Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club

Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club (CULRC) was founded in 1974 for the sole purpose of winning the Lightweight Boat Race against the Oxford Lightweights. The race has been held at Henley in March or April every year since 1975, currently Cambridge leads by 21 to 14. In addition members of the club have won medals at both national and international competitions, and athletes who have represented CULRC have competed at each of the last three Olympic games.

GB December Trials 2011

Submitted by Rupert Price on 21 December, 2011 - 12:23

On 17th December CULRC sent two members to the GB December Trial in Boston, Lincolnshire. Rupert Price and Nicolas Kernick travelled up on the day before for a pre-paddle on the course. Conditions were beautiful on the river setting both scullers up well for the following day.

Racing on the Saturday was in good tailwind conditions, ideal for fast times accross the 5000m course. Rupert Price came in 26th overall (10th U23). While Nick came 36th (18th U23). This is a very encouraging result, with Nick posting a very strong time considering he has been rowing sweep with CUBC since the last trial.

Focus now turns firmly towards sweep rowing from now on. With Training Camp only a couple of weeks away and our annual Trial VIIIs race on 18th December final selection for the VIII is drawing near. There are less than 100 days until we face Oxford on 25th March now and still plenty more development to come.

Trial VIIIs 2011

Submitted by John Hale on 19 December, 2011 - 15:39

On December 18th, the two CULRC Trial VIIIs crews, "King" and "Ace", raced in Henley-on-Thames. As on Boat Race day, the crews had to weigh in a few hours before racing, so a sweat-paddle started off what turned out to be a near-perfect day of sunshine and little wind.

Fairbairn Cup Races and Scullers' Head

Submitted by Rupert Price on 12 December, 2011 - 09:06

Last week the CULRC squad raced in Cambridge at the Fairbairn Cup. Organised by Jesus College Boat Club, the race runs from the JCBC flag-pole to the little bridge near the Lock (around 4.3km). CULRC entered two VIIIs. The VIIIs were originally planned to be of equal strength, but with a key injury to one crew the gap between the boats ended up being larger than expected. The quicker crew came 2nd overall with a time of 14:17.3 while the other crew struggled and came 8th overall with a time of 14:44.9. Crew photos are shown below.

The following day CUL's top scullers attended the Sculler's Head on the boat race course in London. Despite a few problems our scullers performed very well. The top result came from Rupert Price, placing 38th overall amidst lots of traffic off the start. Piran Tedbury came in next in 60th despite rigging problems and finding a spanner moments before racing at a local Pub. James Wedlake came in 74th and Andrew Hunt, having been held up by another sculler and pushed the wrong side of a marshalling launch, came 76th.

Several CUL alumni also raced on the day. Mark Aldred placed 35th, John Hale placed 53rd and Piers Copham placed 153rd.

This week the squad are all in Cambridge preparing for Trial VIIIs in Henley on 18th December. Come down and support!

The eights in a action at Fairbairns:

CULRC Trial VIIIs to be Umpired by Sir Matthew Pinsent

Submitted by Rupert Price on 25 November, 2011 - 09:20

Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club will be holding its annual Trial Eights race on the 18th of December in Henley-on-Thames. The day is designed to simulate Boat Race day, when the selected crew will race Oxford over the same course, and to give athletes an opportunity to race under similar conditions.

With Trial Eights one of the highlights of the club’s calendar, the crews will have been preparing together for several weeks and will be provided with boats by internationally renowned manufacturers. This year, four-time Olympic champion and rowing legend Sir Matthew Pinsent will be umpiring the race.

The crews will boat in Henley at 1.30pm for a warm-up row before the race, which is scheduled for 2.30pm. Family, friends and supporters are warmly invited to spectate and enjoy a day out along the banks of the river Thames in one of the great traditional homes of rowing – all support is greatly appreciated. The race will be followed by tea and scones at the world-famous Leander Club at 3pm, which will be an opportunity to meet the crews and coaches in a relaxed setting. Race results will also be officially announced here.

CULRC are proud to be sponsored by Powertraveller, KPMG, Hudson Boat Works and WinTech Racing.

Cambridge Winter Head 2011

Submitted by Rupert Price on 21 November, 2011 - 09:52

CULRC fielded 6 crews this weekend at the Cambridge Winter Head. Of these 6 entries 5 were in the top 10 for the event (of 250 crews). Only the scratch quad combination missed out on a top 10 spot.

Fours' Head 2011

Submitted by Rupert Price on 13 November, 2011 - 22:34

Last weekend CULRC's scullers took to the tideway to compete amongst 454 crews at the Four's Head of the River 2011. Entered in the 'Elite Lightweight Quad' category, the crew of Liam Downes, Piran Tedbury, Rupert Price and James Wedlake went off 8th amongst some of the best scullers in the country including a few members of the GB Rowing Team likely to be representing the country in the Olympics next year.

2011/12 Season - First Coaching Report

Submitted by Rupert Price on 9 November, 2011 - 11:13

Preseason training camp (19 to 30 September)

The season started with a 2-week training camp, during with the 24 triallists began this year’s Henley Boat Races campaign. Early groundwork was made with training, and the camp ended with an open-road cycle race 76-mile cycle race from Cambridge to Norwich. 3 members of the squad finished joint second in this race in a time of 3h 42m, and a notable effort was made by Alex Randall who completed the entire distance on a single speed (fixed gear) racing bike.

Cambridge Small Boats Head (1 October)

A group of small boats from the club raced at the Cambridge SBH at the end of the preseason camp. This was a successful day, with CULRC winning 5 events (IM2, IM3 and Nov 1x, and IM3 and Nov 2x), as well as losing narrowly by 1s in Sen 2-. Recent Alumnus, John Hale, also recorded the fastest 1x time of the day.

October GB Trials 2011

Submitted by Rupert Price on 31 October, 2011 - 10:25

CULRC sent 6 of the squad to the first set of GB Trials in Boston on the 22nd/23rd of October. Liam Downes, Andrew Hunt, Nick Kernick, Rupert Price, Piran Tedbury and James Wedlake travelled on the Friday night staying in hotels just outside of Boston.

Day 1 saw them take on the ergo for the 2000m test. Tensions were high and after weighing in 2 hours prior to the race the mood fell quiet as people prepared mentally for the test ahead. In the first group, Rupert Price (6:27.4), Piran Tedbury (6.30.5) and James Wedlake (6:32.0) went hard and set a benchmark for the others to follow. This placed them 21st, 31st and 39th respectively of over 70 entrants. In the following session Liam Downes (6:38.9) pulled a solid PB to finish 58th. Nick Kernick put forward a huge performance to clock the 5th best ergo and a PB of 6:17.8 really showing what he is capable of. Andrew Hunt pulled a 6:49.3, rounding off the scores and putting the focus onto the Scull the next day.

On Day 2 a strong headwind was blowing down the 5000m course at Boston. Nick Kernick went off 3rd in among some of the best talent in the country where he unfortunately crashed into the weeds with less than 1000m to go, upsetting his time quite badly. The other 5 scullers dealt with the wind the best they could and crossed the line in the following order:

Rupert Price - 23rd
Piran Tedbury - 36th
Andrew Hunt - 37th
James Wedlake - 41st
Liam Downes - 42nd
Nick Kernick - 57th

European University Championships 2010

Submitted by Rupert Price on 23 August, 2011 - 23:41

This weekend, Aug 21st, 22nd, an all CULRC crew raced in European Universities Championships in Amsterdam, The crew, Charlie Pitt-Ford, Chris Kerr, Al Chapelle and Matt Lawes, lined up against student crews from Poland, Holland, Germany and GB rivals Nottingham. They won the silver medal, finishing 1l behind Poland, in a time of 6.22 (which was inside the old event record).

BUCS 2011

Submitted by Rupert Price on 3 May, 2011 - 23:29

The Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club travelled to Nottingham over the long May bank holiday weekend to get a taste of multi-lane racing at the BUCS regatta. Windy conditions are not uncommon at the National Water Sports Centre and this weekend did not disappoint. A huge tailwind howled down the course on all 3 days of racing adding another dimension to the rowing!

Pages