In a story familiar to anyone following British domestic rowing in the last decade, the top event at the Head of the River this coming weekend is due to be a showdown between Oxford Brookes, and Leander. This being an Olympic year, all selected GB athletes will be preoccupied with their Olympic preparations, and unavailable to assist their home clubs in the battle for the title, which leaves a fantastic opportunity for the full time club athletes to take a crack at the Headship.
There are multiple interesting stories and angles through which to look upon this year’s iteration of the event. There is, of course, the ongoing tussle between the two clubs for dominance of the British rowing scene, and in recent years, that honour has been passed back and forth. 2022 was unquestionably Leander’s year, beating Brookes’ winning Temple entry, and effectively forcing the non-student squad out of the Ladies Plate, before going on the claim that title themselves. In 2023 though, the tide turned as Leander became the chasers, a late season charge proving too little too late to take down a supreme Brookes crew that reclaimed the Ladies Plate in a performance indicative of the supremacy they showed all season, on a day that saw Brookes as a club win a historic seven finals at the regatta. As we approach what will be the first meeting of the 2024 season though, plenty has been going on in the background to set the stage for what will be, for some, a deeply personal season.
Leander Club
Leander has one of their deepest and most talented squads in years, thanks in part to the shock transfer of Matt Rowe, Sam Bannister and Jack Prior from Brookes. That move came right at the beginning of the year after they were part of a 50/50 Brookes/Leander eight that won the Netz Cup in September. Those three had been ingrained in the Brookes system for years, in the case of Rowe and Prior, since they first emerged from juniors. In that time they’ve experienced stunning success for that club, each picking up myriad Henley wins spanning the Temple, Ladies, Stewards, Grand, and Visitors, so to see them in Leander pink is certainly interesting and for everyone except perhaps those closest to them, quite unexpected. However, once an onboarding physical confirmed that they did in fact, bleed red, and not Brookes-burgundy as previously thought to science, they wasted no time making an impact on the squad, all of them earning places in the first eight for the Head of the Charles, where the crew placed fourth, and Rowe and Bannister became staples in that first eight across the fixture series, resulting in an unfortunate clash-related DQ against Oxford, and a comfortable win against Cambridge.
Where things get interesting is the emotional element in going up against an opponent whose colours you used to proudly adorn. Every athlete who has had fantastic success in a single program is faced with an inevitable question when they leave: what was the common denominator in that success – the athletes, or the system they inhabited? Tom Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, but it wasn’t until he won his seventh with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he was truly solidified as the greatest quarterback of all time. With that question lingering in the air, multiple things can be true at the same time. Brookes can be an incredible system, and the successes these guys have had away from Brookes, from senior vests to a series of U23 medals, speak for themselves. To question their talent and the individual impact on the crews they’ve raced in would be outrageous, but make no mistake, the chance to begin forging a legacy that outgrows their time at Brookes means they’re going to be attacking this season with a renewed ferocity. They have the right talent surrounding them to make a winning run in the Head a real possibility, because the rest of their crew is oozing with accolades of their own. Dan Graham, a Ladies Plate winner with multiple senior appearances fills out the seven seat, backed up by Boat Race winner and U23 Champion Tobias Schroeder, returning to sweep after a multi-year sculling project. Tom Ballinger and James Vogel are Henley winners, Miles Beeson has a U23 gold medal in every sweep class, and Douwe DeGraaf has a pair of U23 gold medals of his own. And yet, despite every member of this crew holding a major championship victory, Bannister is the only one who has ever won the Headship.
Oxford Brookes
The stakes for Brookes are just as high. No member of this crew has ever won the Headship either. For head coach Henry Bailhache-Webb, competing against his still-beloved former athletes must be a complicated set of emotions. Like a breakup of any kind, you want the best for them and all the success that is due, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard watching them move on, and dropping the analogy, that certainly doesn’t mean you’re going to be happy about it if they beat you. The lineup he’s produced for this year to stifle that possibility, is stuffed with rising stars. Louis Nares, Toby Lassen and Fergus Woolnough all won the U23 Men’s Eight last summer in Plovdiv, while Jake Wincomb added a second gold medal to his collection in the Men’s Four, followng his success in the eight in 2022. Wincomb, a two tine Henley winner in the Temple and Ladies is particularly highly regarded for his skill amongst his current and former teammates, while Matt Heywood was the lone Brookes member of last summers Netz Cup eight to remain with the club. That club after all, gave him a development path that led to two Henley wins, a U23 Championship in 2022, and a senior vest. Jonathon Cameron came to Brookes last year after an undergraduate career at Boston University, and immediately won the Visitors with Lassen, against a Leander crew that included Douwe DeGraaf.
The long and the short of it is this: both of these crews are supremely talented, incredibly experienced winners. The fixture series they both raced against Oxford and Cambridge revealed little if you’re looking for a favourite. This will be close, and may well come down to who has the better race on the day, or who between Tom Bryce, a U23 champion for Brookes, and Jack Tottem, a Boat Race winner for Oxford, steers a better line.
To generalize for the sake of prediction, I consider the Brookes lads the up-and-coming challengers looking to stamp their names on the scene, while for the most part, Leander are already those guys. They’re Caversham’s likely next generation, they’re older, maybe slightly more experienced, and based on the scores I’ve seen coming out of the pink palace, they may well have the edge on fitness, an incredibly important component of a race this long. History tells us that betting against Brookes and HBW is foolhardy, so go ahead, call me a fool.
My prediction: Leander
The margin: Three seconds
Second Eights
This too, will likely be between Brookes B, and Leander B. In their fixtures against Cambridge, they both won in similar margins, leaving no doubt that this will also be close. Leander have enlisted their best scullers to strengthen their eight, with Rory Harris, a three-time Henley winner in the Queen Mother and Prince of Wales, in the stroke seat. He’s backed up by the aforementioned Jack Prior. Double U23 Gold medalist Calvin Tarczy, and two-time Henley Winner Miles Devereux provide the experience and fitness that may well give them the edge over Brookes. Not as much is known about the composition of the Brookes second eight, but they’ve shown class and speed during their fixture series, and it would be wise to expect the same from them over the length of the Head. While Brookes may have the edge in crew harmony, a product of the system we’ve long come to respect and appreciate, Leander have the edge of experience and talent, and my prediction goes to them.
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