This preview will deal with all of the Wednesday races in the bottom half of the PE draw, as well as a general overview of the latter stages of the competition up to the semi-finals.
Eton College vs King’s College School
With the 2015-2016 season drawing to a close, Eton will be looking to end their year by reclaiming the Princess Elizabeth Cup from St. Pauls School. Eton started the year with what would have been a disappointing 4th place finish at the School’s Head of the River but built strongly on this to finish 2nd at the National Schools, overturning Shiplake and St. Paul’s who were some way behind. While this was a great step on, Eton will have been disappointed to lose out to Westminster on their home course finishing 1 second behind. The calibre of athletes in this 8 is undeniably some of the strongest in the event with returners from both Worlds and Coupe. David Bewicke-Copley has abundant power at his disposable and while he has struggled to translate this onto the water in the past, his performances at under-23 trials this year show this is a blip in the past. World’s returner Oscar Lindsay brings the experience of racing at the highest junior international level which will be invaluable on a course like Henley. Athletes such as Charlie Pearson and Felix Drinkall have made the considerable step up to senior rowing with great success, performing exceptionally at GB junior trials and finishing 4th in the A final of the April Regatta. Drinkall stroked the GB 8+ to a bronze medal in Munich and will be aiming to be selected to represent GB in Rotterdam at the Worlds. The 8 is coxed by the experienced George Cozens who represented GB at Coupe last year and will be aiming to go one better this year and head to Rotterdam. King’s College School has entered the 1st 8s category this year, slightly lacking in the power needed to enter the championship event. They have had some strong performances in 1st 8s over the year coming 2nd at School’s Head and 2nd again at National Schools in 1st 8s ranking, losing on both accounts to Winchester. While KCS will have wanted to progress further than the Wednesday, I don’t believe they will be able to match the power of Eton, who are strong favourites to win the title this year will want to put down a strong marker for the start of their Henley Campaign.
Verdict: 4 lengths to Eton College
Winchester College vs Shrewsbury School
This race promises to be one of the races of the day – not just in the PE, but in the entire regatta. These are two very classy crews that have seen dramatic improvements over the course of the year. It’s a shame that they’re meeting so early in the competition, because neither crew deserves a Wednesday exit – but the nature of the competition is such that great crews can meet early exits. Winchester are a young and talented crew, with only one rower in his last year present – Robbie Boswall, a very powerful athlete and a strong leader of the group. This means that this Winchester crew is very similar to the strong Winchester J16s that performed so admirably last year, led by strong athletes like Tobias Schroder and Alex Wythe. Despite not matching many of the other PE crews in stature (apart from Schroder), they more than make up for it in spirit and aggression. They’ve got a start to rival any top schoolboy crew, and a ferocity that could catch many out by surprise. I have no doubt that even if they don’t quite progress strongly this year, they’ll be really on top of their game by next year. Shrewsbury have had an up-and-down season thus far, with disappointing results at NSR giving way to a stronger performance at Marlow Regatta, where the boys in blue led SPS almost to the 1000 metre mark before blowing somewhat in the IM1 8+ final. Shrewsbury are probably the more experienced crew, and with Matthew Rowe leading the crew from stroke they’ve got no shortage of talent in terms of personnel. Added to this, they seem to be attempting to really change the mentality of the crew considering last year’s Henley performance against Hampton. Shrewsbury were led off the start and looked oddly at ease with their deficit, not really mounting a charge until it was all too late. Considering Shrewsbury’s Marlow performance, they look to have significantly changed their race-plan and will try and lead Winchester in the early stages. I don’t think that Winchester will break too easily, and I fancy this could be a very close race – but I think that Shrewsbury will take it on Wednesday.
Verdict: 3/4 lengths to Shrewsbury School
Hampton School vs Bedford School
Hampton have experienced a great turnaround after a disappointing season last year, led from the front by a talented group of GB returners – Chris Zahn, who rowed in the coxed four at Junior Worlds last year, Dom Jackson, who rowed in the Coupe coxless four (and this season set the U19 lightweight world record for 5K on the ergo), and Jens Clausen, who rowed in the Coupe eight. There’s a much more positive feeling surrounding the crew compared to last year, and I think they can go a lot further in this contest; certainly, as a school, they’ve got great history in rowing in general, and these boys will be looking to make their mark in Hampton rowing canon. Their result at Marlow Regatta, particularly, suggests that they’re picking up speed with each race, and some tough seat-racing at Dorney Lake may well have strengthened the group overall. They’re clear favourites going into this race with Bedford. Bedford are certainly not pushovers, and they’ve cultivated a fine style that will see them really hold their form over the course – particularly important considering the headwind they’re likely to face – but Hampton will have the experience to push on and secure a pass through to Thursday’s racing.
Verdict: 3 lengths to Hampton School
St Edward’s School vs The King’s School, Chester
This promises to be another great race between two crews that really do deserve to progress further than the Wednesday. Teddies have been a real force in this competition for the past few years, making the final in 2013 and 2014, and the Friday in 2015. This year, they’ve lost many of their best athletes and haven’t really seen the same results as they have in years past. However, Teddies always seem to build towards Henley, and will undoubtedly have poured their hearts and souls into the past few weeks of training. King’s Chester has shown similar speeds to Teddies throughout the year – fast, but not quite fast enough to break into the top ranks of the Champ 8+ category – and their eight is bolstered by the presence of Harry Higginbottom, the talented and physically powerful Coupe returner. Teddies had the edge over King’s Chester at NSR, but Chester have been seeing dramatic improvements over the past few weeks and will be looking to put down the boys from Oxford. Teddies will likely lead in the early stages considering their lane advantage, so Chester will need cool heads and clear minds to track Teddies in the first half of the race, kicking up a gear as the race progresses and the advantage switches to the Bucks station. After that point, at around 800 metres, if Chester have a sniff of Teddies, that may be enough to grind them in. It’s all to play for.
Verdict: 1 length to St Edward’s School
Westminster School vs Claires Court
The 2015-2016 season has so far been dominated by the boys in pink. Westminster took the victory on their home course again at the School’s Head, beating nearest rivals Shiplake and St. Paul’s by a tight margin of 4 seconds. They repeated their success at Eton’s home course, their main rival at National Schools, surprising many after a dominant display of power by Eton in the time trial and semi-final. The margin remained tight however and in their second attempt at gaining the prestigious triple, spoiled last year by St. Paul’s, they will be wary of rivals such as Eton attempting to spoil their triple ambitions. The crew is packed with talent and experience, with 3 of the athletes having competed in Rio at the Junior World Championships and 1 at the Coupe. The Plaut twins both raced in Rio as part of the GB 8+ coming 5th in a strong field and their experienced in 8s racing will be crucial in the latter races against the likes of Eton and Radley who were there closest competitors at National Schools. Oswald Stocker was another member of the Westminster contingent who represented GB in Rio, racing as part of the coxed four. His power and boat moving skills have shown with strong performances in GB trials, coming 2nd at the April Pairs Regatta in a strong field. Combined with the metronomic rhythms from Oskar Arzt-Jones who represented GB in the 4- at Coupe, these boys will be looking to go one further than last year and secure the triple. Being the strong favourites to win the event outright along with Eton, these boys will be looking to put in a dominant performance to settle any nerves which will surely be flowing, knowing what is at stake for this crew. Claires Court were clearly delighted to have qualified for the event but barring disaster from Westminster I fear they may progress no further. With their strongest athletes put in the quad and looking strong favourites to win Fawley, this 8 will struggle to match the power and polished nature of the Westminster boat however I expect them to show no respect to their rivals on Wednesday with an aggressive start however they will not be able to match Westminster through the middle of the race, particularly into a strong stream and headwind.
Verdict: ‘Easily’ verdict to Westminster School
Brunswick School, USA vs Latymer Upper School
Brunswick have entered the PE this year with high hopes of making through several rounds, at least. They’re a technically proficient unit, and paddling around the course, they’ve certainly caught the attention of a few onlookers. Whether they have the speed to challenge the likes of other foreign crews – particularly the other Americans racing in the PE – remains to be seen, but they should have little trouble advancing to the Thursday. Latymer will put up a good fight, but don’t have the speed to match Brunswick. They’ve got a strong six-man in the form of Tom Phelps, who is looking to secure a place in the Great British team for either Coupe or Worlds this Summer, but strength in depth is something that Latymer has never really had, meaning there’s a big difference between the top and bottom end of this crew. Brunswick looks to be a more solid unit, and their cohesion will be a strong factor in the headwind.
Verdict: 3 lengths to Brunswick School
Shiplake College vs Choate Rosemary Hall, USA
Shiplake School have stepped up to Championship 8s level this year in an impressive manner, storming onto the scene with a 2nd place finish at the School’s Head, tying for the silver medal with 2015’s Henley winners St. Pauls School. They backed this up with a strong 4th place at National Schools but were some way off the pace of the winners Westminster. The crew has some strong individual athletes in it, most notably Will Carey and Henry Blois-Brooke, who won the ‘Early ID’ GB trials in their pair, and were invited to the GB development camp in Arnoia over Christmas. Shiplake will be looking to push through to the weekend but could face stiff competition in the form of Westminster on the Friday if they are successful in getting there. Their competition, Choate Rosemary Hall, are certainly one of the weaker foreign crews who are entered in the event. Their losses to Belmont Hill and Groton in duel races shows they lack the speed to really push the strongest British crews in the event, of which Shiplake is one; however, they will be looking to make their trip across the Atlantic worthwhile and will certainly be quick out the blocks. Whether they will have the speed to stick with Shiplake is another matter entirely.
Verdict: 4 lengths to Shiplake
The King’s School, Canterbury vs The London Oratory School
One of the success stories of this generation of junior rowers is that of London Oratory. They’ve really made their mark on the junior rowing scene, developing in strength from year to year and putting in an exceptional performance at NSR to come 4th in the ‘B’ final, beating KCS and only losing to King’s Chester by two seconds. Last year, the crew performed fantastically to qualify for the event, but they’ll be looking to go further this year. Facing King’s Canterbury, they should be able to progress. Canterbury aren’t a bad crew, with some good experience and a well-cultivated style, but London Oratory will have the edge in the Wednesday contest. It may well be closely fought, so watch this one closely – Canterbury will definitely benefit from the better lane, making this race less cut-and-dry than might originally be anticipated…
Verdict: 2 lengths to London Oratory School
Latter stages
I think that we’ll see an all-British quarter-finals, with Eton taking on Hampton and Westminster facing Shiplake. These won’t be easy contests, but Eton and Westminster will inevitably meet in the semi-finals. The battle will be titanic – this might well prove to be the hardest race for the winner. Westminster should be marginally faster, but Eton have the better side – at this stage, it seems too close to call. We’ll wait to see how this fascinating regatta pans out!
Good luck to all crews.
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