This weekend, the 2K racing season kicks off. Nottingham’s Holme Pierrepont will once again host BUCS regatta – a massive multi-day university championship that sees clubs from across the country battle it out for national titles.
The Championship events at the top of the regatta, while important in their own right, also act as a form guide leading into summer racing. The clubs will be beginning to think about which boat class they’ll prioritise for Henley Royal, and results here may well influence those decisions. This year, as ever, eyes will be on Oxford Brookes. Will the boys in crimson continue to dominate the university field? Will anyone be able to challenge them? Are both the Temple and the Prince Albert Challenge Cups once again virtually as good as theirs?
The Ch4+ should prove particularly exciting, with some top fours entered from a number of great universities who may well have an eye on the Prince Albert as a Henley priority. As ever, I’ll preview the boats that I think will be the ones to watch before predicting a finish order at the end.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes will likely have a couple of fours entered here and will be eyeing a potential first and second place finish. Hitherto the undisputed champions of British university rowing, Brookes have enjoyed a characteristically excellent season thus far, with four eights in the top 8 at HORR (Brookes D still managed to beat every other British university crew). It’s worth mentioning that the top two Brookes eights were not purely student eights – Brookes is a program that integrates non-students for many of the races that they enter – so the Brookes BUCS team will be somewhat weakened. That being said, Brookes’ strength in depth is renowned, and with student athletes like Toby Lassen and Fergus Woolnough leading from the front, I think that these guys will be very hard to beat – as usual.
Cambridge University BC
This Cambridge combination seems to be a mix of Blue Boat and Goldie athletes. Cambridge, of course, are coming off a prediction-defying set of victories in the Boat Race, and, depending on whether they’ve been able to maintain training momentum post-race, may well be coming into BUCS firing on all cylinders. In the past, Oxbridge crews have struggled with the post-Boat Race period, often underperforming in summer racing. Cambridge this year may well be looking to buck the trend. There isn’t much to go on when analysing Cambridge’s speed relative to the wider university field; the Blue Boat was well beaten by Brookes in their fixture, but were much closer a few weeks later to the Leander crew that ended up winning at HORR. Goldie struggled against Brookes in their fixture, but were down a number of guys from their eventual Boat Race lineup. I think Cambridge may well surprise here, and are definitely ones to watch.
Oxford University BC
Oxford have entered a boat here, perhaps with an eye towards exacting revenge on their Light Blue counterparts. The Oxford men have had good momentum all season, but came unstuck in the Boat Race, losing pretty handily to underdog Cambridge units. They’ll be coming into BUCS with renewed vigour, and this looks to be a pretty strong combination of athletes from the Isis boat. Oxford performed better than Cambridge relatively during the fixture season, so these guys may well be in with a chance of a good result here.
Durham University BC
After a great season last year, Durham have come a little off the boil, with a great win at BUCS Head giving way to a disappointing performance at HORR – 26th overall and seventh university crew, behind Brookes, UL, Edinburgh, Newcastle, the Cambridge 3V, and Bristol. This will have been a blow for the Palatinate for sure, and they’ll be looking to rectify some of the mistakes made last month. Generally, Durham put their top guys in the 4+ after rowing the 8+ on the Saturday, and Durham’s top end is undeniably talented. I think this crew will certainly be one to watch, and may pave the way for a strong Durham PA lineup, if a Temple project seems too ambitious this year.
University of London BC
UL have had a bit of an up-and-down season thus far, but have managed some pretty good results with a relatively inexperienced pool of athletes. Their performance at HORR – second place in the university category – will have buoyed them somewhat, though they look to be well off the pace of the Brookes frontrunners. Again, I think UL will probably have their top guys competing in the 4+, and there is some good talent at the top end – I would expect to see these guys battling it out with the likes of Durham for the minor medals.
Other crews
This is very much a usual suspects kind of field, with the category rounded out by crews from Imperial, Newcastle and Edinburgh. There was little between Newcastle and Edinburgh at HORR, with Imperial a little off-the-pace. All of these programs do, however, have a strong top end, and a top four combination from any one of these clubs could pose a serious challenge in terms of getting on the podium. That being said, I think they’ll struggle to get anywhere near the likes of Brookes.
Prediction
Unsurprisingly, I’m picking Oxford Brookes for the win here. I think Cambridge look good for a potential silver, and I’m going to go with Durham for the bronze.
Best of luck to all crews.
Five Man
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