Medium Academic Pennant
This is a recent innovation for the Head of the River and offers a pennant for institutions who have finished outside of the top 100 in the previous four years of the race. With that in mind, this section will look at some of the possible frontrunners in this part of the draw.
University of Surrey BC
A name that is becoming more and more of a common sight at events, Surrey will be a strong contender to take this pennant. Their breakthrough came at BUCS last June where they took a superb silver in Men’s Intermediate Eights. This development has continued into this season, where they took a silver in Men’s Intermediate Coxed Fours at BUCS Head, and then were ninth in the eights event. This bodes well for a club who are not afraid of taking on the established names, and a pennant from the Head of the River would certainly enhance this growing reputation.
University of York BC
York will look to be towards the front of the field in the Medium Academic category, and there is every reason to think that they can do this. Having qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley last year, they have kept building on this year. They placed 15th in the Men’s Intermediate Eights event at BUCS Head, as well as racing more locally to York. This experience should stand them in good stead as they come down to London.
Liverpool University BC
Liverpool are another club who fall into the Medium Academic category for the Head. Having won the Academic Coxed Four at the Fours Head, they have already tasted success on the Tideway this season. This was followed by a 16th place finish in the Men’s Intermediate Eight at BUCS Head. This identifies them as contenders here, and with their success on the Thames so far this year they will want to repeat the feat.
Others
The majority of the other entries consist of college crews from the likes of Cambridge, Oxford and Durham, and all will want to get amongst those at the front of the field, but these are three clubs I would expect to be at the front of this classification.
Small Academic Pennant
The same conditions apply for this event as for the medium pennant, with the only exception is that to be eligible for this category crews must have previously been outside of the top 200 finish positions.
There are few clubs who are classified in this category. Once again, the majority are college crews, and clubs of the various colleges and schools within London.
One of the few exceptions to this is Lancaster University. They raced well to a credible finish at BUCS Head in the Eight, experience that will prove key when coming to race on the Tideway. They would appear to be the stand out crew in this event, and one of very few who raced at BUCS Head.
The vast majority of the other crews have not done a huge amount of racing, so making predictions as to their speed is nigh on impossible. However, this pennant is organised in the way it is to give crews of a similar standard the opportunity to race, so anyone could emerge with a strong result.
Lightweight Pennant
This year sees four crews gunning for the lightweight pennant, which is currently held by Newcastle University. As is the way when crews are matched for weight, it will be a battle of boat moving skill and maximising how efficiently these guys hold onto boat speed.
Newcastle University BC
Newcastle University are back to defend their pennant, from 2019, and look to be well placed to do that. They have retained all the crew who took gold in the Men’s Lightweight Coxless Four at BUCS Regatta in 2021, and comfortably saw off Edinburgh with both their crews at BUCS Head in the same event. This crew also took silver in the Men’s Intermediate Eight in the afternoon division, so enter the Head on a high.
Oxford & Cambridge Universities
Oxford and Cambridge have both taken the decision to enter the Head, just a week after the Lightweight Boat Race. Given that both clubs will know this stretch like the back of their hand, this should mean the fight for the pennant will be hotly contested. Being just a week after their main race of the season, both crews will be at peak fitness and technical sharpness, making this an interesting contest versus the obvious favourites of Newcastle. It is worth noting that for the Boat Race, these two boats will have to average 70kg as a crew, and, given the maximum weight for the Head is 75kg per man, they may be a little lighter than the other boats. How much of an impact this may have remains to be seen, but it is a point worth noting.
London RC
The final entry comes from London RC. This is a boat that has plenty of experience, with former Edinburgh University athletes Gregor Maxwell and Matt Curtis, alongside Nathan O’Reilly. London is a club who have been undergoing a resurgence over the past couple of seasons and will look to continue that here. As the local club racing on their home track, they will want to put on a show, and upset the university names in this event, and with the experience of the aforementioned they could do just that.
Prediction
As is always the case with the lightweight events, predictions are hard to make as margins are often amongst the tightest seen, and this will be the case again here. Therefore, much boils down to how well the crew can turn up on the day, and in that respect, the two Oxbridge boats may be best placed to do that. Newcastle have shown form already this season, and with London a club on the up this should be a category to watch, despite the small entry.
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