Captains' Welcome
Hannah Lavery & Damian Hannon, Queen's Rowing Ladies's and Men's captains 2011-12
We’d like to extend a warm welcome to new and returning members in 2011. The last season saw the Queen’s clubs achieving further successes, placing us at the forefront of Irish and British university rowing. This is thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of athletes, and also the club’s dedicated coaching team.
At the 2011 IARU Rowing Championships at Inniscara Lake, Cork, the Queen's boat clubs recorded 4 victory pots, with 7 second places. The men’s senior pair was the first Queen's crew since 1979 to win a men's senior sweep event at the Irish Champs. The men's intermediate VIII won the Intermediate title, last won by Queen's in 2009. The men's intermediate pair and the women's intermediate VIII were also victorious.
Queen’s University is an exceptional location for rowing. The river Lagan is right on our doorstep which provides a 4km stretch of relatively sheltered water. In addition we have a world class Physical Education Centre on campus with cutting edge land training equipment.
As well as being highly competitive, well resourced with coaches and professional testing facilities, the boat club has a strong social aspect to it. We believe the student experience should be about achieving your full potential academically and in sport whilst making life long friends.
As Captains for the year ahead, we aim to build on the successes of the past year and look forward to the challenge of taking our club to the next level and making success at Queen’s consistent.
It's an exciting time for Queen's Rowing and we hope that you will be a part of it!
Regards,
Hannah Lavery & Damian Hannon
Row at Queen's
- Represent your university
- Get incredibly fit
- Become highly motivated
- Compete at prestigious events
- Meet lifelong friends
- Have fun doing it
Collegiate Rowing
Rowing is a sport like no other, encompassing power, endurance, rhythm, technique and mental toughness. Getting the correct combination of these is incredibly difficult and almost never comes naturally meaning rowing requires commitment and dedication. Collegiate rowing is the most exciting and adrenaline fuelled sport, allowing rowers to compete against colleges with the exact same level of experience. Not many sports at college present this scenario. This is due to the privilege of rowing not being offered to many prior to college – so why not climb aboard as you will be guaranteed the best sporting years of your life!
Richard Archibald - Irish International (Lightweight Men's 4-)
Rowing at Queens
At Queen's we pride ourselves in providing the ultimate college rowing experience. Whether you are new to the sport or a continuing school or club rower, Queen's caters to convert you into a top class college athlete. Many of our members, past and present, started out as rank novices and have since gone on to win at National and International events. Rowing at Queen's will provide you with one of the best environments to combine studying and sports. All our training facilities are close to one another meaning that walking from class to training takes a matter of minutes. Queen's provides the best sporting facilities out of any university in Ireland, with the recent £10 million pound investment in the Physical Education Centre (PEC). Being a member of Queen's provides you with the opportunity to undertake a top-class training programme, whilst receiving free physiological testing to assess your progress throughout the season.
Training
Early September of each year sees the recruitment of the fresher rowers. This is a great opportunity to meet friends when starting out university, particularly ones with similar interests.
During winter, training composes of weights, body-weight circuits and both aerobic land and water training. This involves long period-low intensity training sessions, conditioning your body for the long distance races which occur throughout the Head Season. Early April sees the onset of the Regatta Season when races are held over a distance of 2000m. Training is altered to introduce short high intensity sessions to get your body prepared for the awesome feat of a 2km race.
Competitions
The club competes regularly throughout the season in Ireland, England and on occasion other European countries. The main focus being Henley Royal Regatta, Irish National Championships and the University Championships. This offers you the chance to compete against other universities in Ireland, Great Britain, Europe and from across the Atlantic. The Boat Club also has the annual intervarsity Boat Race between Queen's University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin.
Lomac Tiles University Boat Race 2006
Social
Becoming a member of Queen's provides you with a unique opportunity to experience a more enriched social life. The level of teamwork involved in rowing forges lifetime friendships, such that your team-mates become an extended family. This is desirable at university as it helps you develop a great network of ‘true’ friends whilst away from home. The boat club also hosts a range of social events throughout the year, including the annual Men’s Dinner, Ladies' Dinner and the Boat Club Ball – all these events are not to be missed!
All things considered, if you enjoy sports and a bit of craic then Queen's is your second home!
Academy/Scholarships
Key features of the
Queen's University Belfast Rowing Academy are:
- Rowing Scholarships for FISA Junior, Senior B and Senior A Standard rowers and rowers the Academy considers to have the potential to reach these standards
- A full time, high quality, Professional Coach
- World Class Sports Science facilities including dedicated Sports Science personnel from Queen's Sport
The Queen's Rowing Academy is funded jointly by Queen's University Sport and The Lady Victoria Boat Club.
Lady Victoria is the Graduate Club for past members of the University’s Men's and Ladies' Boat Club and its purpose is to promote the long term development of rowing at Queen's University Belfast.
