An especially strong men’s performance on the Soar yesterday afternoon saw ذكذكتسئµ take home the points, and the bragging rights, in the rowing.
Varsity kicked off in style yesterday with a number of fixtures, including cricket, cross country, climbing and futsal, but it was down on the river Soar where ذكذكتسئµ tasted their first success of 2026.
Crowds gathered at the finishing line, brandishing placards for their team and with chants that were heard blocks away.
In all there were 22 races, in beginner and experienced, women’s, men’s and open categories, beginning at Newarke Road Bridge and concluding at ذكذكتسئµ’s dedicated sports and rowing facility, The Watershed.
Rowing was one of the original Varsity fixtures, with the first Oxford-Cambridge boat race taking place in 1829, and has been part of Leicester Varsity since its beginning in 2000. Especially sweet, then, that ذكذكتسئµ were able to take the points in this prestigious fixture.
In the men’s / open categories ذكذكتسئµ emerged victorious in the Single Scull, Fours, Lightweight Double Scull, Pair, Lightweight Single Scull and Double Scull. Our women also won the Beginner’s Double Scull, with the final points tally 10:2 in the men’s races and 4:6 in the women’s.
We caught up with Noah (cox), Alex, Nayan, Dylan and Dylan after their victory in the coxed fours, who had this to say about their performance:
“We had a really rough start in that race, but we managed to pull it together, got the timing together, and then once you're all moving together, there's no feeling like it. And then when you've got Noah in the cox seat, egging us on – champion!”
“It's nice to put all the training into a race and win them as well. Spirits are definitely up after that race.”
Dani Charles, ذكذكتسئµ Rowing Coach, was very proud of her team’s performance and was glowing about the opportunities students have to try rowing while they’re at uni:
“ذكذكتسئµ Rowing has some of the best facilities that I've seen and coached at, and more available than many other universities. It’s a great resource and it would be really good if more students could come down and try it. It’s quite an unusual sport, often seen as elitist, but at ذكذكتسئµ literally anyone can experience it. You don't have to join, just come and have a go!”
Varsity fixtures carry on into their second evening with by DemonFM. Check out all fixtures and venues on our website, and get down this week to support your uni.
Posted on Thursday 19 March 2026