With a total of nine boats entered from eight universities, the competition for this event has certainly been dialled up a notch from last year. The championship category is a chance for some of the top athletes at the top university programmes to show the world what they are made of, and offers a chance to settle old scores. Will Brookes be victorious in their flagship event once again as they vie for both gold and silver, or will they be dethroned by one of the challenging crews?
University of Cambridge Boat Club
The Lights Blues may have taken an incredible win in the Boat Race just four weeks ago, but this is the first time that we’ll see them battle it out over a shorter multi-lane course against a range of their university counterparts. This is already a well-drilled combination, and we’ve seen time and time again how they can work as a crew, so it’ll certainly be interesting to see how they stack up against the rest of this field. Paddy Ryan’s women seem to be going from strength to strength, and I’m sure a BUCS medal would really top off their season.
Durham University Boat Club
Having taken the gold medal at BUCS Head in this event, Durham will be looking to challenge the like of Brookes, UL and Cambridge to retain their top spot. They’ve had a strong season so far, especially with Anna Grace taking a fourth place finish at final trials with Newcastle’s Holly Youd, and a further three athletes placing well in their respective B Finals. I imagine that Durham will be looking to improve on last year’s bronze medal, and I hope to see them having stepped on since BUCS Head to find further speed over the regatta course.
University of London Boat Club
Having taken silver at BUCS last year behind a formidable Brookes crew, UL will be looking to make a challenge for the top spot and de-throne their Oxford rivals this time around. This is almost an entirely fresh crew for the top boat in purple, and along with the talent and experience of cox Sophie Wrightson, I’m excited to see how they can perform this weekend. There are some exceptional athletes in this boat, including US U23 Anna Scott, and Jessie Martin, who is fresh from a second place finish at Final Trials, and I hope that this crew can pull together to be even more than the sum of their parts.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
It goes without saying that Brookes are hot favourites to win this event, and with two crews entered they’ll not only be looking to take the gold, but silver as well. Despite fairly elusive crew lists for this regatta, it’s a safe bet to assume that they’ll be their usual formidable selves, especially in a field restricted to university crews. Having had two eights inside the top-five finishers at WeHORR last month and taken the gold in this event last year, Brookes will be looking to continue their winning streak and see off any potential challenges from the likes of Cambridge and UL.
Newcastle University Boat Club
With less than three seconds separating them from northern rivals Durham over the five kilometres of BUCS head, the Blue Star boat will be on the hunt for a rematch, with a bid to make the medal table. All the more personal, sisters Scarlette (Newcastle) and Caroline Rijske (Durham) will be lining up alongside one another on the start line in a true test of comparable speed for their respective crews. Having narrowly missed out on the medals in this event last year, I hope to see Newcastle put in a strong performance this weekend.
Predictions
It’ll come as no surprise that I expect Oxford Brookes to take the win in the Women’s Championship Eights, but what I would really like to see is a solid challenge to their security by the likes of Cambridge and UL. For silver and bronze I think there’ll equally be challenges from northern powerhouses Durham and Newcastle, and this will hopefully make for some exciting racing.
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