Perfectly-positioned on the Racecourse section of the Wear in Durham, Hild Bede Boat Club (HBBC) is home to four squads whose members are exclusively comprised of students at the Durham College of St Hild and St Bede. Writing this, sat in the library late into a Sunday night after finally completing my end-of-term modules, I can reflect on the four times I managed to get crews on the water in the past three months and think ‘it can only be a better second term.’
College rowing life, in comparison to the university squad you all know from Henley finals, is more about jumping in a boat and everyone having a good time away from studies rather than pulling a sub-18-minute 5k (no seriously – only one person in the men’s 1st 8+ last year went sub-18). The senior squads train around six times a week, mostly on the water, with some social events thrown in along the way too.
HBBC is very lucky to boast a Hudson SP 8+ aka Lady Penelope, which since its restoration over last Christmas (let’s not get into that story) has led us to gaining and maintaining the crown of the fastest college rowing squad in Durham. The way training works for freshers/novices is unique in Durham. There are designated ‘novice hours’ on Wednesday afternoons where no other boats are allowed on the water, including the non-student clubs mentioned in the quiz of this episode of our podcast The End of the Island. Seniors all pass on the torch and coach their own novice crew, and some end up racing alongside each other the next year!
So what is there to say about the training programmes?
The great thing about college-level rowing is that we by no means have the funds to hire a coach, so the captains have complete freedom over what the training looks like. Usually, it is the case of a former school rower to become captain and create a programme, whether that be for the novices or the seniors. Notable HBBC captains from the not-too-distant past include a member of the Princess Elizabeth-winning 2016 Eton crew and a member of ‘that’ Winchester crew from a few year’s ago. And then there’s me, carving a path for the senior men in this season that we all have clearly come to love. What started off in September for us as circuits in a field, runs and leapfrogging up the landing stage steps for a month did eventually progress into two weeks inside the boathouse, only for another lockdown to plunge us all back into home training.
Do we race at the big events?
By the big events, if you mean Hexham Regatta, then of course! Luckily BUCS Head is usually held on the Tyne, and Durham clubs all share trailer spaces to make sure as many eights in the city as possible can race in Newcastle. When it comes to the summer, Hild Bede prefers to stay local rather than make the trip south for Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas. That’s where the social aspect of university life pulls rank, and most members are more inclined to enjoy all that the College day and the Summer Ball have to offer, without the worry of a weekend of likely fruitless 2k racing in the back of their mind.
The Durham college rowing scene is one that is relatively niche compared to what people are familiar with when it comes to school and university programmes, which are entirely independent of each other. The same goes for college boat clubs to a certain extent, but there is a great deal of communication between other college clubs. The Durham College Rowing (DCR) committee are always there to add on additional random regulations, such as no free weights in boathouses. But hey, at least they throw a wicked inter-collegiate ball in February.
Want to find out more about HBBC? Check out their website
Interesting in applying to Durham? Contact them here
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Piece by Will Tyrrell, Commissioning Editor and Senior Men’s Captain of HBBC
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