After a breathless first day of racing, in which 32 junior eights competed across sixteen races, the field has been halved dramatically. For many of our junior athletes, their Henley 2019 campaign is already over. However, 16 eights successfully advanced to the Thursday, and are one step closer to the hallowed Henley weekend. Let’s take a look at the races of the day, and what to expect from tomorrow’s racing
King’s College School vs St Edward’s School
In the first all-junior race of the regatta (sorry Shrewsbury 2V, we were cheering you on), KCS made easy work of Tideway neighbours Dulwich College. After easing into a clear water lead, GB strokeman Jeff Gugelmann backed off the rating and led the crew to a 3 and a half-length victory. They will line up tomorrow against St Edward’s, who they lost to at Reading Amateur Regatta and will no doubt want revenge. After a training session with Harry Brightmore in the coxing seat and a convincing 3 1/4 length victory over King’s Canterbury, Teddies will be brimming with confidence and raring to take on the boys from the tideway. This one should be a scorcher.
Scots College AUS vs St Paul’s
Early on in the day, Scots made easy work of Claires’ Court and will line up against Bobby’s Boys tomorrow. After speaking to the whole crew and coach, it became apparent that none of the athletes are older than 16, and they are planning on making HRR a regular event for them to race as the crew gets older. Despite a loose umbrella giving the 7 seat a surprise off Temple Island, they kept a cool head and will face one of the strongest crews in the bottom half in the shape of St Pauls. The boys from Hammersmith took on cross-river rivals Latymer Upper School and took a commanding lead to the barrier, winning by a margin of 3 lengths. Both of these crews had a pretty laidback first race, and how well they adapt to the competitive mindset after a relatively easy first day will be key. St Paul’s went 5 seconds faster than Scots to the barrier, but Scots had their mishap with the umbrella, so it undoubtedly will be a close one.
St Joseph’s Prep vs Flatow-Oberschule
In their first-round races, St. Joseph’s took on Canford School. They weren’t too much trouble, with the Americans taking the victory by a margin of 3 1/2 lengths. However, they face a significantly harder prospect in their Thursday race in the form of Flatow-Oberschule. The German’s faced off in a tough clash against St. George’s College today, they were held well by George’s until the barrier but moved away to record a 2 3/4 length victory. One of these two international crews will be heading to the airport after tomorrow, and neither of the two will want to be packing their bags…
Monmouth vs Shrewsbury
The Child Beale winners will face Shrewsbury tomorrow in what will be a hotly contested tie. Shrewsbury eased past Abingdon by a margin of two lengths. By contrast, Monmouth did it the hard way, showing grit and tenacity as they rowed through the seeded Kent School, USA to record a memorable win for the Welsh school. Both of these crews featured in the final of CH8+ at NSR, with Shrewsbury finishing 4th and Monmouth finishing 6th, with only four seconds separating them. In a post-race interview with some writers, Monmouh highlighted the work they’d placed on the back end of the stroke and how it had served them well as they came from behind to beat Kent. In terms of standout athletes, this is the battle of the strokemen. Dom Sullivan sat 4 in the gold medal winning GB 8 at the Junior World Championships last year, and he will be looking to lead Shrewsbury on to the Friday. His opposite man, Iwan Hadfield, won a bronze and silver medal at Munich Junior Regatta 2019 in the four and the eight respectively. Both of these crews have a lot riding on this race, Shrewsbury is a top rowing school who have an expectation of impressive henley campaigns. Meanwhile, Monmouth appears to have somewhat of a golden generation of rowers and will want to gain as much success as they can this season and, given the savage nature of junior rowing, may not have another chance for a while.
Eton vs Westminster
A clash of two traditional heavyweights of the sport. In years gone by this would have been a P.E. Final. However, this season has been one of contrasting fortunes for these two crews. After a slightly underwhelming 2017/2018 season, Eton came back with a bang, coming 2nd at schools head, under a second off of winners Shiplake. They followed this form into the regatta season. Unfortunately, once again they had a slightly lacklustre NSR, being forced to settle for fifth. However, they made it into the B final of Champs 8s at Marlow, placing them behind only the dominant Radley. They were made to work by a hard-starting Pangbourne today, however, their strong back-ended rhythm saw them through safely, recording a margin of 1 1/4 lengths. These athletes will have their eyes firmly set on the weekend and the allure of a red box. In their way is Westminster, who last made it out of the heats in 2016. Winners of the B final at NSR, they took control of their race against Winchester today, moving out to a length at Fawley and extending their lead all the way home. Eton may enter this race as favourites, but the boys from the tideway will be confident after their win today, especially after such a gutsy row from Pangbourne which forced Eton to work all the way to the line. This could go right to the line.
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