This coming Saturday, Henley will play host to a plethora of crews from around the country as they battle over an extended stretch of the famous Royal Regatta course. The Fours & Eights Head starts downstream of Temple Island, and runs for approximately 3,000m to the Royal Regatta finish. It’s not a massive distance in comparison to some of the gruelling Tideway head races, so expect to see some incredibly tight racing and fast pacing.
Thames RC
The coxless four event looks to be a real showdown between some big hitters in the club rowing scene. Starting first will be Thames RC, who are never short of talent and pedigree. Interestingly, this is their sole men’s entry at Henley Fours & Eights, and is likely a lower boat in the strong Thames roster this year. That being said, Thames have significant strength in depth – their third place finish in Championship Eights and first place finish in Senior Eights at Quintin Head is testament to this – so their four here will no doubt be strong.
Upper Thames RC
Upper Thames, another giant of the British club rowing scene, have two fours entered here and will be hungry to defend their home water. Their first four – UTC Griffiths – looks to have raced to a decent finish in Championship Coxless Fours at Fours Head back in November despite a penalty, so I would fancy this boat as a potential favourite for the race on Saturday. Upper Thames crews have oscillated in quality over recent years, but are always technical and competitive. Alongside their entry in the eight, they’ll be looking for promising results on Saturday.
Marlow RC
Marlow RC seems to be racing the eight in the morning and splitting into two fours for the afternoon division, which is a real test of fitness and skill. However, these are some experienced guys with a good knowledge of the course, so I would imagine both crews, if matched, will be pushing for high finishes here. Marlow had a decent showing at Fours Head, coming third in Open Club Coxed Four and twelfth in Open Club Coxless Four. These guys are mainstays of the club rowing scene and always produce quality crews, so I could absolutely see them challenging here.
Henley RC
Henley RC, like Upper Thames, will also be eager to defend their home course, though their sweep racing experience has been limited thus far this season. They have two fours entered here, again, seemingly made up of the eight racing in the morning and quite possibly matched. An eighth place finish in Senior Eights at Quintin Head at the end of January was perhaps more promising than it would initially appear – the boat was, time-wise, right in the mix with a host of top club crews. With some young talent on the Henley squad, they could pose a threat here, though perhaps their relative lack of experience this season will hamper them at this stage.
City of Bristol RC
City of Bristol enter with significant potential, particularly given a very strong performance at Fours Head back in November: fourth place in Open Club Four, and sixth in Open Club Coxed Four. However, there are two eights entered in the first division at Henley Fours and Eights – likely their first and second eights – and it’s difficult to know quite where their coxless four fits into their squad ranking. In any case, could certainly be ones to watch.
Prediction
Finally, Sons of the Thames enter with very little to go off form-wise, but with two eights and three coxless fours entered, it would appear that the squad has some confidence in its depth. In terms of a prediction, I think that Upper Thames – Griffiths will take the top spot on their home turf, with Henley RC – Singfield just behind and Thames RC – Brown in third.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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