The Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley is often seen as one of the most savage events in the programme and often sees huge numbers of crews aiming to qualify, with only a handful of spots in the main draw. This year is no different with the Fawley seeing 67 entries this year, up from 64 in 2018. As such, the Stewards have required 50 crews to qualify for only 7 spots in Saturday’s draw. These qualification races are a time trial down the famous 2112 metre course, with the event split into 5 waves of 10 crews.
Tideway Scullers School ‘B’ and ‘C’
Scullers have 3 quads entered to the Fawley, and 2 have been asked to qualify on Friday. This is something that these guys will all relish, as they are stand out names amongst those in the qualifiers. Marlow Regatta proved that these are two crews who are firmly in the mix, as both crews qualified for the B final where they took 2nd and 3rd places, beating many of those racing in this qualification event. As such, both Tideway Scullers crew may well be good bets for places in the main draw.
Henley Rowing Club ‘C’
At NSR Henley caused somewhat of a shock when they pinched the Championship quads title off Leander with their top crew. Both the A and B crews have prequalified and this particular crew finds themselves in the needing to qualify. Having said that, they should be one of the crews in contention to qualify. This crew won the B final at Marlow and their time was faster than that of the Tideway Scullers A crew in the A final. Clearly, this crew will be one of the ones to watch on Friday.
Hinksey Sculling School
Another crew who will see themselves as having a shot at qualification, Hinksey are a crew who have been around most of the season, with plenty of racing experience as a unit under their belts. This unit raced as a 4+ at National Schools’, but have picked up some reasonable speed in the quad, shown with a place in the A final of J18 4x at the Met Regatta, and good result on the B final at Marlow, where they were beaten only by the two Scullers crews and the Henley quad. Whilst this is less clear cut than the aforementioned, this Hinksey quad will think they have a shot
Rob Roy BC
Another crew who have been around a fair bit this season, and seem to be at the top end of the crews in this qualification race, Rob Roy could also be in the mix come Friday. They raced well at National Schools’ being less than 2 seconds off A/B semi final qualification. At Marlow they were firmly in the mix, placing 7th in the B final. Whilst these results don’t seem overwhelming, the fact they are beating so many of the crews that are in the qualifying mix means that Rob Roy will see themselves as capable of earning one of the 7 spots in Saturday’s draw.
Great Marlow School
Gradually becoming one of the names who will be seen on a Henley entry list each year, Great Marlow School have raced both the Fawley and PE since their Henley debut in 2015. This year, this quad has to go through the qualifiers, and as is the theme here, they are seemingly at the top end of the crews who are required to qualify, and have been so for most of the season. National Schools’ saw elimination from the A/B semis by under a second, and placed 5th in the B final at Marlow, putting them firmly in the TSS/Hinksey mix. This bodes well given the calibre of these crews and means Great Marlow must be seen as contenders for qualification.
Reading RC
A bold prediction inbound here, I think that this Reading crew could well spring a surprise here. This crew has been is two members of the GB start programme at Reading, with their top two junior squad athletes and has what I make the fourth heaviest athlete in the Regatta as a whole, and by far and away the heaviest junior in the programme at 3, weighing in at 17st. This contributes to a crew average weight of 14st which is massive and should mean this quad has serious power on board. Given the fact that this crew has been working under the guidance of the Start coach down at Reading, Ben Reed, and rumours of some quick times coming out of the club, despite not racing at any of the major regattas, I think this crew could steal a slot in the draw, which would be the first time since 2015 Reading have had a junior crew at the Regatta.
The racing on Friday is without doubt going to be the prelude to the usual slug fest that the Fawley becomes year after year at the Regatta, often serving up some of the best racing, not just in the junior events, but accross the programme as a whole. Picking 7 crews to go through from a possible 50 is a challenge, and its worth noting that there is the potential for crews such as two time winners and Fawley Cup holders Windsor Boys School, and Westminster School to miss out, a testament to the standard of racing that will be seen. For many crews this will define their season, and for all, the chance is there to race at the most prestigious domestic regatta of the season. Bring on the racing.
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