With the 2023 event cancelled, the Four’s Head of the River is back in 2024. It marks the second junior race on the Tideway this season and is a staple event in any school or club’s rowing calendar. With 19 crews entering this category, we should have a good indicator of relative speed after next weekend’s contest.
Radley College Boat Club
Radley College Boat Club comes into this year’s event looking to defend their win from 2022. They arrive with a fresh crew combined of only one J18 athlete and three J17 athletes. The J18 is notable Radley oarsman Zak Jenkins, who is sat in the two-seat. Jenkins is looking to build on Radley’s respectable season throughout 2024, where they secured a silver at the National Schools’ Regatta and reached the Friday at Henley Royal Regatta where he sat in the four seat. Joining him in the coxless four are three athletes who have come from the impressive J16 crew in 2024. Coming off a dominant win at the National Schools’ Regatta, Theed, Baker and Sutherland all look like impressive athletes who are competing for a top spot in the Radley eight this season. All three also appeared at the GBRT November U19 Trials earlier this month.
St Paul’s School
After a triumphant season last year, St Paul’s School will be looking to chase Radley down and take their title from them. This black-and-white boat is an older crew with three J18s and one J17. Given the keys to the boat is J17 athlete Jonny Miles. Miles has developed into a competitive athlete with several notable individual performances this year. His performance at the GBRT November U19 Trials was very impressive, coming third to finish as the top-ranked sweep athlete in the country. He also enjoyed a great performance at the Pairs Head, coming second in the Junior 18 pair category with the bowman of the boat, Arthur Hamill. Hamill is also no stranger to the Tideway. He is looking to build on his gold in the Second Eights category at the National Schools’ Regatta as well as his win at Head of the Charles in Boston earlier this year. Packed in the middle of this boat, we have two Thatcher veterans in Alp Karadogan and Christian Reese. Karadogan and Reese are coming off the back of an impressive silver medal at the U19 World Rowing Championships in the coxless four this summer and their year began well with a win in the Pairs Head back in October. These two experienced oarsmen will be looking to duplicate the great success they saw last year with a win in this category.
Kings College School Boat Club
The third crew that could be knocking on the door of a gold medal in this category is the Kings College School Boat Club. After coming fourth in this event in 2022, it is hard not to acknowledge the depth and success that this school has found in recent years. In this boat, we have four J18s with two athletes from the first eight last season and two from the second eight. Returning athletes Monoghan and Heathcote are both looking to start the season off with a win and are joined by Ghosh in the stroke seat. The latter two made very impactful performances at the GBRT November U19 Trials this year.
Notable Mentions:
The home advantage in a race like the Fours Head is rather substantial. The steersmen have a hefty job of selecting the racing line and giving it their all. That’s why crews like Westminster School Boat Club, who are entered into this category, could overperform due to their knowledge of the river, even though it is a relatively young crew. The same could be said for Latymer School Boat Club, who came second in this category in 2022 and are no stranger to the nature of the Tideway.
Predictions
Although this category is packed, I think the top spot will be hard to prise from St Paul’s School Boat Club. With their depth in the squad and knowledge of the river, it will be tricky to overcome this richly talented crew. Closely following will probably be Radley College Boat Club. Although their crew seems young, their individual performances are noticeable, and they have usually overperformed in this category. Following them will be King’s College Boat Club.
- St Paul’s School Boat Club
- Radley College Boat Club
- King’s College School Boat Club
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