News

Students add Rowing to Rugby and Cricket titles

(4 May 2004)

Durham has secured a unique 'triple crown' in university sporting history by winning the BUSA Rowing Championship, to add to last week's sensational Rugby Union title and the Cricket honours they currently hold.

An immense amount of stamina and teamwork by the 105 crew-members saw Durham battle their way to get no fewer than 36 crews through to 30 finals and pull off a bravura third-place finish in the very last Championship Eight to secure the winning handful of points needed to unseat Nottingham University, the champions for the past seven years.

It means Durham brings home the Eric Halladay Trophy, which the University presented to BUSA last year in memory of the man who was the University coach for 32 years and a towering influence on the development of Durham rowing.

The 2004 performance on the national rowing course at Nottingham reflects the depth of strength of rowing at Durham, with a combination of university and college crews flooding the Eights, Fours, Pairs and Sculling events, clocking up the points and securing 16 medals.

The gruelling schedule meant some outstanding individual feats by rowers taking part in different events with some rowing the 2000metre course up to seven times in one day.

Director of Sport Dr Peter Warburton said: "This really is a superb combination of success in three leading sports, Rowing, Rugby and Cricket, which I really doubt that any other university could ever match. Our athletes have been magnificent."

Durham holds the Cricket title for a few more weeks, but with some fixtures already rained off, it is too soon to predict whether they can hold on to it.