Rowers become amateur meteorologists at this time of year. As endless rain cancels outings and even renders ergs unusable due to boathouse flooding, athletes look for any rumour of a gap in the weather in which it might be possible to row. The Bedford Fours and Eights Head, scheduled for Sunday morning, presents such an opportunity. The relatively short 2km time trial goes downstream around a single long bend on the River Great Ouse. Several student rowing clubs are among the entrants in the open senior categories, and all involved will be hoping to get some much-needed racing practice.
Star Rowing Club
Renowned locals Star Rowing Club enter a strong crew in the eights category and should perform well on their home water. The Star eight has qualified for The Thames Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta two years in a row, and four rowers, plus the cox, of the crew who raced last summer are in the boat this weekend. Elliott Duffin is among them, switching to sweep rowing for this race after he stroked the club’s quadruple scull to an impressive third place in the open club category at Fours Head in November. Duffin and several of the athletes in this crew will also race in the Open Coxed Four category, and it will be interesting to see which combination proves the strongest.
Oriel College, University College, New College, Brasenose College (Oxford University College Rowing Clubs)
Oxford’s top College crews would usually use this event to get some valuable racing practice in the run-up to Torpids – the famous collegiate-level Bumps race. But with the Thames utterly flooded at the moment, Bedford may turn out to be the only chance these crews get to race this winter. Oriel College and University College currently sit at second and fourth on the river in Torpids, respectively, and they would fiercely contest the headship in Torpids if the races can go ahead in a few weeks. Both clubs competed in the Fairbairns Cup in Cambridge in December, and Oriel finished just four seconds faster than Univ over the 4.3 km course. Oriel were also the fastest Oxford college at Wallingford Head, and they are perhaps the crew to beat among this group on Sunday. New College and Brasenose College sit slightly lower down the pecking order in the Bumps charts, but entry into Bedford gives them a clear advantage over their competition, who may be unable to train at the moment. A total of 11 crews are entered from these four college boat clubs.
Lea Rowing Club
The bright orange unisuits of Lea Rowing Club are familiar sights at amateur rowing events, and the club has an impressive string of results going into this weekend. Lea won a dominant one-two in coxed fours at Wallingford Head in November, and they finished fourth in this category at Fours Head. With the Tideway currently unrowable on the fast ebb tide, races closer to home look unlikely in the near future, and so Lea has to look for success on the road. The club will field its customary flotilla in Bedford, entering just one four and one eight in the open senior category. Lea crews always row well, however, and they will look to beat their club counterparts from across the UK.
University of Warwick Boat Club
Bedford will be the first racing experience for athletes in the University of Warwick Boat Club’s large novice programme. The wider club has struggled for water time this season due to event cancellations and flooding on the River Avon. However, Warwick enters a whopping five eights in this category, and hopefully, this Sunday will give them the opportunity to launch their season in earnest. Warwick made a bit of history last summer, with a crew qualifying for Henley Royal Regatta for the first time in 12 years. None of the athletes from that legendary coxed four appears to be racing this weekend, and it may be up to the club’s new blood to set new foundations this year. Warwick’s main focus this winter will be preparing for the Head of the River races in March, and then the BUCS Regatta in May. It will be interesting to see how Warwick measures up against the college crews from Oxford and other universities in this category.
Prediction
It is difficult to ignore the combination of home water and recent racing success that makes Star Rowing Club the clear favourite in the eights category this Sunday. There are, however, some schools’ entries into the senior category, and Star will probably be given a run for their money by the Bedford schools, with whom they share this stretch of river.
