London Varsity Series 2020 Previews: WEDNESDAY

The 2020 London Varsity Series is fast approaching and in anticipation of a special one-off Varsity edition of Roar News, we’ll be publishing our previews online to get you ready for what promises to be an exciting Varsity.

Cycling

Lucy Thornton

We’re only a few pedals away from Varsity and KCL’s cyclists have been putting the uphill work in, completing multiple hill repetitions, interval sessions and endurance cycles to Windsor. The team is working well as a unit, with a series of local London races providing a wealth of experience needed for their Varsity debut. While this will not be the first time KCL has battled UCL on bike officially, due to them not participating for the last few years, it will serve as a now and exciting challenge for most of the team. This spells anything but complacency, as the likes of third year nutrition student, Matthew Carlin is set to put in a strong shift, after proving his strength and leadership ability in training, while the rest of the team will be sure to have his back and produce what hopes to be an adrenaline fuelled race. With team morale high, it will be interesting to see how the ultimate head-to-head pans out…

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Cycling at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit from 1pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.

Ultimate frisbee

Bogdan Pietrosanu

This Varsity the Ultimate Frisbee team are looking to end their five-year losing streak – and then some. In a sport where players referee themselves, the team is looking to ensure the match lives up to the spirit of the game. A great season has seen the mixed team come second in the south-east regionals, while the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the division two nationals. The departure of a large volume of players last year has allowed fresh talent to shine in this team and one can only hope they will all rise to their challenge at Varsity.

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Ultimate Frisbee at Regents Park from 1pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.

Athletics & Cross-Country

Louis Jacques

2019/20 has been an exciting year thus far for KCLAC. With over 100 members, strong showings in cross country competitions have become standard, as well as improvements on last year across the rest of the board. Our red-and-white clad runners, jumpers and shot-putters did themselves proud at the Luca indoors earlier this year by breaking multiple university records, most notably in men’s and women’s Relay, who both won gold. After a tough few years lagging behind our uptown rivals, this academic year’s performances have given us real hope to stake a claim to Varsity gold in 2020.

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Athletics and Cross-Country at Parliament Hill Field Athletics Track from 2pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.

Rowing

Shairyaar Ahmad

Traditional British weather and wave after wave of strong wings have consigned the King’s Rowing team to the indoors this year but this hasn’t stopped our relentless team from working hard in preparation for Varsity. Regular indoor sessions have led to a win for the novice Men’s team in the United Hospitals Novice Regatta in the run up to Christmas with the team looking even fitter and stronger than last year. Coming off the back of a tightly contested win against our bitter London rivals in last year’s Varsity competition, the team is confident of pushing for another win this year and proving, once again, that only one London Uni reigns supreme.

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Rowing at Tideway Sculers School from 3pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.

Pole fitness

Aisling Madden

KCL Pole Fitness Club has been going from strength to strength in the last few years, having beaten 10 other unis to claim the Regionals title 2 years in a row and the London Varsity Series trophy sitting happily on our shelf since Pole was inducted into the series, whilst still priding ourselves on being an inclusive and welcoming club in which all members feel safe and have fun. Our varsity team is ready to face UCL, with returning legends and newbies performing head-to-head against our oldest rivals to keep the trophy

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Pole Fitness in the B5 Auditorium (Franklin Wilkins Building, Waterloo Campus) from 4pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.

Muay Thai

Joe Booth

It has been a fantastic year for KCL Muay Thai thus far. A record number of members, a massive twelve fighters at the UCL University Fight Night last December and, for the first time, five fighters attending Exeter University’s respective Fight Night. Between both events KCLMT brought home the win in four of the five decision fights in which they contested. With their own event in the making – King’s of the Ring – KCLMT are planning to continue this momentum and make it the best season to date for the club. Given their performances so far this season, and the fact that KCLMT have emerged victorious from the last two varsities, we are very confident that a three-peat is in store for the fighters clad in red.

Help paint the town red this year by supporting King’s in Muay Thai at Somers Town Community Centre from 7pm on Wednesday the 11th of March.