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Meet Our Members: Katie Mole, Rowing Regatta Medallist

Meet Our Members: Katie Mole, Rowing Regatta Medallist

Rowing club member and full-time postgraduate medical student, Katie, Mole, recently saw saw incredible success after being selected to represent Great Britain at the May International Wedau Regatta in Duisburg, Germany!

Katie competed in the Senior Women’s Double Sculls category and secured a silver and bronze medal over the two days of the competition. She competed alongside athlete Rebecca Wilde for the first time, after being on the same development programme for a number of years.  After returning to full-time study over the last nine months, she had to work incredibly hard balancing her academics alongside club and gym training. We caught up with her to learn more about her impressive schedule.

Katie Mole (left) and Rebecca Wilde (right)

What does a typical day look like for you?

 

Typically, my day begins bright and early at 06:00am, heading to the gym to train on the rowing machine with the University Boat Club. Following this, I study in the medical school for most of the day, from 09:00am-05:00pm. I then head back to the gym for a weights or cardio session before going home to finish the day by refuelling and completing any university work at home.

 How do you stay motivated to stick to your schedule?

 

Although this is a pretty gruelling schedule, it’s made easier by how friendly the gym staff are at Sport and Fitness. I’m always greeted by a friendly face or an interested question about how my training is going.

Who have been key supporters in your journey?

 

In particular, Joe Blacker has gone above and beyond to help me with my strength and conditioning work, taking on the role of a fantastic coach, and getting me to the strongest I’ve ever been, which was instrumental in facilitating my selection for international racing. I also owe a big thanks to the other athletes and coaches in the boat club for their continued support. Having enjoyed my first experience of racing in GB kit I’m excited to continue to improve and see what’s in store for the rest of the season and beyond.

 

Katie will also be racing at Henley Regatta at the end June which is one of the most prestigious rowing events, where she hopes to see even more successes!

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CategoriesEvents

Brum in the Lakes: Experience the Outdoors

Brum in The Lakes | Experience the Outdoors

Last week, staff from across Sport & Fitness experienced a different kind of sporting environment, with a trip to the Raymond Priestly Centre in the Lake District.

The facility, which is a part of the University of Sport offering for students, is a multi-award winning outdoor education centre situated on the tranquil Coniston Water.

Staff from Performance Sport to Marketing, Club Development to Operations had a 24-hours that will live long in the memory – with one member of staff making their first return to the Raymond Priestley Centre in 20 years!

With rowing, sailing, climbing, hiking, gorge walking and much more on offer, the group experienced some of the centre’s outdoor pursuits for themselves.

Alongside the fun, were dedicated team building tasks spanning the beautiful Cumbrian surroundings, as the group collectively conquered land and water in a points-led orienteering exercise.

Fully-catered and will ample sleeping options, including two Yurts – the team returned to Birmingham with plenty of takeaways from an event-filled 24 hours.

A big thanks to Deborah Cook and her team based in Coniston who each year continue to offer seasonal activities and educational opportunities for University of Birmingham students and staff. 

Take a look for yourself with our gallery of some of our best photos!



Find out more about the Raymond Priestly Centre and the incredible sporting experience it offers!


RAYMOND PRIESTLY CENTRE

Team photo of the whole UoB Athletics team smiling at BUCS Outdoors 2023CategoriesStudent News

BEST EVER BUCS OUTDOORS MEDAL HAUL FOR BRUM

BEST EVER BUCS OUTDOORS MEDAL HAUL FOR BRUM

The UoB Athletics team had its most successful ever weekend at the BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships in Manchester this weekend, culminating in its most successful year to date.

Male athletes hug at the finish line of the track at BUCS Outdoors 2023
Image credit: Issy Boffey
4 Female athletes smiling with yellow, blue and red facepaint at BUCS Outdoors 2023
Image credit: Issy Boffey

The annual event saw 80 athletes competing in the final event of the BUCS Outdoors calendar across the first weekend in May, and saw a staggering 19 medals hauled home by the team – beating the previous record of 15!

 

If that wasn’t enough, the club saw a record 49 top-8 placements (previous record of 31) and 65 finalists (previous record 54). This, plus the 24 personal bests accumulated in the process, saw UoB place second overall in both the men’s and women’s standing – for the first time in over 12 years at these Championships.

 

Luke Gunn, Head of Athletics and Head of Performance at UoB Sport & Fitness said it was a superb result.

 

“There were some incredible landmarks achieved from our athletes across the weekend – to name a few, Didi Okoh who was the first ever athlete to ever win four medals at one Championship; first time in modern BUCS that the men have won the 4x100m relay, 84% of the female finals being Birmingham representation. But it wasn’t just the results: as usual, Birmingham bought the atmosphere and it was fantastic to see and hear such support. A huge thank you to them and as always to our coaches, support staff and club development for their incredible work to organise these Championships.”

Didi Okoh with a bronze and gold medal
Didi Okoh with a bronze and gold medal. Credit: Issy Boffey
Female athletes smile with medals round their necks at BUCS Outdoors 2023
Image credit: Issy Boffey

A full list of our amazing medallists is as follows:

GOLD:

Tomer Tarragano, 10,000m

Kristian Imroth, Steeplechase (the first ever Birmingham 1-2-3 clean sweep)

Abbie Ives, 800m

Men’s 4x100m (first time in modern BUCS, that the men have won 4x100m relay)

Didi Okoh, Ambulant Long Jump (first athlete to ever win 4 medals at one championships)

SILVER: 

Didi Okoh, Ambulant Discus

Orla Brennan, 400m Hurdles

Angel Diaz, 110m Hurdles

Tom Bridger, Steeplechase

Women’s 4x400m

BRONZE:

Didi Okoh, Ambulant 100m

Fenton Bishop-Trimmings, Javelin

Amelia Briggs-Goode, 400m Hurdles (the final of which was made up of 50% of Birmingham athletes)

Elliot Moran, Steeplechase

Amelia Quirk, 5000m

Tyler Bilyard, 1500m

Lily Holt, High Jump

Didi Okoh, Ambulant Shot

Women’s 4x100m

 

Plus, Kirsty-Anne Ebbage was the first non-combined eventer to make 3 individual finals (Shot Put, Hammer and Discus).

Together with BUCS Indoors earlier this year and Cross Country, these results push us above last year’s BUCS record number of points and medals, with a whopping 35 medals and 6 team medals; totalling 398 points in 2023 so far…with Combined Events still to come!

A huge congratulations to all of our competitors, and thank you to the supporters and coaches who give up so much of their time to help – particularly to Jade Surman, who led this Championship’s logistics for her first time with consummate ease and professionalism; and also to Sprint Coach, Mike Bennett, who had an incredible Championships directly contributing to 5 of our medals and our best sprints squad depth ever.

 

All images credit: Issy Boffey

UOB ATHLETICS AND CROSS COUNTRY WEBSITE