With many categories a Met, this is the first chance to see up close how crews are shaping up going into the Henley regattas with only a few weeks left to prepare. Alas, this is not one of those categories – there is no event at Henley Royal for men’s academic coxless fours – the two events on offer instead for eights and coxed fours. Therefore, the entry list in this category is fairly thin, and likely that these crews are either lower ranked crews from each club or crews that are doubling up in eights on one of the other days.
Dublin University BC, IRE
One club we don’t see a lot of in the UK but are definitely to be noted are Dublin University. They have two crews entered in this category on Saturday in addition to a couple of coxed fours and eights, indicating to me that these crews are not the top boats or perhaps the eights are splitting into fours in what would prove a pretty tough day for the athletes. Coming off the back of the Irish Rowing University Championships where they competed against the likes of University College Dublin (who have a crew in the same event on Saturday) and University of Limerick (who are entered in this event on Sunday), it’ll will be exciting to see how they fare against crews from the UK.
Durham University BC
Again, Durham have entries on the Saturday across the eights and coxed fours, indicating that at the least this will not be a priority event for the club. They are having a good year so far under the leadership of Rob Dauncey bringing them back towards the top of the university rankings having languished behind some of their rivals in recent years.
University of London BC
With the single entry in the event on the Sunday, it looks like the UL crew will be doubling up in the eight as the listed strokeman is the same. As the club won the Prince Albert last season it’s highly likely that they will prioritise the eight this year, and after a good performance at BUCS they seem to be in contention for that event. Doubling up in the coxless four is a bit puzzling, then, however it could simply be a strategy to get some more racing in the legs and perhaps pick up some silverware.
Prediction
On the Saturday I expect the top Dublin University boat to win with Durham and University College Dublin behind. On Sunday UL should take the win with Durham and then perhaps Nottingham in third.
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