The Men’s Intermediate Eight at BUCS Regatta is a fantastic opportunity for smaller university programmes to go up against the second and third eights from bigger programmes, offering tight and competitive racing across the board.
As entries have yet to be released, we can only guess at who will be entered here, but based on previous years we have a pretty good idea of who will likely show up.
Oxford Brookes University BC
The big dogs of the British university rowing scene, Oxford Brookes need no introduction. By far the most successful programme in the country over the past decade, Brookes consistently produces world-class crews with an incredibly robust programme that manages to take athletes from all around the country and mould them into the next generation of Brookes superstars. Brookes will likely have a few eights entered in this category – potentially their third through fifth eights as they will have their top two in championship. These will all be quick boats, and whichever one is ranked highest will likely win the contest outright.
University of London BC
UL are the fastest university programme in London at the moment, with some great results to the their name over the past few years. They’ll have a second eight entered here, which is a unit that has performed solidly over the season. They had a good result at HORR to come home as the second fastest second eight (behind Brookes – though there were eight Brookes eights ahead of UL ‘B’). They’ll certainly be expecting a medal here, though other second eights will be hot on their heels.
Newcastle University BC
Newcastle have struggled a bit at the top end this season, which is somewhat surprising for the programme which has, for the last few years, produced some really exceptional crews, and some of the country’s best talent. That being said, their depth has remained strong, and Newcastle ‘B’ is one of the fastest second eights in the country. The rigorousness and sheer difficulty of the programme at Newcastle produces some truly tenacious crews, so I fancy these boys to certainly be in with a shout of a medal at BUCS.
Edinburgh University BC
Edinburgh has been steadily improving over the past couple of years, and are now consistently challenging for top results – from championship down to novice. The Edinburgh second eight has had a good season so far, but were behind Brookes, UL and Newcastle at HORR. They’ll be looking to try and close the gap and potentially scrape into the medals.
Durham University BC
Durham has probably seen the most impressive improvement over the past couple of years at the top end, going from a club that could only really field a decent four to a really formidable programme with the potential to produce a winning first and second eight. Their first eight has continued to impress over the season; most recently, at GB Trials, Durham had some fantastic results in the pairs regatta. Their second eight group has not managed to capture the speed that they showed early in the season back in late 2022, but they’ll be continually inspired by the success of the programme’s top athletes, and will want to make a strong showing here.
Others
There’ll be a host of other universities entered here, likely including Imperial College, who always have decent depth and a great technical foundation, and Bristol, who have really come on leaps and bounds this season. Further entries may come from Bath, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, Heriot-Watt, Lancaster, Liverpool, Loughborough and Manchester.
Prediction
There’s plenty of opportunity for upset throughout the category, but I think the top spot will almost certainly go to Oxford Brookes ‘C’, with UL ‘B’ and Brookes ‘D’ fighting it out for silver and bronze.
Best of luck to all crews.
Five Man
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