Meet the Committee

Our Commodorable Commodore – Catriona McBride

The crowned Queen of GUCC will encourage all kinds of shenanigans throughout the club, whether on the river, in Viper or the spew bucket! Our fearless leader, our Lady of the river, Cat McBride joined GUCC roughly half a decade ago, providing the club with some badass kayaking, not to mention some outrageous social stories, becoming a prominent member ever since. Some say she was born with a paddle in one hand … and a bottle of wine in the other! She is a dedicated figure on and off the river, holding pretty much every position the committee has to offer, helping to make the club what it is today! Some say Commodorable, others say Commodorky, regardless, we love her all the same.

Apple Cracking Goddess and Secretary – Laura Thompson

Laura joined as a kayaking virgin but her keen attitude to paddle and all over lovely personality has allowed her to deservedly become a part of the triple entente of GUCC. Her ability to split an apple in half through pure muscular strength allowed her to instil a degree of both fear and respect early on in her GUCC life during the first fresher trip way back in 2014. This kickass outdoorsy gal will try her hand at anything, guaranteeing the club is maintained the well oil machine that it is!

Smirnoff’s best customer and Treasurer – John McGlinchey

It’s fair to say that John McGlinchey loves GUCC more than his love of vodka, and maybe even his love of pandas! Arguably the only member of the committee to have ever spewed at a committee meeting, (rivalling the likes of spewy McBride), John’s dedication to the club is second to none. Originally a novice to all things outdoors, John has become one of the clubs protégées when it comes to kayaking, previously a swimmer on 95% of rapids, John struggles to recall memories of ever capsizing! After a successful year as social he has decided to turn his hand to all things money and has assured us that he won’t take any of the clubs cash on his weekly visits to HIVE…

Leader of all things SUS and Competition Secretary – Callum Shanks

Our current keen bean for polo has to be Callum, representing GUCC at SUS, we are more than sure he will guide us to victory in 2017! A fresher to kayaking, Callum has thrown himself into the sport we love, making him your go to guy for that streak of aggressive competitiveness in you. If you thought kayaking was an ‘everyman for yourself’ sport, think again, GUCC has successfully won the girls trophy for polo 4 years running! Through the trusty organisation of Callum we are sure that we can make it 5!

Man of all things that float and Trip Secretary – Cameron Floyd

Although Cameron reckons he can be a part of both sailing and canoe, let’s be honest, he knows which club is the best on campus. Our trusty go to for kit problems, (caused by himself (intermediate weekend 2016) or others), Cameron has paddled up the ranks from shipwright to trip sec. This southerner promises to get us all ship shape on some of the best rivers in Scotland from fresher’s trips to gnarly advanced stuff.

Swimming Social Secretary – Sam (The Salmon) Inwood

A not-so-fresh-fresher, Sam joined the club as a second year with all the excitement and eagerness as any newly hatched member. Throwing himself into all events canoe (both on the river, off it, and in it!) Sam is one of the keenest beans about. Sam the Salmon received his nickname due to a fair few swims but with the same resilience that pushes the salmon upstream Sam quickly gets back into his boat, grinning from ear to ear! We have no doubt that he has an incredible line up of fun-filled events for the year ahead!

Publicity Convenor – Alice Fuller

When it comes to kayaking Alice fuller has been around the block a couple times. She knows her way around a boat better than a bottle of Gin and just as happy to share her love of both. A keen bean since the beginning, Alice has been to her fair share of trips and made her name as co-founder of the legendary ‘Team Spew’ (Mach really brings out the best in all of us). You’ll find her at every pool session, undoubtedly coaching and providing the best (and loudest) moral support. As our new publicity for the club, Alice promises to bring GUCC to a new level of public attention and has simultaneously the best and worst idea to date - Club Snapchat (Viper suddenly got a new risk factor)! There’s no person better for the job of capturing the highs and, tastefully framing, the lows of GUCC for the coming year.

The River Prophet that is White Water Officer – John Rothwell

Mr Faffwell or should we say Mr Stallwell is your man for anything vaguely river related! Joining in the year 2014, John was adopted GUCC after St. Andrews decided they couldn’t hack the sheer dedication to paddling he has developed over his many years of boating. Both WWO and safety, John is more than in the know about all things kayak, he for sure has difficulty counting the rivers he’s done on his fingers and toes! Although a lack of faff and John come hand in hand, he isn’t immune to the more than crazy nights in Viper and HIVE, you’ll see him with one or two tenants in hand!

Our Shining Star and Welfare Convenor – Alice Dean

The original member of the dream team that is team Alice; Alice Dean is one of the loveliest people you will ever meet, deeming her perfect for the brand new role of welfare convenor. Currently holding position on GUSA committee, Alice is all about sport and we all know who she loves the most (soz swimming and water polo). Her successful year as Comp Sec meant that the club couldn’t let her graduate without having her on committee just one more time.

Pirate on board our trusty Ship, Shipwright numéro uno – Jonny Byres

Much like Sam, Jonny joined in his second year at uni as a not-so-fresh-fresher, despite his intense medic’s timetable this hasn’t stopped Jonny making it to pretty much all the pool session, most of the trips away and between 60-70% of the socials, and we love him just the way he is. As head of this year’s gnarly shipwright team Jonny promises to bring his all to anything that involves fire, hammers and chicken wire. Jonny’s loveable personality will more than likely rub off on our sad, sore and shiny new boats alike!

The Man with no Fear and Shipwright deux – Gregor McKay

Part of the dynamic duo of Neil and Gregor to grace the club with their presence, Gregor will throw him down pretty much every rapid on every river even if he isn’t feeling 100% and requires a spew or two on the bank (circa Intermediate weekend 2016)! Whether on the river or on the dance floor, Gregor’s beaming grin will want you to join in his crazy antics. Growing up in an all outdoors family, Gregor’s kayak related knowledge is perfect for looking after our trusty kit.

As fresh as they come Ordinary Member – Rebecca Gulliver

The freshest fresher to this year’s committee, Rebecca had a whole award designed specifically for her, being crowned with the Iron Lungs award at this year’s AGM. Rumour has it that she lasted a full 3 hours under water waiting on a T rescue as fellow members of the club scrambled to her cause! The sheer dedication to the sport of kayaking deemed her appropriate in representing the opinions of the club overall. We are more than sure that she will bring us all those bikinis/towels with hoods (can I get a HELL YE!?) we’ve all been salivating over for the last few years, as well as keeping us stocked up and warm with our popular woolly hats!

Safety Committee – Paul Walker, John and Cat

Paul is the esteemed OAP of the club, coming up over 10 year’s commitment, we’re surprised he doesn’t need a wheelchair! Both a white water and polo legend, Paul is in the know about literally anything to do with plastic boats that you sit in. If anyone is going to keep us safe out there it’s Paul, alongside his trusty sidekicks John and Cat! If you ever fear that we haven’t all gone mad with adrenaline, these guys are sure to guarantee that it’s super safe…