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The story behind Bristol University Boat Club’s record entry to Henley Royal Regatta

We caught up with Senior Coach Freddie Bryce in the boat tents at HRR to talk about Qualifiers, their week of racing so far and what’s next for this exciting club

It’s safe to say that Bristol University BC have had a Henley (and a season) to remember. Here’s the story so far.

Qualifiers

Bristol’s Henley campaign started in earnest the Wednesday before Qualifiers. “We did qualifiers a little bit differently to what we normally do.” said their new (since February) Senior Coach Freddie Bryce.

“We came down early – we brought all the boats down, every single crew, whether they had to qualify or not. So everyone was training together.”

Bristol had two boats in the Island Challenge Cup (Student Women’s Eights) required to qualify, and a second boat for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup (Student Open Fours) made up of novices and third years. Their Men’s Eight had already pre-qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup, along with their first Four.

“We tried to make it as much of a ‘one club thing’ as we could.”

 

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Qualifying their A boat for the Island was “a relief. Last year they also qualified – this year we wanted to make a statement and say ‘that wasn’t a one-off. We’re here to stay’”.

Both B boats finished in the top six fastest non-qualifiers, but the squad weren’t perturbed. “They really wanted it, but considering where we were six months ago, it’s incredible to be that close. They’re desperate to have two crews in the Island next year. The girls want to qualify more boats than the men! They all want to go ‘we are the squad to watch’”.

Henley Royal Regatta (so far)

With three boats racing at Henley Royal Regatta, Bristol are marking themselves on the university scene. On Tuesday, when the boating area is normally at its quietest, roaring squad members clapped out all three crews as they took to the water.

The Prince Albert boat faced down unknown competition in the University of Michigan and won by 3 lengths. “We’d seen them training – we knew they were pretty large guys. I thought – we’re big too. We just need to row better.”

The Temple crew faced Sheffield and won by 1 ¾ length. “I’d done some research on the club – what they’re doing at the moment is incredible. They have two rowers from the boat currently coaching and they crowdfunded to get here – we gave them the respect they deserved for putting a real shift in to be here. They gave us a really good fight. We luckily just managed to get up and ahead and controlled things from there.”

The Island were facing huge competition in another US crew, this time the powerhouse of rowing that is MIT. “The plan was to go out, step on the length off the end of the Island. Watching the live stream for me was like – Oh god. They’re up! They’re doing it. They’re in control.” They won by 1 ½ length.

On Wednesday the Temple crew were knocked out by Delftsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Laga from the Netherlands and the Island crew faced down Princeton, losing out on the win by just ⅓ length. But Freddie was smiling, almost in tears, recounting the athletes’ reactions to their results.

 

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“From the outside looking in, it was potentially a disappointing day, two boats getting knocked out, but wow, the athletes are so happy. They raced how they wanted to, Princeton are just an incredible unit. To be able to have, what I thought was the race of the day…”

The Dutch crew had knocked out the Bristol Temple boat the year before. “Last year they were paddling, winding down over the line. This year we pushed them all the way.”

What’s next for the club?

The Prince Albert crew won on Wednesday against Olso and will be facing down ULBC tomorrow (Saturday). “Fair play to those coaches, those athletes at UL, ’cause that Four looks really good. We’re just gonna have to dig deep, find some more speed, and hope for the best.”

Bristol’s current squad is young, with only two women in their first eight graduating at the end of this season and one leaver from the Temple crew. “They’re already ready to step it on next year.

“They have bought in massively to like this programme. It’s amazing. And they’re already trying to think – what can we change? What could we do differently? How are we gonna step it on?”

Bristol are also keen to build on their relationship with the South West GB Performance Development Academy, who operate out of Bristol and Bath University BC. “The coaches there are so incredible at what they do.”

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Bristol have also been fortunate enough to be able to invest financially in tools to help them raise their game.

“We’ve also got really lucky with some alumni donations. We have two top eights on both sides now and two sets of telemetry for each squad. And we’ve pumped money into the coxing equipment. We’ve doubled down on effort – it’s going to be a good year next year.”

It’s been a turbulent couple of years at Bristol leading up to this.  “They’ve had so many coaches coming in and out the last couple of years. I think this year is really the start of the next five years. It’s a turning point.”

Freddie plans to put down roots at the club. “I joined in February. Ed, our head coach, is amazing. We talked honestly when I started and we’re on the exact same page. I’m looking to stay to lock into the squad because they’ve shown they want to do it.”