The flagship event at BUCS 2022 for men will be a hard-fought contest between seven of the best university eights in the country. It’s the first big regatta of the season, and while winning here won’t necessarily mean that domination in the summer is inevitable, clubs will inevitably want to make a real statement at BUCS as they look towards Henley. The ramifications of placement here may be keenly felt at the Royal Regatta, too, as boat priorities may be shifted from the Temple to the Prince Albert, or vice versa.
In any case, BUCS this year promises to be an intense affair. With a fairly small entry size, we’re left with only the heavy-hitters, and there are some fierce rivalries at play. The big question that remains to be answered is whether Brookes will walk away with 1st and 2nd like last year, or whether another club can provide an upset. It promises to be a fascinating, exciting race.
This preview will briefly detail every club entered, before making a prediction.
Durham University
Durham is a bit of an enigma. They’ve spent years some way off the top end of university Champ Eights, hampered by a lack of depth and preferring to focus on smaller boats. They’ve had some great individual athletes come through their program, and their top boats have generally been very technically proficient, but they’ve been lacking when it comes to eights racing. This season, Durham has clearly aimed to buck this trend, and they have thus far seen significant success, culminating with a win over crews from Imperial, Newcastle and Edinburgh at BUCS Head. However, their result at Head of the River back in March put them fifth among university entries, well behind UL, Imperial, Edinburgh and Oxford Brookes’ ‘E’ entry. Whether this result is reflective of their speed thus far obviously remains to be seen, but it is an undoubtedly ominous portent. They’ve got some strong athletes in their ranks at the moment, including U23 trialists James Watson-Gandy and Jasper Den Dulk. I remain sceptical of whether they’ll have the kind of raw top end speed needed to compete in this field – a field where, a year ago, Oxford Brookes almost broke 5:30.
Edinburgh University
Edinburgh is another squad that has struggled to crack the top end of the Championship Eights category, despite some strong small boats over the last few years and a Henley win in the Prince Albert in 2016. They’ve had a good year so far, with a strong win at Rutherford Head, and performed well at HORR to take 12th position and come home as the 3rd-fastest university crew – dead level with a Newcastle crew featuring Tokyo Olympian James Rudkin. Bolstered by talented athletes like Henry Pooley and James Doran, the latter of which won gold at the U23 European Championships last year, they are enjoying better speed in the big boat than Edinburgh has seen in a long time. That being said, cracking the podium will be tricky. They just don’t quite have the top end power to match the big boys at the top end of the division, though they may well get close.
Imperial College
Imperial have a strong eight this year that has performed well thus far this season, culminating in a 10th place finish at HORR, behind Oxford Brookes and UL’s student eights. There’s some talent in the squad, with U23 trialists Jake Smith and Noam Mouelle backed up by Imperial mainstay Max Ridgewell. There have been rumours that Casper Woods, U23 silver medallist in 2019 and Imperial’s best talent, may have retired following HORR; his loss will certainly be keenly felt. The crew has a great fighting mentality, and is as technically proficient as any of the best recent Imperial eights, so they certainly have the capacity to fight for a spot on the podium. I think they’ll struggle to surmount the likes of Brookes and UL this year, but with a number of younger athletes in the boat, they’ll look to continue to build and develop guys with a view towards success further down the line.
University of London
After a somewhat inauspicious start to the season, UL have seemed to really find their stride and had a great result at HORR to finish 8th overall. Though they weren’t listed as a university crew – maybe due to a substitution or some issue of eligibility within the crew – they would’ve placed 2nd amongst the universities, 10 seconds back on Oxford Brookes and 10 seconds in front of Imperial. UL have a great top end at the moment, with two returners from last year’s victorious Prince Albert 4+ in the form of talismanic strokeman Tom Cross, and the dependable Isaac Workman, who had a fantastic result at April Trials last weekend with Molesey partner Theo Darlow. They’re backed up by Tristan Wiese, a former Cornell lightweight who has gone from strength to strength at UL and now holds the age group record for the lightweight 5K erg (16:02.0, for those interested). I think UL will be out for blood at BUCS. Those who won Henley last year will still be buoyed by their semi-final against Brookes – a strong crew featuring athletes like Jake Wincombe, Toby Lassen and Cameron Spurling. That race saw UL blast out to a length’s lead, with Tom Cross setting a devastating pace with his strong, back-ended rhythm. While Brookes mounted a savage charge, UL refused to fold past the enclosures, and eventually, Brookes simply couldn’t hang onto the pace set by the London boys. While Brookes will undoubtedly still be smarting from that defeat, UL will have gained significant confidence in their ability to race under pressure, side-by-side. Expect a real battle between Brookes and UL at BUCS, made all the more intense by the fact that UL are rumoured to be prioritising the Temple this year.
Newcastle University
Newcastle have had a rocky season thus far relative to their usual high standards. An early-season loss to Edinburgh at Rutherford Head set the tone for a disappointing performance at BUCS Head, though there have been some decent results from GB trials throughout the season. Newcastle’s performance at HORR was a little more encouraging: 12th place overall, tied with Edinburgh. One can’t discount the fact that Newcastle had Tokyo Olympian James Rudkin along for the ride in the 6 seat, however, certainly giving them a real boost in speed. I would be surprised to see Newcastle that far off the pace come BUCS Regatta, though. They have such pedigree and are so well-drilled by Head Coach Angelo Savarino; their absolute commitment and fierce mentality is a staple of Blue Star crews, and all that will come to play in a much bigger way in side-by-side racing. They’ve got some great guys on the squad at the moment, including Bruce Turnell, coming off the back of a strong Prince Albert 4+ that made the final, as well as the GB U23 4+ at Europeans, and Joseph Adamson, who was part of the GB 4x at the same regatta. While results thus far may put Newcastle on the back foot, they’re always ones to watch.
Oxford Brookes University
The program that needs no introduction. Brookes has become a staple of the top end of British rowing, with student eights that rival national eights. It is a high-performance centre in the truest sense of the term, and has seen an enormous number of exceptionally talented athletes developed under head coach Henry Bailhache-Webb. This year is an interesting one for Brookes. Many of the Brookes ‘greats’ from recent years have now moved on: many have gone to Caversham, some have retired. Brookes have been left with a group of students that are incredibly hungry for a taste of the kind of success that Brookes boats have experienced for the past decade.
Thus far, the current crop of Brookes students haven’t quite experienced the level of success they would have hoped and expected. Despite dominating BUCS Regatta last year, taking the top two spots in the Champ Eights as well as the titles in the Champ Coxless Four and Coxed Four, they fell short in the student categories at Henley, losing out brutally in the Temple and falling short to UL in the Prince Albert. This year, the student crop have come out all guns blazing, and will be buoyed by great results at HORR, as well as against Cambridge and Oxford in pre-Boat Race fixtures. The top students at Brookes at the moment – Miles Devereux, Jake Wincombe and Jack Prior – have U23 GB vests from Europeans, and they’re backed up by a squad of incredible depth with the likes of Louis Nares, Toby Lassen and Jens Hullah. They all have a clear handle on the devastating Brookes rhythm, and the two Brookes entries will be looking to take 1st and 2nd at BUCS, undoubtedly. The question is whether they can right the wrongs of last year at Henley 2022, and take home some titles.
In summary, BUCS this year promises to be a real fight between some fantastic crews. My prediction has to go with a clear win for Oxford Brookes A, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest they’ll be followed by the University of London. 3rd place will go to Oxford Brookes B.
Good luck to all crews.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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