As with all the events at Met this weekend the Women’s Coxless Fours will be raced with open finals on both Saturday and Sunday. This preview will, however, divide these crews into the Championship, Club and Academic categories they have been entered under and assess crews’ chances in each.
Championship
Leander top the billing for Saturday’s coxless fours event with a standout crew aiming for some big performances this season. Having taken the win at Wallingford, three of the crew raced in Duisburg as part of the British Rowing team, winning the event both days against international competition. Eleanor Brinkhoff has now come into the boat, joining Daisy Bellamy, Amelia Standing and Juliette Perry. All four have had impressive results at trials this season and will be using this weekend as an important step before some bigger races later this season. Expect them to win by a large margin.
Also entered in the Championship category is a Durham University boat with the likes of U23 winning trialists Philippa Emery and Evelyna Davies in the crew. They will look to get as close to Leander as possible and top the rest of the field.
Skibbereen are also making the trip to Dorney from across the Irish Sea. This crew will include athletes such as Mary Knowles, who have already represented Ireland at a junior level and they will gain invaluable experience racing some of the best British crews. The crew will not want to return to Ireland disappointed and will be aiming to get as high on the podium as possible.
Brookes and composite crews from Newcastle and Tyne are also entered. It is unknown what the form of the latter crew is in, but they could spring a surprise; whilst the Brookes boat is unlikely to contain their top athlete it is still likely to be competitive with other crews.
Sunday’s event has a smaller draw than Saturday’s and in the absence of Leander the event is wide open. Durham and Newcastle’s A and B crews are racing, so it could be a shootout between these as to who comes out on top. With Durham’s current form in fours I would expect them to take the win.
Academic
With BUCS champions University of London away on training camp during Met, it will be interesting to see who takes the top academic spot this weekend. Imperial placed third at BUCS and with this being the only sweep event they will race at Met they are surely aiming to emerge top in this category. Durham and Newcastle are also entered, however these crews may be their B or even C boats and are unlikely to be able to match Imperial’s pace. Smaller clubs such as Exeter and Liverpool will also be competing, and with a smaller draw on Sunday it could be exciting for them to see how well they can do against bigger competitors.
Club
Thames are entered in the club category, making them strong favourites to come out on top on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. They placed second at Wallingford to Leander, so are likely to be quicker than any other club crew racing. In an open final it will be interesting to see how far up the field they can place against Championship crews.
Upper Thames took victory in the club event at Wallingford, beating Wallingford by an impressive 8 seconds, with Molesey in third. With more training under their belt they will be looking to improve on this, whilst the latter two will aim to close the gap. Vesta will also be competitive, having a history of strong performances in fours.
Sunday’s event will be without the likes of Upper Thames and Wallingford, which could open things up for different crews. Cantabrigian, Derby and City of Bristol all had strong winter seasons and will want to replicate this in side by side racing. However, it is unlikely that any crew will challenge Thames for top club spot.
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