V ’12: Athletics out to avenge last year’s defeat

Get Fit. Be Social. Do Athletics. Warwick Athletics and Cross Country’s fitting slogan perfectly encapsulates both aims of the society: to provide a welcoming and friendly atmosphere in which to train, while remaining inherently competitive and pushing for success.

Athletics can claim to be the most diverse of all Warwick’s sports societies in the sense that it incorporates a diverse range of sportsmen and women, from cross country runners to long jumpers or shot putters. As such, the society this year has focused on attracting new members to the club from a variety of sporting backgrounds, as well as remaining accessible not only to elite sportsmen and women, but to every student at Warwick.

When talking through the society’s hopes and expectations for this year’s Varsity with Safdar and Colaço, it is easy to detect a feeling of optimism ahead of the competition. The club has been able to attract new talent as a result of providing a sociable and welcoming environment in which to train and keep fit, whilst maintaining a competitive drive and pushing their serious athletes to constantly improve.

One of the main focuses of this year’s exec has been to attract athletes from other sporting backgrounds to athletics, in the hope that their prowess in other sports can be translated onto the track or field. During term one the club held a track championship called ‘Mind the Track’, as part of the SportsFest weekend, in which athletes from other sports clubs were asked to come along and try their hand at athletics. Such an event is just one example of the efforts being made by the club to diversify; Safdar and Colaço recall an amusing anecdote of the cheerleader turned shot putter who was victorious at last year’s Varsity, despite competing whilst dressed as a hotdog, as an example.

As well as attempting to bring athletes across from other sports, the club has targeted beginners or inexperienced athletes with a series of open-event competitions and running clubs, in an attempt to increase the pool of talent at the club.

For Athletics, Varsity comes during the pre-season, making preparation for such an important event all the more challenging. Although the season proper has yet to begin, the club have competed in a number of indoor and cross country events throughout the year, with encouraging results heightening expectations for Varsity.

Recently, the club have performed admirably in BUCS indoor events, with six club records being broken in the Sheffield competition. Such success bodes well for Varsity, as does the fact that the club are currently preparing for the BUCS Outdoor Athletics championships, held between 4-7th May at London’s Olympic Stadium, as a test event for the impending Olympic Games. Of course, the chance to compete on such an illustrious stage is sure to spur Warwick’s athletes to train and compete at a higher level, and to succeed at Varsity as part of preparation for the event.

One method the club have used to maximise their chances at Varsity is to promote competition in field events, in order to achieve a wider spread of talent across events, and to maintain a balanced squad. Safdar and Colaço had identified the field events as an area in which improvement was needed, and the increased focus on field events, combined with record club membership, is sure to increase the club’s chances of success.

In contrast to last year, in which athletes could apply to be considered for their event at Varsity, trials have been held this year, an indication of the growth the club has enjoyed. Indeed, trials were a necessity, with four or five potential athletes turning up for consideration in many events. As well as the obvious benefit of increased competition for places, the trials were part of the club’s push for Varsity to become a more professional event than in previous years. For example, Safdar and Colaço explain that this year, professional starters and marksmen will be involved in the competition, and that personal best times will be officially recorded for entry into future BUCS events.

Expectations for Varsity are, understandably, high, with club membership at an all-time high, increased competition for squad places and a more professional approach to the competition manifesting a real belief that this year’s squad can improve on previous performances.

It is a painful truth that, historically, Coventry has been the more successful of the two universities at athletics. Last year, however, Warwick came agonisingly close to victory over their rivals, only losing out by one point in the men’s event, and two in the women’s. Safdar and Colaço are confident that this year will end differently.

The strong performance of Warwick’s women’s team in cross country and indoor competition should be just the platform needed to overcome their rivals, whilst the balance of the squad, thanks to the focus on field events and incorporation of athletes from other sports, is much improved from last year.

With last year’s event ending as such a tightly fought contest, these improvements will hopefully see the club take the extra step this time around, and assert Warwick’s dominance over our rivals.