For the championship lightweight coxless fours event, we have a total of five entries. To qualify as a lightweight at BUCS Regatta, all members within this crew must be below 59kg on the morning of racing. Given the small number of entries, it is at the race coordinators discretion whether a time trial for lane seeding is run, or if all crews proceed to the final.
University of Cambridge
Having recently competed in the Oxbridge boat races as part of the lightweight event, Arden Berlinger, Georgia Gollogly, Katy Hampton, and Lauren Britten will be very used to racing and training together. In a similar boat to last year, these girls placed fifth in the lightweight quad and finished third in the lightweight coxless four category, narrowly defeating Nottingham, who they meet again this weekend.
University of Nottingham
Provisionally, the girls from Nottingham are Kirsty Dalzell, Niamh Cunningham, Sinead Kirk, Tess O’Donnell. They recently placed third at BUCS head and at this event last year were third in the lightweight quad, narrowly missing out to a Surrey crew who return here. They also raced the lightweight coxless four to a fourth-placed finish in 2023, meaning they will be set on grabbing some silverware this year.
Queen’s University Belfast
Kyla Park, Rachel Canniford, Sam McCormick and Sophie Smyth provisionally make up the Queen’s boat this year. Another outfit that featured at BUCS Head, these ladies came in second place in the same category. McCormick and Smyth came together in the lightweight pair at BUCS Regatta in 2023 and finished sixth overall.
University of Surrey
Freya Spurling, Leonie Kennedy and Sacha Kennedy featured in a similar boat that came second last year at BUCS regatta in the lightweight quad and coxless four. Joined by Madeline Egan, this crew were winners at BUCS head in the coxless four in February. The Kennedy twins have spent their whole rowing careers training together and have some strong wins under their belts over previous years.
Predictions
Given the fast line up for this years event, I would say Surrey are my slight favourites, tightly followed by Queen’s then Cambridge. As is so often the case in lightweight rowing, expect fierce competition.
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