The academic coxed fours always attracts crews from well-established university clubs as well as rising stars. As the first major head race for many of these crews, this will serve as an excellent opportunity for clubs to size up their competition ahead of an exciting season of head races.
University of Bristol BC
As a club that performs well consistently in the upper echelons on academic rowing, UBBC are aiming to ‘up the ante’ this season in order to add more achievements into their history book. Having entered two crews, it’s safe to assume UBBC are confident in this category: perhaps they will be aiming to challenge the current champions of this event, Cambridge, to set themselves up well for this coming head season.
University of London BC
With two athletes in their crew having attended the November GB trials; their women’s captain Jessie Martin being invited to the prestigious Wingfield Sculls; qualifying two crews for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta this summer; and UL alumni Emily Elizabeth Craig winning the last ever lightweight women’s double sculls race at the Paris 2024 Olympics, UL have copious achievements to fuel their engines going into this event. Racing against the reigning champions and the constituent colleges that make up the University of London, their two crews will undoubtedly be rowing to solidify the standard of this club and assert an early dominance over their London-based rivals.
Swansea University RC
With Cardiff University not entering any crews into the open academic events, Swansea has the opportunity to represent the best of Welsh academic rowing. Having won last year’s Welsh boat race and being one of the fastest non-qualifiers for the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, Swansea are successfully bolstering their portfolio of achievements. SURC will certainly be aiming to continue on this trajectory this coming season. Whilst racing to win may not be the priority of this crew, the experience of racing with long-established elite clubs will give Swansea a clear vision to aspire to. With the high calibre of the entrants in this event, Swansea have set themselves a challenge to be able to keep up with the likes of Durham, Bristol, Cambridge and London.
Durham University BC
A club that sits firmly in the elite level of academic rowing, Durham are always stiff competition in any race they enter. Claiming multiple wins at the Tyne Long Distance Sculls and Tyne United Small Boats head, Durham have initiated the start to their season with the standard expected from this club. Entering without their northern rival contingent (Newcastle University), Durham will be able to compete in this event without threat from their blue star adversaries. Though, this doesn’t mean to say that this will be a walk in the park for them: they will still be under a lot of pressure from crews like Cambridge, Bristol and London.
Cambridge University BC
Competing at this years Head of the Charles River and beating Harvard and Oxford, being invited to race at the Head of the Shanghai River and finishing third behind the national crews of Australia and Great Britain, Cambridge have started of their Boat Race campaign in an international and impressive style. Winning the last two Men’s Boat Races, Cambridge will be keeping their sights set for a hattrick for the 2025 boat race and winning this event (as they did in 2022) will send a clear message to their rivals. However, a lack of knowledge about this crew in particular may make their likelihood of success in this event slightly harder to predict.
University of East Anglia BC
With their men’s coxed four finding success at Stars Autumn Head, Cambridge Winter Head Race and the Isle of Ely Head Race, UEABC have achieved some fantastic results early into this head season. This is sure to give them an advantageous confidence coming into this event, though how they will respond to the competitive list of entrants will remain to be seen.
University of Southampton BC
Regulars in this event, Southampton will know explicitly what it takes to be successful in this race. Having entered three crews in 2022 finishing seventh and thirteenth and one crew racing for time only, SUBC pin their hopes of better results this year on two crews.
Predictions
With this race stacked with highly competitive and reputable boat clubs, this race will demand crews to produce excellent times in order to claim the top spot. With Bristol, Cambridge, London and Southampton all entering multiple boats they’ve given themselves the best chance at being able to do this. However, Cambridge come into this race with a clear ambition to dominate the competition ahead of the boat race to happen in April next year and spook their Oxford rivals. It will take some fierce and powerful rowing to threaten Cambridge’s game plan.
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