All eyes turn to Dorney this weekend as regatta season hots up. In the women’s championship quads, club and university crews face each other for the first time this season, with the Metropolitan Regatta an important marker in the lead-up to Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regattas later this season. Saturday and Sunday will see different draws as clubs pick and choose which event and days to prioritise.
Leander Club
Fresh from a two-week training camp in Banyoles, Leander are only entered to race on Saturday. The camp will have been an integral time to put in some solid training time and finalise selections. Leander’s sculling line-ups have chopped and changed this season, with no combination yet emerging as fastest. At Wallingford earlier this month, both their ‘A’ and ‘B’ crews were beaten by Molesey, a stark warning to begin the regatta season. At Ghent, Leander’s ‘B’ crew posted a huge performance, placing second on the Saturday, beating Leander ‘A’ by ten seconds. This was followed by a reversal on the Sunday, with the ‘A’ crew back in front. Whether we can read too much into this is unclear, but if Leander are certain of their intentions at Henley Women’s and Henley Royal, a big performance by their ‘A’ boat is needed this weekend.
Queen’s University Belfast
A handful of university crews race against each other again this weekend, a month after BUCS Regatta. Queen’s Belfast makes the trip to Dorney, having placed second in the intermediate ‘B’ final in Nottingham earlier this month. With a similar crew racing this weekend, it will be interesting to see their improvements and how they compare against the likes of Nottingham and Bournemouth University. The former is only entered to race on Sunday; their fourth-placed finish in the intermediate B-final at BUCS makes for some close racing between these academic crews. Two Bournemouth crews are entered on both Saturday and Sunday. Their ‘A’ crew made the intermediate C-final at BUCS and Met will be a hugely valuable experience for both boats.
Bath University
Following a strong showing at BUCS, Bath enter this event hoping to continue their impressive form. The crew is a mixture of their ‘A’ crew who placed fifth in the championship final in Nottingham, and their ‘B’ crew who placed third in the B-final. This combination should be fast enough to put them in the top three both days, and could lead to some tight racing between themselves and Sunday’s Reading University crew.
Reading University
In the absence of their top athletes, Reading’s crews look to be a slight step down from their top boats. Saturday’s crew is a similar boat to the one that placed fifth in the intermediate C-final at BUCS Regatta. If this is the case, they could be in for some close racing against academic counterparts Bournemouth and Queen’s Belfast. Sunday’s crew should be close to the one that placed second in the BUCS Champ final- they will surely be looking for the win.
Notable Mentions
A number of club crews are entered this weekend, a heartening sign for club sculling in this country. Globe appear to be the strongest crew and could compete for top three placings. At Poplar Regatta two weekends ago, they stormed to victory, beating Mortlake Anglian and Alpha by 17 seconds. Twickenham opened their regatta season at Wallingford, placing sixth in the B-final, whilst Tideway Scullers, Cantabrigian and Durham have not yet raced a quad at a multi lane event this season.
Prediction
With Leander only racing on Saturday and in the absence of top crews from Reading and Molesey, I expect them to place first and second. Bath should grab third place. Sunday looks to be more unpredictable. I expect Bath and Reading to have a tight tussle, with Reading edging it. Third place is wide open; it would be exciting to see Globe beat the likes of Nottingham University and Queen’s Belfast, but it’s all to play for.
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