Leading up to the biggest Tideway races of the season, Hammersmith Head is always a good checkpoint for crews to see how they fare up against their opposition. Fours, quads, and eights will take to an abridged version of the Championship Course in a test of their mettle. Let’s see how some of the top crews are shaping up:
St Paul’s School Boat Club
Seeming a shoo-in for almost any race, the St Paul’s School boat Club Junior 16 Eight has proved to be practically indomitable. Ever since their first appearance over a year ago, as two-mixed Junior 15 Eights at Quintin Head 2024, they have remained undefeated. They won at National Schools’ Regatta 2024 in both the Junior 15 First and Second Eights, each by a significant margin, and the Second Eight completed their time trial in a manner that would’ve been fourth place in the First Eight category. St Paul’s School Boat Club kept this form up at Quintin Head earlier this year, where their two eights placed first and fourth – it is unclear whether these were mixed or ranked eights, and so they may yet have an even more dominant eight to put together. They had a remarkable seven athletes competing at the British Rowing February Under-19 Trials. To have almost a whole eight’s worth of athletes who can perform at a high enough level to be invited to the February Trials is a truly impressive achievement and perfectly showcases the dominance they hold over their competitors. I think that their First Eight will easily win the event over their competitors, and their Second Eight may even have a shot at the podium positions.
Hampton School Boat Club
A relatively unknown force so far this year, Hampton School Boat Clyb has yet to appear at any major races. With both Hampton-based Head races being cancelled, and no appearances at Quintin Head or any other early-season races, we are yet to see a major performance from them. They had a strong season last year, with a win at the Hampton Fours and Eights Head in the Junior 15 Eight, and a second place finish at the Schools’ Head of the River Junior 15 replacement race, culminating in a second place finish at National Schools’ Regatta. They also sent four Junior 16 athletes to the Early ID Trials in November, three of whom appeared again over the weekend at the February Trials. Hampton is not a Tideway crew, and so the effect their cox’s line has on their boat could be make-or-break. Nonetheless, if the results from last year hold, they should be a contender for the top spots.
King’s College School Boat Club
One of the strongest boat clubs on the Tideway, and indeed in the country, King’s College School’s Boat Club Junior 16 Eight has followed in the footsteps of many of their elder crews and established themselves as a top-tier crew. Their Junior 15 season’s performances included a third place finish at the Schools’ Head replacement race, and a, doubtless slightly disappointing, fourth place at National Schools’ Regatta, landing them just outside the medals, then bouncing back to place second at Marlow Regatta. At Teddington Head, in November, they won the Junior 16 Eights category convincingly, with their chasers including Dulwich College Boat Club and Shiplake College Boat Club. At Quintin Head in January, they were able to replicate their strong performances from last year, placing in third, only six seconds off the St Paul’s School Boat Club First Eight. They only had one athlete competing at the February Trials, Alexander Hoo, but that’s still an admirable feat, especially after his excellent eighth-place finish in the final race of the trials.
Reading Bluecoat School Boat Club
An underdog of sorts last year, the Reading Bluecoat School Boat Club Junior 15 Eight appeared out of nowhere at the National Schools’ Regatta, secured a place in the A-final, and finished in a very respectable fifth place. They then repeated this feat at Marlow Regatta a month later finishing in fifth place once more. Similar to Hampton School Boat Club, they haven’t appeared in any major races since the summer, and it is therefore difficult to gauge how their boat is going, but nonetheless I think that this excursion to the Tideway will be a good opportunity for them to prepare for Schools’ Head, see how they stack up against their competitors, and potentially bring home some silverware.
Radley College Boat Club
Radley College Boat Club, a school renowned for its excellence in various sporting pursuits, generally peaks just in time for the major regattas of the summer. However, their results in the early head races are often disappointing; for a shining example of this, look no further than last year’s Junior 16 Eight, who won the National Schools’ Regatta convincingly after a fifth place finish at Schools’ Head. Although in the summer they show strong potential, with this particular crew having placed sixth last year at the National Schools’ Regatta, I doubt that they’re currently on top form and therefore I don’t think they’ll be able to compete with the likes of St Paul’s School Boat Club.
Dulwich College Boat Club
A crew with a set of past results not quite as strong as some of their competitors’, Dulwich College Boat Club raced at Quintin Head in January and finished in sixth position, barely beating out Latymer Upper School Boat Club and Radley College Boat Club. Aside from that, they have hardly raced this year, entering two, potentially mixed, eights of very similar speed at Teddington Head where they were beaten out by King’s College School Boat Club and Shiplake Rowing Club. However, Quintin Head is the best metric we have of these boats’ current speed, and so there’s no reason that this boat shouldn’t be a strong competitor in this race on their home water.
Prediction
As I’ve made clear, I think St Paul’s School Boat Club are the overwhelming favourites to win this race. King’s College School Boat Club and Hampton School Boat Club will likely be filling out the podium, in either order – although Hampton may appear better on paper, I think that Kings College’s excellent knowledge of their home water may help them snatch the silver medal. The St Paul’s Second Eight should have a strong chance at fourth or fifth place. Radley College Boat Club and Dulwich College Boat Club were within three seconds of each other at Quintin Head, which is run over almost the exact same course and therefore a very good predictor of this race, so it could easily be a close contest between the two, as well as the thus-far-unknown Reading Bluecoat School Boat Club, to round out the top five.
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