we donated the remaining funds required for UBBC to purchase ten brand new Concept2 ergometers to fill their new erg room at Coombe Dingle. The funds donated for this equipment purchase were raised entirely from our members’ regular monthly and annual donations collected via Direct Debit and standing order.
The addition of these ergs completes UBBC’s set of 32 Concept2 ergs, allowing 4 eights to train at once during UBBC’s morning erg sessions.
As always, the support given to us by the alumni is greatly appreciated. With the new ergs added to our collection our erg room is beginning to fill up, which is an exciting prospect. The fact that we can do whole squad ergs is a real benefit for our #oneclub spirit and will give a real boost to the already high standard of training. So, although we might not like to admit it when we’re halfway into a 2k test, the new ergs are a massive help to us and will provide another step in the road to becoming one of the best rowing universities in the country. Many thanks!
- Arthur Smith (4th Year Aerospace Engineering)
We want to say a massive thank you to Nonesuch for the new additions to our erg suite. This is a brilliant opportunity for all of the rowers at UBBC to improve the quality of their training. With the additional ergs, the women's squad can continue to look forward to more wins and medals in the future, all thanks to the ongoing support of UBBC Alumni. The new ergs also mean that we can all train together as one club and push each other on to achieve our goals. Once again, we are all very grateful for your generous contributions that allow UBBC to continue to progress as a high performance club.
- Ophelia Morley (3rd Year, History) and Hollie Saunders (3rd Year, Civil Engineering)
Thank you to all of our regular donors for your generous support.
The University of Bristol has been represented on the water by its Boat Club since the University's own inception in 1909, and its former oarsmen & women organised as Alumni since the 1980's. The UBBC Alumni has long been regarded as the flagship alumni association of all sports clubs and societies at the University of Bristol, having embarked on some significant fundraising projects in support of the UBBC, most notably in fundraising for the new Saltford Boathouses which were opened in 2014.
Since the opening of the new boathouses UBBC has undergone a shift in ambition, with the appointment of a full time Head Coach for the first time in the club's history and significant donations from generous individuals in order to purchase new boats and equipment.
Moving into 2019 and beyond, the UBBC Alumni has proposed refreshing its mission statement, committee structure, governance and activities, part of which involves reappointing a UBBC Alumni Committee and setting up a registered charity to support our activities. More details of our refreshed mission statement, committee structure and role, governance and activities can be found on our about us page.
Following expressions of interest from across the UBBC Alumni community, we are delighted to introduce our refreshed UBBC Alumni Committee:
Nonesuch Captain: Tom Clark
Secretary: Peter Jones
Treasurers: Tom Davies & Jen Cocke
Communications Officer: Caroline Welsh
Events Officer: Poppy Mather
Membership Officer: Hugh Cooper
Fundraising Campaigns Officer: Alex Heslop
Nonesuch Women's Rowing: Charlotte Greenwood
Nonesuch Men's Rowing: Tom Judd
Online Engagement Officer: Jack Squizzoni
If you would like to contact any member of the UBBC Alumni Committee, please feel free to use the contact form on our contact us page.
We offer our congratulations to Ed Bloomfield, who has been appointed as Head Coach of UBBC.
Ed joined UBBC in 2015 as a part-time Development Coach, having rowed previously at St Edwards School Oxford. Over the past four years, he has led the campaign to elevate the standard of women's rowing at UBBC. His efforts have proved very fruitful indeed, culminating in a record 4th place in the Championship 8+ at BUCS Regatta 2018. Earlier in 2019 Ed was appointed as a full-time Development Coach and has now been successful in being selected for the Head Coach role following Cam Kennedy’s departure.
Ed commented, "I'm excited to continue my involvement with UBBC as the new Head Coach. As you can imagine, the start of the season has been a very busy time but ultimately successful. UBBC will always rely heavily on the continued support of its alumni and it’s a pleasure to continue working in a program that already has a thriving relationship with its alumni.
Being part of UBBC is always enormously exciting, and with both the club and alumni group development plans beginning to take off, I’m looking forward to playing my part in the future of the two clubs".
We wish a fond farewell to Cam Kennedy after a tremendously successful four years as Head Coach at UBBC. Cam is leaving UBBC to return to Australia with his family.
Cam joined UBBC back in 2015, and the club has soared from strength to strength under his leadership. Thanks to Cam's hard work and technical expertise, UBBC athletes have secured an impressive 106 seats at HWR and HRR since 2016. He coached several Bristol Novices to achieve impressive results at GB trials and beyond, notably supporting Alice Davies on her journey from total novice to national selection (in the GB Women's Development 8+ at World Cup III). Off the water, Cam set in motion an ambitious development plan for the future of UBBC, which is already proving transformational in terms of club performance, resources and training culture.
We wish Cam and his family all the best for the future as they return home to Australia to start the next chapter. Thank you and good luck!
January 2018 saw the launch of an ambitious fundraising campaign, with the aim of purchasing four new boats for UBBC. UBBC's coxless fours and pairs were all over ten years old and in constant need of repair and maintenance, so a campaign was launched to aim to provide a new racing standard boat of each class.
UBBC Alumni members donated just over £33,000 in support of the campaign, which in addition to a generous donation from the Rutley family, saw the purchase of a new women's coxless four/quad, men's coxless four/quad, women's pair/double and men's pair/double. The boats are all Hudson Super Predators and convertible between sweep and sculling. UBBC have already taken delivery of three of the boats, with the fourth due to arrive over the summer break.
Early fundraising efforts were spearheaded by the crew members of two of Gordon Trevett’s successful fours; the 2007 IV- (European Universities Rowing Championship, Gold) and 2010 IV+ (HRR Prince Albert Challenge Cup, runners-up). After recently completing twelve years at the helm of UBBC, the club would like to commemorate G's service by naming the new men’s four “Gordon Trevett”.
UBBC are particularly grateful for the generosity of Graeme Coulthard (UBBC 1986-88) and Phillip Rodger (UBBC 1996-2000), who kindly donated the funds required for each of the women's and men's pairs.
Thanks go to all of our members who regularly donate by standing order and Direct Debit, whose donations made a significant contribution towards the campaign.
“On behalf of the club, I’d like to pass on an enormous thank you to the UBBC Alumni. The donation of these new racing boats has added significant depth to the UBBC fleet, enabling us to train and race competitively in coxless fours, quads, pairs and doubles. The campaign has proved genuinely transformational already, with the most obvious results at U23 GB Trials in the men’s pair, and with championship medals at BUCS Regatta. Thank you to all who contributed so generously.”
Thank you to Adam Mackenzie (UBBC 2005-09) and Seb Tjornelund (UBBC 2007-11) for leading this campaign, and to the University of Bristol Alumni Office for facilitating our larger donations. A list of donors who kindly gave larger one-off gifts are listed below and on our campaigns page.
Phillip Rodger, Graeme Coulthard, Sam Browning, Adam Moss, Tamara Tsallagova, Seb Tjornelund, Pete Randolph, Edward Walton, Matt Steeds, Phil Williams, Martin Herbert, Ben Bathurst, Andrew Turner, Ben McSweeney, Matthew Ridley, Henry Sperling, Richard Randolph, Giles Gray, Charlie Lewis, Luke Stevens, Nick McNeil, Jeremy Fitch, Hugh Cooper, Adam Mackenzie.
A naming ceremony for the boats will be held during the tea break on the Saturday of Henley Royal Regatta (7th July 2018). All members and supporters are invited to attend.
Thank you all for your support.
Join as a new member or update your contact details and/or donation amount:
The University of Bristol Boat Club once again hosted a successful Head Race, with both UBBC and Nonesuch coming away as the fastest crews in every eights category.
UBBC's Men's 1st 8 took the headship by 28 seconds, overtaking Avon neighbours Bath University approaching the final straight. UBBC's Women's 1st 8 affirmed their continuing dominance of the Women's Championship 8s event, taking the win for the third year running.
UBBC displayed the depth in both Men's and Women's squads, also claiming victories in the Men's and Women's Intermediate Eights events.
Nonesuch Boat Club fielded 3 eights; 2 men's and 1 women's, containing plenty of new faces to Nonesuch. The top men's eight and the women's eight both beat their counterparts from Coldharbour Boat Club (UWEBC Alumni), coming away as the fastest Alumni crews at the event.
Following the day of racing, UBBC hosted the annual Head Race Ball at Ashton Court Mansion, where as per tradition pudding was eaten with no hands, followed shortly after by the pilgrimage to Lizard Lounge.
The UBBC Alumni pass on our congratulations to Head Coach Cameron Kennedy and the whole of UBBC for a hugely successful weekend.
Join as a new member or update your contact details and donation amounts:
After the success of the 1991 Temple-winning crew reunion at Henley Royal Regatta in 2016, followed by champagne in the boat tents, a general consensus was reached that ‘fizz is a good idea’ - cue trawling UBBC records to find noteworthy anniversary crews as an excuse to host a similar drinks event in 2017, traditionally held during the tea break on regatta Saturday.
It was a brief search, back just 10 years to 2007. Bristol did not win Henley that year, but the performances of the UBBC men’s eight were easily, and are still, strong enough to raise a glass to ten years later. No men’s eight has come close to repeating that level of performance at Bristol in the past decade - and for that reason alone… Cheers!
At Henley Royal Regatta in 2018 we will raise a glass to the crew that won Henley Women’s Regatta in 1998. Until then, please take a moment to acquaint, or remind, yourself with the achievements of the 2007 UBBC men’s squad.
_____
The scene is set - after achieving a silver medal in men’s champ eights behind Oxford Brookes at BUSA (now BUCS) regatta in May 2006, the crew went on to pick up a bronze medal at the European equivalent event in early September 2006. They were again beaten by Oxford Brookes, who took silver, whilst a crew from the Czech Republic won the event held in Brive, France. Perhaps it should be noted that OBUBC had also won the Temple and the Visitors at Henley in 2006. However, EUSA 2006 is perhaps best remembered for the short-lived ‘drinking blade’ which was a key participant in that evening’s celebrations. Another crucial result is that we beat OBUBC in an arm-wrestling challenge, which was finally decided by the ninth man i.e. the coxswains. Chapeau Simon Wilson.
_____
Winter camp - was held in Banyoles in the earliest days of 2007. We shared the lake with Cambridge University Boat Club and two crews from each institution raced on the final day of camp. A staggered start ensured some high quality racing in the final 500m, with the Blue Boat unsurprisingly taking the honours. However, the strong Bristol ‘A’ crew performance surprised many, and the impact of this unexpected early test featured in the sport psychologist Mark de Rond’s book about his year spent with CUBC. Cambridge went on to win that year’s Boat Race.
_____
Head of the River 2007 - was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, but not before the first 50 crews had set off. Starting at 34, UBBC I had closed up aggressively on Molesey III in the early part of the course, before sinking just after Barnes Bridge.
_____
April - for the first time in five years, Bristol reclaimed the Varsity blade from UWE. In the year before, the men’s eight race had been a dead heat, which was then rerowed with UWE victorious. In 2007, Bristol victories were largely recorded across the board, with us winning 4-1 overall. A photo of Martin Herbert, that year’s club captain, celebrating with all of the other club members crowded behind him, was used for many years on the ARA (now British Rowing) website to promote university rowing.
_____
May - an indisputably strong performance at BUSA regatta, although we finished out of the medals in Men’s Championship Eights. If an excuse is needed, the blame can easily be shifted onto the Holme Pierrepoint cross-winds. The standout performances here came after splitting the men’s eight into two smaller boats, where we won Gold in Championship Coxless Fours and Silver in Championship Coxed Fours.
_____
June - seat racing was required for the final seat in the men’s eight, as one of the crew (Matt Steeds) was ineligible for Henley due to his medal in a GB vest at FISU 2006. Matt rowed for Leander in the Ladies Plate event at HRR 2007. The result of a forced personnel change was most unexpected, as replacing the largest ergo in the boat with the fifth bowsider somehow made the eight go a lot faster. That crew went on to win S2 (now IM1) Eights at Metropolitan Regatta, and Elite Eights at Reading Amateur Regatta. Pete Randolph and Matt Steeds also won the Poke Pairs cup at Met. The winning streak finally came to an end when the crew came up against the Oxford University / Oxford Brookes composite crew (entered into the Ladies Plate at HRR) at Marlow Regatta - pushing them close, but finishing short by canvas at Dorney Lake.
_____
Pre-Henley 2007 - the annual UBU sports dinner. The Boat Club won an embarrassing selection of awards; picking up the Team of the Year (Men’s 1st VIII), Sportsman of the Year (Matt Steeds) and Outstanding Contribution to Sport (Martin Herbert) awards.
_____
Henley Royal Regatta, July 2007 - notable for the incredibly strong current on the Henley course. Swathes of the English countryside were underwater, and portions of the course had not been fully constructed due to the weather conditions. Having beaten all of the other domestic club and student-level men’s eights during regatta season, Bristol had rightly been selected as the fastest UK university crew in the draw. However, it would have to be done the hard way, by winning from the Bucks station each day until the final round - this proved to be a significant factor throughout the regatta, especially noted during the final ten strokes of each race. The crew were drawn against UBBC ‘B’ on the Wednesday, before dispatching with Oxford Brookes on the Thursday. On Friday, the crew faced the undefeated US Lightweight champions from Cornell. In a race where the lead changed hands multiple times, we were leading into and through the enclosures, however we were beaten in the final few strokes by a quarter of a length. Cornell were eventual runners-up, beaten narrowly by a freshmen crew from the University of California, Berkeley.
Student eights, Henley Royal Regatta 2007
UBBC 'A' vs. UBBC 'B'
_____
Summer 2007 - a quartet of the squad stay in Bristol to train for the upcoming EUSA Regatta, to be held in Banyoles (Girona) in September 2007. Pete Randolph (UBBC Men’s Captain 2006-07) is also selected as the stroke man for the GB U23 men’s eight. In Spain later that summer, the crew managed to beat everyone in the coxless fours competition, including the majority of a German national U23 crew. As a result of this achievement, Bristol Reds were awarded to Pete Randolph, Mark Roberts, Matt Steeds & Edward Walton.
_____
Later that Autumn - Gordon Trevett was voted BUSA Coach of the Year, in a nationwide competition.
_____
Here’s to the 2007 men’s squad. Cheers!
Adam Mackenzie
UBBC ‘B’ Strokeman, HRR 2007
UBBC Club Captain 2008/09
Join as a new member or update your contact details and donation amounts:
Keep up to date with the UBBC Alumni/Nonesuch BC on social media:
