The University of Portsmouth is entering its fourth year in its partnership with Itchen Imperial Rowing Club, joining varsity rivals Southampton University along the tidal River Itchen. The River Itchen boasts a 6km stretch, and tidal conditions make both river and coastal rowing available. It has wide areas suitable for side-by-side training and racing but also features narrower sections that shelter from the wind.
UPRC uses Itchen’s large and ever-growing fleet of river and coastal boats, and has just started growing its own fleet, starting with a new 4x/- arriving in time for the new season.
The club offers two main membership options: a “train” membership, offering members the opportunity to improve their fitness during land training sessions hosted by the student coaches and committee; and “compete” membership offering the potential for four to five water sessions per week, access to the erg room in St Paul’s Sports Hall, and both fitness & cycling studio in Ravelin Sports Centre. The “compete” membership is split into novice and senior sections to allow for both the volunteer and student coaches to adapt training sessions to the needs of beginners and experienced rowers. The club focuses on the development of every athlete, in both performance and upskilling, recently putting seniors through coaching courses.
The facilities are well used, with the university hosting BUCS Indoors in Ravelin Sports Centre in November for the third year running. With the club’s contacts within the local rowing community, the committee works hard to run a secondary event on the day, inviting regional clubs to attend and race from 1ks to team relays, open to all ages.
With a steady group of around 40 athletes per year over the last four years, the club has increased the number of crews entering competitions, such as BUCS Regatta, where the club entered 15 crews in 2024, an increase from the nine crews taken in 2022. Not only this, but the results attained have improved too, with consistent qualifications across the board within all squads. The weekend highlight was the Open Intermediate Quad winning their E Final in the closing stages of the race.
Upon speaking to the incoming committee for the 25/26 season, the club is looking forward and upwards, with the end goal being to attend Henley Royal Qualifiers this year. Big changes have already taken place, with an expansion to the erg room and the addition of the new coxless quad/four!
Photo credit: Ravelin Sports Centre ©The wub under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
