As the nation’s top crews descend upon the Tideway for the first major head race of this season, the academic coxed fours consistently attract entries from the best of university rowing. With the race being cancelled last year, crews will be looking to set an early benchmark for themselves and see how they measure up against the rest of the competition.
University of London Boat Club
Coming off the back of their Prince Albert Challenge Cup win at Henley Royal Regatta earlier this year, the University of London Boat Club have entered two crews into this event and will be looking to finish at the top end of it. Athletes such as Elliot Watson and Matthew Creaser raced at the Scullers Head, placing well in their individual categories. At the recent November Trials, Angus Goode put on a strong performance to earn himself a respectable finish position. With all this talent and squad depth, UL will surely be looking for the top step of the podium.
Cambridge University Boat Club
The Light Blues will be looking to further strengthen the start of their season and Boat Race campaign. The great success they had at the Head of the Charles in October sets them up nicely for the winter training, and more importantly, emphasises their Dark Blue counterparts, who also have crews in this event. I suspect Cambridge University Boat Club to be the frontrunners of this event, with everyone else chasing them down the 6.8km course on Saturday.
University of Birmingham Boat Club
A club which has been on the rise for some time now is the University of Birmingham Boat Club. At last year’s BUCS Regatta, the club finished tenth on the Victor Ludorum, with impressive results across all events and categories. They were unlucky not to qualify for The Temple Challenge Cup last year at Henley Royal Regatta; no doubt this will have pushed the men’s squad to aim to compete with the top universities in the country. I feel that Birmingham could be the underdogs in this event, and that drive for results might push them to achieve more than they think is possible.
Imperial College Boat Club
A university which consistently performs well year after year is Imperial College Boat Club. Last season, they qualified for The Temple Challenge Cup and put in a strong performance in the first round, whilst their Prince Albert Challenge Cup coxed four unfortunately missed out on qualification by a few seconds. As Temple Challenge Cup finalists in 2021, Imperial are looking to return to the highest level of university rowing. With athletes such as Kit Gordon-Brown, who put on a mega performance at U23 Trials last weekend, Imperial might be the ‘ones to watch’ for not only this race, but for the season.
University of York Boat Club
The University of York Boat Club have two crews entered in this event, and are a club looking to strengthen its hand on the domestic scene. They missed out on Henley Royal Regatta qualification last year, but are hungry for positive results and are aiming to break into the top level of student rowing.
Prediction
As usual, the academic coxed fours look set to provide us with fast and competitive racing from many well-established clubs. At this level of student rowing, results can come down to the smallest of margins. Despite this, though, I feel that with the start to the season they have had, the Light Blues of Cambridge will come out on top, followed closely by UL, with Imperial rounding out the top three.
