The premier event for all universities at HWR is the Aspirational Academic Eights, or The Colgan Foundation Cup. With only two academic events at the regatta – the eight and four – this is the favoured one, with 22 entries, where only 16 will qualify, versus 11 for the four, all of which will race beyond the time trial.
UL & Brookes
After the results at BUCS Regatta, the victorious Oxford Brookes crew is no longer eligible to compete in this category. UL, who finished behind them in second, will therefore be favourites to take this event. The two crews were a long way ahead of the rest of the field, and assuming the UL crew is the same as the one which competed at BUCS, the rest of the entrants will be hard pressed to beat them. With two crews entered in the event, I would bet on both of them to qualify, with the A boat going all the way and the B boat going through a round or two.
Brookes should not be counted out though, although their top students are now ineligible – and will presumably race in Championship Eights or in other boats – we have seen the depth in the Brookes squad time and time again. I doubt the crew competing in this event will be able to beat UL but they could certainly go through some rounds and maybe even make the final.
Newcastle
A little off the pace at BUCS – 13 seconds behind UL – Newcastle have some work to do to get back on pace if they want to be in contention to win. Newcastle have played second fiddle to Brookes in this event for a couple of years, consistently making it to the final only to lose out. They have three crews entered, which is very impressive indeed, presumably the aim for the C boat being to qualify from the time trial, the A and B boats should be expecting to go through some rounds. I expect that Newcastle A will make at least the semi-final and although anything can happen on the day, it’s unlikely they’ll have the pace to outrun UL.
Durham
Durham were fourth at BUCS, comfortable ahead of Cambridge but not really challenging Newcastle in front. While still very competitive in these top level events, Durham just don’t seem to have the ability to challenge those top three in the big boats at the moment. A great result for Durham would be to make the semi-final, from there they’ll have their fingers crossed that they meet either Brookes or Newcastle and might be in with a shot at the final.
Oxbridge colleges
Quite a few of the entries this year are college crews from Oxford and Cambridge. While it’s unlikely they will be pushing the top crews, a couple might have a shot at going through a round. This is just speculation, however, in reality their pace is completely unknown without inside information.
To conclude, UL to win this event, but Newcastle, Brookes and Durham will all be aiming to claim it for themselves. The likes of Bath, Exeter, Newcastle B, UL B, are all in with a shout of going through a couple of rounds but we’ll have to see as despite lots of questions being answered at BUCS, many remain unanswered.
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