On Wednesday, March 19th, seven Team Durham sides traveled to Loughborough University to compete for five national championships and two national trophies. These teams included the Hockey Club Women’s 3s, the Lacrosse Club Women’s 2s, Men’s and Women’s Fencing 1s, Women’s and Open Water Polo 1s, and finally, the Volleyball Club Women’s 1s.
After some hard-fought battles, standout individual performances, and immense team effort, Durham secured one National Championship, courtesy of our Open Water Polo 1s, who defeated Nottingham 12-11 in an exciting game. Additionally, our Women’s Hockey 3s claimed a National Trophy gold, defeating Exeter 2-0. Ben Alderson was named National Championship Player of the Match, while goalkeeper Sophia earned Player of the Match honours in the hockey National Trophy final.
In several closely contested matches, Durham unfortunately finished as runners-up, earning silver medals after incredible seasons. The Women’s Lacrosse 2s led Exeter until the second half, when a strong Exeter attack mounted a dominant run, ultimately defeating Durham 11-8. The team displayed remarkable individual performances and immense determination throughout.
Both Men’s and Women’s Fencing faced exceptionally strong opponents both fencing Nottingham Uni, finishing second overall in the nation. The Women’s Fencing team fell in a nail-biting contest, 99-101, after an impressive late surge. They lost in Foil (14-45) but delivered outstanding performances in Épée (29-56) and secured a victory in Sabre (45-30). The Men’s Fencing team dominated in Sabre but was unable to carry that success into Épée and Foil, ultimately losing 88-120 to Nottingham.
The Women’s Water Polo team put up an impressive fight against a formidable Nottingham side but fell 15-8 after strong first and third quarters from their opponents, concluding an outstanding season with a tough defeat.
Finally, in the last match of the evening, our Women’s Volleyball 1s were defeated by an exceptionally well-drilled Essex side, who secured a 3-0 victory. Despite the straight-sets loss, each set was fiercely competitive in a back-and-forth contest that Durham fought until the very end.
Overall, Durham sent the third most teams to Big BUCS Wednesday following Loughborough and Nottingham and had some teams very narrowly miss out. While the results didn’t go Durham’s way still so much to be proud of.
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