The first of two university-exclusive events begins this weekend with BUCS Head 2026. Held on the River Tyne, BUCS Head offers some of the best long-distance racing outside of London. This year’s programme includes boat classes from doubles and pairs through to eights, creating unmatched depth across the weekend. There are very few events in British rowing that offer top end variety like BUCS does. Racing opens with the open championship quadruple sculls, where some of the fastest sculling boats in Britain display their early-year form. The open championship quad is no easy task to come out triumphant in, often with small entries, but across the field, very little separates the standard, which is undoubtedly top class.
University of Reading
Hoping to defend their trophy from last year, Reading University takes Bow No. 1 down the track to open the event. Dominance is the only adjective to aptly summarise Reading’s 2025, from claiming five out of the six sculling medals available at BUCS last year, to finishing second in the Victor Ludorum at BUCS Regatta whilst only entering sculling events or making the semifinal at Henley Royal Regatta in an intermediate event. There is very little this boat club has not done in the rowing world, and yet again, I do not see much change in this momentum, built by a strong coaching team and dedicated athletes.
Ben Snoxall is the named athlete, a member of the second quad last year, who has made his way into the top quad for this weekend. He is likely joined by sculling sensation Matt Long, and England rowing triple medallist Ryne Robson. Having changed one member from last year’s rapid quad, this year is almost guaranteed to match last year’s numbers, if not exceed them.
Queen’s University Belfast
During Reading’s dominance at BUCS Head last year, the only university to snatch a medal away from them was Queen’s University Belfast, who finished up second in the championship event. Last year, the standout athlete had to be Irish Rowing international Konan Pazzaia, who is now firmly established in the Irish national team, having finished last year in the double with Fintan McCarthy. This Irish university is very well known for producing some very fast sculling crews, and I can’t see how this year would be an exception.
Named under Tim Murphy, who smashed the Irish 5000m record on the rowing machine for 15-16 year olds by 23 seconds and also set the marathon record that year, this crew will clearly have plenty of gas. Murphy has clearly got a history in the sport; however, unfortunately, I’m unsure who he will be teaming up with on Saturday. All I can presume is that there will be no shortage of speed coming from this crew.
Durham University
Home waters await Durham University on Saturday as they make their way upstream towards their boathouse near the finish of the course. Having collected their fair share of medals in 2024/25, Durham have massively stepped up this season. Results that once seemed an impressive achievement now appear expected from this northern powerhouse. Durham entered lots of sculling events at BUCS Regatta, and some of their performances were quite shocking for the sculling world.
The crew is named under Will Morgan-Jones, who was a significant part of Durham’s sculling success. Morgan-Jones claimed gold in the intermediate double with Norwegian internationalist Fredrik Reite and silver in the championship quadruple scull. His season didn’t end there, though. After racing in the Durham first eight at Henley Royal Regatta, he went on to get selected in the coxless four for Great Britain at the U23 World Rowing Championships, where he finished just over a 1/10th of a second away from a bronze medal. Surely if this athlete is in a boat, you’d expect an impressive result no matter the competition.
University of Edinburgh
The Edinburgh University men’s squad, in one year, has gone from somewhat strong to one of the top university programmes in Europe, if not the world. Undergoing a massive culture shift during the 2024/25 season, things are drastically improving for Edinburgh University Boat Club. Sculling has never been the sole focus for this university, with The Prince Albert Challenge Cup remaining a key priority. However, last season, a Prince of Wales Challenge Cup boat formed at the start of the summer season reached the quarterfinals at Henley Royal Regatta, and was one of the fastest domestic crews. Those results surely increase the likelihood that Edinburgh will enter more sculling crews at future events.
This weekend, we see Edinburgh boat its top quad for the first time, unlike last year, when the top athletes filled the sweep boats. In the stroke seat, Josh Matthews is the clear athlete to watch, with three international vests for Great Britain, all in a quad; there are few more qualified than this athlete to lead this boat up the Tyne. Not only has Josh mastered the sculling discipline, but he was also a key member of the Edinburgh Prince Albert crew at Henley Royal Regatta 2025, which reached the Sunday. Alongside Matthews in that crew was accomplished athlete Murray Bone, who once again joins in this lineup on Saturday. Completing the line-up are Ben Nussey and Alex Levi, both of whom have come from the Edinburgh temple boat, which made the quarter final at Henley last season. This is an exciting combination to see so early in the season, but will the speed be there?
Nottingham University
Very few universities are dangerous in both disciplines of sculling and sweep; however, Nottingham University is one of the few that do both to an excellent standard. This midland club has developed into a consistent national-level competitor over the past two decades. What once began as a regional university club has turned into a performance centre for athletes to complete lifelong rowing ambitions, and this year, clearly, Nottingham is in a good position, fielding 23 crews this Saturday; however, only one crew is at the standard to challenge for a medal in the championship quads.
This crew is entered under accomplished lightweight Charles Bayley. Lightweights are typically boat movers, and often very technical scullers, so it will be exciting how Nottingham fills out their crew with Bayley in it, will they produce a crew who can match the sixth position which was achieved last year?
Prediction
1st – Reading
2nd – Edinburgh
3rd – Durham
4th – Queens
5th – Nottingham
