BUCS Regatta 2024 – Women’s Championship + Intermediate Lightweight Single Sculls Previews

With little opportunity for lightweight racing so far this season, BUCS Regatta is one of the first and largest domestic opportunities of the season for women under 59kg to race each other. Littered with high-calibre athletes boasting international experience and extensive success in different disciplines, these events attract the pedigree of university scullers. With no specific eligibility criteria separating the championship and intermediate categories, the times of the scullers in different categories can overlap, making for exciting and unpredictable racing.

All scullers will race over a 1500-metre time trial, with all championship crews progressing to the A final, whereas the intermediate scullers will be seeded into finals based on their time trial results.

Championship Single

Sam McCormick, Queen’s University Belfast BC

With only one competitor, Sam McCormick of Queen’s University Belfast, returning to the event from last year, the racing in this category will be one to watch. Medic and former captain of QUBLBC, McCormick has excelled at BUCS in recent years, most recently winning two silver medals in the lightweight intermediate quads and championship coxless fours at BUCS Head in February. Queen’s have been known to perform well at BUCS and have nurtured top scullers, including Molly Curry, who has represented Great Britain at both the Under 23 European and World Championships along with top talents such as Rachel Bradley and Ellie Cooke. Training and competing with such a pedigree suggests that McCormick will have been trained to a top standard, and she is no stranger to racing the single scull. In 2022, she won the intermediate category by eight seconds, leading her to enter the championship event the following year, where she took fourth place. With experience under her belt and another crack at the event this year, her sights will be set on winning yet another BUCS medal to add to her collection.

Hazel Wake, University of Oxford BC

Another competitor with an extensive racing portfolio is Oxford University’s Hazel Wake. Throughout her career, Wake has demonstrated her versatility in sculling, sweep rowing, and on the erg, where she managed to qualify for the World Indoor Rowing Championships in 2021. Wake has been a part of two Lightweight Boat Races, raced in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, and in 2022, narrowly missed out on a place in the A Final in this category at BUCS. These races have all shown a common theme: Oxford being overpowered by Cambridge. But with no representation from Cambridge in the field this year, will it be Hazel Wake’s chance to come out on top?

Lara Brittain, Loughborough Students RC

With a competitive advantage that sets her apart from the rest of the field, German international athlete Lara Brittain, who rows for Loughborough University, will be well equipped to handle the tricky conditions often found in Nottingham. Currently studying towards a PhD, Brittain boasts 12 BUCS medals and will be looking for a lucky number 13. Well regarded in the under-23 sculling world, Brittain’s career includes representing Germany at Duisburg Regatta in 2023, reaching the finals of the Haslam Trophy for championship lightweight double sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta, and being the women’s captain at Reading University for back-to-back seasons. Brittain won bronze in the intermediate category last year and is another member of the pack to have moved into the championship category. With an impressive haul of four medals last year, Lara Brittain will be aiming for a solid first BUCS for Loughborough.

Laura Bates, University of Leeds BC

The winner of the Fiona Dennis Trophy for aspirational single sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta 2023, Laura Bates of Leeds University, will be vying for a podium finish. An experienced sculler in the lightweight category, Bates raced in the intermediate category last year, placing fourth. She went on to represent Scotland at the Home International Rowing Regatta (HIRR), celebrating three medal finishes in lightweight sculling events. Displaying her breadth of experience, Bates is the only competitor here to have raced the prestigious and unique Wingfield Sculls, meaning she is unlikely to be rattled by the biblical conditions that often prevail in Nottingham.

Heidi Taylor, University of Gloucestershire BC

Heidi Taylor, representing the University of Gloucestershire, is a new face in the student lightweight rowing scene. A fresher this year, Lancaster has celebrated high-place finishes at Junior Sculling Regatta and National Schools’ Regatta, events stacked with international athletes and GB Rowing Team trialists. Taylor’s experience of sculling on the Tideway, having raced at Pairs Head last October, is very likely to benefit her at the National Water Sports Centre, where the ability to handle the treacherous conditions separates the fair-weather rowers from the seasoned professionals.

Izzy Lancaster, Reading University BC

Gusty and wavy conditions should be no match for Reading University’s Izzy Lancaster. Lancaster is the only athlete here with considerable experience in beach sprint rowing, having competed twice for Great Britain in the World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals, most recently winning gold in the Under-19 Mixed Double Sculls. At her first BUCS Head earlier this year, Lancaster won gold in the women’s championship quads, proving herself to be one of the fastest student scullers at present.

Predictions

In a field of high-calibre athletes, each with their own assets to set themselves apart, it is difficult to single out a clear favourite. Personally, I think that the combination of a home water advantage, coupled with years of high-quality sculling training at Reading and international experience, highlights Lara Brittain of Loughborough as the top contender for gold. With the experience of this category under their belt, I believe that the tussle for silver and bronze will be between Sam McCormick of Queen’s, Hazel Wake of Oxford, and Laura Bates of Leeds, though with a field of fresh faces, it could be anyone’s game.

Intermediate Single

Erin Meredith, University of Birmingham BC

The women’s captain at the University of Birmingham, Erin Meredith, is sure to be a strong contender in the intermediate lightweight singles. This is Meredith’s third time racing in this category; in 2022, she rowed through Reading University in the final 500m to claim a bronze medal but only managed a fifth-place finish last year. Later in the season, Meredith went on to reach the final of the Fiona Dennis Trophy for Aspirational Lightweight Single Sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta. This was the last opportunity of the season for university lightweight scullers to race, and with the eventual winner having entered the championship category, Erin Meredith looks set for success.

Leonie Kennedy, University of Surrey BC

Leonie Kennedy of the University of Surrey came away with a silver medal in this event last year, and with winner Caroline Rijkse of Durham University not challenging for the title this year, Kennedy will be hoping for gold. Dubbed the ‘stellar Surrey siblings’, Leonie and her twin sister Sacha were selected for the European University Sports Association Rowing Championships 2023 after a strong performance at BUCS Regatta. At Henley Women’s Regatta last year, Kennedy was knocked out of the Fiona Dennis Trophy in the semi-finals by Birmingham’s Erin Meredith. With another chance to race each other this weekend, will Kennedy seize the opportunity to overturn this result?

Claire Cooper, University of Cambridge BC

Having recently come off a Lightweight Boat Race win, Claire Cooper from the University of Cambridge will be looking to continue her winning streak. Challenged by the University of Oxford’s Indigo Buckler, it will be a battle of determination and spirit to either solidify or overturn this result.

Hannah Milnes, De Montfort University BC

Last year, De Montfort University’s Hannah Milnes placed thirteenth in the time trial, just missing out on a place in the AB Semi-Finals. With BUCS controversially removing semi finals from intermediate events this year, Milnes will have to get it right the first time if she wants to secure a place in the coveted A Final.

Prediction

With the majority of the field new to racing single sculls, the speeds of these scullers are uncharted territory. Due to their abundance of experience, I expect Leonie Kennedy of Surrey and Erin Meredith of Birmingham to take the gold and silver medals. With a number of other competitors from the Universities of Nottingham, Exeter, and Queen’s Belfast, the bronze medal could well be the most sought-after.

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