BUCS Regatta 2021 – Women’s Championship Single

With 17 entries this event is one of the largest championship categories at the regatta. Unlike some other events, there will be stiff competition just to make the A final, and some excellent scullers will miss out on the opportunity to race side-by-side. Some familiar names in the start order and rivalries which will carry over from other events mean that this event will be one of the most exciting at this year’s BUCS Regatta.

Reading

Starting with the sculling pros, Reading have two scullers entered this year, the same two who are competing in the double, Rachel Heap and Olivia Morgan. It’s unclear who out of the two is the ‘top’ sculler but I would bet on both of them to make the A final given the speed of their double. It would be a big upset not to see a sculler from Reading on the podium so it’ll be interesting to see how they perform individually versus in the crew boats.

Edinburgh

Just like Reading, Edinburgh have entered their double as individual scullers. This intra club competition pits World Class Start athlete Perri McCluskey against Jane Hardie of John Higson’s EUBC senior women’s squad. Both have been through GB Trials and will be aiming high in this event, but who will come out on top?

Queen’s

Fiona Bell from Queen’s University Belfast is without a doubt the most experienced athlete in this field. She has rowed at senior level for Great Britain as part of the development squad and has previous BUCS medals to her name. She will be targeting this event for a strong performance and it’ll be a challenge for the opposition to compete with her.

Cambridge

The Light Blues have two entrants to this event, with Abigail Parker (daughter of the famous Harry Parker) and Bronya Sykes both racing in the victorious Blue Boat at this year’s Boat Race they are both quality athletes. What will be interesting to see is how they’ve maintained and built on this form over the last couple of months and whether they can move the single as well as an eight.

Oxford

For the Dark Blues, Julia Lindsay is entered, an athlete from their Blue Boat this year. Lindsay won the B final of Women’s Championship Singles at Met Regatta placing her very much in the mix against many of the other scullers who are also competing at BUCS.

Worcester

It’s fantastic to see an entrant from Worcester this year, a club which doesn’t usually feature in the championship events. Sarah Ferris is a strong sculler demonstrated by her performance at Met Regatta where she finished third in the A final of the Women’s Championship Singles ahead of Abigail Parker from Cambridge.

Making up the rest of the entrants are athletes from Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, Durham, Loughborough, Manchester, Oxford Brookes, and Royal Holloway. It’s encouraging to see such variety in the clubs entered and such a quality field of athletes. Prediction for the top three: Fiona Bell of Queen’s to win, followed by Jane Hardie of Edinburgh and Abigail Parker of Cambridge. That said, the A final will be close and other than Fiona Bell all bets are off on who will take the medals.

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John Laurenson

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