It’s interesting to compare the two academic events, the eight and four, to attempt to work out who out of the top players is aiming for which event. Traditionally the elite programmes aim for the eight, and it seems most of them have opted the same way this year. Interestingly, this event was not fully subscribed this year, leading to a rather funny-looking draw, in which five crews will get a bye to the second round through seeding in the time trial.
Brookes
At BUCS Brookes won the Women’s Championship Four and Eight, making these athlete ineligible for the aspirational events at HWR. Still, they have entered crews in both the four and eight for HWR, so the question will be can they still win despite having to work down their pecking order to fill the crews? Brookes didn’t enter a B boat in this event so only time will tell how quick this crew will be and whether it’ll be a true contender.
UL
Coming second to Brookes in both the four and eight at BUCS may have been the best thing to happen for UL’s HWR chances. With those top athletes from Brookes out of the mix UL can still enter their top student athletes in the aspirational category. However, it’s looking likely that the eight is the top boat, meaning the four would be the B boat. I would still bet on UL to be competitive, as their second eight won Intermediate Eights and came away with the 1-2 in Intermediate Coxed Fours. Presumably the AA4- for HWR will be made up of some of these athletes.
Imperial
Imperial College London do not have an entry in the eight, clearly stacking this event with their top student athletes. IC came fourth in the Women’s Championship Fours at BUCS, but with athletes from Brookes and UL not featuring, Imperial could work their way up the rankings to have a real chance in this event.
Cambridge
Cambridge had an absolute stormer at BUCS Regatta, winning the women’s Victor Ludorum. Their coxless four won bronze ahead of the aforementioned crew from IC, in theory putting this crew at the top of the ranking without UL and Brookes. CUBC do not have an entry in the eight, meaning this crew could be very strong indeed.
Some other noteworthy crews include: Newcastle, this boat presumably being the second boat to their eight; NUI Galway, who we haven’t seen so far this year but are typically pretty strong; Exeter, if they have prioritised this event over the eight could be strong.
Difficult to predict this event without knowing who is in the crews from each club, however, if I must, Cambridge to win the final over UL, with Brookes and IC making the semis.
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