Finally, after a two year wait, BUCS is back! The largest student rowing event in Europe returns to windy Nottingham this week as do the hundreds of athletes from across the country. For many university rowing clubs, BUCS Regatta is the highlight of the year, and this year will be no different. For some clubs, this year’s BUCS Regatta takes the place of the postponed Henley Royal Regatta, which comes at a rather inconvenient time for many students. With appetites wetted by racing at the Metropolitan Regatta, Marlow Regatta, and Durham Regatta, you can count on BUCS Regatta being another firecracker.
Let’s dive in to the highlight of the Regatta, the blue ribbon event, the one everyone talks about, Men’s Championship Eights. With such a busy schedule this is one of the few races for which crowds gather to watch, despite it typically taking place at the end of the day’s racing. With BUCS, the schedule demands that clubs enter their top athletes in different events on different days, for example opting to enter coxed or coxless fours on a given day. However, you can guarantee that what you see in Men’s Championship Eights are the eight best student athletes from each university entered.
Oxford Brookes
Dominated in recent years by Oxford Brookes, who came away with gold and silver in 2019, you’d be a fool not to bet on them to take victory again. Based on eligibility, the top Oxford Brookes boat at BUCS will essentially be their third eight, with the top two boats being comprised of athletes who are not students. Nonetheless, the crew is littered with junior and U23 internationals and if rumours can be believed some big erg scores. At Met Regatta, four Oxford Brookes boats made the A final of Open Eights, coming away first, third, fourth and fifth. At Marlow, the top student boat beat the second boat – the one slated to be entering the Ladies at HRR this year. The second student boat was a few seconds behind but still in front of the rest of the university competition. This indicates that their second boat at BUCS (effectively their fourth eight) will also be fast and if all goes well for OBUBC they will repeat their 2019 feat of coming first and second in this event.
Newcastle
Newcastle University have recently won both the Boat Race of the North and Durham Regatta against their local rivals Durham University. Newcastle are probably the only crew entered this year that might be able to push that second Oxford Brookes boat. Forever under the watchful eye of Angelo Savarino they will have made the most of lockdown and they have shown some initial form at the Boat Race of the North, Durham Regatta, and Marlow Regatta, clearly aiming to once again be one of the standout clubs at BUCS. At Marlow they were a few seconds behind Oxford Brookes B, but this was their first 2km race of the season, so the ball is in Newcastle’s court to challenge Oxford Brookes this week.
Cambridge
It will be interesting to see Cambridge, fresh from a clean sweep at the 2021 Boat Races, stack up against the rest of the UK. Their strength will depend on how many Blues are in the boat, as the later date may mean that we see a stronger Cambridge outfit than usual at BUCS. A strong crew could be in contention for top spots.
UL & Imperial
The London based universities Imperial College and UL were very close at Met Regatta, both making it into the A final of Open Eights but not managing to conquer that cluster of crews from Oxford Brookes. Along with Newcastle they will be looking to contest the medals in what proves to be a fantastic race.
Edinburgh, Bristol & Durham
Bringing up the rear will be Edinburgh, Bristol and Durham. Edinburgh have been tucked away under Scottish Covid restrictions recently but put in an impressive performance to make the A final at Marlow, placing fourth out of the student eights present. Bristol have shown some of their best form with a strong performance at Met Regatta this year, and are now stepping up having won bronze in Intermediate Eights in 2019. Although Durham have been beaten by Newcastle, it was only by a canvas at Durham Regatta and they’ll have high expectations of pushing the top crews.
Despite the year we’ve had I think that Men’s Championship Eights will be as exciting as ever. It’s clear everyone is raring to go and keen to see how they stack up after such a long period without being able to see where they stand. With travel restrictions in place, it’s likely that international crews will be heavily limited if not excluded completely from Henley Royal Regatta, meaning whoever wins this event at BUCS Regatta will be the favourites for the Temple Challenge Cup. My bet is on Oxford Brookes to repeat their numerous titles but after that who knows… only time will tell!
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