The Championship Eights A Final at the Metropolitan Regatta is always a sight to behold. Often featuring a mixture of top club, university and junior crews, it’s a fascinating matchup of varying styles, ages, experience levels, and physical strength. With Henley fast approaching on the horizon, racing is always fierce, and rivalries play out across the category. Stakes are high, and they’re only getting higher.
The regatta plays out across two days, with the same events run separately on each day. This year, as is generally the case, the Saturday edition of Champ Eights is a much more stacked affair, with some fantastic speed at the top end that will likely throw up some very interesting results. The Sunday is a somewhat smaller affair, but certainly doesn’t lack for talented crews.
This preview will focus on the ‘main players’ on each day, with a top-three finish prediction included.
SATURDAY
Oxford Brookes University
It goes without saying that Brookes will be a force to be reckoned with at this regatta, and as the summer progresses. The enviable system that’s been developed there has routinely produced world-class crews – an unbelievably impressive feat, given the strength and talent of squad newcomers is nothing compared to, say, the intake of top-level US universities. Brookes has become exceptional at building units that are far greater than the sum of their parts. That being said, there are some real standout athletes populating these boats, many of whom have BUCS, Henley and international wins to their name.
The top eight here will likely be their Ladies Plate eight, with the second and third being Temple crews. They will undoubtedly be setting their sights on a 1-2 finish here, but there’s an outside chance they could manage the 1-2-3. At the International Wedau Regatta in Duisburg a few weeks ago, Brookes managed to put two eights comfortably in front of the Pink Palace, with the third eight posting some relatively similar times to Leander. There is, then, a real opportunity here for Brookes – one that they will be keenly aware of.
Leander Club
Coming off the back of an impressive Ladies Plate win in 2022, Leander have posted some strong results thus far this season, but seem to be struggling to match the ferocious pace set by Brookes. They’ve no dearth of talent – mainstays like Dan Graham, Tom Ballinger and James Vogel are joined by strong newcomers like Oxford Blue Josh Bowesman-Jones and UW Varsity oarsman Matijis Holler – but they don’t seem to have yet hit their stride. They’re still chopping and changing the lineup, and will grow in strength and stature as Henley looms – particularly if they are rejoined by any guys that don’t make the Caversham cut. That being said, I think a strong performance here will be vital to give Leander the confidence they need to continue stepping on as the summer progresses. If Brookes manages to put several eights in front of them, it will be a severe blow.
Durham University BC
Durham‘s rise this year has been really impressive, and watching them receive the Victor Ludorum at BUCS was a beautiful moment – vindication for a program that has struggled for many years; testament to the strength of culture that has been built in the past few seasons. That being said, the spectre of Brookes is always looming, and the chances that the Palatinate will be able to dispatch the Brookes top boat are virtually nil. That doesn’t mean, however, that a win in the Temple is off the cards. Durham did manage to take 2nd at BUCS in front of Brookes II. Of all domestic universities, they have the strongest chance of dethroning Brookes. And, of course, there are a limited number of Brookes’ top athletes who are even eligible to compete in the Temple, now, given prior victories. There is space and opportunity, here, and if Durham can get a nose ahead of Brookes II this weekend, everything will be to play for.
Other programs
Edinburgh University BC are on decent form this year, and are coming off the back of a 5th-place finish at BUCS. They won’t touch the podium here, but they’ll certainly have sights firmly set on the A Final. They won’t have it particularly easy, though, with some strong junior crews thrown into the mix. Notably St Paul’s School have entered their silver-medal winning 1st VIII, and Head Coach Bobby Thatcher will no doubt already be devising a strategy to pull off the famous St Paul’s Henley peak. King’s College School, Wimbledon are also entered here, and will want to give their Tideway rivals a run for their money.
Cambridge University BC have a lightweight eight entered, and they’re a strong squad this year, dominating the Lightweight Boat Race and winning a host of medals in lightweight categories at BUCS. They’ll certainly be in the hunt for an A Final spot. University College Dublin BC are the sole Irish representatives here, and always show up with good pace in these pre-Henley regattas. They’ve got some really experienced athletes still in the program, like Rowing Ireland’s 2022 senior rower of the year David Somers, and will be keen to see how they stack up ahead of Henley. Molesey BC are entering the summer racing fray here, too, with an eye towards the Thames Cup. They may well have the pace for an A Final finish.
Prediction
The clear pick for 1st is Oxford Brookes I, and I’m going to go with Oxford Brookes II in 2nd, with Leander 3rd.
SUNDAY
A smaller affair, Sunday will see Durham, Edinburgh, Molesey, two UCD crews and Green Templeton, Oxford face off. It will be a vital opportunity for crews that fall short on Saturday to have another crack, or indeed for other crews to re-establish dominance. The biggest battle will likely be between Durham and Edinburgh, but Durham have been pretty comfortably ahead of their Scottish counterparts all season, and I can’t see that changing now. UCD won’t have the speed to match Durham, but will be snapping at the heels of Edinburgh. Molesey remains a bit of an unknown quantity relative to these crews, but their ambition will certainly be to win. It will be tough for Green Templeton to hang with the pack, but if they can keep themselves in the race, that will be a great result.
Prediction
Durham in 1st, with Molesey in 2nd and Edinburgh 3rd.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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