Oxford Brookes University, Student Men’s Eight
Although their Grand and Remenham Challenge Cup-winning exploits were nothing short of extraordinary, my understanding is that those crews were not entirely ‘student’ eligible. Therefore, I turn instead to the next in a long line of astonishing Oxford Brookes boats. Their Temple Challenge Cup eight looked under severe pressure heading into Henley Royal Regatta – they had a bad run at Marlow just ten days before, losing to Harvard’s lightweights. With a crew change and the final sprinkling of stardust on this stunning program, the Brookes boys took the field to town with a series of superb performances, including reversing the latter result against the Crimson power on the Saturday. Come Sunday, they outpaced Princeton’s 2V to secure a third Temple Challenge Cup in a row.
Oxford Brookes University, Student Women’s Eight
Where their men might have looked vulnerable approaching the apex of the season, the Oxford Brookes women showed no such mercy. They won aspirational academic eights at Henley Women’s Regatta before surging to victory in the Island Challenge Cup two weeks later, defeating crews from Oxford, Cambridge and Newcastle amongst others. This was another vintage display from a squad rapidly becoming as unbeatable as their men and although the depth of the Island was not as strong as in 2023, Brookes could only beat what was in front of them. They did that convincingly to add to a season littered with silverware.
Cambridge University, Student Men’s Eight
This was perhaps one of the best Boat Race performances of all time. Arriving into the event as clear underdogs in the face of what many people perceived to be an Oxford resurgence, Cambridge were tasked with defeating a Dark Blue outfit who had the favoured Surrey bend. They did that in style, outflanking their opponents on the outside of the bend with a bulletproof rhythm. This was their fifth victory in six years and Rob Baker’s fourth since taking the helm. Not finished with what was already a remarkable season, the Light Blues went on to race at BUCS Regatta – winning championship coxless fours – before switching to the eight and winning the Metropolitan Regatta outright. In what originally started out as a campaign for The Temple Challenge Cup, they were bumped up to The Ladies Challenge Plate, making the final and falling to the first Varsity crew from Princeton University.
Newcastle University, Student Women’s Eight
Finalists in the Island Challenge Cup is no mean feat, particularly as this Trophy becomes increasingly attractive to crews from across the world. This Newcastle boat were locked in what felt like a battle for the ages with fierce rivals from Durham University but broke clear in the closing stages of the season to establish themselves as the great pretenders to Oxford Brookes dominance. They were semi-finalists in championship eights at Henley Women’s Regatta, having already defeated Thames ‘A’ in the quarter-finals, before going one better at Henley Royal Regatta to finish a couple of lengths behind Brookes in the final. What makes this crew special is that it would have been nigh-on impossible to predict that their season would scale such lofty heights after they finished in fifth at BUCS Regatta. Such rapid improvement deserves significant praise.
Matt Long, Reading University Boat Club
Was this one of the best-ever performances from a student sculler? To win all three championship sculling events at BUCS Regatta is an achievement for rowing almanacs to acknowledge for years to come and Matt Long’s 23/24 season was not even crowned by this particular result. He also outright won the April GB Trials and raced in Reading’s top quad at Henley Royal Regatta, falling to eventual finalists from Skoll. Considering this is Matt’s debut year as a student, his future is incredibly bright.
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