Marlow Regatta is the last major multi lane event of the summer season, and the event that gives the clearest indication as to the speed of various crews before Henley. The Championship Coxed Four event is mostly populated by university crews who are looking to test their speed ahead of racing the Prince Albert with a few club crews which will have their eyes on the Britannia Challenge Cup. All will want to put down a strong marker to establish themselves ahead of June 28th.
Oxford Brookes University BC
Brookes have made it their mission to develop their student base again this year after the disappointment of their Henley campaign last year in the student events. They enter two boats into this event, and the top crew especially looks to be an impressive outfit. They won the Championship event at BUCS Regatta albeit in a different combination and have recently been to Wimbleball Lake as well as choosing to race overseas at Ghent and Ratzeburg. Brookes is a programme that has been very close to success in the PA over recent years and both of these crews will want to show that this is the year they can take the final step in the coxed four as well as in the eight.
Edinburgh University BC
Winners of the PA back in 2016, Edinburgh boat a crew that will feel they have the ability to go all the way again this year. Edinburgh picked up a bronze in this event at BUCS Regatta, one of the medal winning performances that secured the overall VL prize for the university. Since then, they raced at the recent Scottish Championships taking dominant wins in the Open Eights and Open Coxed Fours events, results that bode well as they travel south to see how they fare this weekend.
Newcastle University BC
A name that is well associated with the Prince Albert event at Henley, Newcastle will be looking to prove that they are in the mix again this year, after a somewhat underwhelming season up to this point. All of these athletes are drawn from the first eight including U23 European’s medallist Bruce Turnell. As is their style, Newcastle haven’t raced since BUCS, looking to get a solid block of training under their belts and Marlow will be their one chance to test their speed before Henley. With a point to prove, these guys will want to put their names into contention with a strong showing.
Thames RC
A name that needs no introduction to the club rowing scene, Thames bring a crew who will have eyes firmly on the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley, a testament to the squad depth that Thames boast year on year. In terms of looking at their speed in the four, they won the Championship Coxed Fours on the Sunday at the recent Met Regatta beating a number of well-established university crews in the process. This bodes well for this boat, who will be hoping for a similar strength performance again this weekend.
University of Bristol BC
A club who are rapidly becoming a mainstay of the student rowing scene in the UK, Bristol were one of the standout performers at this year’s BUCS Regatta with their clean sweep of the intermediate men’s sweep events. They have continued to develop this speed in the four, with two second place finishes on both days at Met Regatta. This proves they have a consistent speed over 2km, and they will hope to use the few weeks into Henley to develop their final bits of speed to take the final step up the podium before Henley.
Prediction
In what is an event that is dominated by university crews, this will be very interesting to see the potential pecking order ahead of Henley. Whilst there are other crews entered these are the crews I would expect to see feature in the A final of the event, although with just a time trial to determine the final draw, it is critical that crews get this right with no margin for error. With all that considered I would tip Brookes ‘A‘ to take the win followed by Edinburgh, with Newcastle taking the final podium slot.
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