By Kerri Stevenson
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s novice rowing teams celebrated at today’s varsity event after winning tense races against the University of Leicester (UoL).
First to race was the women’s novice team, who rowed to a clear victory during the exciting scenes on the river Soar as students and staff from both universities watched intently, cheering to show their support.
Alma Boitelle, 20, a second year drama student on the team, said: “To be honest, the fact we won still hasn’t sunk in yet, I can’t believe it.
“Although I really wasn’t expecting this to happen, it is a huge confidence boost for the team and the whole varsity experience has been so enjoyable for all of us competing this year.”
Also rowing for the women’s team was Lily Muskett, 18, a first year Pharmacy student, who said: “I am so happy that we won because we worked so hard and it clearly paid off.
“I felt fairly confident going into the race and I really hoped that we would win. I can’t wait to compete in varsity again next year.”
Despite DMU securing another win for the men’s novice team, their victory was bittersweet as their success came after UoL’s boat capsized just 150 metres into the race, leaving them unable to continue.
Michael Hughes, DMU’s rowing coach, said of this: “I did not expect for the team to win this way, with UoL’s boat capsizing so soon into the race. My heart was in my mouth.
“If I’m being honest this was far from an ideal way to win the race, and although we were all happy to have won another varsity point, we were genuinely concerned for our rival team after what happened.
“On the plus side, both teams did get off to a fantastic start and I feel very happy that we won as I really wasn’t expecting it due to the fact that we had no other public races this year, and were unable to assess our average speed.”
Several other varsity events took place throughout the day, ending with Men’s rugby, where DMU unfortunately lost despite their valiant efforts against UoL.
