De Montfort University Rowing Club

De Montfort University Rowing Club
Location	Leicester
Coordinates	52°37′30″N 1°08′37″W / 52.62489°N 1.143643°W / 52.62489; -1.143643 (De Montfort University Rowing Club)Coordinates: 52°37′30″N 1°08′37″W / 52.62489°N 1.143643°W / 52.62489; -1.143643 (De Montfort University Rowing Club)
Home water	River Soar
Founded	1992 (1992)
Membership	80 (approx)
Affiliations	De Montfort University British Rowing
Events
T-shirt Run (Nov) Varsity of Leicester (Mar) The DMURC Ball (Mar/Apr) The DMURC Old Blades Regatta (May)

De Montfort University Rowing Club (DMURC) is the rowing club of De Montfort University, Leicester, and is situated on the city canalised section of the River Soar, boating from the Leicester Rowing Club boathouse.^[1][2] The club was founded in 1992 when Leicester Polytechnic changed to De Montfort University during the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.^[3]

History

DMURC Club Photo 2003-04

Not much is known about the early years of DMURC but this is currently being collated by members of the newly formed Old Blades Club^[4] by tracing back through former members. Some oarsmen are still in contact with the current club from the 1999/2000 era and have given information about former club colours and committee members which can be seen below in this article.

DMURC has fluctuated in size through its years currently standing at about 80-90 members,^[5] in 2007 the club size was at about 25-30 members^[6] and has been growing ever since. Because of this increase in size the club has had to add new positions to its committee to help cope with the enlarged numbers. These include vice captains for the freshers captains positions in 2010 and a head of coxswains position in 2011. There have always been senior captains, fresher captains, social secretaries and head positions (president, secretary, treasurer and H&S officer) in the club.

The club has always had a close association with both Leicester Rowing Club and its University rival the University of Leicester Boat Club.^[7] A report from 1997 states that De Montfort University contributed £10,000 of partnership funding towards the building of Leicester Rowing Clubs boathouse,^[8] this gave the opportunity for the University to store 4 coxed fours and one coxed eight for their squads to use. There have been DMURC / Leicester RC composite boats in the past (Women's 8+, WEHORR, 1996)^[9] but these haven't materialised in recent years, although many of Leicester's members are ex-DMURC, migrating to the club after graduating.

In the future the club plans to continue to grow acquiring more support each year from DMU Athletics Union due to improving success and progression.^[10] The club is continuing to replace their fleet with newer boats as old ones get knocks or there is enough money raised to change one. At a recent BUCS Rowing conference DMURC was used as an example of how a club with only 5 boats is able to function with over 80 members (a lot of organisation).

Notable members of the club include past men's captain Rob Fox who is now club captain at Leicester Rowing Club,^[11] past president Jennifer Hawtin who was club captain at Barnes Bridge Ladies Rowing Club,^[12] past president Rupert Pye-Watson who is a Captain in the British Army^[13] and past men's captain James Bowie who is the manager at the Belmont Hotel, Leicester.^[14]

Competition

Senior Men's 8+ making their way to some heats at BUCS Regatta 2010

There are a few annual regattas that the rowing club has frequented over the last 10 years, these mainly include Monmouth Regatta,^[15] BUCS Regatta,^[16] Peterborough Regatta,^[17] Ironbridge Regatta^[18] and especially Shrewsbury Regatta^[19] where the freshers are formerly "welcomed" into the club. In past years the club has also been to GBR Regatta, Metropolitan Regatta and St Neots Regatta,^[20] as well as many others.

Shrewsbury Regatta - The club has competed at Shrewsbury Regatta for nearly 10 years and it's traditionally advertised as "the one not to miss". Over 30 members in that time have lost their novice status at Shrewsbury Regatta and DMURC have a close relationship with Pengwern Boat Club who organise the regatta.^[21] Freshers also become initiated on the Saturday night normally starting with a curry cooked by Pengwern at the boathouse then drinking into the night. It is tradition to win with a hangover on the Sunday.

Senior Women's 8+ after winning at Monmouth Regatta 2010

Monmouth Regatta - Most years DMURC make an appearance at Monmouth Regatta but as this is quite far away some times the club don't make it. Over the last few years the Women's squad seem to have performed particularly well at this regatta.

BUCS Regatta - DMURC competes at the British Universities Regatta every year, entering freshers and seniors. Notable performances over the last few years include a beginner women's coxed four (s-Taylor,3-Webb,2-Wallis,b-Mathers,c-Johnson) reaching the semi finals in 2012^[22] and an intermediate men's coxed four (s-Brunton,3-Andrews,2-Stephenson-Brown,b-Vinden,c-Gill) reaching the semi finals in 2009^[23] DMURC have also recently competed at BUCS indoor regional championships. In December 2012 there were 3 medallists with Johnson (Lwt Women) getting Gold, Tulley (Hwt Women) getting silver and Maude (Lwt Women) getting Bronze in their respective categories^[24]

Peterborough Regatta - Peterborough Regatta is another event that DMURC regularly attends. This is normally the last regatta that the whole club goes to and it is where the committee handover for the next year takes place.

Ironbridge Regatta - DMURC has participated at this regatta on and off for the last 8–9 years. This is the last regatta DMURC go to with a disco on the Saturday evening which is the real reason why they go.

Old Blades Club

DMURC Old Boys Ball 2010

The Old Blades Club has recently been started in November 2012 to accommodate any past member of the club and provide a platform to meet up at social and rowing events after University. A new website^[25] has been made to gather history and create a meeting point for club alumni.
Previous to this club there has been a collective of old boy's who have annually graced the holiday parks of Butlins and occasionally met up in Leicester and London.

A new event will be organised, starting in 2013, which will allow old boys to come back and race in an annual event – see Old Blades Regatta^[26] below.

Club Colours

DMURC All In Ones. A comparison of DMURC All In Ones from pre2002 to 2010+

DMURC has had many different styles of kit over the years, ranging from tech tops to all in ones. Not only have the garments themselves changed but also the colours. Post 2002 the colours have been consistently: main, Navy / secondary, Red & White; this deviates from the more common De Montfort University sports team colours of black and red.

The De Montfort University all in one evolution can be seen in the adjacent picture. Not much is known about the all in one design by current members of the club prior to this but old purple and white kit designs can be seen in some photographs of a Women's Eights Head of the River Race composite crew in the Leicester Rowing Club boathouse (as well as some personal photos from old boys).For about 3 years the all in one changed to an Adidas-like design where navy was the main colour and red and white features were used. This kit design can be clearly seen in any of the photos from the 2002 men's Head of the River Race crew.

DMURC blade history. A comparison of DMURC Blade colours from pre2002 to 2010+

In the new term of September 2005 a new kit was brought in, manufactured by the rowing sportswear company Godfrey.^[27] This gave the club a more accessible way of ordering kit as Godfrey provided a platform to buy lots of rowing specific items in quantity (which made them cheaper). The new design was based on a stock pattern that Godfrey had created;^[28] it kept the main colour as navy but had the red and white in alternate squares running down the side. In 2009 the club logo was added on the left breast in white with an option of adding your name on the right. Finally in 2010 the club logo was changed to the centre of the chest with no name.

The DMURC blade colours closely follow the all in one design through the years it has progressed. Prior to 2002 the club blades have been seen in photo’s at Holme Pierrepont in a solid purple colour, the same as the first all in one. It is presumed that the change from purple and white to navy, red and white was made because there were a few other clubs with the same colours including Durham University Boat Club, University of London Boat Club and Reading University Boat Club. The club then changed the blade colours to navy with a red tip. As the students were painting the blades themselves this was a practical design as the colours were easy to get hold of and the design could be replicated without difficulty. The club raced with these blades until late 2009 when Louis Watson, Phil Reilly and Joe Brunton decided to re-paint the main set of oars (they were becoming gradually more scratched) but changed the red tip to red and white squares to match the all in one design, these are the blade colours the club races with today.

There has been other kit such as splash jackets, these originally were completely navy with a white club logo on the front and the words “LEICESTER” in white on the back. This changed in 2007 to a red and navy design with a white club logo on the front and the words “DMURC” on the back. In 2010 there were completely red Soft shell jackets bought with the words “DMU ROWING” written on the back with a white club logo on the front, although these were only for that year.
There have also been numerous tech tops, but these change almost every year.

Past Presidents

see also: list of past DMURC committee members

References

External links

• DMURC Student Union page
• DMURC British Rowing profile
• DMURC Rowing Journal profile
• DMURC on twitter