The Fours Head is always a good show of how the rest of the season will develop. The crews will be starting to find their rhythm which means that this event always excites. The 6.8km course is one of the largest variables to negate but the Tideway and its unpredictability is part of the fun that is Fours Head. There are some very experienced athletes in this category who will be certain to lay down the hay on the most important section, between the Barnes and Hammersmith Bridges.
Abingdon School Boat Club
This entry is under the name ‘T Wiblin’. Wiblin was seven seat for the Championship Eights crew for National Schools Regatta last season, where his crew won the B Final. Abingdon have a quad in the Junior Champ 4x- for fours head so this is likely to be their second boat. Wiblin and his crew obviously have a fair amount of pedigree, and therefore they are likely to be knocking on the doors of the top placings for this category.
Claires Court School Boat Club
Claires Court School are definitely the underdogs for this event. They have two crews entered and both are composed of younger members. Hopefully they will prevail and grab a top place, but it looks unlikely due to the agglomeration of talent in this pool.
Norwich School Boat Club
The top pair for Norwich won the J18 Club 2- at Pairs Head and the B crew placed second in the same category, however the boats weren’t entered under their names so it is impossible to determine whether they are in this boat or not. Walton came third in the same category so there will be a fire brewing between these two crews. They have the strength to compete with the other big names in this category and will not be overlooked by the bigger names.
Kings College School Boat Club
KCS have only recently returned from Boston after a good effort in the Men’s Youth Eight Category, placing 22nd out of 85, beating last year’s record for the same event. Their entry to the Men’s Youth Fours also beat last year’s boat by four places. KCS are always a relatively strong crew and this should make for a strong race this year. Their experience of the Tideway should be another element that will augur well for them. This four is said to be mostly J17’s, but their results from the season thus far have topped last season’s outtake.
Radley College Boat Club
The Radley boat is under the name ‘P Denton’. Denton raced in the single at the Head of the Charles but hasn’t got many other notable achievements. The top 8 came 28th, and the coxed four came 3rd out of 85 at Head of the Charles. However, the components of that four seem to be in the Coxed four event. Regardless of that, Radley have already shown their potential and will definitely be watched carefully by all crews in this category. Although, it looks as if the best from Radley are positioned in other events. Their pedigree should be ample to take them to the top 5 of this event, at least.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Shiplake have had a formidable past season, and are now looking sharp for this season. Brown and his partner came 3rd in the J18 Champ 2- at Pairs Head; demonstrating that they are capable of putting the watts down on the tideway. The Walton crew that topped them in the same event are in this category too, thus Brown and his shipmates will be looking for revenge in the four. Shiplake have entries into two other events and it is likely for this to be their top boat. I think that they will get a top 5 place.
Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club
Shrewsbury performed well below par at this year’s Head of the Charles across all three entered events. This is therefore their chance to strike fear into their opposition, proving that they aren’t a lost cause. H Fletcher is the only definite member of this boat. Fletcher stroked the Shrewsbury eight at the Head of the Charles. He was also in the eight that came 4th at last year’s A Final for the 2nd eights at Nat Schools.
St Pauls School Boat Club
‘Gillard’ who came 4th in his category at Pairs Head this year, is the name that the boat is under. Him and his fellow Paulians are fresh out of this year’s Head of the Charles, where they placed 2nd in the prestigious Men’s Youth Eights. This Crew will therefore be rife with talent. They dominated fours head last year and will be sure to replicate their successes this year. Gillard placed 17th at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls which is prodigious given his forte lies with sweep. It is not apparent who fills the remaining three seats but they will definitely have a notable achievement tagged to them. Consequently, I think that St Pauls will take the win in this category.
Walton Rowing Club
Walton are in an almost identical situation to Norwich, and therefore they should be able to assert their capabilities. Robinson and his partner placed 3rd in the J18 Club 2- at pairs head, and his club mate Heywood placed 2nd in the J18 Champ 2- . Therefore, they should form an exceedingly strong coxless four. It will be especially interesting to see where they place in this stacked field.
Winchester College Boat Club
Holder and three of his club-mates placed in the top half of the J18 1x at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls which shows that they can compete with the stronger scullers. They should do well in this category, but it will be interesting to see how they fare against the other entries.
Westminster School Boat Club
Westminster have yet again dominated the draw for this category with four boats out of fourteen being theirs. Polychronopoulos placed 2nd in the J17 1x event at Wallingford LDS, which proved to be one of the most fiercely contested events on the day. It is unsure which boat he is in but he should definitely be in one of the top two boats for Westminster. Five of his teammates placed in the top half of the J18 1x event at Wallingford LDS which shows the depth of their squad. I predict one of the Westminster boats to come in the top 5.
Predictions
I predict St Paul’s School to win, with Radley, Shiplake and Westminster taking the following places. Norwich will be nipping at their heels, as will Abingdon. KCS are capable of beating Shrewsbury, as they did on the Charles, but anything can happen on the day. Winchester and CCS are both strong but, in my opinion, lack the edge that the other crews seemingly have.
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