BUCS Regatta 2025 – Open Championship Coxed Four Preview

The first May bank holiday represents the gateway to summer racing; a blockbuster competition schedule up and down the country, with the premier event coming from Nottingham in the form of the national student championships. BUCS Regatta serves to crown university-level kings and queens and has provided scintillating racing on the pearly waters of Holme Pierrepont throughout the course of its existence. With the established order creaking at the hinges – and the current holders not even entered into this event for 2025 – a new hierarchy is waiting in the wings.

Bristol University

A relatively new entrant to the championship tier, Bristol have set about taking on the big boys in impressive fashion. A version of this crew – led by Jake Birch – finished second at BUCS Head in February and will surely want to close the 11-second gap between themselves and the winners from Newcastle. There is no doubt about their pedigree and the upward trajectory of the programme; a slimmer field than previous years should leave the pathway open to a podium placement.

Durham University

Led by Charlie Warren, men’s captain at the boat club, this crew were third at BUCS Head, just under two seconds back on Bristol. Over the shorter distance and in the context of side-by-side racing, that distance is eminently recoverable, and this crew looks to contain some of Durham’s best athletes. With decisions looming around whether to prioritise The Prince Albert Challenge Cup (for student coxed fours) or The Temple Challenge Cup (for student eights), this crew’s performance at the weekend may well inform that decision-making process.

Edinburgh University

Edinburgh were in last place at BUCS Head but look to have reconfigured this crew approaching the weekend. Much has been made of this programme’s newfound focus on the elite end of their squad, and their improvements have been noticeable. Third at BUCS Head in the eight – in a field that did not contain Oxford Brookes or the University of London – was upgraded relatively to 15th and the fourth-fastest university crew at the Head of the River. Edinburgh have a proud history in this boat class, having won The Prince Albert Challenge Cup in 2016. Can this set of athletes get close to emulating those results?

Imperial College

After a period of relative underperformance, Imperial seem to be creeping back into the collective competitive consciousness, with a string of impressive results. They were fourth from five in this category at BUCS Head and will this time be led (on paper) by American School in London alumni Omar Ben-Gacem. Having finished last in the time-trial of this category last season – some four seconds behind the second-slowest crew – they’ll be desperate to be at the sharp end in 2025.

University of London

Another club whose pedigree remains opaque until the summer season, the University of London have had several positive dalliances with this category and their winter racing has been excellent. They were 11th overall at the Head of the River and punched good times at Quintin and Hammersmith Head. If this crew contains athletes from their top-ranked eight, they’ll be in with a shot at gold.

Newcastle University

The winners from BUCS Head, Newcastle arrive in Nottingham as nominal favourites after their ten-second victory on home water in February. Their eight were second at the same event and then finished 16th overall at the Head of the River, so the signs look positive for improvement on last year’s ninth-placed finish. With Benjamin Brockway named to lead this crew – who took a silver at the European University Championships back in 2023 – this crew will be desperate to take the overall victory.

Prediction

In light of the entirety of the top three from 2024 being absent, the field couldn’t be more open. I think Newcastle will be favourites – we know they get faster as the season progresses and were already ten seconds clear of the competition in February, albeit on home water. I can see UL putting in a good performance to step onto the podium and I think Durham will pip Bristol to complete the set.

About The Author

Tom Morgan

Tom is the Founder of JRN. He has been creating content around rowing for over a decade and has been fortunate enough to witness some of the greatest athletes and races to ever grace our sport.

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