2019-2020 Highlight Reel
-What is your favourite moment from the year?
Rhona: "Think one of my fave mems has to be the time we all foraged through the lost property at beer bar then styled out our stanky new acquisitions on the dance floor for the rest of the night."
Calum: "I don't have one memory of the year in particular, but every time I had a rubbish week this year, I was always so thankful to come down to the pool, beater for a few hours and then have a chat. Might not seem like much, but given where we are now cooped up in the house, it was such a quiet reassurance that I always had the Canoe Club and our wee events as a group of lovely people to be with and be myself with. It's nice to have constants in your life like that."
Tayler: "My favourite memories come from a lot of firsts. Because this was my first (and last :'( ) year at the club. I present my first social, Christmas dinner and first river trip and slalom course. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. This club has truly got a piece of my heart, lots of firsts that I rank first #1."
Matthew .P: "Tbh best memory would probs have to be mach ahaha."
Conor: "Certainly a memory I won't forget is pushing the bus after SUS."
Ruari: "YO; fav moment. 100% unicorns at mach <3."
Duncan: "While it might be hard to differentiate between my favourite memories during my first year at GUCC, it has to be the second day of the freshers weekend when we sent it down the rapid that we had all swam on during the first day. This somehow managed to trump such things as the onions at the taster session (I still think about them) and all the games of Ragé Cagé, mainly because of the amount of joy I felt once I got to the bottom, well before I decided to practice my T-rescue and discovered just how cold the water was. Another highlight of that river definitely has to be the fact that Iona swam, so hearing that after I had done that rapid was just bliss."
Nick .K: "My favourite thing this year was Mach because it was great fun and the waves were incredible but mostly because its the trip where we really get to know everyone."
Florence: "I do cherish the memory of being stuck on the bus to Mach with Matt being all spicy and creamy and Lewis definitely not wanting to pee."
Iona: "Soo for favourite memory I'm gonna say when I-dawg and K-eazy made an appearance with their first single at Burns night. Also the whole of burns night was fun."
Kirsty: "On the mem front my brain is going into shut down. However when we all joyfully headed off to mach and realised halfway that not one of us had packed helmets was a giggle. Just proof of what mugs we are. Another thing that makes me giggle was the fateful int weekend Tummel trip, specifically, Rita swimming approx 3 seconds in, and Rhona swimming on a ripple and going in with a pitiful cry of "noo." Then our encouraging singing of kumbayah. Everyone chanting "someones crying m'lord, kumbayah", surrounding her as she tragically emptied her boat in the snow."
Cinnamon: "Despite the series of unfortunate events that had unfurled that weekend [Reunion Weekend] (they were continuous), I had a constant giggle on because it was all just quite tragically hilarious, and one of the most memorable weekends with GUCC to date."
Claudia:
Matt: "Hmm, there's the obvious ones like mach and stuff. Wandering around fort william at 6am with eoghan after the john bus carnage was also pretty interesting :'D.'
Rita: "The freshers weekend was definitely the highlight of my year, I'd say the perfect introduction and Ruari's car is very comfy. Also loved waking up to Iona and Duncan shoving paracetamol into me."
Matthew .S: "Think my favourite mem would have to be my swimtastic day on the N'esk in November. Was a fantastic day with a total of 6 swims from me, and me also managing to go down the wrong chute on Shotgun whilst also going backwards :'D"
Emily: "I think one of my favourite moments from the year would have to be when we first bust down the doors of the (Mid Atholl?) hall on intermediate weekend and lost our minds over it. Sprinting around trying to take in it's excellency and the hour long build up of excitement at the thought of playing hide and seek. The swift climb down after 5 seconds of being sat alone in the cold darkness only made it funnier. Not to mention how rancid we managed to make it, as with every village hall we go near. Ragé Cagé jus everywhere; Nathans t shirt undoubtedly still lost to the depths of it. Some real proof as to why GUCC shouldn't be allowed nice things."
Fiona: "As an annual favourite, my top GUCC memory this year was the iconic Mach trip! From the chaotic and exhausting bus drive to the West coast, guaranteed wrong turns and bus screeching, the scramble for a prime spot in the grotty hall and all the nightly carnage, it's a great weekend in so many ways. I love how everyone loosens up and gets to really know each other, the traumatic yeeting into that 'refreshing' November surf, all topped off with some truly gorgeous views. Always a fab trip with my favourite people!"
Anthony: "When [Iona] just paddled off by [herself] then got a nosebleed."
Verity: "It has to be Polo!! Polo has pushed me on to learn new skills and, although there have been a few traumatic moments (being half drowned while being used as a human polo ball), it has provided the best memories for me, such as being my first time competing in a team sport."
Annemiek: "I think one of my favourite memories is a river trip where I somehow managed to hit every single rock in the river, even when I was trying to follow John and he didn't hit a single one :'D It gave some quite amusing situations like when I somehow did a 180 and landed on a rock and one time where I got briefly launched."
Euan: "On the Saturday morning of Mac, I sat there in GUSA 7, my body and soul lost in the night before, probably somewhere in the sand that Conor had to bury himself in during a wild game of I'm not sure what. I looked out of the window, watching the hills go by, listening to the many Scots onboard belting 'Walking on the Waves', and it was in that moment, I knew, this was Scotland. And I was never going to leave."
John: "Well, what a year it's been eh? So many memories made with some ups and some downs but almost all of it has been absolutely hilarious. Thinking back to the beginning of the year I wish my first memory were of any of our beautiful new freshers' smiling faces as they walk up to our stand at the fresher's fayre or of them hopping off the bus at the Pinkston taster session... but no, forever etched in my brain as the start of canoe club 2019/20 is Kirsty thoroughly violating some hot dogs...
With some effort I force my mind to move on from such horrors... While I know Kirsty, Iona and I give off an air of calm and control often making our roles in the club look easy, oh boy was it not always as such. I can now pull back the curtain and tell you we haven't always had things running like a swiss watch. For instance, the moment of sheer terror striking across Maia and Kirsty's faces from the bank as they saw matt and myself chasing yet another boat after Grandtully indicating that yes, the freshers were yeeting themselves in one after the other despite 95% of the safety being otherwise engaged.
Or there was the time we were roughly 30 minutes from Machrihanish before we realized we hadn't packed a single helmet for the rest of the club. Or the time a certain trip sec decided to show us how to safe swim at the end of the freshers weekend... god I've never laughed so hard in a boat. Or just generally Iona following in my footsteps and showing everyone, it doesn't matter what year you are in, you can still be an absolute riot (hoping to see a young Matthew Stewart carry on in this tradition- I just know you have what it takes.)
There was the time I delved deep into addiction with Kirsty and Conor, constantly seeking the thrill of jumping into the pool after capsized freshers. The moment you see Conor crossing his fingers in hopes of a fresher getting binned is when you know you've gone to a dark place. We've had some phenomenal socials this year with Christmas dinner and particularly some crème caramels that neither me nor my velvet waistcoat will ever forget. The burns night that produced an iconic performance from K-easy and I-dawg and ratface as well as a moving address to the haggis from our Duncan.
We had clearly hit our stride by second semester culminating in our flawless intermediate weeke-... hmm well I guess there were a few hiccups. I mean the Ericht wasn't all bad... I had some great bonding time with Rhona as we hoisted boats up a disgustingly steep hill... and uhh I saw a deer... It was a true tragedy however, that Kirsty and I missed those last 3 minuites of river- a loss we mourn to this day. The real highlights of that weekend were really the infamous game of 'one frog jumped', Nathan yeeting himself into the centre of the circle for unknown reasons and Matthew requiring about a dozen able bodied men to put him to bed.
Ah a beautiful year with beautiful people and far too many beautiful memories to write about. Here's a few extra photos that you might not have seen.
All my love,
John"
-I think it's safe to say that whilst this year may have ended far more abruptly than any of us could have imagined it has still been another incredible year of beatering on and off the water with so many new and beautiful people now an integral part of our GUCC family. I can't wait for another incredible year of boating and beatering with you all when this madness is over. For now, stay safe you plebs Xx
