As crews from across the country converge on the Tyne for BUCS Head, among the most anticipated events is the men’s intermediate eights. With no eligibility limits for this event the quality of rowing will be high as the field consists of second eights of institutions racing in the Championship category along with first eights from the rest of the United Kingdom’s university rowing.
Defending champions Bristol have not made the trip this year so there will be a new winner for this event in 2024.
Newcastle University
On home water Newcastle University are riding high. Last year was not easy for the squad as they would struggle through a lot of the season, as the intermediate group would finish seventh and fifth at BUCS Head and Regatta, before the second eight would miss out on Henley Royal Regatta qualification by a fair margin.
The season, however, Newcastle have been successful up and down the squad. The second eight managed to finish sixth at Rutherford Head, behind the most elite first eights and only the Molesey second eight. The results from December suggest that Newcastle are positioned to dominate the Brookes-less field and to attain that goal the performance of this crew will be key.
Imperial College London
Another crew on an upswing is Imperial College London. Last year was not terribly kind to the Imperial second eight group. They could only manage 50th at the Head of the River and barely made it into the B Final in the Intermediate Eight at BUCS Regatta before being 15 crews away from qualification in the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal.
Racing results have been rather slim as the Tideway dealt with a deluge of storms through the autumn but in January they raced the Quintin Head, placing both of their top two boats in eighteenth and nineteenth, ahead of last year’s winners from the University of Bristol.
Durham University
The fastest returning crew from last year are from Durham University. The most prolific racers in the field, they seem to be on a downswing so far this season. The results have not been brilliant for their first eight and still the second eight is a significant distance from that first eight.
16th place at Rutherford Head had them almost thirty seconds off the pace of the Newcastle third eight, and results in 2024 have not shown much sign of improvement. Despite this, Durham crews are always strong at BUCS Head and will know their home water well, possibly gaining an advantage having raced on it three times in the last few months.
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh have a rather young group in their senior men’s group this year with some first and second years being major contributors to their speed. This particularly benefits the second eight as more developed athletes wait here as they push for their own opportunity in the top boats. This effect could be seen at Rutherford Head as they finished ninth, winning band two. They will be looking to continue this form and close the gap to the Newcastle boat that was 12 seconds better than them in December, setting up a season of rivalry between these northern powers.
University of Bath
The fastest Intermediate First Eight making the return to the Tyne this year, the University of Bath will be looking to make a strong statement again though their squad is significantly weaker than twelve months ago. Only one athlete returns from the crew that placed fourth in this event last year: the losses of Jamie Gare and Cedol Dafydd, both standout products of the GB Start program will hurt particularly deep.
Such turnover will be a real test of their ability to develop talent, and only managing fourth place at the University of Bristol Boa Club Head suggests they may be too early in the development cycle for a standout performance this weekend.
Queen’s University Belfast
The lone representative from the emerald isle at BUCS Rowing events, Queen’s University Belfast always bring a talented group of well-drilled athletes when they cross the Irish Sea. This crew contains all of their championship quad which will race in the morning which suggests this is not a crew to be trifled with. They have not engaged in much racing in eights so far this season, which combined with the obvious difficulties in comparing results from two distinct racing scenes means that they are somewhat of a wildcard in the draw, but the lightweight gold earnt by Ciaran Purdy in the BUCS Indoor Series shows there are plenty watts in the tank for the men from Belfast.
University of Glasgow
In their full first season with head coach Chris Rae, the University of Glasgow has seem to be making serious strides in the right direction. Last time they were racing on the Tyne was Rutherford Head in December where they would place eight overall, winning band three while beating all of band two in the process. This squad seems worlds apart from the one that placed 19th in this event last year. They will lose the services of some of their non-BUCS eligible talent for this outing but will be aiming to rocket up the leader board on Saturday.
University of Surrey
Another potential upstart crew come from the University of Surrey. Second-last at BUCS Head last year, they were the dominant force within the men’s beginner ranks last year as they won the eight and the four at both BUCS Head and BUCS Regatta, both by sizable margins. They will graduate this group into the beginner ranks this year and given their strong history of turning beginner rowers into contributing members of their senior group, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to shock some people on the Tyne this weekend.
Predictions
Overall, I think it would be hard to get the better of the Newcastle squad that seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment. For the remainder of the medal spots, it seems hard to predict. Imperial and Edinburgh seem to have the next best second eights appearing, but with limited racing the picking is ripe for a crew to fly completely under the radar to pick up a medal this weekend.
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