This weekend the river Tyne hosts a fixture central to the University racing calendar. With crews coming from across the country, this is one of the first opportunities to assess the landscape of student rowing. With a new academic year comes new faces. Those that were previously successful graduate to the club rowing scene and their places are filled by fresh-faced former juniors with a taste for success. Predicting the outcome of early season encounters, for this reason, often relies upon little more than the pedigree of the club and the programme and the results they have achieved success with time and time again. With the top three crews claiming some silverware, the championship quadruple sculls will, for good reason, prove to be fiercely competitive given that there are only four entries to this event.
Reading University BC
Reading University BC is one of the most renowned sculling programmes in the student rowing scene. Focussing exclusively on the discipline, you can always expect their crews to be at the top of the pile. Losing only to Bath University at the Metropolitan Regatta last season, their record speaks for itself. Having taken the gold medal at BUCS head and BUCS regatta, Reading will expect more of the same this weekend against a similar field of competition that they have experienced bettering.
Durham University BC
Racing on home water, Durham University BC will be looking to build upon the success that they achieved on last season’s BUCS circuit. Taking third place at the Head and fourth place at the Regatta, they finished behind the victorious Reading crew on both occasions. Not being a traditional sculling university, Durham will be hoping to close the gap on their competition this weekend by turning bronze to silver in the absence of Bath University BC from the competition. Given that Durham will be one of the favourites for the VL, this could be the difference between winning and losing.
Nottingham University BC
Nottingham finished behind Durham at BUCS Head and the Regatta that followed in the summer. Finishing close to the medal positions, though not close enough, Nottingham are returning for another attempt to take what they believe is rightfully theirs. Another season has passed and this might prove to be the difference when they face a competition that has previously dispatched their best efforts. They’ll be hoping that this is the case. Whatever happens, however, it’s very easy to acknowledge the strength that the Nottingham programme has amassed in just a short period.
Queen’s University BC
Despite not competing in the quadruple sculls last season, Queens are another institution that has an outstanding reputation in student sculling. Returning to England for the BUCS events annually, they achieved a very respectable silver medal in the intermediate version of this event at BUCS Regatta last season. With another winter of training behind them, Queens have decided to make the step up and compete at a Championship level. Whilst the reasoning behind this is unknown, there are noticeably fewer entries than the intermediate event, which already has multiple Queen’s boats. Moving up the fastest of these could prove to be a worthwhile risk when a medal is already in sight.
Prediction
This race should be a thrilling indication of what the season might hold, it’s a shame that there is a notable absence from Bath University BC. The result of this, however, is that our victor should be Reading University BC. The battle between these universities will have to wait until the Regatta at the start of the summer season. Taking gold appears to be a habit of Reading and I don’t foresee that changing with what is a comparatively weakened field. The remaining positions are a lot more difficult to predict. Nottingham and Durham are two programs with little between them and Queen’s are an unknown entity. If I were to make a prediction it would be that there won’t be more than ten seconds between claiming second place, a silver medal, and fourth place, returning home empty-handed.
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