Having not been held since 2019, first due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then due to bad weather, 2022 will hopefully (weather dependent once again) see the return of Rutherford Head. The Women’s Band 2 Eights category will be a good indicator of the depth of each club’s women’s squad and gives some north of England-based clubs a chance to make their mark on a head race closer to home.
Tyne ARC
With this being their home event, Tyne Amateur Rowing Club will be looking to make their mark in this category. They also look set to have fielded their top sweep boat in this category, with further entries in the B3 and B4 women’s eights fields so I expect a strong result from them against many other club’s second eights.
Newcastle University BC
Unsurprisingly given it takes place on their home stretch of water, Newcastle University Boat Club are boating a strong contingent for Rutherford Head, with their third and fourth eights both set to compete in the B2 category. Not only does this bode well for the depth of the squad this season it shows a good competitive desire from the middle to lower end of their squad which could yield some good results.
Molesey BC
Molesey Boat Club is one of the clubs travelling up from the South for Rutherford Head, with their Women’s B2 Eight being their only entry. They’ll be looking to build on their results from Fours Head and push on to a more local race for them, Hampton Head, the weekend after.
Others
The rest of the B2 category contains predominantly university crews, including University of London , Glasgow University and Edinburgh University, who have two crews entered. UL and Edinburgh both have eights represented in the B1 category, so while we wouldn’t expect their top crews in this category, they should still be competitive.
Prediction
This category is pretty open depending on which athletes and which categories are prioritised by clubs, but it would be great to see the local clubs Tyne ARC and Newcastle University battling it out for the top spot.
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