The head season continues in full swing as soon as the year turns. With the first of the races on the Championship Course completed and the Boat Race fixtures coming in thick and fast, we can anticipate lots of close racing and exciting battles as clubs begin to gear up for the peak of the head race season: Women’s Head, Head of the River and Schools’ Head. Hampton Head is run over a 3000m course in South-West London and is a great place for crews to start figuring out where they stand in terms of speed for the upcoming season.
Henley RC
Henley are known to be a very dominant club across all aspects of women’s rowing. They had massive success last season, medalling in both the Championship eight and quad at the National Schools’ Regatta, making the final of Henley Women’s Regatta and having several girls representing Great Britain at the Junior World Championship and Coupe de la Jeunesse. Henley produced the second-fastest time at Quintin two weeks ago, only a few seconds behind winners Shiplake, and were promoted to the top spot after Shiplake were handed a penalty. I can see Henley being one of the forerunners of the women’s sweep this season and feel that the second place at Quintin will drive them on to keep getting faster every race.
Surbiton High School BC
Next up is another of the big names of junior women’s sweep, Surbiton High School BC, who will be looking to establish themselves early on in the season. Having lost almost all of their first VIII from last year, Surbiton’s new cohort will want to prove themselves to be as strong as those who came before. They came seventh at Quintin, only twenty seconds behind the winners, a margin that can easily be reduced over the next couple of months, meaning they are in for a shot at the top spots in future races.
Kingston Grammar School BC
Kingston Grammar School BC has always been a well-renowned club in women’s rowing, but have often steered towards sculling and preferred racing in quads and doubles over eights and fours. Despite this, they should not be counted out, as the group possess strong sculling skills that can often translate across to sweep. A good example of this came last year when Wycliffe, a club that is known for sculling, went on to win the Schools’ Head in the Championship women’s eight, surprising many. Kingston have already shown they have what it takes, placing sixth at Quintin, ahead of some prevalent names in the category. Can Kingston enjoy a success story similar to Wycliffe’s last year?
Other entries
Other notable entries include Lady Eleanor Holles BC and Sir William Perkin’s School RC. Both are strong schools that have produced good results over the past few years but we are yet to see them up against the rest of the field this season, so I am excited to see what they can produce. I believe both crews will be fighting for top spots at many of the head races this season.
Prediction
I think due to their depth and expertise, Henley RC will come out on top at Hampton with Kingston Grammar School BC placing second and Surbiton High School BC rounding out the top three. That said, the joy of racing so early in the season is that there is no narrative and no ranking to plunder – anything can happen.
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