As the top scullers in the country take on the 5000m course in Boston Lincolnshire for GB trials, seven high quality quads take on three kilometres upstream from the warm-up area to the finish on the Henley stretch, rowing past the famous sights we shall revisit in the height of summer. While the weather will likely not be as hot as it will be in late June, the racing may well be.
Reading University Boat Club
With only two athletes sculling in the first round of trials, the Reading University squad is at relatively full strength, boating three men’s quads into this event. This squad sculls exclusively and despite losing two of their top athletes to trials they will have a high-quality crew drawing from the crews that came seventh and 12th at Fours Head on the Tideway in mid-November with the latter of the two winning the pennant for Academic Quads.
This sculling-centred programme will not be competing at the Eights Head of the River so their major goals for the year remain further away for now. This means the athletes would enjoy picking up some silverware to make their continuing training through the dark months worthwhile.
Leander Club
With much of the Leander senior squad away for GB Trials, this crew would appear to be made up from their junior squad. This is not downplaying the quality of this crew, as their junior quad at Fours Head was contained from three juniors who made the Coupe de la Jeunesse team with a year of eligibility to spare. As for the result, they smashed the event record posting the ninth fastest time for a quad across all divisions, despite picking up a penalty for being late to the start.
These young athletes may have half an eye on Junior Trials in Boston the following weekend but will likely be in near-peak shape for the occasion and will be looking to instill confidence with a statement victory over probably the second best senior sculling programme in the UK.
Globe Rowing Club
Taking to the Henley stretch for the first race of their centenary year, Globe will be looking to make a splash. They have pedigree on this course too as two members narrowly missed out on qualifying in the Elite Double Sculls Challenge Cup in 2022, while a four produced some blistering speed in the Wyfold the previous year. This season, the results have been more mixed, finishing middle of the pack in the club coxless four at Fours Head but returning to the quad and sculling boats where they may be more confident could shoot them up the pecking order.
Llandaff Rowing Club
The only non-English club entered into the whole Head Race, this will be the first race of the year for Llandaff and did not appear to enter any of the major head races in the autumn either. The last time they entered a major event was at Henley Royal Regatta where they were around 20 seconds away from qualifying for the Thames Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. This entry is a real wildcard as there is absolutely no measuring stick to determine what quality of crew has come across the Severn Bridge.
City of Bristol Rowing Club
City of Bristol have built quite a large squad and managed to boat three men’s eights at the Quintin Head last month, but this quantity is not at the expense of quality as their three entrants at Scullers Head last autumn all ended up in and around the top quarter of the results list. Most of the big boat racing at major events has been in eights so there isn’t much to go on in terms of their sculling ability. So too is it unclear if this quad will be half of the eight that races in division one or if it is distinct from that entry.
Prediction
At the top end of this category, it is clear that it is a battle between the Leander juniors and the Reading University squad missing their two triallists. Who will come off the better of the two isn’t obvious as the Leander juniors split the top two Reading quads at Fours head, but with the quick developing juniors closer to training peak I would have to guess they will come off the better. In terms of whether the second and third Reading quads can hold off the open clubs, I will refuse to predict given how little results there are to go on this season to measure, among other things their development of latecomers to the sport and recruitment over the summer.
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