The blue riband event for the BUCS Regatta comes from the Men’s Championship Eights. These crews may go on to look towards the Temple Challenge Cup later in the summer but for now all is focused on securing domestic university supremacy. This event for many will be the first 2000m multi-lane race of the season and will allow some of the fastest eights in the country to go all out next to each other to see how their season may pan out.
Though no entry information is available at the time of writing, many of the prime competitors will be the usual suspects, and some additional information can be gleaned from the BUCS Play app.
Oxford Brookes University BC
For a while now Oxford Brookes University have been the dominant force in British university rowing, and this seems no sign of abating. They have won this event every year since 2014, picking up two medals every time since 2019.
This dominant run looks set to continue as much of this crew are just back from strong performances at San Diego Crew Classic where they pushed the top student eight on Earth. The club also had some encouraging small boat results from GB Trials. These performances as well as strong outcomes in the domestic head season will fill the club with confidence as the second boat will be looking to reclaim the silver medal, they missed out on twelve months ago.
Durham University BC
Durham University have had a great start to the season, most notably seen in their commanding victory at BUCS Head on the Tyne in February. They then travelled down south to the Head of the River Race finishing as third-fastest in the University category and placing fifteenth overall. Over the course of the autumn and the winter they have managed to prove their dominance over all of their northern rivals, but this will be the first opportunity of the regatta season for the Palatinate to measure themselves against the southern juggernauts they were a step behind throughout the head race season.
University of London BC
Like Oxford Brookes, the University of London did not make the trip up to Newcastle for BUCS Head in February, but they have managed to execute a great run of results through the last twelve months. Second place in this event last year was followed by a run to the Friday in the Temple Challenge Cup, pushing the eventual winners closer than anyone else.
In this head season too, they collected a number of positive results including winning the Rutherford Head in December against all three of the northern High-Performance Centres. They then finished only 1.1 seconds behind Brookes in the University pennant at the Head of the River, suggesting some promising results for the Chiswick club, though their rivals will be able to draw reinforcements from those racing in the three open eights that finished in the top five that Saturday.
Edinburgh University BC
The top northern crew in this event twelve months ago, Edinburgh University have not experienced the same high points this season. They lost their headship at Rutherford falling to a third-place finish and also underperformed their bow number at the Head of the River, finishing in sixteenth place. The men from north of the border will be looking to bounce back from these results over the shorter distance.
Uniquely, they have had some domestic racing over 2000m regatta courses already this season as they took a comfortable win at the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta last weekend and will want to carry this positive momentum down to Nottingham this week.
Newcastle University BC
The last non-Brookes institution to win this event, Newcastle University do not look like they are in a position to repeat that feat. A very disappointing head racing season was typified by a forty-four second loss at BUCS Head on their home water. For the Head of the River, even drafting in World Champion James Rudkin could only bring them to a seventeenth-place finish, behind four all-student crews. The signs do not look bright for the Blue Star but they will be hoping that a block of training on the Tyne will help to turn the ship around and challenge with their traditional rivals.
Imperial College BC
Imperial College London had a difficult season last year. They came in last place in this event twelve months ago and all of their student boats were eliminated at Henley Royal Regatta by Wednesday lunchtime.
So far this year, however, they have had a much better results. Travelling up to Newcastle, they had the second fastest boat at BUCS Head and posted a top-twenty time on their home water at the Head of the River Race. Coming into the regatta season, they will not have realistic hopes of medalling but improving on their performances from last year seems very possible for the Putney-based men.
University of Bristol BC
After winning all three intermediate-level sweep events last year, it looks like the University of Bristol are making the step up to the Men’s Championship Eight event this year. The season so far has been full of good results, as they won the Men’s Intermediate Eight at BUCS Head while posting the fourth fastest time of the day. They backed that up squeezing into the top twenty at the Head of the River.
Challenging among the more established programmes in the blue ribband event will be a challenge for Ed Bloomfield’s men but they have the pedigree to make a good showing of themselves this weekend.
University of Nottingham BC
Another institution who look like they are making the step up to championship-level this weekend is the host, University of Nottingham. With this home status they will have all the luxuries they could ask for, but they may still struggle in this field. They also raced in championship at BUCS Head in February but finished last in the event and slower than five crews in the Men’s Intermediate Eight category. With a 42nd place finish at the Head of the River, they seem to be somewhat overmatched after finishing behind second boats from four of their rivals. After only making the D Final in the Men’s Intermediate Eights last year, returning to the championship-level may have happened too soon for the stage development of the programme is in.
Prediction
The safest prediction of the entire weekend comes in Oxford Brookes to win this event, they have dominated it for a decade and the results so far this year seem to indicate that their grip on university rowing is only getting tighter. The University of London seems best placed to challenge the men from Wallingford, but I think they will have to settle for bronze behind the Brookes second boat.
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