Championship Eights at Marlow is always a real cracker of a race, attracting top domestic talent and some overseas crews. It’s a real test of speed for the boats as they look toward the looming Henley Royal Regatta, and success here can be the difference between being seeded or not – crucial if a crew is looking to have an easier ride to the latter stages of the multi-day competition.
There’s a fascinating mix of club, student and junior crews at Marlow that can make proceedings rather unpredictable, but there are definitely some clear-cut standouts in the entry list that I’ll detail here. At the end, I’ll offer a prediction of the top three finishers.
Leander Club
Leander Club‘s top eight are entered here under Leander ‘B’. It’s an incredibly talented crew – one of the finest Leander Ladies Plate crews in recent years – with a great combination of power and technique. Workhorses like James Vogel and James Robson are backed up by real technicians like Ryan Todhunter and Felix Drinkall, and it looks like the massively experienced and decorated sculler Jack Beaumont is sitting at bow for Marlow. They’re probably the crew to beat here, though the other standout crew – Oxford Brookes – will be hot on their heels. Last time the two eights met was at Ghent Regatta, where Leander very narrowly pipped Brookes to the post, after generally lagging behind the students through the winter. If Leander can put out a dominant performance at Marlow, I think they’ll be looking pretty hot for the Ladies Plate in a few weeks’ time.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Oxford Brookes continue to operate at the very top of British rowing, despite the vast majority of their top talent having moved on since last year. This years’ student eight is a young crew that had some massive shoes to fill, but have done so with aplomb, and are clearly looking to right some wrongs from Henley 2021, where the student portion of the Brookes squad fell short in some tough races.
With athletes like Matthew Heywood, Jake Wincomb, Toby Lassen and Miles Devereux at the helm, they’re certainly in safe hands technically speaking, and this crew like so many Brookes crews before it is defined by that characteristically savage rhythm – a rhythm that makes them really formidable. These boys are clear favourites for the Temple, and if they can take down Leander here I think there’s little that can stand in their way.
Molesey BC
Molesey always produce some strong units and have had a good season thus far. They have yet to field this exact lineup, and I think it will be a particularly strong one from the boys in black and white. With some real talent in the middle of the boat – Theo Darlow recently established himself as a top U23 at GB Trials and Tom Worthington is likely still riding the high of his win in the PA with UL last year – they won’t be lacking in experience and Rufus Tilt will no doubt bring everything he learned from Brookes to his rhythm in the stroke seat.
While I don’t think these guys will have the speed to match Leander and Brookes, they’ll still be one of the quickest crews here, and if they’re going for the Thames Cup a great result here will stand them in really good stead.
University of London BC
UL have one of their quickest eights in recent memory, and they’ll be looking to continue to close the gap on Brookes from BUCS as they look towards the Temple in a few weeks. They’ve got the personnel to have a real crack this year, but it’ll take a favourable draw and a lot of speed gained in a fairly short space of time. Still, with athletes like Isaac Workman and Tom Cross on board, and the kind of tenacity only gained through perpetually rowing on the Tideway, they’ll be strong contenders.
Edinburgh University BC
Edinburgh have a strong senior men’s sweep program this year that saw a strong performance at BUCS, finishing fourth just behind two Brookes eights and UL. Edinburgh looks to potentially be prioritising the Temple, so will be looking to see how close they can run UL here. With Brookes slightly less stacked than in previous years and crews like Edinburgh and Durham finding themselves with their strongest squads in years, the Temple should be a really fantastic event this year – and that’s not even factoring in the myriad US university crews that will likely be coming over this year after the COVID-induced hiatus.
University College Dublin BC
UCD are coming over as Irish University Champions, and have already showed some serious speed relative to top English crews. At Met Regatta a couple of weeks ago, UCD were just two seconds behind UL in a really tight race in Championship Eights. The boys from UCD are fiery racers with a real point to prove, and I expect them to have taken what they learned from Met and to have really built on those foundations in the lead up to Marlow. They may well surprise some people this weekend.
University of British Columbia, CAN
UBC are one of the most consistently successful Canadian university programmes and are entering here as Canadian University Champions from 2021-22. They’re a strong club that has fed both Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race squads over the past few years, but they lack the recruiting power of the big US universities below them on the continent.
It will be interesting to see how well they can mix in here. UBC always produces some powerful, physical crews, so I expect their raw strength to serve them pretty well in this field. Whether they can hang with top UK university crews remains to be seen.
Others
There are a few other entries to watch in this field, including Newcastle University, who have had a tough season thus far but will be looking to close the gap to some of the other UK universities.
On the club scene, London RC will be looking to build on a fairly successful season thus far and build towards a strong showing in the Thames Cup, though Vesta RC will be hot on their heels.
Also in contention is Oxford Brookes ‘B‘, who will no doubt be one of the fastest university crews in the category.
There are also a host of top junior crews that will be in the mix, including King’s College School, Shiplake, St Paul’s School and St Edward’s School. Australian juniors The King’s School Parramatta will be looking to contribute to the great history of Australian schools in the PE come Henley.
All these crews conceivably could make the ‘A’ Final at Marlow, which makes this race a really exciting prospect.
Prediction
This will undoubtedly be a fantastic display of top-end rowing, and I’m sure the competition will be close run and fierce. I’m going for Leander Club ‘B’ for the win, with Oxford Brookes University ‘A’ very close behind and Molesey BC in third.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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