Imperial is top out of London universities in national sports rankings

Imperial climbs higher in British University and Colleges Sports rankings - <em> News</em>

Thursday 12 August 2010
By John-Paul Jones

Imperial has won pole position among London universities and has climbed five places from 22nd to 17th in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Championships’ national rankings since last year.

The BUCS championships see university clubs and individuals competing in a range of sports, from hockey to clay pigeon shooting. The points from all of their games provide the grand totals for the participating universities. Imperial’s new position marks a climb from forty-eighth place ten years ago.

This year Imperial took part in a wider range of sports than ever before. Among the highlights are gold medals for the College’s snooker and men’s waterpolo teams, and an array of individual medals among the judo and fencing participants. A strong performance in rowing saw a number of wins for the College, including achieving second overall in the BUCS regatta.

Neil Mosley, Head of Sport Imperial, said: “I'm really delighted with the continued success we've had in BUCS competitions. We are now competing successfully with massive universities who focus on sport. The pleasing thing is now the range of sports that we are competitive in. Our fencers proved we are the number one university in that sport and as well as continued high performance in rowing, we have excelled in squash, judo, water polo and volleyball to name a few.”

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Imperial’s success reflects the continued development and investment in sports facilities at the College, led by the construction of the sports centre, Ethos, at South Kensington’s campus. Students have free access to its and all Imperial swimming pools and gyms, while Sport Imperial provides a range of support for young athletes, including coaching, sports scholarships, pre season training and sports injury treatments.

Neil added: “There is no doubt that all of the athlete sport support services, along with the implementation of our BUCS strategy has improved our position dramatically.”

One of the main objectives set out in the sports strategy for enhancing Imperial’s performance in the BUCS championship was the aspiration to reach a top 25 position by 2012 but this was achieved by the end of the 2007/08 season with a then-ranking of 22nd nationally.

One of the competition’s participants, medical student and amateur fencer Hannah Bryars, said: “Knowing that the efforts of the fencing team have contributed to Imperial's overall success is a fantastic feeling. We love the sport that we do and the spirit of the team in which we compete. We hope to continue being as competitive in the coming season and to make Sport Imperial and the university proud.”

Eduard Desclaux from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who represented Imperial in judo, said: "I came with high sport expectation when joining Imperial in 2007. After three years of training and striving to bring the judo club to a higher level, I can definitely say that it was a very fulfilling and satisfying experience. It has been a real honour each time to represent the club and the entire institution, and this really pushes you to perform well. This year's performance at the British Universities and Colleges Sport championships was a real highlight of my time here.”

Four Imperial students will now also be looking to take on competitors beyond the UK, as part of a team of 32 British athletes who will be taking part in the11th World University Rowing Championships in Hungary this weekend.

The representation by Imperial students in such competitions highlights another important aim of the sports strategy, which is to build the College’s international sports profile. Imperial’s involvement in the bid for the London 2012 Games is another opportunity for further contribution to the Olympics and Paralympics, and the College has now been selected by the London Olympic Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to provide volunteers to assist with two Olympic sports – handball and wrestling – and one Paralympic sport, boccia.

Twenty-five student volunteers per sport are required and the selected individuals will have the opportunity to assist with events for their sport for 10 days during the Games. Details of the internal recruitment process and further information can be found here: //www3.imperial.ac.uk/2012/getinvolved/gamesmaker.