Since this preview was written, the Henley Fours and Eights Head 2025 has been cancelled. This preview was written with the assumption that the event would proceed.
Domestic women’s sculling needs rivalries; it needs exciting races and it needs strong competition. It’s exciting to see eight entries into the Senior Women’s Quads at Henley Fours and Eights Head this weekend; hopefully, this growth will continue in the coming season.
Reading has four entries, Leander two, and Upper Thames and Minerva Bath the remainder. Due to high river conditions, the majority of head races have struggled to run this season, so this is likely to be one of the first races these sculling crews have competed in.
Reading University Boat Club
Under the tutorage of Chris Bartley, Reading University Boat Club continues to build a formidable women’s squad. At last weekend’s GB trials in Boston, the university had four women in the top 16, and it’s these four of Finnola Stratton, Ellie Cooke, Zara Povey and Meg Knight who will surely be in their top quad this weekend and for the rest of the season.
Beyond these four, Reading has developed tremendous strength in depth, with three more quads entered. Each of these will be competing at BUCS Head at the end of the month, and their B boat will be aiming to win the inter-category. Their crews have already raced this season at Henley Sculls, taking the top two places. They will want to capitalise on this and continue to show themselves as the premium centre for sculling in the UK.
Leander Club
The two entries from Leander Club are likely to be pretty well-matched quads. Whilst the club continues to have standout triallists, it would be fair to say their sculling crew boats have struggled at domestic races during the past year or so. They lacked consistency last season, and will hope they can rectify this in 2025. A race on home water is a good place to start and they will hope this gives them some advantage. If the likes of GB trials winner Sarah McKay are in the boat, Leander’s A crew will have a strong chance of competing with Reading. Their B boat should also contain some experienced scullers, and if they have had consistent training, it could be a tight battle with their Reading counterparts.
Upper Thames Rowing Club
This year’s race cancellations have hit Upper Thames Rowing Club hard. They have yet to compete in a sculling race this season. They will hope home water favours them and that they can translate their continuing improvements in sweep boats into sculling.
Minerva Bath Rowing Club
It’s fantastic to see Minerva Bath Rowing Club making the trip to Henley this weekend and providing this event with an entrant from outside the Thames Valley. It is still developing its Senior Women’s Squad, and this crew will gain valuable experience from this race. Hopefully, it will continue to spur them on to new heights.
Predictions
It is hard to see past Reading University Boat Club winning this weekend and any sculling race onwards this season; such is the strength of the programme they have developed. Expect the Reading A crew to be out in front, Leander Club‘s crews to battle each other, and Reading’s B boat for the remaining top three places.
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