This weekend, the Tyne will once again be beset upon by crews from across the country as they compete at BUCS Head. While the event isn’t on the same scale as BUCS Regatta, its summertime counterpart, it is still a hotly contested race full of old rivalries.
The coxed four category is relatively small this year, so for this preview I’ll touch on each crew entered here, before offering an overall prediction for the race.
Newcastle University
Entered here under Edward Ridley, a former Sir William Borlase sculler and now one of the top guys at Blue Star, Newcastle enter here with a point to prove. Angelo Savarino’s programme hasn’t quite been living up to its own expectations over the last few years; repeatedly, the club has found itself eclipsed by programs like Durham, or most recently Edinburgh at Rutherford Head late last year. Recent history suggests that Newcastle have the raw horsepower to challenge at the top, but consistency in execution has often been their Achilles’ heel. This crew, led by Ridley, will be eager to shift that narrative. While crew lists haven’t been released, this may well be a top four of Ridley, Gwilym Johnson (who partnered with Ridley to take home 6th full-U23 pairing at GB trials), Lucas Bowes and Ben Brockway (who were Newcastle’s top-ranked trialist combination). If this is indeed the combination, these guys might well have some good speed. Brockway is probably the standout athlete here, with a GB vest from U23 Europeans, but the depth is good, and it should translate into a punchy four. For Newcastle, this race is about more than just a strong result — it’s about proving they belong back at the top. Expect a hungry, fired-up crew looking to send a statement.
Durham University
Charlie Warren leads this Durham boat, which looks to be their top-ranked four. Warren is a Henley winner with Windsor Boys from 2022, and is the current Men’s Captain at the Palatinate. He and William Morgan-Jones were Durham’s top pairing from GB trials, so it’s likely they’ll form the backbone of this unit. Durham have come a long way since the dog days of the mid-to-late 2010s; they’ve really gone from strength to strength over the past few years, cementing themselves as a second-or-third fiddle to the likes of Brookes and Oxbridge at the top of British university rowing (though they’ve frequently struggled to show their best form come Henley time). This season hasn’t been off to the greatest of starts – they found themselves narrowly behind both Edinburgh and Newcastle at Rutherford Head back in late 2024, though followed it up with a strong win over Tyne ARC at Tyne New Year’s Head. Despite a healthy result for the Warren/Morgan-Jones pair at trials, the rest of the Durham pack found themselves towards the bottom of the pecking order. Might this suggest that this season, Durham may be lacking a bit of depth? Newcastle will certainly be hoping so. Ultimately, this battle is about more than just results—it’s about northern supremacy. Newcastle and Durham have long jostled for position as the top club outside of the Oxbridge-Brookes stronghold, and with both teams having something to prove, expect fireworks.
Edinburgh University
Edinburgh‘s progress over the last few years has, in some ways, mirrored Durham’s; from a relatively lacklustre position back in the 2010s, they’ve managed to become a real force at the top end of British university rowing, though they’ve lacked the consistency of the Palatinate. They’re arguably the top beginner program in the country based on BUCS results, and have repeatedly shown their ability to hang with the top dogs at the sharp end of the Championship Men’s categories, but often find themselves just outside the medals on the big stages. This season they’ve certainly begun as they mean to continue – a win over both Newcastle and Durham at Rutherford Head will buoy the Edinburgh boys. I’m not convinced Edinburgh has the same level of top-end talent as some of its counterparts – there was a good performance from Freddy Foxwell and Magnus Heidenreich in the double scull at GB Trials, but Edinburgh didn’t field any sweep athletes for the pair – but arguably, their depth has been one of their biggest weapons in recent years. It’s a great program for developing athletes, and if they can maintain their early-season momentum, I think this could be a great year for the Scottish powerhouse.
Imperial College
It’s been a tricky few years for Imperial. It feels like a long, long time since their fantastic Henley win back in 2018, seizing the Prince Albert Challenge Cup over a strong Cambridge Goldie crew. Since then, the senior men have seemed to slip further each year with departures of athletes like Casper Woods, Max Ridgwell or Noam Mouelle. Imperial always row well; they have a strong sense of style and cohesion fostered by experienced Head Coach Peter Hardcastle. But the top-end talent hasn’t been there, and as a result, the program has struggled to compete at the highest level. Recent results indicate that we might see a similar theme play out this year; at Quintin Head, despite winning the senior eights category, Imperial came home 5th overall – a ways behind their London rivals UL, but perhaps more concerningly, about 14 seconds behind the talented schoolboys of St Paul’s. Granted, St Paul’s are very strong this year, but nonetheless Imperial would likely have been aiming higher. They’ll come to BUCS eager to pick up some momentum heading towards the large Tideway heads next month, but I don’t think they’ll be able to hang with the other universities in this category.
University of Bristol
Bristol have enjoyed a fairly dramatic rise over the last couple of years, having until fairly recently been more of an intermediate-level boat club, rather than championship. Their result at BUCS Regatta last year – a brutal elimination in the semi-final by a fraction of a second – fuelled the fire for a storming performance at the Metropolitan Regatta, where the top Bristol boat came away as the top academic boat on the Saturday, and the fastest university eight overall on the Sunday, setting a new 2K record for the club in the process – a blistering 5:42.9. This was followed by a great showing at Marlow Regatta, where Bristol came away as the second-fastest UK university crew behind Brookes, well ahead of the likes of Durham and Newcastle. Their Henley campaign was relatively short-lived, unfortunately, with a loss to Laga in the second round. However, I have no doubt that Bristol will be back with a vengeance here, looking to build on the successes of last year. They are entered here under Jake Birch, the former Shiplake athlete who represented GB at junior level, winning gold in the JM8+ in Varese. Birch partnered with Joe Cunliffe at GB trials, where they came home as 8th full-U23 pairing, handily beaten by some of the other combinations that will be racing in the other fours in this category. I think given this disparity in speed in the small boats, Bristol might be hard pressed to come away with the win here, but I think they’ll have their eye on bigger prizes in the eights – the coxed four might well not be of much concern.
Prediction
This is a tough one to call. The very small amount of data we have thus far for this season puts a lot of these programs in very close contention. In the coxed four, so much comes down to top-end talent, and I think despite a slight downward trajectory in the eight, Durham has the edge in this field – I’m going to pick them for the win, followed by Edinburgh and Newcastle. Don’t write off Bristol, however; they may well be the dark horses here.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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