As the sun sets on the final day of Europe’s largest student rowing event, it’s time to reflect on the first four-day BUCS Regatta. More than two and a half thousand students took to the water this weekend, where Newcastle University picked up the women’s and overall Victor Ludorum, and Reading University took home the men’s title. Looking back on previous years, this is certainly a shake-up, as the likes of Oxford Brookes, Durham, and Edinburgh have previously dominated both events.
The Stalwarts
Reading University remains an unstoppable force in the realm of student sculling, and this was very much made known at Holme Pierrepoint this weekend. Going four for four in the quads and winning gold in both open and women’s Intermediate and championship events, as well as in both open and women’s championship singles, dominance was certainly on the cards for the Clamshells. With scullers entered into all available events in large numbers, strength in numbers paid off on this occasion, with all major semifinals and finals littered with Reading University boats.
Local rivals Newcastle and Durham Universities both saw success on the water, as is to be expected by now, with medals across open and women’s events in both intermediate and championship categories. Particularly notable for those in Palatinate was the strength of the top end of the women’s squad – taking home gold in the women’s championship coxed and coxless fours, as well as the intermediate coxed four.
The University of London also had measurable success on the men’s side: taking home gold in three championship sweep events by means of the coxed and coxless fours, and the pair. That being said, the A-final of the championship eights slipped out of their grasp; perhaps given the presence of two Brookes crews, and the purple palace had to settle for a B-final win on this occasion.
The Surprises
One of the weekend’s most thrilling races was the fight for gold for the open championship single, between Reading University’s Matt Long and Oxford Brookes’ Filip Pfeifer. The bowball of the Brookes sculler had edged slightly ahead for most of the race with Long hot on his heels, but after an early sprint Long edged out to take gold by just 0.31 seconds.
Birmingham University made a name for themselves as a premier institution for lightweight rowing this weekend, in part thanks to sisters Erin and Cari Meredith, taking home medals in a total of five events, including gold in the women’s championship lightweight doubles and intermediate lightweight quad and intermediate lightweight pair. With additional success in championship women’s sculling thanks to GB hopeful Katie Mole, Birmingham University flew the flag for the Midlands universities this weekend, totalling seven medals across the events they contested, with rising lightweight start Darcy Smyth responsible for no less than four. This contested the fortunes of the likes of Nottingham University who didn’t see quite as much success on their home turf as in previous years.
The rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge is also still fresh, especially given the light blue clean sweep at The Boat Race mere weeks ago, but Oxford came out on top this weekend with two gold medals, while Cambridge failed to pick up even one, with just two silvers and a bronze headed back to Ely. Oxford’s success came in the shape of Hazel Wake, a non-Boat Race athlete, in the championship lightweight single, and a further gold in the open championship lightweight coxless four, with many of their openweight Blue Boat athletes absent from the event.
It’s always exciting to see unfamiliar names on the podium too, and this year’s regatta allowed the likes of the University of the West of England, Glasgow Caledonian, and Loughborough to shine centre stage. Felix Cook, formerly of The Windsor Boys’ School, paired up with UWE counterpart, Ewan Johnston, to take silver in the open championship lightweight double, while Ava Robertson picked up silver in the women’s championship lightweight single and Dominic Hartley picked up silver in the open beginner single.
The Shake-Ups
Another student programme that we’ve seen on the rise over the last season is Newcastle University. Their standout win of the weekend was snatching the women’s championship eight gold from the slipping grasp of Oxford Brookes, who couldn’t pull it out of the bag and came in third, behind the University of London. The races between these three crews in the Island Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last year are still fresh in the memory, although the order certainly reshuffled. The Brookes women only managed to retain their grasp on one BUCS title – the women’s intermediate eights – so suddenly the student events at Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta suddenly seem wide open for the taking.
Despite the obvious change in the club structure down at Wallingford, the Oxford Brookes men remained dominant in both the intermediate and championship eights, with five eights across the two A-finals and coming away with gold medals in both – a feat they have impressively repeated year-on-year.
Edinburgh University has been unwaveringly dominant across beginner student events in recent years, but this year gave up their title to Queen’s University Belfast. With the titles for women’s and open beginner eights headed across the Irish Sea, as well as women’s beginner fours, this Northern Irish programme is certainly a force to be reckoned with in terms of athlete development. Imperial College London also took home their only gold medal of the weekend via their open beginner coxed four – an improvement on last year’s single silver medal. The beginner singles titles were taken by St. Andrews and Loughborough Universities, while the South West Performance Development Academy scullers dominated the beginner crew boats for the University of Bath, feeding into the success of this programme throughout the weekend.
Summary
It’s all to play for in student rowing right now. The format of BUCS Regatta, especially this year, opens the opportunity for some of the best student rowers in Europe to race back-to-back with relative newbies, and the racing never disappoints. Although there were various capsizes and attempts to navigate pontoon landings, the results speak for themselves, and thousands of rowers, coaches, families and friends will be travelling home this evening with pride and fond reflection on the first four-day BUCS Regatta.
As we look towards Metropolitan Regatta, then Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regattas, it’s certainly an exciting time to be following some of these clubs. Particularly in the student eights, I’m excited to see what may unfold in the Island and Temple Challenge Cups, particularly with the downward trend of Brookes women leaving the field wide open for the likes of UL and Newcastle to get a foot in the door. On the men’s side, I imagine we’ll continue to see Reading University dominate the sculling scene throughout regatta season, while the student sweep events will likely play to the strengths of Brookes, Durham and Newcastle.
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