Another BUCS Nationals is in the books, featuring many spectacular moments to look back on.
14 records were claimed at just two of our BUCS Nationals sports, athletics and swimming, with four on the track at EIS and 10 in the pool at Ponds Forge.
All four of the track records were set by women, three for Loughborough University and one for AECC University College. Abi Pawlett, Alex Millard and Emily Newnham stopped the clock in record time in their respective disciplines, 60m Hurdles, 3000m and 400m. Millard’sname is now next to the 3000m record, taking the title from Lisa Dobriskey, a former Loughborough athlete herself, who had held the accolade since 2005.
In the 200m it was AECC’s Brooke Ironside who completed one lap of the track in a devastatingly fast time of 23.37 seconds to take gold and the record.
Staying with track and field, The African Violet domination meant they were awarded with both the Men’s and Women’s Overall titles, ahead of University of Birmingham and Brunel University.
This theme continued over at Ponds Forge as Loughborough University also won the Open and Female Overall Team trophies, as well as the Open and Female Top Performance awards, thanks to strong swims from Daniel Wiffen and Tatiana Belonogoff. The Top Female Para Performance athlete was awarded to University of Aberdeen’s Faye Rogers.
Both Wiffen (800m Freestyle and 1500m Freestyle) and Belonogoff (50m Breaststroke) broke BUCS record, along with teammates, Fleur Lewis (1500m Freestyle) and Conor Ferguson (50m Backstroke). Other record breakers include, Swansea University’s Lewis Fraser (100m Butterfly), University of Stirling’s Keanna MacInnes, 50m Butterfly, Scottish record) and University of Birmingham’s Oliver Morgan (100m and 200m Backstroke).
In the same building, but in much cooler climates, the Karate Championships returned to BUCS Nationals for the first time since 2020. After many incredible finals in both the Kata and Kumite, the University of Nottingham took most of the titles back with them to the Midlands, capping off a successful weekend with celebratory team dance.
Saturday saw the one-day Climbing Championships take place at Climbing Works, providing thrills late into the evening. Defending champion Joe Xiberras from University of Leeds claimed men’s gold once again ahead of University of Sheffield pair Robert Cook and Kris Kothari. In the women’s conpetition,Louise Flockhart of Newcastle University took home the title ahead Flo Brailsford (University of Sheffield) and Tesla Mitchell (University of Stirling).
Strong performances from the University of Sheffield climbers saw them pick up the men’s and women’s team accolades.
The magnificent Canon Medical Arena, BUCS Nationals’ newest venue, played host to the Fencing Championships. 2024 Champions include Oxford University’s Anneke Zegers, Women’s Sabre gold medallist, Jekaterina Solodkiha who claimed the Women’s Foil title for the second time in three years for Coventry University, and St Andrew’s Anderson Bull who won gold in the Men’s Sabre category.
The show courts crowd were treated to epic performances on Sunday as five golds were given out at our final sport of BUCS Nationals, badminton. Rachel Sugden (University of Strathclyde and Alvaro Vazquez (Loughborough University) won the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively. Also in African Violet, Alex Green and Sai Vishnu Pullela took home the men’s doubles title before University of Derby’s pairings of Kiara Henry and Sophie Watson and Magda Lozniceriu and Jonty Russ did the same in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions.
Photos from BUCS Nationals are available on our Flickr with more to be added over the coming day.
Our next major event of the season is BUCS Big Wednesday, the culmination of our Championship, Trophy and Vase Finals, taking place at Loughborough University on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 March.
Tickets will go on sale next week at BUCS.org.uk/tickets.
