Attracting a mix of the top international scullers and the best talents on the university and U23 scene, Fours Head is the premier rowing event before Christmas and an opportunity for clubs to compare performances early in the season. After its cancellation in 2023, the chance to claim or reclaim victory is even more excitedly awaited.
Leander Club and Upper Thames
Packed to the brim with Olympians, this crew represents all of Great Britain’s Olympic sculling crews. European, World, and Olympic Champions in the quad, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw, join fellow Olympic champion Imogen Grant and Olympic bronze medallist Becky Wilde to form a super-quad. No stranger to the championship course, Grant recently claimed her third consecutive victory in the Wingfield Sculls, and after three Boat Race wins, I doubt she plans to concede on this course soon. Despite being mainly known for her success in the double sculls, in which she most recently won Head of the Charles Regatta with Olympic crewmate Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, Becky Wilde is no stranger to the quad. Alongside Anderson, she won this event two years ago, and in the following year, she helped a Leander crew win The Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta after subbing in at the last minute due to injury. It’s needless to say that Anderson and Brayshaw have proved themselves as two of the world’s best quadruple scullers, and I’m sure they will lay the foundations for this boat to perform exceptionally well next weekend and perhaps beat the course record Anderson and Wilde set in 2022.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
Brookes are never a crew to be written off; their depth and performance levels are something every rowing program is trying to emulate, and so despite this category hosting Olympians and senior internationals, I can’t see them entering the race with anything on their mind other than victory. After placing joint sixth at the Paris Olympic Trials, Jenny Bates finished second overall at the GB November Trials, losing only to Olympic champion Lauren Henry. With a seat at the LA Olympic Games at the top of her agenda, Bates will undoubtedly want to be competitive with the Great Britain senior rowers competing in this category, too. Both Rihanna Sumpter and Claire Feerick were part of Brookes’ Remenham Challenge Cup crew who won Henley Royal Regatta this year, after which Sumpter went on to become world champion in the U23 women’s eight in St. Catharines, Canada. Feerick also boasts international experience, winning silver for Ireland at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2019. Completing the quad is Anna Buchanan, who was part of Brookes’ second eight last season, winning intermediate eights at BUCS Regatta and, in 2019, securing the Di Ellis Trophy at Henley Women’s Regatta.
University of London Boat Club
Less known for their sculling than their sweep, UL have recently welcomed two Irish Olympians into their squad who comprise half of this quad. Double Olympian Emily Hegarty won a bronze medal in the coxless four in Tokyo and finished first in the B-final in Paris. Meanwhile, Aoife Casey boasts a comprehensive international portfolio; at the Paris Olympic Games, she finished fifth overall in the last-ever final of the lightweight women’s doubles after the event’s discontinuation. The merit of this crew only continues with stroke seat Jessie Martin, who won gold at the U23 World Rowing Championships this year in the coxless four. More recently, she swapped sweep for sculling in the prestigious Wingfield Sculls before competing at GB Trials, where she placed as the fourth U23, demonstrating her versatility and capability to compete in both disciplines. Rounding off this crew is Daisy Faithfull, who was part of UL’s first eight last season, with season highlights including bronze in the championship eights at BUCS Regatta and making it to the semifinals of The Island Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
Thames Rowing Club
Freya Keto made her senior international debut earlier this year at World Rowing Cup III, reaching the A-final in the women’s double sculls. Furthering her reputation as one of the nation’s upcoming sculling talents, Keto finished third overall at the GB November Trials and hopes to go from strength to strength with her sights set on LA 2028. Joining her are three more of Thames‘ highest-performing athletes who are trading their sweep oar for two sculling blades, hoping to defend their home water.
Leander Club
Fielding two more all-Leander championship quads, it goes without saying that Leander have cemented a reputation for never failing to deliver high-performing crews but also for impressive depth within their squads. Three of their ‘A’ crew – McKay, Mole, and Brinkhoff – all recently finished within the top ten at GB November Trials, with their fourth woman, Izzy Sellers, placing as the 11th U23. Within the ‘B’ crew are three recent trialists, who all finished within the top 35, in addition to world champion beach sprinter Rosa Thomson. Hoping to complete the race in a time as close as possible to their ‘A’ crew, it shall be interesting to see how the two boats measure up against each other.
Reading University Boat Club
Three-quarters of Reading’s quad were part of the British quad, which won bronze at the U23 World Rowing Championships this summer. Ellie Cooke, Finnola Stratton, and Meg Knight are joined by Daisy Bellamy, who has come from Oxford Brookes and Leander to hone her sculling skills at Britain’s flagship sculling university. Despite being a new addition to this combination, Bellamy has a decorated rowing career that has included gold and silver at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2021 and 2022, in the coxless four and eight, respectively, and winning The Island Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta with Oxford Brookes in 2021. Cooke and Stratton have plenty of experience as crewmates; their championship double won BUCS Regatta in 2023 and reached the final of Henley Women’s Regatta in 2024. Completing the quad is Meg Knight, who has earned herself a reputation as a sculling talent to watch out for. Her portfolio includes numerous GB vests and medals at the U19 and U23 levels, and she most recently ranked as the sixth U23 woman at the Great Britain November Trials.
Prediction
It is difficult to look past the quad stacked with Olympic gold and bronze medallists when considering who is most likely to claim victory in this event. What will be more interesting is to see how the other crews measure up against one another. I expect that following in the ranks behind Leander and Upper Thames will be Reading University, Leander ‘A’ (crew 43) and Oxford Brookes.
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