Sporting students Perform at their very best in 2021
THE Performance Sport Programme at Newcastle University cemented itself as one of the best in higher education in 2021 with four consecutive topten British Universities and Colleges Sport finishes.
While the pandemic halted university sports activity for more than a year, Team Newcastle enjoyed Olympic success, welcomed its highest-ever number of sports scholars and is on track for another top-10 ranking in 2021-22.
The university was represented by four athletes in Tokyo.
Graduates Tom Ford and James Rudkin were part of the men’s eight crew which won bronze in the final race of the regatta.
Team GB finished behind silver medal winners Germany by one-tenth of a second and the race winners New Zealand.
Emily Ford was in was in the women’s eight rowing crew, while Harry Glover just missed out on a bronze medal when the GB Rugby Sevens team lost out narrowly to Argentina.
In November, the three rowers attended a special event hosted by the university’s ViceChancellor and President Professor Chris Day, the trio’s university coaches and Kate O’Sullivan, deputy chairwoman of British Rowing.
The graduates spent the day at Newcastle University and met new and former members of Newcastle University Boat Club, known as the Blue Stars.
Emily Ford said: “The experience at the Olympic Games was amazing and there is nothing I can compare it to.
“Without the support of the university we could not have got to where we got to.”
Rudkin added: “Tokyo was an incredible experience and quite fun. As a crew, we had a special bond.
Angelo Savarino, head of rowing at Newcastle University Boat Club, said: “We are incredibly proud of Emily, James and Tom.
“It would be an understatement to say their success has had a significant impact on the Boat Club and the university’s long tradition of rowing excellence.”
NEWCASTLE University’s new cohort of sports scholars began their journey to elite performance at the start of the academic year - and were sent on their way by former Falcons’ and England rugby legend Tony Underwood.
The campus welcomed 160 top athletes from around the world, the university’s highestever sports scholar intake.
The student athletes were welcomed by vice-chancellor and president Professor Chris Day, while Underwood delivered the keynote address.
Sports scholars receive funding towards the development of their skills and vitality and athletes must have won representative honours at national or regional level during the preceding 12 months to qualify.
Among them is Alfie Johnson, a second-year economics undergraduate student from Guildford, Surrey, who started playing rugby aged four.
Johnson, 20, part of the university’s rugby union programme and England Sevens, said: ““The challenge following last year is to get my body used to the intensity again, to recovering quickly after games.
“I look forward to getting in this rhythm again and playing alongside my studies.”
The Performance Sport Programme has developed into one of the best in the UK, as evidenced by four consecutive top-ten BUCS finishes prior to the pandemic.
Fraser Kennedy, Performance Sport Manager at Newcastle University, said: “It is amazing to have so many talented athletes at the university.
“Our performance programme is one of the best in the country.
“We have everything in place to ensure all our student athletes and respective teams can go out there and perform to the best of their ability.”