Ten Durham sports teams competed in the annual British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Big Wednesday event this year, coming away with an outstanding set of results.
BUCS Big Wednesday is a day of back-to-back sports fixtures between the UK’s premier university teams. It is the culmination of the BUCS sports season, and decides the champions of its knockout Championship and Trophy competitions. Its combination of intense competition, national titles, and standout performances make it the most prestigious single event in the university sports calendar.
This year’s event took place at Loughborough University, over Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 March. Some 120 UK university teams took to indoor and outdoor pitches, courts and pools to compete for national titles across 60 fixtures in 16 league sports.
The first team to bag a championship were our American football team, Durham Saints. They faced four-time national champions UWE Bullets in a blistering match. This was a rematch of the BUCS 2024 final where Durham lost. It was also a reprise of an alumni weekend match held in February this year, where the UWE Bullets lost to Durham for the first time. The UWE Bullets were out for revenge, and with the Durham Saints on top form, this was destined to be a match full of fireworks.
Our women’s Water polo followed suit, taking on the University of Nottingham. Durham and Nottingham have squared up against each other since 2023, with Nottingham having held the title since 2024. So there was a sense of déjà vu as the two came head-to-head once more. Our team went into the match unbeaten this season, and with the aim of halting Nottingham’s run at the top. Four eight-minute periods saw a nail-biting game, with the two level pegging at the end of the third quarter. Durham pulled away in the final quarter, conceding a last-minute penalty with one second to go.
Men’s lacrosse was the third team in the schedule to fight their way to victory. Our team has strong credentials, with over 10 BUCS championships in the last 15 years. Their last BUCS title was in 2022, and they have consistently reached the semi-finals, only to be trumped by a dominant Nottingham Trent team since. This year the University of Nottingham knocked out Nottingham Trent, leaving the path clear for new champions. Kicking off at 7.15pm under floodlights, Durham quickly took the lead, playing a thrilling and fiercely contested battle in the first half. Nottingham led 3-2 entering the second half, but an attack and clever play from the whistle saw Durham race past to 8-3. And while Nottingham rallied to close the gap, superb saves from our goalkeeper thwarted them. The final score was 8-7, with Colin Socker picking up the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Women’s Volleyball were the last team to win a decisive national championship title, playing against the 1st team from the University of Essex. Our team has an impressive BUCS record - winning national championships six times over the last seven years. However Essex snatched the title from them in 2025, so the stakes were high to win it back. Members of the American football team were in the crowd cheering them on, demonstrating the strong camaraderie between our student-athletes. Chloe Thomas also came away with the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award.
It feels amazing, but really what it is, is the journey there. It’s also the guys that surround yourself. I just think our coaches, our players, our fans, everyone here is just so close. I’ve never seen anything like it. You can see on the field, no matter what, we’re all together and we’re all fighting for each other.
Our teams crossed men’s and women’s disciplines, traditional sports and more modern ones. For the majority of our ten teams, this year’s successes come on top of years of previous accolades, highlighting the ongoing levels of high performance and student-athlete support here at Durham.
View the full results here:
Team
Competition
They faced
Result
Previous notable club BUCS results
Men’s lacrosse (M1)
National Championship Final
University of Nottingham
Won: 8-7
Women’s volleyball (W1)
University of Essex
Won: 3-0
Women’s water polo (W1)
Won: 9-8
American football
University of the West of England
Won: 14-6
Men’s hockey (M3)
National Trophy Final
St Mary’s University, Twickenham
Won: 4-1
Women’s water polo (W2)
University of Warwick
Won: 24-4
Men’s football (M1)
University of Surrey
Won: 6-0
Men’s water polo (M1)
National Championship Final silver medallists
Lost: 16-15
Women’s table tennis (W1)
Lost: 3-0
Men’s squash
National Trophy Final silver medallists
Lost: 5-0
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