With qualifiers as competitive as they have ever been – in a year with a huge record entry – we thought it was high time to take a look at the crews required to qualify for the junior events in 2024. Our expert analysts have put together their bets on who they think will be making it through Friday’s time-trial, starting with the eights.
Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
TOTAL: 24
SUBJECT TO WITHDRAWALS THE FASTEST 15 CREWS WILL QUALIFY (62.5%)
With some of the friendliest odds across all qualifying races at Henley Royal Regatta this year, the Princess Elizabeth Challenge is usually pretty generous. Teams are limited to one entry per school or club and the event has the full 32-boat allocation, meaning entry numbers do not correspond with events like the Temple or the Thames yet the roster on day one will be just as full.
In 2024, Abingdon School lead the group out. It’s a sign of how far this once-untouchable institution have fallen – a decade or so ago, they were the fastest schoolboy crew around and had just come off the back of a three-year winning streak in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. They were sixth overall in junior eights at Marlow Regatta and I would expect them to take one of the qualifying slots.
Other boats from that final who should be confident of securing passage through to the main draw include Norwich School, who may be a little surprised to find themselves in the position of having to qualify after winning junior eights at Marlow Regatta, finishing fourth in the ‘B’ final at the National Schools’ Regatta and winning first eights at the Schools’ Head of the River. Alongside them, I expect Dulwich College – who were second behind Norwich at Marlow and were third in the same final at the National Schools’ Regatta – to make the grade.
Reading Blue Coat should be feeling good heading into Friday, given they’ve been competitive in the junior eight category all season. They were eighth in junior eights last Saturday and were another component of the ‘B’ final at Dorney Lake in late May. King’s School Chester and Monmouth School also fall into the same category of B-finalists at the National Schools’ Regatta and boats that will be disappointed not to make the main draw.
Hinksey Sculling School will be delighted if they can slot three boats into Henley Royal Regatta after pre-qualifying their national champion girls’ eight and their bronze medalist boy’s quad and I think they stand a good chance of qualifying the eight here too. With two competitive quads throughout the season, their ‘B’ crew have now jumped into this boat and should be focused on a Tuesday Regatta showdown.
Great Marlow School have had an epic season in the quad, winning the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head outright. After their first win at Henley Royal Regatta in 2023, they’ll be desperate to repeat the trick on multiple fronts. I think they’ll qualify alongside Winchester College, another boat club who have struggled in the recent past to muster up the strength of old. They were sixth in the ‘B’ final of junior eights at Marlow Regatta, a second behind Great Marlow School.
Kew House School will be hopeful of getting into the main draw. A rapidly-developing program, their efforts include second place in the ‘C’ final of championship eights at the National Schools’ Regatta and eighth in the ‘C’ final of junior eights at Marlow Regatta. Other crews who stand a good chance include the Windsor Boys School, who have only entered one crew into the Fawley and so this boat likely contains athletes five to 12 in their squad; Kingston Grammar School, who have collected a range of good results through the season (although this crew does not contain their championship coxless four-winning unit); Emanuel School, who finished seventh in first eights at the Schools’ Head of the River and have built up a good habit of qualifying into the main draw for this competition; Molesey Boat Club, who were second in club junior eights at the Head of the River Race and raced as a championship coxless four (seventh) and junior 16 quads (ninth) and finally Pangbourne College, who have been severely impacted by injury all season but raced to sixth in the ‘H’ final of championship eights at Marlow Regatta (where their times were competitive with the likes of King’s School Chester).
Prince Philip Challenge Trophy
TOTAL: 16
SUBJECT TO WITHDRAWALS THE FASTEST 6 CREWS WILL QUALIFY (37.5%)
With 32 entries in the Prince Phillip Challenge Cup, seven international outfits, and many high-standard domestic rivalries, exactly half were granted the all-important prequalification leaving 16 crews to take to the water on Friday for a precious 6 remaining spots.
Five of these crews qualified for the side-by-side racing of Henley Women’s Regatta in a time trial not unlike the one they face this week. Godolphin and Latymer School was the fastest of these boats and 11th fastest crew overall, less than a second behind Surbiton High School, who have prequalified for this event, and three seconds ahead of their next competitor. Back in March, they took a pink flag at Schools’ Head of the River in the girls’ school first eights ahead of much of the competition they face on Friday. Their J16 coxed four’s clear-water victory in their own event shows clear depth in what is proving to be a highly successful squad with two years experience at Henley, having qualified in 2022 and 2023 before being knocked out on the Wednesday of both years.
Sir William Perkin’s School are a familiar force on the sweep side, but perhaps better known for individual athletes in the GB system who now scull in the top quad. This eight form their ‘B’ boat but demonstrate plenty of potential in past results, notably a fifth-placed finish in girls’ school first eights at the Schools’ Head of the River and bronze for their coxed four at the National Schools’ Regatta. Like Godolphin and Latymer, they also arrive in Henley with previous experience between the booms, qualifying straight through to the Thursday of last year’s regatta before losing to Headington School.
Emanuel School are aiming to make this their first successful qualification bid after finishing as the second non-qualifier last year behind the now-prequalified Wallingford. Like many other boats asked to qualify, Emanuel have spent much of their summer in smaller boats and notably took a sixth-placed finish at the National Schools’ Regatta in girls’ championship coxed fours. As for their full eight, they were in sixth place behind Sir William Perkin’s in girls’ school first eights at the Schools’ Head of the River and 15th-placed qualification for Henley Women’s Regatta behind the prequalified Latymer Upper School, which stands them in good stead for a successful time trial on Friday.
Further down in last year’s qualification results were the King’s School Chester, who last qualified in 2021, before the Prince Phillip even had its name. A tough draw at their most recent race saw them knocked out of Henley Women’s by eventual winners Headington School, after finishing 13th in the time trial – this matches their result in championship eights at the Schools’ Head of the River back in March. Minor final finishes for their coxed and coxless fours at the National Schools’ Regatta and a tricky heat that kept them out of the eights final of Wallingford Regatta will surely have built some resilience in these girls – I trust they can pull out something special on Friday off the back of their Henley Women’s run.
Shrewsbury School made history at May’s National Schools’ Regatta with their first ever girls’ victory, dominating the championship coxless four in a classy display of this school’s ability. Three members of this boat subsequently moved into the quad for the Metropolitan Regatta, and have entered into the Diamond Jubilee for a shot at sculling success. Even with a supposedly weakened eight, Shrewsbury were the last boat to qualify for Henley Women’s, and have raced at Henley Royal twice previously, knocking out Godolphin and Latymer last year.
0.2 seconds separated the Shrewsbury girls at HWR from two more crews on our list – Green Lake (USA) and St George’s College. Despite lacking a home advantage and being the only international crew asked to qualify, Green Lake are making their third Henley bid after missing 2023’s racing. They were the first non-qualifier for Henley Women’s and will be desperate not to repeat this on a larger scale this Friday. St George’s College return after making the Wednesday of last year’s regatta, and this time around are armed with a successful coxless four who took third at Wallingford Regatta and bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta. Fifth in the B-final at the same race for their coxed four suggests a strong combination for their eight.
Unlike almost all crews on the qualifying roster, Kingston Grammar School opted to skip Henley Women’s perhaps in favour of a longer taper. It’s their first attempt at qualifying for the Prince Phillip so this boat are likely to lack the course experience other crews seem to wield, however an 11th-placed finish at the National Schools’ Regatta in the eight and second place at the Schools’ Head of the River in girls’ school first eights suggests, like many other boats, this crew cannot be discounted so easily.
We’ll also see the younger crews of Great Marlow School (half of which is formed by what is normally their impressive J15 quad) and Wimbledon High School, qualifiers last year, no doubt employing some of their most forceful J16s off the back of a successful season for this squad. Against the raw power of those just a little older than them, it’s difficult to predict an easy qualification for either crew, but keep an eye out for future threats in these crews.
In conclusion, Godolphin and Latymer seem primed to qualify for the third year in a row, and with Sir William Perkin’s hot on their tails, it would be no surprise to catch either of them between the booms next week. Emanuel School and King’s School Chester should be excited for a solid chance at righting last year’s wrongs following promising appearances on the Henley stretch. Even with limited Henley experience, Kingston Grammar School are difficult to look past and a certainly a strong contender for a qualifying spot. After the tight margins at Henley Women’s it’s difficult to separate Shrewsbury School, Green Lake (USA), and St George’s College, but with their historic National Schools’ victory, my money’s on Shrewsbury to nab the final qualification spot.
Fawley Challenge Cup
TOTAL: 50
SUBJECT TO WITHDRAWALS THE FASTEST 5 CREWS WILL QUALIFY (10%)
For the Fawley Challenge Cup, there remain only five qualification places left from the original 24. With 50 crews fighting for these treasured slots, the competition here may be the fiercest of any event and is certain to be absurdly cut-throat.
Favourites to take a qualifying spot will be Molesey Boat Club, with a seventh-placed finish at the National Schools’ Regatta to boast of, the best of any non pre-qualified crew. They had a shaky performance at Marlow Regatta, which hopefully can be put down to a poor time trial, as their time in the final is up there with that of pre-qualified crews. With them could be King’s College School, Wimbledon who finished fourth in the B-final at Marlow Regatta and is made up of members of the club’s second eight, who finished sixth in that event at the National Schools’ Regatta. Right beside them could be Kingston Grammar School Boat Club, who finished fifth in the B-final at Marlow. They are the same crew who won the championship coxless four at the National Schools’ Regatta and are clearly still getting into their rhythm in a sculling boat. If they can find the same speed they produce in sweep boats, they should perform well.
A crew that could be difficult to predict is Los Gatos Rowing Club ‘B’, U.S.A, who you would expect to be able to qualify considering they travelled all the way from California. This is their second crew (the junior Varsity) who won that category by open water at the San Diego Crew Classic and took the 2V title at the USRowing Youth National Championships. Two crews which have been neck and neck all season are George Heriot’s School and The King’s School, Worcester, who finished less than two seconds apart at both Marlow and the National Schools’ Regatta. If luck swings their way, both crews could qualify. Furthermore, their similar positions at both regattas indicate their speeds are fairly stagnant, so they must ensure they do not miss out to a newer, fresher crew. One such crew is The American School in London Boat Club ‘A’ who have spent most of the season racing the double (where they came fifth at the National Schools’ Regatta) and were already only a second behind at Marlow Regatta.
Overall, I think we will see Molesey, King’s College School, Wimbledon, Los Gatos Rowing Club ‘B’, Kingston Grammar School Boat Club and The American School in London Boat Club ‘A’ qualify for the Regatta proper.
Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup
TOTAL: 46
SUBJECT TO WITHDRAWALS THE FASTEST 7 CREWS WILL QUALIFY (15.22%)
In the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, 17 crews have been prequalified, leaving the remaining 46 entries to fight it out for the seven qualification places left. With many accomplished crews forced to race this Friday, competition will be incredibly tight for the final few coveted spots.
An immediate stand out in the crew list is Lea Rowing Club ‘A’ who I’m shocked are required to qualify, after their fourth-placed finish at the National Schools’ Regatta (defeating multiple pre-qualified crews). Two members of the quad also reached the final of the Rayner Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta this weekend. Although it’s extremely rare to see a ‘B’ boat prequalified, you would think after last year and their results so far this season that Wycliffe ‘B’ ought to have been considered. They beat prequalified crews, Claires Court and Sir William Perkin’s School, at the Metropolitan Regatta to come fourth overall in the women’s quad, before breaking into smaller boats at Henley Women’s Regatta. In doing so, they won the Di Ellis Trophy for junior singles and reached the semi-finals in the Rayner Cup.
Also featuring in the A-final of the women’s quad at the Metropolitan Regatta, and reaching the quarterfinals in the Bea Langridge trophy this past weekend was Headington. I see them, alongside Shiplake College, qualifying a quad into Henley Royal Regatta behind their priority boat the eight. Tideway Scullers School ‘B’ will also be strong contenders after a third-placed finish in the B-final at the National Schools’ Regatta, although lost by a length to Surbiton High School in the heats of HWR this weekend. We could see both of these crews progressing into the regatta.
Some impressive results in smaller boats have come from RGS Worcester and Rob Roy Boat Club, reaching the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively of the Rayner Cup at HWR. They also finished fifth and seventh in the girls’ championship double at the National Schools’ Regatta. If they can transfer this speed into the quad, they could cause an upset come Friday. We saw four crews on this qualifying list come within five seconds of each other in the Bea Langridge trophy time trial on Saturday, so we’re definitely going to see tight margins and results I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of.
It’s always difficult to predict the speed of international crews and they have been frequently overestimated in past years. Most overseas entrants in the Diamond Jubilee have been prequalified, leaving only Green Lake Crew, U.S.A and two quads from Wycombe Abbey School, Changzhou, China. Green Lake have qualified before in both junior eights categories plus the Thames Challenge Cup so definitely know how to perform on the Henley waters, but have never made it past the heats. They recently came third in the women’s youth eight at the USRowing Northwest Youth Championships, and only narrowly missed out on qualifying in the Peabody Cup at HWR, so clearly have a strong squad. They also have an eight going through qualifiers, which may be their top boat, but I expect this quad to put in a strong showing after making the long trip.
Overall, I think we will see Lea, Wycliffe ‘B’, Headington, Shiplake, Surbiton, Tideway ‘B’ and Green Lake Crew, U.S.A featuring in the side by side racing come next Tuesday.
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