OUR DREAM COMPETITION: THE EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES CHAMPIONSHIPS

We're raising money to compete in rowing at the European Universities championships (EUSA). We have worked really hard to be able to race at an international level, and now we need some help getting there.

Who WE ARE

We're Amanda Thomas and Naomi Holland, rowers from Oxford University Lightweight Women's Rowing Club . Together we make a speedy lightweight double sculling team!

Amanda is at Somerville studying for a MPhil in Linguistics, and Naomi is at Christ Church working for a DPhil in Physics. Amanda rowed with Somerville throughout 2016-17, winning blades with W1 in Torpids and Summer Eights, and also rowed with SCBC's W1 in Summer Eights 2018.

This year we have both been putting all our free time into rowing. We raced with OUWLRC in the Henley Boat Races in March, where we both competed in the Tethys (reserve) coxed four - this year, the only Oxford crew to beat Cambridge.

The Tethys coxed four in our race against Cambridge. From left: Jolet Mimpen (cox), Katherine Ferris, Amanda Thomas, Naomi Holland and Emily Hinson.

our story

At the start of Trinity Term, we decided to race in the Lightweight Double Sculls event at the British Universities rowing championships ( BUCS ). We exceeded our own expectations, finishing fourth in a very competitive field. That result means that we qualified to represent Great Britain - and Oxford - at the European Universities rowing championships, which are taking place in Portugal from the 14th to 19th July.

This is an amazing opportunity to compete against the best university rowers from across Europe, and we don't want to pass it up!  The rowing championships are part of a wider European Universities Games event taking place in Portugal, with 4000 competitors taking part in 13 different sports. It's like a mini-Olympics for university students.

Competing at an event like this is a dream come true, so we're asking for your help to get there.

Women's Lightweight Rowing at Oxford is seriously underfunded. Unlike the Openweight teams who you see racing on the BBC, we don't have a lucrative sponsorship deal, and the athletes pay significant fees to be part of the club. We do a lot of fundraising throughout the year, and we also have some very generous donors, who help us cover the costs of training and racing. However, since our qualifying for EUSA was unexpected, we need to top up the money we have available. That's why we're asking for your help!

Amanda (l) and Naomi (r) racing at BUCS.

Where will the money go?

There are quite a lot of costs involved in attending EUSA. Any money you give us will go towards:

• Entry fees for the competition
• Transporting our boat to the regatta
• Transport for the rowers (flights to Portugal and a train to the city)
• Accommodation in Portugal

What's in it for you?

We have some fantastic rewards for anyone who helps us out. Check them out in the 'rewards' section!

After winning the Tier 1 double sculls event (openweight) at Reading Town Regatta, June 2018.

UPDATES

You can follow our progress on our brand new twitter account, here , and we'll keep you updated on this page too.

Thank you so much for any help you can give us! Even £1 would be a useful contribution - or otherwise, help us out by sharing our page with anyone you think might be interested.