BUCS Regatta 2024 – Monday Review

As the sun sets on the National Watersports Centre, BUCS Regatta 2024 comes to an end. 2,500 students from 71 institutions will disperse back across the country with regatta season well and truly underway.

All the singles and the eights events were dealt with earlier in the weekend, leaving fourteen champions to be crowned in the doubles, pairs, fours and quads today. Highlights of the day included grandstand finishes for the minor medals in the intermediate fours, quads and doubles.

Open Beginner Doubles

JRN Prediction: None

Actual Result: Liverpool, Queen’s Belfast, Bath

Doubling-up from the single yesterday, Josh Knight of Liverpool won his second gold medal of the weekend, though this second win was harder-fought, as the Queen’s Belfast pairing kept the Liverpool crew honest down the track, before a late wobble from Queen’s saw them fall back. For bronze, Bath were in a race of their own ahead of Exeter and Plymouth.

Women’s Intermediate Lightweight Pairs

JRN Prediction: Cambridge A, Surrey, Cambridge B

Actual Result: Cambridge A, Surrey, Cambridge B

A commanding victory from the Cambridge crew that saw Katy Hempson, the seven seat from this year’s Goldie crew, return to her roots to race as a lightweight in this event. Behind them, it was a closer affair as the Surrey crew managed to hold off the second Cambridge crew in the race for silver.

Open Intermediate Lightweight Pairs

JRN Prediction: Oxford A, Edinburgh, Oxford B

Actual Result: Edinburgh, Oxford Brookes, Surrey

This was first win of the weekend for Edinburgh, outside of the beginner women’s cohort, as the pair of Andrew Wright and Aidan Matthews established a strong lead from the start. Despite being challenged by a late surge from Oxford Brookes – who came within a length – the Edinburgh pair held onto their win, pushing Brookes into silver. Behind them were two crews from Surrey, with the nominal ‘B’ crew of Max Williams and Oscar Borley winning the bronze.

Women’s Intermediate Fours

JRN Prediction: Surrey, Cambridge, Newcastle

Actual Result: Oxford Brookes, Glasgow, Newcastle

Another confident win for Oxford Brookes as their women stuck around for Monday’s racing, claiming gold with a length of open water ahead of a three-way tussle for the two remaining medals. It was Glasgow who won that battle, picking up silver by half a length over Newcastle. Oxford fell back somewhat, but were ahead of Bristol and Edinburgh, whilst a poor time trial for BUCS Head winners Surrey banished them to the B-final.

Women’s Championship Coxed Fours

JRN Prediction: Oxford Brookes, Cambridge, Durham

Actual Result: Oxford Brookes, Durham, London

Six entries, random lane assignment and protagonists on opposite sides of the lake meant this race was always going to be a good one. Oxford Brookes managed to win the race by two lengths in the end over Durham, whilst the the bronze medal was decided in a photo-finish between University of London in lane two over Edinburgh in lane six.

Open Intermediate Pairs

JRN Prediction: Newcastle, Durham, Bristol

Actual Result: Durham, Bristol, Exeter

A remarkably close race through the top half, this event ended up being decided by who had the most left in the tank. The Durham pair of William Morgan-Jones and Charlie Warren didn’t let off the gas until they reached the finish, securing gold. Bristol and Exeter meanwhile dropped back following some issues with steering, forcing them to settle for silver and bronze respectively. For fourth, the Durham ‘A’ pair edged out Strathclyde by half a length.

Open Championship Pairs

JRN Prediction: Durham A, Edinburgh B, Durham B

Actual Result: Edinburgh A, Durham B, Oxford

When it rains, it pours: after no wins for the Edinburgh men all weekend, they won their second race in half-an-hour. The pair of Josh Matthews and Murray Bone won the time trial and avoided the semi-finals, something they greatly benefited from as they defeated the Durham pair of Calum Betteley and Dominic Newton by just 1.2 seconds, a crew that had raced and won that repechage a few hours previous. Bronze was won by the University of Oxford as Jackson Hardin and Gabriel Reynolds rose from the defeated Isis crew in March to the podium in Nottingham, ahead of Newcastle.

Women’s Intermediate Lightweight Quads

JRN Prediction: Queen’s Belfast, Surrey, Nottingham

Actual Result: Queen’s Belfast, Nottingham, Surrey

A tight battle in between Queen’s Belfast and Nottingham as they traded the lead, despite being three lanes apart, all the way down the course. Ultimately, it was Queen’s who won gold, upsetting the home team and winning the race by just a canvas. This battle pulled them away from the rest of the field, with bronze medallists Surrey 12 seconds behind at the finish, followed Cambridge in fourth and Glasgow in fifth.

Women’s Championship Coxless Fours

JRN Prediction: Oxford Brookes, University of London, Cambridge

Actual Result: Oxford Brookes, University of London, Oxford

In their final medal race of the weekend, it was more of the same from the imperious Oxford Brookes as they dominated a top-class field to win by at least a length of open water. For silver, it was a tight battle won by the University of London who held off a late charge from the University of Oxford, who had to settle for bronze with a crew built on their blue boat. In fourth, Imperial pipped Durham to the post by two tenths of a second, with Newcastle in a distant sixth.

Open Intermediate Quads

JRN Prediction: Reading, Queen’s Belfast, Bath

Actual Result: Reading A, Reading B, St Andrews

Mirroring what Brookes achieved in the sweep boats, Reading demonstrated unqualified dominance in this event as they sauntered down the course to pick up the gold and silver medals. Instead, the race for bronze was where the excitement lay as the Queen’s Belfast scullers were given a taste of their own medicine as the St Andrews University quad demonstrated a fantastic sprint to beat the Northern Irish setup by three tenths of a second. Sussex will be happy with a fifth place here, flying the flag for another less-established program, while the fourth fastest quad in the Reading boathouse still managed to reach the A final.

Open Championship Quads

JRN Prediction: Reading, Bath, Queen’s Belfast

Actual Result: Reading, Queen’s Belfast, Durham

And Matt Long completes the triple! Adding to his championship golds in the single and the double, the Reading crew he stroked allowed him to win the top prize in all three heavyweight sculling events, the first athlete to do that in two years. Queen’s University Belfast capped off a very impressive weekend with a silver, ahead of Durham who managed a narrow win over Bath for the bronze medal. In fifth, Nottingham got the better of Loughborough by less than half a length to wrap-up a series of close races further down the order.

Women’s Beginner Doubles

JRN Prediction: None

Actual Result: Bath, Edinburgh, Queen’s Belfast

Getting revenge for the singles on Saturday, Bath were able to upset the Edinburgh party as they won the beginner doubles. A solid row from the very start allowed Izzy Langley and Freya Ridge to take the final beginner gold of the weekend back to the performance development academy. Edinburgh were nearly overturned for silver as a late charge from Queen’s Belfast cut the advantage to just half a length as they crossed the line. Durham managed to finish fourth, leaving two more Edinburgh duos to round out the field.

Women’s Intermediate Doubles

JRN Prediction: Durham, Bath, Reading

Actual Result: Hartpury, Durham, Exeter

It was a dominant performance here from the Hartpury duo of Chloe Sheppard and Ellie Dash, silver and bronze in the intermediate singles yesterday. They quickly established an early lead and sat on it all the way down the course to claim gold. The race for silver meanwhile was electric, as Exeter, who initially seemed secure in their silver medal, were overhauled by Durham and barely held onto bronze less than a tenth of a second ahead of Nottingham. Reading finished close behind that tussle with Gloucestershire, rounding out the field more than 30 seconds behind fifth.

Women’s Championship Doubles

JRN Prediction: Reading, Durham, Edinburgh

Actual Result: Reading, Bath, Birmingham

In the final medal race of the weekend, it was a demonstration of dominance from Reading’s Ellie Cooke and Zara Povey as the premier university sculling centre in the country won the final by over seven seconds. In a tight race for the other medals, Durham were in second most of the way down the course but slipped to fourth as they were overhauled by Bath and Birmingham who won silver and bronze respectively.

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