Away from Dorney, regional competition resumes and rowers of all levels descend upon Bedford for the side-by-side racing opportunity that it presents. After a weather disrupted start to the season, the sun has been peeking through the clouds and hearty competition has started to resume. The opportunity to assess oneself, with relation to the rest of the field, is at a premium and the quality of entries in a regional regatta such as this reflects that. It has the prospect of being an excellent spectacle for those on the banks and provides crews and their coaches alike with an opportunity to make a statement before their season hots up.
Radley College BC
Undisputedly one of the strongest programs within school rowing, Radley are often associated with the latter stages of the PE Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Known to peak in the later stages of the season, they know what their intentions are and they know how to bring them about. Finishing fifth at the School’s Head of the River in the championship eights, it would have been hoped that they could have been closer to St Paul’s, a probable challenger for the triple this season. Failing to make the final at Wallingford Regatta in the School Eights category, something seems amiss from the boys in red. They have two boats entered and it’ll be hoped that this weekend is an opportunity to remedy that as they should be, based on their pedigree, clear favourites to win the event.
Bedford School BC
Coming third in the School Eights this weekend at Wallingford Regatta, higher than Radley, Bedford overcame some tricky crews to come away with an overwhelmingly positive result. This will do nothing if not fill Bedford with confidence throughout the remainder of the season as they look to progress through the gears in the approach to the National Schools’ Regatta. Having the knowledge that they have already shown greater speed than some of the crews in the field, Bedford will be happy to return to home water in such short succession to Wallingford, it provides them with the opportunity to assert some dominance. They’re a crew to keep an eye on as we approach the sharp end of the season, is it too soon to call them ones to watch?
Norwich School BC
Facing Latymer Upper School in the first round, Norwich School should be confident as they head into this weekend’s racing. They started the major races this season with a win in first eights at School’s Head of the River. Then they converted this into two competitive eights at Wallingford Regatta last weekend. Having competed in the challenge eights and junior eights at Wallingford, there must be a sense of optimism about the season ahead of them and the capability of the crew at large. They managed to beat in the challenge category, on time, crews from London RC, and Vesta RC ‘B’ amongst others. This is an achievement that should be acknowledged, despite not making a final. Furthermore in the school/junior category they managed a sixth place in the A-final, after fighting for their place for the repechage. They should be able to beat Latymer and this would set up a race in the next round against either Bedford or Cambridge 99, a task that is a little more difficult but, if they want to win things, it’s the kind of race that you’ve got to come through.
Cambridge 99 BC
The only club crew in this field, this will be a really difficult test for Cambridge 99. Coming 87th at the Head of the River 2024, they’re a good crew and have lots of potential having shown over a number of years that they can turn it on when they want to. The challenge they face is that whilst the other crews in this field started their regatta season at Wallingford, they didn’t. When they line up against Bedford on their home water, this will be their first side-by-side encounter of the season. How they react to this will determine how successful they could be in this competition. If it’s overcome, they can look forward to going head to head throughout the remainder of the competition, victory could be in their sights.
Predictions
It’s difficult to know how this racing will unfold. It should be viewed in two different ways as we still haven’t seen the best of Radley. If Radley performs and finds their regatta ‘norm’, then its hard to see past them, as they have the potential to be one of the best crews in the country. The other part of this is, however, that they haven’t performed yet and we have no real reason to believe much will have changed between last weekend at Wallingford and this weekend at Bedford. This leaves the event much more open and competitive. Each of Bedford School, Norwich School and Cambridge 99 will believe that they can win it, and with good reason. I’m excited to see how this racing unfolds and the results that it presents us with, all will be of equal value when looking ahead to the remainder of the season.
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