For those in the Academic Eights field, the path to Henley leads firmly towards the Temple Challenge Cup. The Met Regatta acts as an important marker on that road, as crews look to develop race experience, as well as catch the eye of not only their competitors, but also the Stewards of the Regatta, who will use these results to inform their choices with regards to pre qualification and selection of crews for the draw. Both days of the event feature a significant entry, so this preview will cover the major names across both days and offer a prediction for both the Saturday and Sunday racing.
University of Bristol BC
One of the standout performers from BUCS Regatta, where they swept all the intermediate level sweep events for men, Bristol come in as one of the major players this summer season. This event sees two boats racing the Eights event, which should mean they have strength in depth within their student base at the club. With standout athlete Robbie Prosser listed as the entry for the ‘A’ boat, and a second eight who were fifth in the B final at BUCS, we can expect both of these crews to be quick.
Oxford Brookes University BC
A name that needs no introduction to the student rowing arena, Brookes bring a single crew to this Academic event, which comes under the name of one of the guys from the silver medal winning Intermediate Eight from BUCS Regatta. With another visit to Wimbleball under their belts and the way the Brookes programme is geared towards racing at Henley, these guys are sure to be ones to watch.
Exeter University BC
A club who are perhaps better known for putting their top athletes into a four for the Prince Albert, this seems to be a year where Exeter have the right ingredients to produce some quick eights. Their semi-final performance to overhaul Brookes and being less than a second outside the medals in the Intermediate Eights final at BUCS as well as a bronze in the Intermediate Coxed Four bodes well for their summer campaign. The speed of their second entry is somewhat harder to gauge, but with a strong system in place, it will no doubt be looking to show the depth of the Exeter men’s squad this year.
Durham University BC
Durham field two eights in the Academic category, again, showcasing the strength and the depth during what has been a season of considerable progress for Durham in comparison to recent years. They picked up the bronze medal in the Intermediate Eights at BUCS with their second eight, with the third eight placing third in the C final of the same event. Both of these eights were beaten last time they raced at Boat Race of the North by local rivals Newcastle, so both head south with a point to prove this weekend.
Liverpool University BC
A club who are very much on the up, Liverpool come off the back of one of their most successful winter seasons to date, with medals and pennants at major events, and this has continued to the summer season, where they produced strong results across the board at BUCS Regatta. Most relevant to this event was their C final win in Intermediate Eights, which bodes well provided they have made a step on over the course of the last month.
Dublin University BC, IRE
Another club who are making the trip over for this regatta, Dublin brings a duo of eights to this event. Having put two crews in the top 40 at the Head of the River Race, and winning Intermediate Eights at the Irish University Championships, they will no doubt be looking to bring that speed to this event. Having done a fair amount of racing within Ireland, it will be fascinating to see how that experience pays off in the multi lane format at Dorney and where they stack up against domestic competition.
Prediction
With big entries on both days, this racing should be close, and with a single time trial sorting crews into finals, there is no second chance for those who don’t get it right in the time trial. My picks for a Saturday top 3 would be Bristol ‘A‘, followed by Brookes with Durham in third (a carbon copy of the top three from BUCS intermediate eights).
As for Sunday, I would call Durham ‘A‘ to win from Exeter, with one of the crews from Dublin rounding out the top three places.
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