BUCS Nationals day 1
Day 1 of the BUCS nationals was a roaring success. Over 100 athletes from Bath made the journey to Sheffield to compete in the biggest domestic sport competition for British Universities, and thus far Bath have excelled themselves in almost everything we’ve been entered.
We arrived at the Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre in time to watch Will Germany take the win in his epée qualifying roundin the Fencing. All three Bath University competitors latermade it through to the knockout rounds, and all finished in the top 16 and with Xavier Pellet making the top 8!
Over at the English Institute of Sport, athletics were well underway and we were greeted by an ecstatic Jordan Harry following his successful triple jump qualifying:
“last year I finished 11th in the UK for my age group, so came here today with high expectations some of the big names from last year aren’t here because they’ve graduated, so it works great in my favour. My longest jump was 13.99m, so 1cm off that 14m barrier. My PB is 14.60m. I’m really excited, for the team its early days. Not many of our athletes have competed just yet, so I’m here supporting as well and it should be great fun”
Jordan will be competing in the final on Sunday afternoon, so keep an eye out for live updates on Facebook/twitter!
More success stories from Athletics included Rachel Bell achieving yet another PB (beating the one she set the previous weekend at the British Champs) and qualified first in her 60m race. Looking forward to seeing her in the relays later in the weekend
Over in the Badminton hall Stephanie Pinharry won both of her games to soar through the first round, Coach Pete Bush commented:
“it was a bit of an unusual game, she lost the first (set) but then she turned it around and is now through to the third round of qualifying, so an excellent result.”
She later made it all the way through qualifying to the main draw, taking place on Saturday.
Bath’s Badminton also competed in the mixed doubles late on Friday evening, where they too qualified for the main draw.
From 6pm Ponds Forge was buzzing with excitement as the swimming got underway with Bath in action in four different races. Both the men’s and women’s 100m Freestyle Relay had excellent races qualifying for Saturday’s finals. A notable mention also goes to Tom Derbyshire who came away with a bronze medal in the 1500m Freestyle and William Ryley who came fourth in the same race grabbing some BUCS points for Bath
There’s a lot coming up over the next two days, with Bath competing in the Athletics, Badminton, Climbing, Fencing, Judo, Karate, Swimming and Trampoline.
