Sport has this peculiar way of closing the loop. After eight years in the wilderness, Holme Pierrepont was decorated in palatinate once again as Durham University took the overall Victor Ludorum (VL) home for the first time since 2015. Under the stewardship of Rob Dauncey, who only joined the Durham coaching staff in 2021, this group are re-established as flag-bearers at the summit of student rowing after topping the women’s leader-board and finishing second behind a remarkable Oxford Brookes contingent.
As always, to fully unpack the coursing narratives present across three hectic days of racing, we need to delve a little deeper than headline results. A healthy combination of old flames reigniting and new stars burning bright made for an enthralling 72 hours as universities from up and down the UK laid it all on the line to earn dividends for a long winter of training.
Oxford Brookes University reaffirmed themselves as the undisputed champions of big-boat racing. Such was their dominance that they finished second in the overall VL despite only racing eights on the women’s side, eights and fours on the men’s side and not competing at all on the Monday. The wax is already rather lyrical when it comes to Brookes precision and proficiency at the highest level of male racing but the improvement on the women’s side – in winning both Championship and Intermediate Eights – has been nothing short of astonishing. “We are absolutely delighted with both the speed of our top Women’s crew and the depth of our team,” commented Women’s Head Coach Hugo Gulliver. “To win Championship Eights by almost nine seconds required a fantastic performance from our women but we’re equally proud of our Intermediate two eights who had an incredible race against each other the whole way down the track to win the gold and silver medals in their category.”
Can anyone stop their inevitable tilt at winning both Temple and Island Challenge Cups in two months’ time?
Under new head coach Ade Roberts, who led the British junior team to their best-ever results in 2017, the University of Nottingham are making broad strides into the big leagues. Ten medals and three golds is a strong return for a club on the rise and in their ranks they’re fortunate to have a brand ambassador as persuasive and powerful as Liv Bates, who collected victories in both the Women’s Openweight and Lightweight Championship Single.
Winners of the overall VL in 2022, Edinburgh University will naturally have been a little disappointed to slip down the rankings to third but a return of 18 medals and five wins is still not to be sniffed at. All of their golds came at a Beginner level, where they won 50% of available categories and medalled in a further three. Their only medal beyond a bronze at Intermediate or Championship level was a silver in the Men’s Championship Lightweight Four.
The University of Cambridge always turn up in force for BUCS Regatta and 2023 saw them finish fourth in the overall VL with a return of 14 medals and four wins. As always, the bulk of their silverware came in sweep events although their win in Women’s Championship Quads will have felt particularly sweet over a really talented Reading outfit.
Reading University are still the only club in the country to be solely dedicated to sculling and they’re beginning to see the fruits of their labour. After a Sunday showing in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta 2022, Reading reclaimed the Men’s Championship Quad title by two seconds over the University of Bath. Their other wins came in Men’s and Women’s Championship Doubles alongside the Women’s Intermediate Single.
It was also really pleasing to see a little diversity on the leader-board, particularly in the Beginner events. Medals were meted out to clubs including De Montford University, Bournemouth University, the University of Plymouth and the University of Birmingham.
There were also a couple of fairly underwhelming performances. The University of London often feature highly in the VL rankings but were consigned to seventh after failing to make good on their obvious potential beyond strong wins in the Men’s Intermediate Eights and Women’s Championship Coxless Fours. The less said about Newcastle University’s fall from grace the better. They were 11th overall, a far cry from the VL triumphs of yesteryear and a long way from where that group will want to be. Focus will now turn to a Henley campaign that remains their last vestige of hope in a difficult season.
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