Holders: Oxford Brookes University
Entries: 80
The Temple Challenge Cup has the largest entry at this year’s regatta. It
features the very best that Britain has to offer going up against the Dutch and
American superpowers. This year’s qualifiers will be particularly brutal with nearly
two-thirds of all crews being booted out of the competition before we reach the
side-by-side showdown on the Tuesday. You’ll have to forgive me for not writing
about all 80 crews but here are 18 greats that we will more than likely see
race between the famous white booms.
Oxford Brookes University ‘A’
A sentence about the Temple Challenge Cup rarely excludes the boys from
Brookes. This programme is interwoven with success and they have walked away
with this trophy five times since 2014, far more than anyone else. This year,
their results speak for themselves. After the majority of this crew came fourth
at HORR, they marched on and claimed an unsurprising gold in Championship
Eights at BUCS Regatta. The summer season continued with second places at Ghent
and Duisburg (behind their club-mates) as well as a third place at Met, leaving
this crew as the undeniable favourites for the title.
University of Washington, USA
If anyone can challenge Brookes, it’s Washington. The Huskies are the
defending champions in the Visitors after squeaking past the British U23 Four
in this event last year. The Huskies performed admirably at the IRA
Championships, placing second in the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eights
and this Temple offering is formed from these two crews. Washington are
synonymous with tradition and they are formidable at Henley. If you hark back
to 2013, the Huskies defeated Poland in the semi-final of the Grand Challenge
Cup only to lose to Great Britain by a length who went on to win the World Championships
a few months later. Fast forward ten years and despite playing second fiddle to
California all season, Washington defeated Australia on home water at the
Windermere Cup and arrive in Henley ready for a rumble.
Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands ‘A’
A Dutch victory is always a sight to behold. The swimmers, the songs, and
the celebrations are never forgotten in a hurry and Nereus’ wins in 2021 and
2015 provided scenes to be regaled for years to come. This Temple ‘A’ crew is
one of three crew boats the historic Dutch outfit are bringing over which
includes a second crew in the Temple and a Visitors four. Results-wise, Nereus
have strung together some impressive postings, which include a first place at
their Head of the River, and some strong showings in Duisburg’s B final which
saw them churn out a 5:46. While this crew may not be as daunting as other ones
that have crossed the channel, anything short of a Saturday berth will be
extremely disappointing.
Harvard University, USA
It’s been a tough old season for the Crimson. Their Varsity Eight failed to
make the Grand Final at the IRAs and their second boat was fourth, missing out
on a medal. At the Harvard-Yale (or Yale-Harvard, depending on which camp you
are in) race a week later, the Crimson could only muster a win in the Third
Varsity event. The crew racing in the Temple sees one change from their 2V that
raced at IRAs. Despite a frustrating season, this crew knows how to win at
Henley and after taking gold at the Eastern Sprints they can put together some mouth-watering
performances. Take Paddy Adams at five – a vital member of the Eton
‘redemption’ eight in 2016 that won the Princess Elizabeth or Josh Brangan
locking down the bow sear after ending 2022 as a junior world champion in the Men’s
Coxless Four. It’s not so long since Harvard won the Prince Albert and this
international melting pot of a crew is packing a real punch in the Temple.
Princeton University, USA ‘A’
This is the undisputed best Lightweight Eight in the United States. The
athletes have a plethora of international experience in recent years and
they’ve won everything there is to win this season, except the Lightweight
Eight at the Head of The Charles – but we’ll not hold that against them. They
won the Lightweight Varsity Eight and Team Trophy at the Eastern Sprints and
went on to repeat the feat at the IRAs just a couple of weeks later. Anything
short of a Friday will hover below expectation and you would be a fool to write
off a bunch of pesky lightweights in a gladiatorial knock-out duel.
Princeton University, USA ‘B’
A word on the Tigers’ ‘B’ boat. Not many boat clubs produce a second crew
that is worthy of a mention (don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Brookes ‘B’
before you start hurling abuse). This is a combination boat of Heavyweight and
Lightweight 2V rowers that won the 2nd Varsity Lightweight Eight at Eastern
Sprints and the IRAs and were the silver medalists in the Heavyweight 2nd
Varsity Eight at Eastern Sprints before winning the Petite Finale for Second
Varsity Eights at the IRAs.
They’re stroked by Jelmer Bennema, Princeton’s captain who raced at the 2020
U23 Euros and also contain a Henley winner in the shape of Charles Miller, who
stormed to victory with Scotch College, Australia back in 2017.
Syracuse University, USA
Whilst recording our special run of podcasts focusing on the US Collegiate
racing circuit, one of the best chats I had was with Dave Reischman who heads
up the men’s rowing programme. He’s coached at the university for over 20 seasons
and in recent years, his athletes have helped propel Syracuse to the very top
of collegiate rowing. He is one of four coaches in the country to guide a
Varsity Eight crew to the IRA Grand Final in each of the last three seasons.
Six of this crew raced in the Second Varsity Eight, finishing third in the
Petite Final at the IRAs, marking the second-straight season the Orange placed
top-ten. The other two plus cox Bricen Nygaard led Syracuse to a fifth-place
finish in the Grand Final of the Varsity Eight for the second straight year and
the whole programme finished eighth in the Ten Eyck Trophy standings which is
awarded to the team with the most combined team points at the IRA Championship.
University of Virginia, USA
Things get a little interesting here. Virginia are a club programme, as
opposed to the varsity teams, so they are run like a British University
programme and they placed fifth at ACRA (the national championship for such
programs). They raced some Varsity programs at Southern Intercollegiate Rowing
Champs and ended up in a ding dong with Jacksonville and FIT (neither of whom
qualified for IRAs in the Eights). The Cavaliers finished roughly nine seconds
back on a Colgate crew who would go on to place 20th at IRA. I wouldn’t expect
to see them progress much further than Wednesday but it’s great to welcome a
range of US universities to Henley.
Colgate University, USA
Speaking of Colgate, here they are. The Raiders are bringing over a crew in
both the Temple and the PA and have regularly made the trip over to Henley in
recent years. Six of this crew were part of the combination that placed 20th at
the IRAs and cox Isabella Jaffe has made the switch from the Varsity Four to
the big boat. Colgate have previously shone at Dad Vails and Atlantic Sprints,
placing third and first respectively at these events. The Raiders may not be as
daunting as your Harvards and Washingtons but they present a fiendish challenge
to some UK crews early in the regatta.
Cornell University, USA
I’m fascinated to see how Cornell gets on because I believe it will give a
strong indication as to where the vast majority of top BUCS Intermediate crews
stack up against their US counterparts. We’re often used to hearing about the
successes of the Cornell lightweights but this time round, they are sending the
big boys. There is only one change to the crew that placed 11th at the IRAs
with junior Alex Bloom getting the call-up to the top boat. Earlier in the
season they won the Championship Coxed Four at the Head of the Charles and
since then have beaten the Naval Academy and Pennsylvania in duels whilst also
recording a 5:40 against Harvard. Big Red are one of the programmes who will be
looking to get through a round or two.
King’s College, Queensland, Australia
In 2021 we welcomed this Australian outfit but they were unceremoniously
dumped out of the competition by the eventual winners, Nereus. Oh, how cruel
the draw can be. This year the Queenslanders are back and they are the
undefeated Head of the River champions at the University of Queensland Colleges
Regatta for the third year in a row. Everyone is familiar with the hype around
schoolboy rowing down under and everyone in this crew has represented their
schools’ first eights at the GPS Head of the River Regatta, which is the
culmination of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales season. In the last
two seasons, some of these rowers have gone on to representational duties at
state and national levels. While junior rowing thrives in competition, it’s
difficult to see how university rowing stacks up against the world when there
is significantly less information available compared to the US or the UK.
Durham University ‘A’
Now onto the Brits…
Durham are flourishing at the moment and they are putting all their eggs
into the Temple basket with three eights entered. Their top boat is one of the
finest palatinate crews we have seen but it was the only Durham boat to win a
race at the Boat Race of the North, which Newcastle won 5-1. This crew placed
second behind Brookes in Championships Eights at BUCS Regatta and blitzed the
Tyne to win gold at BUCS Head. These performances led to Durham winning the
Victor Ludorum trophy for the first time in eight years. As well as outstanding
results collectively, individually their athletes have been brilliant. At April
trials, Gus John and Andrew Mettrick were the third-fastest U23 Men’s Pair and
Levin Gräf was selected to race at the 2022 U23 Euros in the Men’s Quad. The
rest of the UK universities have been the bridesmaids to Brookes when it comes
to the Temple. UL were runners up in 2017, Newcastle reached the Saturday two
years in a row and Durham themselves lost to Washington last year. It would
take something rather special for a UK crew other than Brookes to progress
beyond the Saturday, a trend that Durham are unlikely to buck.
University of London ‘A’
With three boats in the Temple, UL are going all in on the eights. We
haven’t seen what this crew is fully capable of as they had to pull out of the
Championship Eight final at BUCS regatta due to illness. That being said, they
bounced back into life at Marlow Regatta with a fifth-place showing in the A
Final, behind only Brookes. Whether they will get a seed remains to be seen but
UL will have left Marlow feeling dangerous and the rest of the field must sit
up and take note.
Edinburgh University ‘A’
Having been away on a training camp at Loch Oich, Edinburgh missed the final
speed order at Marlow Regatta. Nonetheless, following their fifth place in the
BUCS Championship Eight final which followed a 16th overall finish at HORR in very
similar crews, the Scots have earned themselves a rest on Friday and have
pre-qualified for the main event.
Imperial College London ‘A’
This crew has a pre-qualification spot and features three people from the
first eight that came fourth, significantly off the pace of Brookes in third.
It seems a long time ago that Imperial won the Prince Albert in 2018 but they
were so close to those highs as losing finalists in 2021. Given Imperial’s top
boat is their PA four this year, expectations won’t be weighing down on the
shoulders of this crew but a combination of solid results throughout the season
in a variety of boats should see them through a round or two.
Newcastle University ‘A’
It’s been a testing season for the Blue Star. The top end of the men’s squad
has been usurped by Durham but there remains depth across the squad. The most
recent example of this was on show at Marlow regatta, where Temple ‘B’ beat
Temple ‘A’ by 0.3s in the D Final. However, with 60 crews vying for 13 places
at qualifiers, Temple A should count themselves lucky getting in by the skin of
their teeth, a fate Temple ‘B’ have not avoided. For the first time in a while,
Newcastle got themselves back into the A Final of Intermediate Eights at BUCS
Regatta and their third eight placed second in the B Final. That being said, it
is impossible to ignore the gigantic elephant in the room which is Newcastle’s
omission from the Championship Eights final of BUCS Regatta. Many have written
off Newcastle’s Temple hopes citing the so-called demise of the Blue Star. Half
of their first eight have stepped into the PA for this year’s campaign and
while stern tests await them, their eight best athletes will return in
September. Half this crew have already flipped the script and proven the field
wrong by beating Durham’s second eight at the Boat Race of the North, reversing
their BUCS result. When a Newcastle crew clicks, it is a thing of beauty that
backs itself against anyone in the world. This Temple crew have just days to
click before a baptism of fire given they will be at the mercy of the draw and
highly likely that they will be without a seed.
University of Bristol ‘A’
This was the season Bristol finally stepped up to Championship Eights at
BUCS Regatta. After cleaning up the Intermediate sweep events last year,
Bristol won Intermediate Eights at BUCS Head and they claimed a place in the
Championship Eight final earlier in the year, albeit with clear water
separating them and Edinburgh who came fifth. This crew has continued to build
momentum throughout the season, culminating in a fifth-place finish in the B
Final at Marlow Regatta, making them one of the strongest UK sides outside of
the Brookes armada. Bristol should be confident of making it through a round or
two.
Oxford Brookes University ‘B’
I told you we would get to Brookes ‘B’. The Stewards have been kind and have
granted this crew a pre-qualification spot. It’s no surprise after all these
athletes were inside the top 20 at HORR and were in the A Final of either
Championship or Intermediate Eights at BUCS Regatta (where Brookes came away
with gold and bronze in Champ to go with a silver and bronze in Intermediate).
This Brookes combination has been racing hard on the domestic circuit, coming
11th overall at Met Regatta and with a Henley winner in the stroke seat, this
‘B’ crew can still inflict some serious damage to the vast majority of
university first eights.
Prediction
I am plumping for a Brookes-Washington rematch in the final. It’s a fool’s
errand to try and predict how fast the Huskies will be before seeing them on
Henley waters. Brookes have been doing scary things but if Callahan’s troops
can get their act together and bring the best of that west-coast razzmatazz to
the table, we could be in for a burgundy and blanche battle to the line.
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