Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) made a strong start to their 2016/17 racing season last weekend, breaking records as well as claiming three medals and the university pennant at the British Rowing Senior Championships at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham.

Throughout the two-day regatta – which featured, among the 1,000 plus competitors from 100 clubs, an Olympic medallist and a number of potential Tokyo 2020 athletes as well as medal presentation by world-renowned Paralympian legend Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson – all six of the crews representing CUWBC looked in fine form, suggesting early promise for the rest of the upcoming season. Indeed, alongside many of the experienced rowers competing, debutants from the new influx of freshers, new graduate students and the CUWBC Development Squad were racing for the Light Blues for the first time.

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Coxless Fours: Saturday

For CUWBC, who raced in the traditional Cambridge light blue, the regatta began on Saturday morning with the coxless four time-trials, in which CUWBC had three crews racing. And it was a successful morning for the Light Blue girls: completing the 1,900-metre time trial in 06:34.3, the A Boat were nearly eight seconds quicker than their nearest rival, the University of London, while the B Boat took third place, only four-tenths of a second behind the team from the capital. Meanwhile, the C Boat capped off a fine morning for CUWBC with their eighth-place finish, crossing the line in a time of 06:55.6.

As the wind picked up in the afternoon, the semi-finals began with CUWBC's A Boat and C Boat facing off in the first six-boat race. While the A Boat progressed to the final with a dominant performance, outstripping all their rivals and beating the second-placed crew from the University of Edinburgh by nearly nine seconds, the C Boat was beaten to the line by Newcastle University and finished in an agonising fourth place, missing out on the final. 

Meanwhile, in the second semi-final, the B Boat faced off against the University of London crew that had pipped them to second place in the time-trials. Again, it was a tight contest which saw the Londoners prevail by only two seconds, and both sides safely through to the final later in the day.

And it was a final which capped off a fine day of rowing for CUWBC. While the C Boat topped their 'B Final' to claim 7th place overall, the A Boat continued their domination of the event, claiming the gold medal with a time of 06:55:65 and with an almost four-second winning margin. The B Boat also finished on the podium with the bronze medal, less than two seconds off the silver medallists from their day-long University of London rivals. 

It was a victory to savour for A Boat of Myriam Goudet, Alice White, Lucy Pike and Melissa Wilson. As three-times Blue Wilson, a double World U23 medallist and law student at Lucy Cavendish college, told British Rowing's website: “It was a wonderful day. We’ve got a really exciting group of girls at Cambridge this year and it’s been a really enjoyable start to the season.”

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Eights: Sunday

Sunday morning also saw three CUWBC crews in action in their time-trials and yet more Light Blue success as all three boats finished in the top 12 to reach the semi-finals. Claiming second place with a time of 06:12.8, the A Boat were exactly one second behind the leaders from the Leander Club while the B Boat and C Boat finished in 8th and 11th place respectively. 

The B Boat were first up in the semi-finals, racing against the time-trial winners Leander, and, despite the B Boat smashing the CUWBC's own 2013 record time for a University crew at the British Championship by 41 seconds, they were to be denied a spot in the final by a mere second. 

The second semi-final gave CUWBC more to celebrate. Though the C Boat finished in 5th with a time of 06:50.83, 16 seconds off third place, the Light Blues' A Boat finished in first place with a time of 06:33.03, shaving three seconds off the record just set by the B Boat minutes earlier.

And with the sun beating down on the water, the A Boat went even faster: knocking another three seconds off the record to finish in second place, half a length behind the Leander Club crew – which included in their ranks Team GB's Olympic silver medallist from Rio, Karen Bennett, as well as two World Champions in the women’s four. Their time of 06:30.40 capped off a fine weekend's rowing for CUWBC, earning another spot on the podium and adding extra gloss to the weekend by allowing the A Boat to retain the university pennant that they had won in 2015, which is awarded to the fastest university women’s eight.

CUWBC Coxless Fours A Boat: Goudet, White, Pike, Wilson

CUWBC Coxless Fours B Boat: Grant, Farr, Smith, Cousins

CUWBC Coxless Fours C Boat: Abbott, Casley, Nagy, Edwards

CUWBC Eights A Boat: Goudet, Wilson, Pike, Cousins, Grant, Farr, Smith, White, Holland (cox)

CUWBC Eights B Boat: Zabell, Wulff, Lloyd-Palmer, Brown, Elwood, van Fossen, Andrew, Presten, Schofield (cox)

CUWBC Eights C Boat: Hopgood, Edwards, Thompson, Abbott, Jamrog, Casley, Nagy, McLuskie, Lindsay (cox)