With the world returning to ‘normal’ after the Covid-19 pandemic so do has Henley Royal Regatta, with an astonishing number of entries which has well broken the previous record, the Regatta is shaping up to be the best in living memory.
With 22 entries, the Britannia Challenge Cup for club men’s coxed fours is not one of the events which catches the eye upon reading the entry list given that 16 of these will qualify, comparatively easy when the Temple has 75 entries and the Fawley 65. That said, there is some real quality here, and as always the finalists will be of an incredibly high calibre.
Hinksey Sculling School
This incredible club has been steadily on the rise for a few years now, ever since the Kiwi Axel Dickinson took the helm and inspired a generation of athletes with the notion that they could go toe to toe with the bigger and more established clubs if they worked hard.
Last year, Hinksey shocked many by reaching the final of the Brit, a feat which was truly astounding not least because it was a fully junior crew. From that crew last year two remain, Joe Travis and Gabriel Reynolds who took gold in the Boy’s Championship Pair at the National Schools’ Regatta earlier in the season.
Linking up with some younger teammates a four was then formed which finished fourth in the B final of the Coxed Fours event at Marlow, and as the top Tier 2 crew just pipping the strong crew from Molesey. This places them behind several others who will also be targeting the Brit, meaning if they want to repeat their stellar performance last year they will need to find some speed between now and the start of the Regatta.
London Rowing Club
London are the only club to enter a ‘B’ boat in the Brit this year, which shows confidence in their ability considering this event only allows 16 crews to qualify. However, we are only really interested in the ‘A’ crew here, who performed well at Marlow recently where they placed between Vesta and Hinksey, although I will note that the B crew qualified for the same final, perhaps unexpectedly.
This crew reportedly is London’s top ranked crew, with their entries across the Thames and Wyfold ranking below this foursome. If this is indeed the case, I reckon they would like to have placed a bit higher at Marlow, especially as they were bested by two local rivals in Thames and Vesta.
Molesey Boat Club
Considering that this crew is pretty low down Molesey’s rankings for Henley, this crew did well at Marlow, finishing fifth in the B final just ahead of the surprising ‘B’ crew from London. While they might be disappointed to finish behind Vesta and London, these are both top crews and in fact this is probably a solid result from them.
Realistically, I don’t expect this crew to be in contention to win the Brit this year, however, they are not a long way off the pace, and on their day are definitely in with a chance of getting through a couple of rounds.
Sydney Rowing Club, Australia
Thankfully travel restrictions across the globe have eased over the last twelve months allowing such a high number of international entries, particularly from far afield in the US, Australia and New Zealand. One such crew making the trip as part of a large squad of athletes is this one from Sydney Rowing Club.
Last time they came to Henley in 2019 they won the Wyfolds and while this crew is the ‘B’ boat sitting below their Thames Cup eight we have heard that the club has really been targeting HRR this season across their squads. I have no doubt that this crew will make it through a couple of rounds at least and challenge some of the top domestic crews.
Thames Rowing Club
Walking in as the clear favourites this year in all three of the club events is Thames Rowing Club. They are turning into the counterpart to Brookes on the club scene with their dominance almost unchallengeable at least that’s how it seems on the back of a series of dominant performances this season.
This crew were the only club crew that made the A final of the Championship Coxed Fours at Marlow, placing sixth in a race where all their competitors were university crews who, presumably, are targeting the Prince Albert. While the conditions at Marlow were challenging and rapidly changing, the time posted by Thames was five seconds faster than the next club crew, Vesta, who won the B final.
Vesta Rowing Club
This Putney-based club has looked on at the success of their neighbours Thames in recent years as they racked up victory after victory at Henley and this year, it seems, they have decided enough is enough.
The outfit entered in the Brit this year has performed well all summer, most recently winning the B final of the Championship Coxed Fours comfortably at Marlow Regatta. The crew contains a balance of power in the form of former GB Start athlete Oliver Quitmann, poise in the form of Windsor Boys’ and Imperial College alum Tom Smith, and an experienced head in the cox Dan Baillache who has been around the block, competing previously for Bath University, Cambridge ’99 and most recently Edinburgh University.
These boys will have their sights set firmly on the weekend and the prospect of competing against rivals, Thames. Draw allowing, the eventual match-up between the two proves to be enthralling.
Prediction
The Brit proves to be a pretty strong event this year, which will inevitably lead to some quality outfits not making as far through the regatta as they would like and hopefully to some close races even in the early rounds.
My guess is that the finalists will be Vesta and Thames and they will dog it out for the win. I am loathe to predict another Thames win so will place my bet on the underdog crew in this match up and go for Vesta to win.
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