It’s the middle of September, schools are back, universities across the country are gearing up to welcome millions of students for the coming academic year, and so too, are their rowing clubs. BUCS have tentatively released dates for their head and regatta, giving clubs a much-needed target as they begin what will be a unique autumn and winter. While the current climate means that things could change at any moment, many university squads are hitting the ground running, while Covid-19 related restrictions may hamper others.
It’s no surprise that, once again, Oxford Brookes are looking strong this year, having widely publicised their return to training at Wallingford. However, unlike any other year, they seem to have had an influx of athletes at the U23/senior level, with big names including Tom Digby, Freddie Davidson, and David Ambler, amongst others all joining the club. These high-profile athletes have been seen rowing at Brookes, presumably as either a substitute for their respective U.S. teams or in an attempt to break into the GB Rowing Team. It’s not clear if this has extended to the women’s squad as well as the men’s, but rumours are that many female athletes at this level have recently joined Leander Club. Whatever the reasons, it looks like Brookes are setting themselves up for perhaps their most successful year yet, which is saying something! The rumours are that the club could be entering the Grand, Ladies, and Temple at Henley, an idea which once seemed to be nothing more than tow-path gossip.
Some other top universities have notably taken to the water, Newcastle, Imperial, UL, Bristol and others have all posted photos of their crews enjoying time in crew boats after their extended summer break. North of the border, Edinburgh has been slowed by the Scottish Rowing restrictions, yet have been out in small boats, which is unlikely to affect their performance in the long run. Looking to the Blues, Oxford has returned to crew boats, whilst the newly unified Cambridge hasn’t given away any clues on their return to the water. It’s too early to tell how each is looking going into this season, and at least at this stage, no new “all-star” athletes have been revealed, so we can only assume it will be another hotly contested series, as the 2020 Boat Race was expected to be.
The clubs above all enjoy a great deal of support from their universities, who will have helped them in getting back on the water; many also have their own land training facilities, including large erg suites and S&C gyms, which on top of large boathouses and extensive fleets of boats allows greater flexibility for training. Clubs who do not receive such support are more likely to struggle with Covid-19 restrictions, potentially having to satisfy the whims of organisations such as Students’ and Sports’ Unions, where performance sport may not be a priority. Therefore, over the coming year, we may see the gap between these types of clubs widen, with high-performance programmes coping well with restrictions, enabling them to train more effectively than the rest.
There is a lot of uncertainty over events such as Fours Head, Rutherford Head, and the University of Bristol Head, so it looks like the first real test of most student crews will be BUCS Head in February. This event is a long five months away, but it’s a safe bet to say that Newcastle are the favourites for the overall Victor Ludorum, with the event once again being hosted on the Tyne. Based on last year’s haul of medals, Reading will likely pick up silverware in every sculling category across Championship, Intermediate, Beginner, Men, Women, and Lightweights. Edinburgh will contest for the Women’s VL and, if they attend, we can expect UL to be amongst the medals in both Men’s and Women’s Championship fours and eights. A host of other universities including Bristol, Bath, Nottingham, Exeter, Glasgow will surely aim to break into the medals in selected events as well.
To look beyond BUCS Head at this stage is really a stretch, when between now and then we have months of training, the force of two seasons, and the looming potential for a second lockdown. As with the rest of the sporting world, all we can do is hope for a continued return to the world we once knew.
John
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Photos by Fergus Mainland
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