Poplar Regatta 2025 – Women’s Open Coxless Fours Preview

Poplar Regatta, hosted at the Royal Albert Dock this Sunday, provides an incredible 2km of side-by-side racing in the heart of London. This women’s coxless fours gold event will showcase the drive and determination required to perform well, and hopefully produce some promising results at this stage of the Regatta Season.

University of London

University of London, more commonly known as ‘UL’ are fielding three crews for this event. Last year, they finished sixth in the final, and they will be looking to build on that this weekend after having had great success this season so far. At the Women’s Head of the River Race (WEHORR), the club placed ninth, 28^th, and 84^th, demonstrating the sheer strength and depth of the programme this season. Following this, their transition into regatta racing was seamless, seeing them finish second in the championship coxless fours at BUCS Regatta, followed quickly by a win in the coxless four event at Ghent Regatta. This trend of back-to-back racing weekends provides an overwhelming amount of race experience for these crews, which I’m sure will serve them well on Sunday. I expect to see tight racing, with UL potentially placing multiple crews in the final.

London Rowing Club

After placing 13^th and 22^nd at the Women’s Head of the River Race, plus winning the senior pennant, London Rowing Club are proving their senior women’s squad are one to watch this year on the club rowing scene. At Wallingford Regatta, a demanding heat against crews from Leander and Thames saw London’s challenge coxless four finish fourth, less than a second behind Thames in third. While they may not have made the final, this showing suggests some promising speed heading into the rest of the regatta season. At this event last year, they placed first and second, and with the entry of three crews this weekend it could mean London are cementing their ambition to defend the title in The Lester Trophy for aspirational club coxless fours at Henley Women’s Regatta.

Vesta Rowing Club

Vesta produced strong results at the Women’s Head of the River Race, with their top two crews placing 46^th and 58^th respectively. With a good finish to their head season, Vesta kept up their momentum heading into regatta season at Wallingford, entering two crews into the challenge coxless four event and one in the club coxless four event. Although no crews made the finals, Vesta again showed their unwavering club culture with some of the loudest cheers all day. As the underdogs in this Tideway club battle, I love seeing Vesta enter these tougher categories and develop year on year.

Mortlake Anglian and Alpha Boat Club

Coming into this event as one of the smaller clubs on the Tideway, Mortlake Anglian and Alpha will be looking to put up a fight and produce a strong race. The Women’s Head of the River Race saw them finish 76^th overall and as the fastest Tideway-based crew racing in the challenge category, meaning they could be biting at the heels of Vesta this weekend. More recently, at Hammersmith Regatta, they claimed the win in the coxless four event, giving them a valuable confidence boost and helping them tackle the beast that is regatta season.

Prediction

UL look to be the favourites heading into this event, but this Sunday will prove valuable as we have yet to see them face other non-student clubs this regatta season. I also expect London to perform well and bring the fight to UL to retain top spot. With three crews entered by UL and London, this playing field could prove problematic for Vesta and Mortlake to break into and claim a place in the final, promising exciting racing in each heat.