Put simply, racing doesn’t get tougher than the Fawley Challenge Cup. You could almost hear the collective gasp for breath when the Stewards released their ‘Crews Required to Qualify’ list on Sunday afternoon. In a 24-boat draw, which had 65 entries in total, some 21 crews were selected automatically into the main draw, leaving the remaining 44 quads to battle it out for three coveted spots. That tussle will happen on Friday in a series of qualifying races but once the dust has settled and the roster is complete, attention can turn to what promises to be a sensational edition of the Fawley Cup.
The Windsor Boys School ‘A’
I’ll put it out there – this Windsor Boys Squad are the best set of schoolboy scullers we’ve had in a generation. It’s not only the exemplary speed of their top crew – which hasn’t lost all year in open competition – but the depth this group have. They won every single Championship sculling event on offer at the National Schools’ Regatta a few weeks ago, an achievement made all the more impressive by the fact that there was no doubling-up between categories. This crew, which won Championship Quads by 2.5 seconds without star athlete and European champion Marcus Chute, will enter Henley as red-hot favourites to re-claim the title they last won in 2018. After winning the Schools’ Head by over 20 seconds, and showing no signs of abating (they finished fourth in the Championship Quad time-trial at Marlow Regatta only to then not race in the final but won Junior Quads by ten seconds), this unit are going to take some stopping.
Leander Club
You’ve got to applaud Leander’s consistency in this category. Some come, others go but Leander are perennial features in one of the most competitive boat classes on offer. They won this event for the first time as a standalone crew in 2019 – a victory that rounded off an epic season of back and forth with local rivals Henley Rowing Club – and were beaten semi-finalists in 2021. Given the fact that they were unable to beat a weakened Windsor Boys crew at the National Schools’ Regatta, I’d be very surprised if the Pink Palace could overcome a full strength unit on the prestigious Henley waters. If anyone knows how to turn up at Henley Royal Regatta in peak condition though, it’s the conveyor belt of talent that this club – already the most successful Olympic sports club in the world – churns out year after year.
Claires Court School Boat Club
Another boat club whose rise to the summit of schoolboy sculling has been nothing short of remarkable. Ten years ago, no one knew their name; now, they’re one of the most accomplished centres of excellence for male and female junior talent. After taking the reigns from Tom Jost – who led the club to a historic win in the 2016 Fawley Challenge Cup – Alex Richardson, a former pupil and member of that crew, is driving the club to new heights. His boy’s quad were bronze medalists at the National Schools’ Regatta and will want to step on at Henley Royal Regatta, which is where he aims to have the program peak. The development curve for CCBC, like all top boat clubs, tends to be cyclical and COVID denied us a look at what Alex described as the apex of that particular cycle of athletes. 2022 is another important stepping stone and a weekend berth in this category would be a fantastic achievement.
St Andrew Boat Club
Not necessarily a name I expected to feature in this preview but their performance in Junior Quads at Marlow Regatta forced me to sit up and take notice. It clearly had a similar effect on the Stewards at Henley Royal Regatta, who pre-qualified this crew ahead of several others who had featured at more events through the year. Junior rowing though is about timing – getting your crew just right for the perfect moment and St Andrew appear to be on course to achieve just that. They were second behind a dominant Windsor Boys crew at Marlow and beat the likes of Kingston, Marlow, Henley and the Windsor Boys ‘B’. What they’re capable of at Henley is anyone’s guess.
Kingston Rowing Club
A consistent performer throughout the year and a crew that have placed in the top five at most events. They were fourth at the National Schools’ Regatta and third at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head before finishing third at Marlow Regatta. With these sorts of crew profiles, it can be hard to tell what a ‘good performance’ looks like. A weekend placing would obviously represent a fantastic step-on but I wouldn’t be at all disappointed in winning a round or two before going out to a better crew either. This year’s Fawley Cup is incredibly competitive – with nationally-ranked crews from the USA and Australia in the fold – so Kingston will need to be on top form to move beyond the weekdays.
Los Gatos Rowing Club, U.S.A.
It’s always exciting to wait in fervent anticipation for the release of the Henley Royal Regatta entry list. We all pretty much know who will enter what from the UK – the usual suspects flood the PE, the Fawley, the DJ. From lands afar, over seas and far away, the guessing game remains pertinent right up until the last moment. Los Gatos Rowing Club, hailing from the West Coast of the USA with a boat just outside of the city of San Jose, are a really strong international entry. They were most recently silver medalists at the USRowing Youth National Championships in the Open Coxless Quad category and also took silver earlier in the season at the San Diego Crew Classic (losing out to the same crew both times). All of the athletes in this crew will be returning in 2023 for another crack at the national title so coach Channing Walker – a former Cal Berkeley alum – has branded this trip a ‘team-building exercise’. It could well be more than that – fast US quads are not to be messed with.
Gippsland Grammar School, Australia
If you’ve been keeping up to date with our ‘Road to Henley’, you’ll know all about this particular entry from Australia. They’re national champions in the Schoolboy Coxed Quad (for the first time in 14 years) and were silver medalists in the U19M4X at the Australian National Rowing Championships so we can safely say they’re one of the very best in their home country. The question remains as to whether they can mix it up with the fastest lads from the UK and specifically Windsor Boys, whose ‘A’ quad is a once-in-a-generation talent. Year 12 students Lindsay Hamilton and Billy Osborne have also been selected in the under-19 Men’s Quad Scull at the 2022 Junior World Championships. Basically, they’re going to be fast – but the question is how fast, particularly given the fact that their national championships were nearly 12 weeks ago?
Prediction
Frankly, even after getting hyped about all of the above, it remains very difficult for me to see past the Windsor Boys School. They won Marlow by ten seconds – yeh, that wasn’t a typo – and looked consummately at ease in simply accelerating away from the field. The international entrants are something of an unknown quantity – we know they’re fast on home territory but Henley is a markedly different beast and the nature of one-on-one racing demands a different mentality from crews competing. It would be pretty surprising if the Fawley Challenge Cup didn’t end up in the hands of Mark Wilkinson and his incredibly talented squad – but it wouldn’t be the first time Henley has thrown a spanner in the works.
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