BUCS Head 2023 – Men’s Intermediate Lightweight Quads Preview

With BUCS Head just around the corner there’s suddenly a raft of conversations to be had around the contenders for events across the board. While not one of the main events at BUCS (especially since losing its championship status) the Men’s Intermediate Lightweight Quads has historically showcased some excellent sculling despite being one of the events with relatively few entries.

Strathclyde University BC

A boat club that has somewhat snuck under the radar, Strathclyde has established a high-quality lightweight rowing programme. Led from the front by veteran Ben Parsonage, who has won just about every prize one can win in domestic rowing, Strathclyde has become a regular medalist in this event at BUCS and has given solid performances at Inverness Head and Aberdeen earlier in the season.

Although Parsonage is absent in the boat for BUCS Head, the crew still contains no end of talent, chiefly multiple BUCS medalist Felix Reynish. In all honesty, the ‘Skinnies’ as they are known to their Instagram followers have a more than a legitimate chance of winning this category, given the sparsity of entries and the quality that Strathclyde has at its disposal.

Reading University Boat Club

Standing in the way of a Strathclyde however, is a familiar foe, Reading University Boat Club. After deciding to focus entirely on sculling, Reading has become one of the premier sculling centers in the UK, most recently winning the M4X event at Fours Head and top three finishes for Louis Powell( who came 3rd in the Mens U23 1x) and Lauren Brittan (who came 2nd in the LW U23 1x). Individual performances aside, its clear that Reading are as good as they have ever been, with coaching from Olympic silver medalist Christ Bartley certainley seeming to pay dividends. In terms of this current BUCS Head crew, Charlie Ingham is joined by Dan Oakley, Dan Oakeley, Joe Bates, and Kabhir Bedi, the latter of whom is a product of Readings beginner program. Based on name recognition alone one would expect Reading to deliver the win. However, given the quality of their opponents in Strathclyde, I would expect it to be a close affair.

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Finn McCarthy

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