Compared to the relative stability of club’s senior squads, building a successful beginner squad is much more of a dice roll. Built largely on the level of athlete they have been able to recruit during freshers’ week, coaches will be looking to build both a love of the sport as much as boat speed. This variability in quality, combined with quick development of new athletes and limited racing experience, make this a tough event to predict, but some clubs have a track record of success and will want to build another year of successes.
Durham University BC
The only High-Performance Centre with a reliably large rowing club, Durham University are the defending champions in this event. This may still be early in the rowing careers of these athletes, but this will not be unfamiliar to them as they will no doubt have had some sessions on the Tyne out of their bay in the Tyne United Boathouse. They have managed to enter two eights in this category so clearly have some depth to their squad and will be wanting to show some strength in their result.
Queen’s University Belfast BC
Making the trip across the Irish Sea is an eight from Queen’s University, Belfast. While their senior scullers have taken the headlines for them in recent regattas, they have developed a reliably excellent beginner squad, taking the victory in this event at BUCS Regatta while also performing well at the head race. Obviously a new year and a new crop of athletes throws up new variables to deal with but Queen’s seem to have cracked the equation for developing strong beginners and will be wanting to replicate the successes again this year.
University of Nottingham BC
Last season, Nottingham had a phenomenal build between BUCS Head and BUCS Regatta as they rocketed up the standings on both sides of their beginner squad. This could suggest a number of things: the home water advantage of Holme Pierrepoint, an aggressive single peak in the spring or that they worked out how to get a program going. For the sake of this weekend they will be hoping it is that latter and the results on Sunday evening will be closer to those from May last year than that of twelve months ago.
Sheffield University BC
Beginner specific racing away from BUCS is often quite hard to find as crews are often grouped with the bottom band or in Novice categories under the old system. But Sheffield have found them where they can and have succeeded. The fastest crew at the BUCS-endorsed Novice race day in Liverpool, getting the better of some often-quick programs. And while this race is far longer than the 750m they raced in the North West, they will hope take the confidence it brings to success this weekend in the North East.
University of Surrey BC
Last year on the women’s side of the beginner sweep categories, the University of Surrey dominated. Comfortably winning both the eight and the four at both BUCS Head and BUCS Regatta. However, their beginner men’s squad was noticeably smaller. This year however, they have no such they have a large beginner men’s group. Two eights have entered this event so there is no shortage of athletes and after their winter trip to Seville they will be looking to translate their miles into the contrasting conditions they will face on the Tyne on Sunday.
Predictions
The often-mentioned variability of beginner programs and the inconsistency of previous racing to judge from, this event is among the hardest to call over the whole weekend. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Durham top the timesheets, with the benefit of their deep squad and home water advantage. Alongside them I would expect Queen’s to add some weight to their bags on the way home, picking up some medals. While despite any major recent pedigree in this event, Surrey’s success on the women’s side last season combined with their large men’s squad could lead to them making a splash on the results on Sunday.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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