The men’s Championship Doubles is always a hotly contested event at BUCS Regatta. It is usually represented by athletes that are also competing in the Championship Quads category, making the standard incredibly high, and this year these five crews are no exception.
Coming off the back of a win in the Championship Quad category at BUCS Head, Reading University have momentum which will carry them into this regatta on a high. Being a programme which focuses entirely on sculling, Reading always perform well in the championship sculling events, evidenced by the fact that they’re the holders of the Championship Double title. They will be looking to replicate in 2022 against some strong opposition.
Arguably Reading’s main opposition for the gold medal will be Queen’s University Belfast. They’re entered under Ross Corrigan, one of Ireland’s strongest U32 rowers, who picked up a silver medal in the U23 men’s coxless four at the World Championships last year. Queen’s Belfast also have a history of coming over to the mainland for BUCS and doing exceptionally well, having won Championship Quads back in 2019.
Another strong programme that will be partaking in the Men’s Championship Doubles is Durham University. They took the silver medal in the Championship Quad at BUCS Head as well as a gold medal in the Championship Eight. Durham have a really strong squad for this year, galvanised by the addition of Rob Dauncey as Head Coach, so I could certainly see them getting on the podium. However, I think the likes of Reading and Queen’s Belfast will be slightly out of reach.
Also entered is Edinburgh University. They’re the leading programme in Scotland and are one of the eight British Rowing High Performance Centres. They finished in joint 12th place at the Head of the River last month, which put them third in the academic category. Off the back of this showing, it’ll be interesting to see what sort of results Edinburgh can produce next weekend. However, similarly to Durham, I can’t see them finishing ahead of Reading or Queen’s Belfast.
Prediction
I think it’ll be close between Queen’s Belfast and Reading for the gold, however I predict that Queen’s will just pip Reading to the win. They’re likely to be followed by Durham in third and Edinburgh in fourth.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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