Eight members of the Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club’s (CUWBC) squad staked their claim for a shot at international rowing last weekend, as they put in a set of superb performances enjoyed at the first Under-23 and Senior GB Rowing Team Assessment of the season.

Taking place in Boston in Lincolnshire, the trials represented the first step for the selection of the Team GB saw for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, as well as offering the first opportunity for the Light Blues to try and earn their places in crews rowing in the World Senior & Under-23 Rowing Championships in 2017. 

And it was a gruelling examination of the CUWBC rowers’ fitness and form, as they were subjected to two assessments: a 2,000-metre row on an ergometer (an indoor rowing machine) on Saturday and a 5,000-metre time trial on the water on Sunday. But the Light Blues more than rose to the challenge, with all eight rowers finishing within the top 10 of their events. 

In the lightweight single sculls trial, Trinity’s Imogen Grant – who learned to row at Cambridge and progressed through the CUWBC Development Squad – made a fine debut at her first ever set of GB Rowing Team Trials, recording a personal best time on the erg to secure her sixth place on Saturday. Grant continued to impress on Sunday too with a terrific row on the water seeing her finish in sixth place overall, leaving her as the fastest under-23 level sculler at the trials, and ahead of a number of junior under-23 international rivals.

Meanwhile, in the openweight single sculls trial, a trio of CUWBC rowers also enjoyed success. Lucy Cavendish’s Melissa Wilson, who had already raced for Team GB at the 2014 and 2015 World Rowing Under-23 Championships, showed her international class on the Saturday by finishing second out of the field of 89 on the erg. And Wilson would consolidate her position on Sunday too, gaining eight places in the time-trial to secure a fourth-place finish. Meanwhile, a fine performance from Downing’s Holly Hill saw her take an overall seventh place.

A boatload of success for CUWBC at the British Championships

Meanwhile, the Light Blues’ final single sculler, Alice White, achieved a very promising 10th place in the time trial. The Homertonian, who had raced for Team GB at the 2015 World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Plovdiv, was nonetheless making her debut at the Boston trials having only recently begun rowing in a single scull. Thus, her superb tenth-place finish, ahead of several very experienced scullers, capped off an excellent weekend's performance for the Light Blues’ single scullers.

The Light Blues also entered two coxless crews in the pairs event, with the arduous weekend's effort representing for all four of the rowers their first taste of the trials. In an illustration of the ability of CUWBC to develop talent, three of the four rowers had all learned to row at Cambridge and had been nurtured through the CUWBC Development Squad. 

And CUWBC's pairs got off to a fantastic start at Saturday’s erg assessments: Trinity Hall’s Lucy Pike set a new personal best and then joined her partner Rachel Elwood – in her third year with the Light Blues after having first rowed at Broxbourne Rowing Club – to finish as the fastest pair at the trials and a massive seven seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, the University of Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, their fellow Light Blues – Oonagh Cousins and Thea Zabell – were following suit: both also set solid personal bests on the Saturday erg to finish sixth and seventh place respectively and then combined 24 hours later to secure fourth place on the water.

There was thus much to celebrate for CUWBC, with the individual results having greater ramifications than just deciding if any of the Light Blues have the honour of representing Team GB in the future. Indeed, the results from the weekend’s trials also count towards a ranking for British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) points and medals and – while the BUCS results were not available at the time of publication – early indicators show that the sublime CUWBC performance earned the club several medals and BUCS points.

In fact, after having just announced their squad on their website for the 2016/2017 season, the superb performances at trials added gloss to a fine few weeks for CUWBC: as Varsity reported, the Light Blues put in a set of dominant displays at the British Senior Rowing Championships in Nottingham last month to break records and secure three medals and the university pennant. 

CUWBC GB triallists: Grant, White, Hill, Wilson, Pike, Elwood, Cousins, Zabell