The showpiece event of the whole regatta for the open categories, is undeniably the Championship Eights. As the first major event of the season, this may act as an initial marker in the relative speed as the season will evolve towards the height of summer. But this weekend, no one will be worrying about that. Instead, all eyes will be focussed on earning the title of British University Champions for the year along with the bragging rights that only a win in a championship category can earn.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
The biggest fish in the university rowing pond, Oxford Brookes have won this event at every BUCS Regatta since 2013, and this year year will go for their eleventh title in succession. Last season was another one of great success, winning the men’s Victor Ludorem by 90 points without racing in sculling boats or in pairs. They would go onto win seven events at Henley Royal Regatta, including all three student prizes.
But this year there were murmurs that something was changing: persistent flooding at Wallingford, some top athletes going downriver to Leander – things were ripe for an upset. But at the Head of the River Brookes showed their cards: they may have lost the headship but with four crews in the top ten and three more in the top forty they certainly remain the premier university program for male sweep athletes in Europe.
They race two crews this weekend, the first of which largely resembles the ‘B’ crew which placed third overall at the Head of the River with a few athletes from their second placed ‘A’ crew. The second crew draws mostly from their sixth placed ‘C’ crew. This crew was the only Brookes representative in the University category and won comfortably by 17.3 seconds. This sort of commanding performance makes clear that the only thing in doubt is whether Brookes will be able to repeat the one-two finish from 2021.
University of London Boat Club
With the largest student body of any playing institution, the University of London can always be counted on to put out a good showing. On paper, last season was not great for them as injury forced them to withdraw from this event and both their ‘A’ and ‘B’ Temple Challenge Cup crews drawing the eventual finalists at Henley Royal Regatta, but there is little evidence they were lacking in overall speed.
With much of the rainfall this season they have been limited in their racing opportunities with only two major datapoints. They showed significant improvements from Hammersmith Head by the Head of the River, placing as the second fastest university crew and twelfth overall. This race will be an opportunity to see if they can continue to gain speed as they will aim to be the biggest thorn in the side of the burgundy behemoth and claim a medal in Nottingham.
Durham University Boat Club
Durham University are somewhat of an enigma this season, as their form has been all over the place. They successfully defended their title at BUCS Head after being ‘best of the rest’ at the BUCS Regatta, however at the biggest event of the head season, they were shadows of their former selves, sliding to the seventh best university crew and 26th Overall. This result seemed to line up more closely with their Rutherford Head performance in December where they were 21 seconds behind the Newcastle crew.
In their favour is that Durham has a reputation for peaking at BUCS as the University Sports Union prides itself on its position in the overall BUCS Points standings. However, the level to which they fell at the Head of the River worries me and it may be just too much ground to recover if they are wanting to compete for medals at the front of the field at Holme Pierrepont.
Newcastle University Boat Club
After a disappointing 2023 season by their lofty standards, Newcastle University completely reworked how their program operated and seemed to be getting great results out of it. They ended the calendar year with a win at Rutherford Head against a strong field and followed it up in February by nearly completing a sweep of all of the men’s sweep events at BUCS head, only missing out in the championship eight, with their second crew being the third fastest of all the crews on the Tyne.
Venturing south, away from their home water, they did not have quite the success. Fourth university and 19th overall is not quite what they would have been hoping to achieve, given the speed they had been showing earlier in the winter, but is still a respectable performance. They will be wanting to improve on it this weekend as they would want to solidly place themselves as a crew of medal-winning quality.
University of Edinburgh Boat Club
The third of the northern high-performance trio, the University of Edinburgh too have been up and down this season. They finished between the two at the Rutherford Head but then behind them both at BUCS Head. The positives they drew from that race was that the second eight was too close to the first so there was speed to be found. A bout of seat racing across all six divisions of the Inverness Winter Head plus an apparently near-religious devotion to the telemetries throughout the race allowed them to shine at the Head of the River. They placed as the third university crew and 13th overall at the event. The question remains as to if they will be able to carry these advantages into the short, combative world of regatta racing as they aim for a medal in this event for possibly the first time in their club’s history.
Imperial College London Boat Club
In recent years, Imperial College London’s performance has been somewhat mercurial. After a down year in 2022, last season provided rays of hope for the black, blue and silver. Second at BUCS Head and fourth at the regatta previewed a season that ended with a semi final appearance in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
However, this year’s performance does not seem to be an upswing. They were fourth in the championship eights at BUCS Head before only making 30th place on home water at the Head of the River. This slide will be concerning if they are looking to build upon their performance last season to fight with the designated high performance centres, but this weekend’s opening of the regatta season provides an opportunity to change their course.
University of Bristol Boat Club
Since announcing their presence by winning all three intermediate men’s sweep events at the 2022 BUCS Regatta, the University of Bristol have begun to position themselves at the top table of the sport. They won the intermediate eights at the BUCS Head in 2023 before stepping up to championship level, achieving a respectable A-final appearance at their first visit.
Despite losing talisman Robbie Prosser this summer, they have continued their ascent. At the Hammersmith Head, they were just 2.5 seconds behind the University of London before taking 25th overall at the Head of the River, ahead of both Durham and Imperial.
They flirted with an entering this eight in the intermediate event, but common sense prevailed and they will test their mettle against the best of the best this weekend and will be looking to build upon their performance from last year.
University of Nottingham Boat Club
The home team from the University of Nottingham are also racing in the championship category this weekend, having done so last season. That outing was not terribly successful for the boys in green and gold as they missed out on making the A-final. Steadfast in their commitment to compete at the top level, they raced again at the championship level at BUCS Head, finishing behind five intermediate entries. 39th overall at the Head of the River suggests that they may be overmatched again this weekend but will be looking to put on a good performance for their home support.
Predictions
Death, taxes and Oxford Brookes to win the men’s championship eight. The only predictions for me to make are who will make up the rest of the medals. With no northern power truly in ascendency and a neither tideway crew looking overly reliable, my guess would be that Brookes will compete the one-two. For bronze, the University of London are probably the best of the rest.
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