It’s that time of year again, when the sun starts to shine bright and rowers from across the country flock to Nottingham for BUCS Regatta. Last year’s regatta was rescheduled to late June, more or less the time when Henley Royal usually takes place, adding to the unusual – albeit much needed at the time – summer of racing.
The Men’s Championship Single event is one of the blue-riband events for the regatta, while not quite as much so as the eight or perhaps quad, we usually do see some of the country’s best scullers taking part. As such, taking this title will be on the bucket list of many young and aspiring scullers coming through the ranks.
While there haven’t been many opportunities to see these scullers in action, the recent GB final trials give us a good idea of who to watch out for. With nine entries it will be an unlucky three scullers who miss out on the A final with the rest having a shorter day of racing instead.
Nathan Hull & Ross Corrigan
These two athletes hail from Queen’s University Belfast, not a programme which we often see at smaller domestic events but when they come to BUCS we know they will bring quality with them every year.
While not competing at trials this year, Hull has previously been well amongst the top of the country’s U23 level scullers, competing at the European Rowing U23 Championships in 2019 and again in 2021 (rumoured to have been selected for Worlds but one of the athletes not allowed to travel due to COVID-19 related circumstances). An interesting tussle will ensue between teammates Hull and Ross Corrigan, former Irish international at U23 level.
Angus Pollock
The winner of the Men’s Intermediate Single at last year’s BUCS Regatta, Angus Pollock of Bath University is making the step up to the top level event. With a decent performance at the recent trials coming in as the fifth-fastest U23 sculler, he will be keen to make his mark on this event as well. Pollock was part of the Bath University crew which made the Saturday in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup at last year’s Henley Royal Regatta, which will have been valuable experience in addition to that which he has gained this year. With many of the athletes in this event not taking part in trials, Pollock will have a new set of athletes to set himself against.
Mike Simpson & Cameron Kemp
Although they both represent Edinburgh University, both Simpson and Kemp are part of the World Class Start squad based at Strathclyde Park and coached by Tom Young. At last year’s BUCS Regatta, Kemp placed fourth in the B final, and will surely be looking to improve on that this year. Having been on the scene for a few years now, these athletes will be seeking results to prove themselves in such an important boat class for the Start programme.
Aidan Thompson
Another World Class Start athlete but this time from the Twickenham centre, Aidan Thompson is also coming off the back of a decent performance at trials, winning the C final. At last year’s BUCS Regatta he finished first in the B final of this same event, with another year under his belt I would put him as a contender to reach the podium.
Prediction
It’s hard to tell this year with no stand-out entries as we have seen in previous years. I would bet that this means it will be competitive just to reach the A final and within that for the medals. I predict that both the athletes from Queen’s Belfast, Corrigan and Hull, will take the top two spots on the podium with Aidan Thompson coming in third.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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