One of the major focuses of every university programme, BUCS Regatta returns to its traditional point in the calendar over the weekend of the early May bank holiday. The Men’s championship quads will showcase some of the top programmes in the country, attracting entries from five of the household names on the student rowing scene. The fact that this event is raced on the final day of the regatta will provide a stern test of the physiology of these athletes, who will almost certainly have been racing over the first two days of the event.
Reading University Boat Club
No sculling preview is complete without looking at what Reading bring to the party. As a dedicated sculling centre, the Championship Quad is where we can safely say their four fastest athletes will be put. With a settled and hugely experienced coaching set up featuring ex GB Olympians Charlie Taylor and Chris Bartley, Reading will be looking to go one better than their silver medal in this event last year. So far this year, they took gold in both Championship and Intermediate Quads at BUCS Head and have recently done a home-based camp on their stretch down in Caversham. Reading will be looking to be on the podium as an absolute minimum, with eyes on repeating their success from the Head in February.
Newcastle University Boat Club
Defending champions in this event, Newcastle will want to repeat the trick in 2022. With two of last year’s quartet returning, they will have the know how to step up the level needed at the top end of this event. Newcastle’s quad was a fair way off the pace at BUCS Head where they finished fifth, but with a far faster crew entered for the regatta it will be interesting to see how much more speed this will add to their boat. Given that the quad is not the primary focus for Newcastle it is hard to make an accurate prediction as to the speed that these guys will have, but the way that Newcastle train often comes into its own the further into the regatta from a fitness point of view, so these guys will be ones to watch for the podium.
Durham University Boat Club
A programme which seems to be heading back in the right direction under the leadership of Rob Dauncey, Durham will be wanting to prove this with a strong showing at BUCS Regatta. In terms of looking at their form in the quad, they took silver behind Reading at BUCS Head, and more recently had a strong set of results from their contingent of athletes at trials which bodes well for them. This quad seems to have had a fair amount of time together which will be a major advantage on the final day of the regatta in terms of the cohesion that this brings to a crew. With additional input from former GB lightweight sculler Will Fletcher this will be a quad to watch.
Queen University Belfast
Making their regular trip across from Ireland, this Queens crew will be looking forward to seeing how they stack up amongst this field. BUCS Head saw a fully lightweight crew take bronze in the Championship Quad category, which goes to show the quality of crew that is produced by Queens. With this crew entered under the name of Ross Corrigan, and with an entry contesting the lightweight quad, the makeup of this crew as a whole is unclear. However, they will no doubt have some speed to show, and, after a recent camp to Banyoles, will want to get amongst the names from the English clubs.
Edinburgh University Boat Club
The final crew in this event comes from Edinburgh University. The crew is entered under the name of Mike Simpson, a former GB start athlete who will no doubt bring a lot to this particular crew. BUCS Head saw Edinburgh just outside of the medals in 4th place, but with a good set of results from the Head of the River race at the end of March, they are clearly a squad who are in a good place to step on. Given the reputation Edinburgh have for producing technically proficient crews, it will be fascinating to see how they get on this event, but as it often the way it is nigh on impossible to give an accurate prediction as to just how fast they will be.
Predictions
The obvious fact is that this event will be tight, as is always the way with Championship events. I think Reading will have enough to take gold, as this event will have been their focus since September. In terms of the rest of the podium places, I would put Newcastle in silver, edging out the Durham foursome into bronze. However, Queens and Edinburgh will no doubt be fast crews, and what with it being the final day of the regatta, anything is possible.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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