The 2025/26 season is now in full swing, and with BUCS Head and February Trials looming, students across the country are knuckling down to both training and their academics. These crews will be looking to lay the foundations for what promises to be a fiercely competitive summer racing calendar and push the boundaries of what’s possible, making the 2026 season one to keep a close eye on.
Reading University Boat Club – Championship Quad
As the premier university sculling programme in the UK, if not the world, Reading University is always one to watch. At the beginning of December, Henley Royal Regatta – in their final step towards gender parity – announced that three new events for women’s quadruple sculls were coming for the 2026 regatta. Previously forced to compete in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup for premier women’s quadruple sculls, I can only imagine the delight felt by the Clams when this announcement was made.
However, this isn’t to forget Reading’s achievements in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup: in 2025, they made it to the semifinals of the event, beating world-class crews in the process. As such, the introduction of the student-specific event gives them a real possibility of winning those coveted red boxes.
Reading’s top quad has already started their season on a high: at Fours Head, they placed second in the championship quadruple sculls, a minuscule 0.3 seconds behind Great Britain’s senior silver world medallists. Ellie Cooke, Meg Knight and Finn Stratton were part of GB’s U23 bronze medal-winning quad at the World Rowing U23 Championships in 2024, and together with Zara Povey, the crew also won the Borne Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta last year with a verdict of ‘easily’. I think this crew has a very exciting season ahead, and their combination of international and national dominance, along with the momentum of their early-season success, will be hard to beat.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club – Championship Eight
Oxford Brookes are reliable performers year after year and are well worthy of mention. Though last season wasn’t a record-breaker for Brookes, they still performed well, with highlights including bronze in the championship eights at BUCS Regatta and victory in the Colgan Foundation Cup for academic eights at Henley Women’s Regatta. The introduction of the Bridge Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta saw Brookes enter two eights into the intermediate category and qualify two for The Island Challenge Cup. Though they didn’t manage to secure a fourth title in The Island Challenge Cup, Brookes made it to Saturday’s racing, the semifinal being one of the races of the regatta, conceding to Newcastle by only one foot. With a refreshed coaching team and a new intake of athletes, Oxford Brookes will aim to take another step forward and regain the dominance they had in previous years.
University of London Boat Club – Top Crew
The University of London started last season well, finishing as the second university crew at Women’s Head of the River Race and winning silver in the championship eights at the BUCS Regatta. At Henley Royal Regatta, UL were the victims of an unlucky draw, facing the eventual winners, Rutgers University ‘A’, who took the regatta by storm, on their first race. This season, with internationally experienced athletes, including Saskia Delray, Jessie Martin and Daisy Faithfull, at the helm, UL should not be overlooked in whatever class their top crew forms.
University of Birmingham BC – Lighweight Double Scull
Although the presence of lightweight rowing is fading, both BUCS Head and BUCS Regatta still offer racing in almost every boat class – something which, now, is few and far between. At BUCS Regatta, Birmingham won a medal in each of the five lightweight categories, with Darcy Smyth and Erin Meredith going on to win the Haslam Trophy for Lightweight Double Sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta. With a particular flair for sculling events, it will be exciting to see Birmingham take on BUCS Head in just eight weeks’ time.
Newcastle University Boat Club – Whole Squad
Newcastle celebrated similar success to Birmingham in their lightweight exploits last season. On their home water at BUCS Head, their championship lightweight four won their category by no fewer than 24 seconds, having competed in the eights in the morning rather than trying their luck against Birmingham in the lightweight quads. At BUCS Regatta, their success continued, with four medals across the categories they contested. At Henley Women’s Regatta, Hermione Brewster and Alice Metcalf won the Parkside Trophy for championship lightweight pairs in dominant fashion, securing themselves as eternal victors, with the category having now been retired. As a new intake of lightweight rowers joins them, Newcastle will be aiming to surpass last year’s success.
Edinburgh University Boat Club – Beginner Squad
While many programmes claim depth throughout their squads, nobody seems to do it quite like Edinburgh. At the top end, Edinburgh’s first eight recently won Rutherford Head, edging Durham University out by 1.4 seconds. Last year, their second eight won bronze in the intermediate eights at BUCS Regatta. However, the true depth is best demonstrated in their beginner squad. For two consecutive years, Edinburgh has managed to qualify three eights for The Island Challenge Cup, a feat no other university has managed even once. For three years in a row, Edinburgh has won the Frank V Harry Cup for development coxed fours at Henley Women’s Regatta, this year winning their first three rounds ‘easily’. Clearly, the way Edinburgh recruits and trains its novices leads to success, and if other clubs cannot crack the code, I believe it will be another year of dominance for Edinburgh’s beginner squad.
