Of all the small boat categories, the quad is perhaps the most technically satisfying and enjoyable to watch. Eight blades going in and out of the water in perfect unison with speed and precision. With the class of athletes in the Open Championship Quad this year at Fours Head, it will be a cracking race down the Tideway.
Leander Club
Ever present in any high-class field, Leander has two boats in the field, and as one would expect they are stacked with sculling talent. In the ‘A’ boat, Olympic silver medalists Harry Leask and Tom Barras are joined by John Collins and George Bourne, all of whom have recent international medals to their name. These four are all based out of Caversham, coincidentally all hailing from Leander, this weekend they will be donning their club all-in-ones instead of that of the British team.
In the other Leander boat, brothers Miles and Seb Devereux team up for perhaps the first time. Fresh from GB trial success they are joined by Sam Meijer who has returned to Leander having not made the British team for the World Championships, and Rory Harris, one of the top scullers from the club who is also trying to break into the national team.
Leander is clearly looking for a result, putting two extremely strong quads together and I would expect these two boats to dominate the field. As to who will win, we shall have to let the rowing gods decide.
Twickenham RC
Thanks largely to its status as a GB World Class Start centre, Twickenham RC has continued to produce athletes of high calibre for some time now. The standout one of these is of course Callum Dixon, fresh from outstanding GB trials where he produced both the fastest 2km on the erg and 5km on the water, cementing his burgeoning reputation as an expert sculler and competitor.
He is joined in the quad by Matt Brigham who swaps his Leander colours for those of Twickenham on this occasion, famous for his defeat of a certain Mahe Drysdale at Henley 2019. Alex King and Aidan Thompson make up the crew, both excellent upcoming scullers who also competed at GB trials.
Whether they can hold off Leander remains to be seen, but it will certainly be an exciting contest.
Edinburgh University BC, Leeds RC, Nottingham RC & Twickenham RC
A wildcard if ever there was one, this composite features several up-and-comers on the British sculling scene, chief amongst them Josh Matthews, current GB start athlete and fresh from an A-final at this year’s U19 World Rowing Championships. He is joined by Luke Reiser, top ten finisher at Scullers’ Head, and fellow start athlete Cory Wilkinson, with Nottingham’s Moloney rounding things.
This is a relatively young and inexperienced boat compared to the others it’s true, but it is choc-a-bloc with talent and I would expect them to perform well, even in a field as stacked as this.
Prediction
Other strong entries come in the form of London RC with Bath University’s Jamie Gare moonlighting alongside the experienced international Matthew Curtis, Reading University, who are a force on the domestic sculling scene, and local powerhouses Thames and Molesey.
While these all make an exciting draw, if Leander can show their class, they should be good for the win or a very strong showing. Twickenham and the Edinburgh/Leeds/Nottingham/Twickenham composite should also make the top five at least with an outside possibility that they could challenge Leander for the win.
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