The River Great Ouse will once again be home to battles between some of the top junior schoolboy rowing from across the country at Bedford Regatta this weekend. In the 168th edition of this regatta, seven crews have entered the open junior coxed fours category in the hopes of returning to school victorious. Over just 1200m these seven crews will do battle side by side in an action packed four minutes trying to get as much time racing as possible with National Schools’ Regatta just round the corner.
Eton College
Always a strong contender in any event they enter, both Eton fours will be aiming for gold this Saturday. Despite usually competing in eights, I have no doubt that these two fours will be strong contenders and we will see one, if not both, in the final. Being the only club to have entered two crews, it will be exciting to see how the usual camaraderie between the rowers might turn into a bit of a rivalry on the day.
Norwich School
As the returning champions, Norwich will be champing at the bit to retain their title. The mantle of reigning victors will definitely weigh on this crew but hopefully they will use it to spur themselves on instead of tensing up on the start line. With this confidence boost and the fact that they will be racing one less time than all other crews, Norwich will definitely be fancying their chances of retaining their title.
Abingdon School
Wanting to bounce back from their performance at Wallingford Regatta last weekend, Abingdon must be eager to get on the water. Despite missing the podium, their promising start in that final had them vying for first in the first 1000m, so perhaps the reduced length of this course will play into their hands and allow them to capitalise on their strength and bring back the gold.
Predictions
All the crews in this event will be eager to take first place, but I do believe that the four crews I mentioned will have the highest likelihood of standing atop the podium. However, rowing is always a sport where overconfidence can be killer, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if at least one upset occurs on the day. Despite this, with their club’s pedigree, I do see an Eton-Eton final occurring, but it will be down to the boys to decide which crew will be taking the good news back to school.
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