Novices
Novice rowing is at the heart of SUBC, the nurturing of new talent has always formed the basis of Southampton crews. This ethos has ensured that the club has never had to rely solely on an intake of experienced rowers. Many oarsmen and women who have started their careers at the University have gone onto compete on the international stage (please see Alumni success stories).
Each year sees an intake of at least four VIIIs worth of novices. The novice captains are extremely dedicated, and spend many hours helping them reach their potential. Their main aims are success at the VIII Head of the River Races and BUSA regatta. Our commitment to novice rowing was made clear in 2008 when a Men's Novice VIII won both BUSA Gold and Silver medals.
Novice Men
In recent years the Novice Men's squad has gone from strength to strength, with both larger squad numbers and improved results. This is shown by last year's top men's crew reaching Henley, the most prestigious regatta of our season, with a boat containing three previous novice rowers at Southampton.
During the season, the novices will be taught technique both on the water and on rowing machines and gain a good level of fitness, which will hopefully lead to strong results in all the races we enter this season.
I fully believe that, with time spend on the water and some dedication on the rowing machines; this could be one of the strongest Novice Men's squads we've had in years.
Novice Women
As Vice-Captain of the women’s squad I want to assist Phoebe in running and developing the women’s squad over the next year in every way I can. I am confident that the squad will get a high intake of oarswomen. I want to do my best to help develop the whole squad as well as bringing on the Novice rowers to the high standard of rowing that we have seen in this year’s squad, including training with the seniors to encourage integration between the two squads. My aims for the squad are for success at Women’s Head of the River and BUCS head in particular, improving on the times from previous years, and similarly at regattas. Alongside the hard work and training, of course we all need a bit of time to socialize and have fun. The SUBC socials are a great chance to do this and to get to know the members of the club away from the gym and not wearing lycra!