BUCS Head is back, where the UK’s top university rowers descend upon the Tyne to do battle. Raced over a five-kilometre course, this will certainly be a chance for the top quads in the country to display their dominance
First up is the University of Reading. Focusing solely on sculling, Reading have dominated this scene for years. This year’s crop of athletes are as strong as ever, with Louis Powell fresh from a 3rd place U23 finish at GB trials last weekend. Jacob Parrington will be stroking the quad, who was the 10th fastest U23 sculler at trials. Hopefully, as we’ve seen from Reading crews in the past, this talented group should gel pretty well.
Seeing a Durham University quad still triggers my memory of their surprise win in the same boat class at BUCS Head 2020. Durham always produce strong crews, and this boat is full of talent. Stroked by Andrew Mettrick, a member of last year’s eight which made it to the Temple semi-finals, this quad should be pretty fast.
The University of Edinburgh are another high performance centre with an impressive sweeping and sculling legacy. Edinburgh always tend to perform well at BUCS events, but appear to have lost some of their best rowers due to graduation. However, head coach Colin Williamson’s talent conveyor belt keeps on churning, so I’m sure there will be some rising through the ranks soon.
Hailing from the GB start centre, the crew from the University of Bath looks to be pretty stacked with talent. Stroked by up-and-coming lightweight Jack Norton, who is fresh from a solid performance at GB trials, Jamie Gare and Cedol Dafydd are backing him up, both of whom produced top performances at trials, placing 16th and 13th respectively. Gare also competed at last year’s U23 World Championships in the double with Miles Devereux. With a lineup this competitive, I would expect Bath to be in the hunt for the win.
Overall, I predict Reading to win champ quads. It’s hard to dispute their dominance in sculling events, especially over the last few years. However, the Bath quad looks very strong, and I wouldn’t expect a big time difference between the two crews. Durham could pull one out of the bag, but I would expect Reading and Bath to both be ahead.
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