With only six entries into this event the race format will be time trial for lanes then straight to the A final, which begs the age old question of how crews approach the time trial. If conditions at Holme Pierrepont are as bad as they can sometimes be, a good lane could be the difference between victory and defeat. The Women’s Championship Coxed Four is an interesting event because some universities will prioritise this event and others will prioritise the coxless four which is on the same day.
Newcastle
The Newcastle crew is listed under the name of Katherine Bulmer. Katherine has been a stalwart of the first eight for years, and was President of NUBC for a couple as well. This looks like the same crew which raced at Durham Regatta and beat rivals Durham by a margin of ‘easily’. Assuming, therefore, that this is Newcastle’s top boat for the day, they will be right at the front of the pack and aiming for nothing less than gold.
UL
The University of London entry is stacked with the best student athletes currently at the club. Isobel Powell was part of the crew which took the win at Met Regatta in the Women’s Championship Coxed Fours, beating local rivals Tideway Scullers. These athletes were also part of the crew that came second in Women’s Eights at Marlow, topping the rankings of university eights and finishing twenty seconds ahead of the next crew they face at BUCS which is Newcastle. While this eight was partially made up of non-students, it certainly bodes well for the UL women in general.
Oxbridge
The Oxford and Cambridge crews entered haven’t raced at Met or Marlow, and as ever on the face of it are wildcards since at BUCS you never know whether it is the university squads coming or college crews. Stroke of the Cambridge crew, Rebecca Dell, was in Blondie for this year’s Reserve Boat Races indicating that these athletes are from the main light blue squad. Therefore they should have some speed but how much is still unknown, although it’s unlikely that they will be able to take it to the likes of UL in this race. Similarly, stroke of the Oxford crew, Sara Helin was part of Osiris for the Reserve Boat Races. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see these crews in the mix but we can only wait to see how quick they actually are.
Durham
We haven’t seen much from the Durham women this season, the only result to go on here is that margin at Durham Regatta vs Newcastle. Based on this alone you can probably count them out of the medals, however there has been plenty of time to gain speed between then and now, so it’s still all to play for, albeit likely not at the front of the field.
Oxford Brookes
The final entrant, the mighty Oxford Brookes. The listed stroke Taylor Caudle was part of the crew which won Women’s Championship Eights at Met on the Saturday and third on the Sunday with what looks more like a full student crew. In this event Brookes beat the aforementioned UL crew indicating their comparative speed, at least in eights. This four has not raced before, so it will be very interesting to see how they stack up in the smaller boat against rivals UL and Newcastle.
My prediction for this event: UL to win, followed closely by Oxford Brookes and Newcastle. However there are no slouches in this event, all six crews have the potential to be very quick, it’s just a matter of who moves the four the best and who has the best race on the day.
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