With an ever-decreasing number of lightweight rowing events to enter, and the death of the discipline at an Olympic level, opportunities for lightweight athletes to race within their weight class are dwindling. It’s fantastic, then, that BUCS continue to offer a wealth of lightweight events, at both a championship and intermediate level. These events are always hard-fought, and the intermediate pair in particular is usually a tough showdown.
As always, I’ll preview in detail the ‘main players’ who should have a spot at the podium, before making a prediction on the top 3 finishers.
Oxford University BC
As these guys spend their season training for the Lightweight Boat Race, these guys from Oxford will go into this with plenty of experience racing at weight. The first combination of Dylan John and lightweight president James Mason both rowed in the ightweight Blue Boat that lost to a talented CUBC lightweight eight at the Boat Race. In the second combination, Blue Boat rower Noah Pingul is joined by an athlete from the spare pair, Oscar Williams. Pingul has some good experience rowing in the USA, while both Williams and Mason have both previously rowed with the Oxford lightweights, before the clubs merged this year. I think either of these pairs should have some really good speed, but I would pick the John/Mason pairing to come out on top.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes aren’t generally associated with lightweight rowing, but this combination of Alex Currie and Lewis Nixon should prove to be a strong unit. Both of these guys are experienced Brookes athletes, with Nixon having rowed in Brookes’ Ladies ‘C’ entry at Henley last year, and Currie in the Temple ‘C’. While they may not be at the top of the Brookes squad, there is such depth in the program that any Brookes entry will likely be pretty fast. I’m not sure if these guys will be able to hang with the OUBC pairs, but I would expect a good showing.
Edinburgh University BC
This Edinburgh pair are a strong combination of Aidan Matthews and Andrew Wright. Matthews has had great success at BUCS in lightweight events; in 2022, he was part of the victorious Edinburgh championship lightweight coxless four, and last year he won bronze in the intermediate pair with partner Ben Frohburg, beaten by two very strong lightweight pairs from CUBC. Matthews will certainly be back with a vengeance, and I would venture a guess that this pair may well be favourites going into this race. The battle between them and the Dark Blue pairs will be fascinating.
University of Surrey BC
Surrey have two pairs entered here, either of which could have a stab at making the podium. The program has a pretty good history in small boats, and the guys in these pairs are definitely technical enough to make these combinations fly. The pair of Luke Lyons and Charlie Sinnott combines the junior sculling prowess of Claires Court School BC and Marlow RC respectively, and I see these guys as potentially a faster unit than the other Surrey combination of Max Williams and Oscar Borley.
Newcastle University BC
Always a strong competitor in lightweight events, Newcastle are represented here by James Martin and Rory Mainland. Mainland is Newcastle’s overall president this year, and has plenty of experience with the club. He had a disappointing result in this category last year with partner Alex Millard, finishing fifth in the B final; he’ll undoubtedly want to step on this year in this combination with Martin. I can certainly see these guys challenging for a minor medal.
Predictions
With basically no form guides to go off here, it’s hard one to predict, but I think the Oxford pair of John/Mason will be hard to beat. Behind them, I’m picking Edinburgh‘s Matthews/Wright, followed by the second Oxford pair of Pingul/Williams in third.
Best of luck to all crews.
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