Compared to the walkover that was St Paul’s last year, it is shaping up to be an intense and unpredictable PE this time round. One where overseas entries are high, and everybody believes they have a chance of leaving on Sunday with a red box and their name etched on the trophy.
Canford School vs St Joseph’s Prep School, USA
It may have been a surprise to some to see that Canford (luckily for them) pre-qualified. As much as the honour of a race at Henley is, Canford will have their work cut out if they are to overturn St Joseph’s Prep School. For a foreign crew to make the trip to Henley is a statement in itself that you mean serious business, and St Joseph’s are no strangers to success. Their lightweight and youth eights finished 4th in the A final and 6th in the B final respectively at Youth Nationals across the pond in Sarasota, both just missing out on breaking the 6 minute barrier. It seems from the entry that some of the lightweight 8+ athletes have managed to bag themselves a seat in this Henley crew, which no doubt has their sights set on the weekend.
Prediction: St Joseph’s to win
St George’s College vs Flatow-Oberschule, Germany
American and Australian crews racing in the PE? Not too much of a surprise. A German entry? That shocked everyone. St George’s have slowly been building their outfit year-by-year recently and now have a strong cohort of experienced J18s who have raced on this Henley course before, which will pay dividends when they line up against a foreign crew. Only time will tell whether or not the Germans will have the mindset to put the unfamiliarity behind them and work with these next few days of training that they have. Looking at past results, it seems that many of this crew raced in a wide variety of boats at the Munich Regatta, with some of them even placing ahead of crews sent by the British junior team.
Prediction: Flatow-Oberschule to win
Reading Blue Coat School vs Boston College HS, USA
Blue Coat are not one of the stronger entries on this side of the draw, and coming up against a seeded crew they will have their work cut out. It has been hard to find recent results for Boston College, but take my word after seeing them training on the course earlier-they mean business.
Prediction: Boston College to win
King’s Chester vs Shiplake College
Home water? Check. Seeded crew? Check. Same side of the draw as Radley? Check. Working cox box? Check?? Despite the efforts of their final charge at NSR not being enough to put their bow in front of St Paul’s, the bees have been busy putting the final touches to their Henley campaign on this stretch of water where they are the only crew that can call HRR their home race. On the other hand, Chester have also had a strong head season, but have slightly dropped positions since Schools’ Head.
Prediction: Shiplake to win
Winchester College vs Westminster School
In this matchup we will see a seasoned Winchester crew go up against Westminster, who are putting their efforts into the 8+ this year after having focussed on a quad last year. Winchester are putting significant effort into this 8+ with a new boat and blades for this year, and they have a reasonable set of results to their name with a victory in the C final at National Schools’, with a 3rd place final at Marlow. Westminster won the B final at National Schools and won J18 8+ at Marlow, so will have to be seen as favourites for this race.
Prediction: Westminster to win
Pangbourne College vs Eton College
The draw has not been as kind to Pangbourne this year as it has been previously. Eton have one of the strongest crews on this side of the draw, and you only need to look at the caliber of their middle four to know that: a Coupe double gold medallist, junior World Champion, 3 returnees from last year and a Home Internationals winner. Pangbourne are still NSR medallists, but this race looks fairly one-sided.
Prediction: Eton to win
Bryanston School vs Lawrenceville School, USA
Although on paper Bryanston were C finalists at NSR, they still managed to pull a 6:10 out the bag down the course. Lawrenceville, on the other hand raced at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, a shorter course than 2km where they finished 5th doing a 4:24 over 1500m. Crews in the past such as Montclair have made the trip over after competing at this regatta and still manage to make it through the first couple of days even with the change to a longer course.
Prediction: Lawrenceville to win
Norwich School vs Radley College
If you were to cast your mind back to National Schools’ Regatta 2015, a time so long ago NSR was held in Nottingham, the Radley College J14 A 8x+ won the first major regatta for this cohort of junior rowers. Fours years later, and recent results would put Radley at the top of the list of British crews to leave with a red box on come Finals Day. After a dominant win at the Metropolitan Regatta in a race containing St Paul’s and Eton, and the only junior crew to make the top 8s final at Marlow Regatta alongside top crews from the Ladies’ Challenge Plate and Temple Challenge Cup, it seems that yet again John Gearing and Sam Townsend have planned their programme perfectly to peak in top form for Henley. With the engine that is the fastest junior pair in the country in the stern in the form of Edward Rae Smith and Felix Rawlinson, this first race should be the draw that Radley were hoping for, and the unfortunate Norwich were dreading.
Prediction: Radley to win
St Paul’s vs Latymer Upper School
Bobby Thatcher was always going to have his work cut out for him repeating the outlandish achievements of his squad last year and the St Paul’s VIII this year can only be considered as underdogs to win the competition. They were forced to settle for a bronze medal at Schools’ Head, but were within one second of silver and gold medallists Eton College and Shiplake College. They came to NSR as perennial contenders for the Queen Mother Cup, but they smashed everyone’s expectations as they led the CH8+ A final out of the blocks and simply refused to be reeled in by any other crew. This was followed by less successful appearances at the Metropolitan and Marlow Regattas, where they were beaten by high flying Radley. They come up against a Latymer Upper School crew who have had a slightly less successful season, with a 13th place finish at Schools’ Head and a 15th place finish at NSR. Latymer had an excellent season last year, finishing 6th overall at NSR and making it to the Friday of Henley, where they were knocked out by St Paul’s. Bobby’s boys may not be as dominating as last year, but Latymer will have their work cut out for them if they wish to match last years achievements.
Prediction: St Paul’s to Win
Scots College, AUS vs Claires Court
Scots finished fifth in U17 Schoolboy Eights at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta and have experienced domestic success in New South Wales. However, they’re unlikely to challenge the top UK and international crews. They come up against Claires Court, whose top boat is seeded in the Fawley Challenge Cup. Seeded Scots should deal with Claires Court easily, but if they wish to progress in this Regatta, they will have to face down stiffer opposition.
Prediction: Scots College to Win
St Edward’s vs King’s Canterbury
Arguably the weakest seeded crew, St Edward’s have been handed a kind draw here, King’s Canterbury had to go through the qualifiers to earn their name on the draw. Teddies have largely raced in a four this season, finishing 5th in CH4- on the Sunday, but have seen success in the VIII, finishing 5th in Tier 2 VIIIs at Marlow Regatta. Teddies are clear favourites to win this. But, like Scots will have greater challenges ahead of them
Prediction: St Edward’s to Win
KCS Wimbledon vs Dulwich College
Facing off in one of only 2 unseeded races, KCS Wimbledon may feel hard done by with regards to their lack of seeding. This year’s VIII is their fastest ever crew and they showed their pedigree with an appearance in the CH8+ Final at NSR. They won the C final of Championship VIIIs at Marlow Regatta in a time that would have won them School/Junior VIIIs, turning over Monmouth School, who had the better of them at NSR, in the process. Their opposition, Dulwich College, only a few doors down from them on the Tideway, have raced a top four all season and, like King’s Canterbury, have had to go the qualifiers in a scratch VIII to earn their place on the Wednesday. KCS will want to advance through Dulwich and have a go at the seeded crews later in the week in order to prove the Stewards wrong.
Prediction: KCS Wimbledon to Win
Scotch College, AUS vs Bedford School
The bottom line with international crews is: they will rarely make the effort to make the trip over to Henley if they don’t think they are fast. in 2017, Scotch were vindicated in this hope as they faced down the UK’s best and took the P.E. down under. Bedford School were somewhat the surprising number last year in what was hardly an orthodox season. Despite entering Non-Champs 8s, they finished fourth overall at NSR, picking up the Child Beale in the process, before advancing to the Friday of Henley where they were knocked out by Shrewsbury School. Bedford hasn’t quite been able to repeat these feats, having to settle with 21st in the VIII at NSR and 9th in the quad. Bedford have once again opted for a top quad, meaning that Scotch should have no trouble in advancing to the Thursday.
Prediction: Scotch College to Win
St Paul’s, USA vs Hampton School
A silver medal at NEIRA prompted this St Paul’s crew to make the hop across the pond to Henley, which they prioritized training for over making the journey to Youth Nationals, which their regional silver medal entitled them to attend. Their women’s side achieved success at Henley Women’s Regatta, and they will be looking to mirror this. They face a crew from Hampton School which was forced to settle for a disappointing 14th at NSR. It has been a while since Hampton has featured at the business end of junior rowing and given the journey and their position as a seeded crew, St Paul’s USA will be disappointed if they fail to advance past the Wednesday.
Prediction: St Paul’s USA to Win
Shrewsbury School vs Abingdon School
Shrewsbury really came into their element during this regatta season. They finished 4th at NSR in what was one of the most competitive finals in the history of the competition. They were one of only four crews to make it to the weekend of the P.E. before being knocked out by eventual finalists Eton College last year and will want to match or better that achievement this year. First, they must face a crew from Abingdon who, like their counterparts at Hampton, has a long history in the sport but have failed to reach the top end of junior rowing in recent years. They were unlucky last year to face the all-conquering St Paul’s on the Thursday, where they exited the competition. However, given their modest 10th place finish at NSR this year, it seems likely that they will have to settle for a Wednesday exit this year.
Prediction: Shrewsbury School to Win
Kent School, USA vs Monmouth
Kent appear to be the most competitive entry from the USA. The fastest overseas crew at Marlow Regatta, they have a proud history of attending Henley and are no strangers to the white-boomed course. They face an outfit from Monmouth School, who finished 6th overall at NSR and won the Child Beale. However, they were bested by KCS Wimbledon in a side-by-side race at Marlow Regatta, so it remains to be seen just quite how good they are. But what we do know is that when they get it right, they are fast. However, given the pedigree of Kent School (they’re a seeded crew) and the big risk they made in coming over to Henley, I think this may be an early exit for Monmouth who, had they drawn another crew, may have made it further in the Regatta.
Prediction: Kent School to Win
OarsomeBows and TidewaySweeper
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