Taking place on the final day of BUCS Regatta 2022, all athletes will likely be exhausted, but all those competing in this event will thrive on the chance to put themselves on the line once again to hopefully get their hands on the Victor Ludorum trophy. The Women’s Intermediate Double category provides an opportunity for athletes to show off their small boat ability, and it isn’t uncommon to see results from the bigger boat classes shaken up as technicality becomes increasingly important.
Edinburgh University BC
EUBC has shown itself to be a force in sculling boats as well as in sweep events. They backed up a win in the Women’s Championship Quad at BUCS Regatta 2021 by taking the win at BUCS Head back in February. In addition, this year’s senior squad contains many of last year’s novice rowers who dominated the beginner sculling events at BUCS 2021, with an all Edinburgh final for the Women’s Beginner Single. Therefore, it is no surprise to see that they have multiple crews entered into this category, and all boats will be hoping to demonstrate their ability to perform to the highest level across multiple boat classes and take home as many BUCS points as possible.
Reading University BC
RUBC are known for their sculling, so it is no surprise that they have numerous entries in this event, and presumably looking to get all boats into the top end of the results. With one entry in the championship category, it is likely that some of the girls from their pennant-winning Fours Head crew may be able to race in the intermediate category, in addition to winning the Women’s Intermediate Lightweight Quad event at BUCS Head. This puts them in a strong position to get a medal here. It will be exciting to see how they can transfer their speed into the smaller boat categories, given that there hasn’t been much opportunity for universities to compare small boat speed.
Durham University BC
Going from strength to strength this year, the DUBC women’s squad are becoming a force, particularly in the sculling scene, winning the Women’s Intermediate Quad category at BUCS Head. With one entry, they may have the addition of some crew members from their second placing Women’s Championship Quad.
Prediction
I would expect that there will be extremely tight margins at the top end of this category given the historically large number of entries into this event. With multiple crews from each university, it can be quite hard to predict whether podium spots will be taken by a range of crews, or whether we see one club dominating. The aforementioned clubs are those that I would expect to be in the fight and seen in the major finals at the end of the event.
BUCS Images credit: Drew Smith
Drew Smith Photography
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