Late into the evening at BUCS Regatta, as the last of the minor finals play out at the mostly deserted National Water Sports Centre, you can rely on the chants of “blue star” to fill the void. Famed for their notorious training sessions – including 14 x 1500 metres on the erg and 10 x 3000 metres on the water – grit and camaraderie are the watchwords of NUBC.
Situated on the River Tyne, ten kilometres from Newcastle’s city centre, NUBC is fortunate to have an almost unlimited stretch of water at their disposal. Boat bays stocked with a fleet of Hudsons are practically emptied most mornings as the large squads, each comprising around 40 athletes, take to the water. All are welcome at Newcastle; there is no erg score cutoff. If you complete the training, you get to race.
Gruelling pieces and early mornings forge close bonds between teammates which endure long beyond graduation. With a number of alumni refusing to leave the city behind, crews from Tyne Amateur Rowing Club, just across the river, are often populated with ex-NUBC athletes, and the two clubs are often seen blasting up and down the Newburn Straight against each other. The official alumni club, The Blue Star Club, forms crews for competitions such as the Head Of The Charles Regatta and Henley Town & Visitors’ Regatta, in addition to providing greatly appreciated financial support to NUBC.
Athletes at Newcastle are fortunate to have two full-time coaches and a number of volunteers at their disposal. Angelo Savarino, the head coach and mastermind behind the programme, joined the club in 2005 following a successful stint coaching the Italian national rowing team. A decade later, former athlete Alex Leigh returned to the club as senior women’s coach and boatman. Since 2005, NUBC has won the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta three times alongside countless championship medals at BUCS Regatta. In 2024, the centenary of women joining the club, the women’s first eight became the first entirely NUBC eight and first women’s crew to reach the final of Henley Royal Regatta.
Six of the 42 rowers selected to represent Great Britain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games spent their university days at Newcastle. James Rudkin, Tom Ford, and Lola Anderson won gold in the men’s eight and women’s quad, while Emily Ford won bronze in the women’s eight. James Robson and Will Stewart supported the team as reserves, winning the spare pairs race. At the U23 level, NUBC have sent countless athletes to the European and World Championships. The current women’s captain, Holly Youd, recently became World Champion in the coxless pair on her international debut.
Still heavily involved with the club, many of these athletes devote time to giving back to their alma mater. Despite being based in the South, James Robson and Lola Anderson have inspired and mentored the squads with talks over Zoom about training mentality and women in sport. Since the Olympics, James Rudkin has made several visits to the club to train with and coach the current crop. He explains, “I’ve really enjoyed coming back and helping out with the squad over the last couple of weeks. My time at Newcastle was amongst my formative years, and it felt great to share those experiences with a younger generation. Coaching is as close as I can get nowadays to getting back in the boat, but I can really still feel connected to the sport without picking up an oar.”
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