With the term now well underway, the student athletes are packing up their lecture notes for the weekend and heading back to the Tideway for the Academic Coxless Fours event at this year’s Fours Head. It’s no surprise that due to the nature of university rowing clubs and their high-turnover rates, we are seeing a fresh batch of crews lining up for this race. Whilst there are some familiar faces returning, we have all-new combinations, so keep your eyes on these crews to see who can pull together and steal that top spot.
University of London BC
Hoping to take full advantage of their homestretch, last year’s event victors ULBC (F) and (G) are recruiting reigning champions – Tilly Ollerenshaw and Ellen Grimes – to make up half of the first ULBC (F) crew, in the hopes of keeping a firm grasp of that title. While not a lot is known about these particular combinations, the high performance centre has been producing excellent results over the past decade, with multiple GB triallists and Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers, to an impressive haul of medals at BUCS Regatta. It’s clear ULBC knows how to put an effective boat together, and expect no less from these two.
Exeter University BC
Emerging from Exeter University (F) is a crew with the potential to present a strong challenge for that winning position. These athletes have been posting impressive performances throughout the year, including Grace Bennett who secured a position as the fifth-fastest novice university crew at Women’s Eights Head of the River, and Rosie Pickles and Eva Ellicock, who stormed through the first few rounds of racing for the Colgan Foundation Cup in the Aspirational Academic Eights event at Henley Women’s Regatta, only to fall short against Newcastle University in the semi-finals. With a mixture of experience of familiarity with Tideway’s waters, it could be interesting to see what happens when these four join forces.
Bristol University BC
Another new combination from Bristol University sees Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers Emily Bernhem and Hannah Lawrie join forces with Beth Taylor and Camilla Loyning. Following a promising performance in the time trials at HWR, Taylor, as part of the Aspirational Academic Eight crew, put up a strong fight with Exeter University in the first heat, which included aforementioned Ellicock and Pickles. Unfortunately for them, a defeat in this race brought a premature end to the club’s HWR campaign after Bernhem and Lawrie, as part of their Championship Eight, just missed out on qualification in the time trials, so they will certainly be hoping to come back stronger in this partial rematch.
Other crews include combinations from Cambridge University (K), Imperial College London (D), Swansea University (C), and Sheffield University (A), all of whom are no strangers to the Tideway. In particular, the Cambridge crew is bolstered by Lightweight Boat Race winners Maddy Jackson and Livia Lisi Vega, who raced and placed competitively at Fours Head last year, marking the start of an all-dominant 2023 Boat Race campaign.
Predictions
It is almost certain the ULBC crews will be vying for that top spot, hoping to keep a firm grip on last year’s title, however, the Exeter University crew could give them a run for their money. With new crew combinations and not a lot known about these crews in general, there is definitely opportunity for some unexpected placings with this event shaping up to be an unpredictable battle for that first touch of the finish line.
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