All eyes turn to Dorney this weekend as Regatta season hots up. The Women’s Championships Eights will be a keenly contested event as club and university crews from across the country go head to head in regatta racing for the first time this season. Saturday and Sunday will see different draws as clubs pick and choose which event to prioritise. This preview will focus on the weekend as a whole, assessing each club’s individual chances.
Oxford Brookes University
Brookes are in stunning form this season, having already raced at the San Diego Classic, BUCS and the Wedau Regatta in Duisburg. They have recently returned from one of their bi-annual Wimbleball training camps which can only have benefited them as they head into a busy month of racing. In Duisburg they won both days by a respective seven and 11 seconds over domestic and international crews. Their nearest British competitor Leander was left trailing in their wake, so expect a similarly dominant performance this weekend. The Island looks theirs for the taking at Henley Royal in a month’s time, and this is another important step in their preparation.
Brookes’ B crew will aim for second place on the podium, further reinforcing the strength of their eights programme. At BUCS their B and C crews were almost 20 seconds ahead of their nearest competitors in the Inter final, so going head to head against a higher standard this weekend will provide a more exciting challenge.
Leander
Leander’s eights project is continuing to gather pace this season. Having just returned from a two week camp in Banyoles they will likely not be as fresh heading into this weekend as other crews. Their fitness will however be up there and they will back themselves in the latter half of races. Leander will see Wallingford as a solid start to the season, despite the loss to Thames and can only benefit from exposure racing international crews in Duisburg. They will not be able to live with the pace of Brookes’ A boat, having been by them by seven and 19 seconds in the respective finals in Germany, but closing the gap to Thames would be a good result for this point in their season.
Durham University
A number of universities are making their way down South for one of the biggest regattas of the year. Newcastle, Edinburgh and Durham have all traded blows this season and been closely matched in a number of races. At BUCS Durham placed third, with Newcastle fourth and Edinburgh sixth. One month later and in the midst of university exam season it will be interesting to see if these gaps stay the same. I expect Durham to continue to go from strength to strength especially with the likes of some strong U23 triallists in their boat. In the absence of any Brookes’ crews in Sunday’s event at Met, Durham will surely target this race for the win.
Thames
Thames are entered under the “club” category but with Met Regatta raced as open finals they will come up against those entered under the championship event. Another club to recently return from training camp, they will aim to continue their early season dominance and establish themselves as favourites to retain the Wargrave later this season. At Wallingford they beat Leander by 6 seconds after an impressive second half push, with their B crew in third. Whilst their recent outing at Poplar regatta had a weaker field they cemented their strength in depth claiming all three steps on the podium; their A boat winning by 12 seconds. Thames will be the closest competitors to Brookes this weekend, but will not be able to live with the latter’s pace. Expect them to be best of the rest, beating Brookes’ B boat and Leander whilst trying to get as small a margin as possible behind Brookes A. Thames are also racing the Sunday event, whilst their main rivals are not, which could set them up to get another win under their belt.
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