Hammersmith head is offering an agglomeration of the top school-boy eights, with both of the Princess Elizabeth finalists attending. Last year’s head was cancelled due to poor conditions, so the Tideway is likely to throw some hurdles in the way of these crews, especially with the changing weather. Wallingford Head turned the tables and displaced Pauls’ winning pattern, but can Radley do it again here?
Abingdon School Boat Club
Abingdon School placed decently at Quintin Head, with a strong time of 12 minutes 30. This put them not too far behind St Pauls, Shiplake and Westminster School, who are all racing here. This shows that their fresh intake from last year’s reputable J16 squad has done well for them thus far. Their performances over the past years have been off par, so a consecutively strong result will surely put them into contention with the strongest.
Their two entries into this category will most likely be matched. It will be interesting to see whether they are or not.
Bedford School Boat Club
Bedford’s performances last season were brilliant, with a 4th place finish in Champ 8’s at Nat Schools’ Regatta as well as making it to the Friday of racing at HRR. However, their result at Wallingford Head was not so stellar, with many of the crews racing this weekend placing higher than Bedford. This should give them the grit and determination to pull off here and as the season progresses.
Eton College Boat Club
Eton did not have the chance to show their strengths at Hampton Head due to the cancellation, however their unwavering prowess in this category will augur well for the weekend. They were dominated by Pauls last season which should cause them to rebel against the regime this season. They will have had Mark Taylor and Sean Boret putting the squad through their paces throughout the gruelling winter months, and now a strong 16 will have formed from the top of their continuously deep pack. With the entry of two crews, I can see at least one of the Eton crews placing in the top 3 of this event.
Kings College School Boat Club
KCS have had a decent start to the season with a great result at Quintin Head, placing 3rd in the J18 category. They will be looking to reach the A final at Nat Schools’ Regatta this year, which will require more decent results throughout the head season. I can see them sitting in the middle of the pack here, but KCS are full of surprises.
Radley College Boat Club
Radley gave a dominating performance at Wallingford head, beating St Pauls as well as KCS and Abingdon. This should put them in good stead for this event. They had an underwhelming start to the season but their performance at Wallingford has definitely spruced up their results thus far. I think that Radley will take a top 3 spot, pushing or even beating St Pauls.
Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club
Shrewsbury had a pretty pacey race at Wallingford Head, where they raced in the open category rather than the Junior. They also came second to St Pauls in their category at Fours Head, beating Radley, Shiplake and Norwich crews. They have a World champion within their ranks in the shape of Dom Sullivan who will definitely throw some watts in, which should palpably help this outfit to challenge the likes of Eton, Radley and St Pauls, as they did for the majority of last season. They will be attempting to replicate the successes of last season.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Shiplake have two boats entered into this category. They are likely to be matched 8’s with one being slightly stronger, as they have done for both Wallingford and Quintin head. They’ve won the Pennant at Quintin Head but did not place so well at Wallingford. They’ve been seen to initiate their bombardment on the season, with the similar gains in speed as previous seasons. They’re likely to make the top 5 here, having beaten a mass of the crews that’re racing in the same event.
St Pauls School Boat Club
St Pauls have pretty much dominated the junior rowing scene through the start of this season, as well as the whole of last season. Bobby Thatcher’s boys will be the favourites going into this weekend, with an upset from Radley being evermore unlikely due to the Paulines determination to negate the chance of that happening again. The closer margins between the squads will help to give more interesting racing. Not much else needs to be said about the Paulines.
Westminster School Boat Club
Westminster have showed their calibre at Quintin, placing just behind Shiplake. This will therefore allow them a positive mind-frame going into this race. They’re definitely the underdogs here but they’ve shown that they can challenge anyone under the right circumstances.
Others
Claires Court School, Hampton School, Norwich School and Reading Blue Coat School are all also racing here, but will be likely to be fighting for the lower spots. Latymer and Hampton are liable to cause an upset in the middle of the pack, but not one of too much significance.
Predictions
I predict St Pauls to win, with Eton and Radley coming in narrowly behind. Radley will be trying to cause a second upset but Pauls will be more prepared this time. Shiplake and Shrewsbury also look to be strong coming into the weekend.
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