The first of the twinning Henley Regattas, Henley Women’s is this weekend and has had an enormous entry into its plethora of events. The J16 events are particularly special as the larger Henley Royal Regatta has yet to, and doubtful ever will, take on J16 events as part of the classic week of racing. HWR provides a unique opportunity for these younger crews to race down the Henley course and partake in this unique match racing format. Although it does not quite have the glory of champ eights or fours, coxed fours is still an event that requires a great deal of skill and grit to perform well in, and this year’s entry of 16 clubs will definitely provide some racing worth watching.
Henley RC
Henley RC will of course be racing on their home turf this weekend, and are well known for being a very strong junior women’s squad. Their J16 girls eight won national schools and their girls champ eight has won both Schools’ Head of the River and the National Schools’ Regatta, placing them on the right path to win the triple this year. Henley’s J16s did not compete in the coxed fours event at National Schools’ Regatta, they are however unable to race in their eight at HWR as there is not a J16 event yet. This four is sure to be made up of the winning eight and will definitely be a tough crew to beat if they can keep their momentum going in the trickier boat.
St Paul’s Girls
Mirroring Henley RC, St Paul’s Girls also did not compete in this event at National Schools’ Regatta instead performing very well in the girls J16 eights. Placing second against Henley in the time trial before a matched win in the semis and a silver medal in the A-final, St Paul’s J16 girls sweep squad is clearly very strong this year. No doubt wanting to keep up the strong performance, St Paul’s have condensed this crew down into a coxed four to compete against Henley again on the classic course this weekend.
Stratford-Upon-Avon Boat Club
Stratford-Upon-Avon BC were very secure in their second place at the National Schools’ Regatta this year, following Headington in the time trial and winning their semi-final before placing second in the A-final. Although nine seconds behind Headington, they were very secure on the podium with the next crew behind them trailing by over 20 seconds. Their counterparts from Headington will compete with them again at Henley at the weekend.
Headington School
Headington School dominated in this event at National Schools’ Regatta this year, winning the time trial, semi-final and A-final quite considerably with a gap of nearly nine seconds to the silver medalists Stratford-Upon-Avon Boat Club who will compete against them again at Henley. Their J16s did not compete in the eights which has perhaps given them quite the edge in the coxed fours, definitely one of the favourites for this event at HWR. Easily recognisable in their deep blue and white, Headington will be a great crew to watch.
Godolphin & Latymer School
Godolphin & Latymer School put in a surprising performance at National Schools’ Regatta in this event a few weeks ago. Starting in the middle of the pack, placing sixth in the time trial they then went on to just scrape a position in the A final, placing third in their semi-final. Despite this however they then went on to finish on the podium, beating Pangbourne College by a convincing nine seconds.
Other crews
As it is one of the largest regattas for these juniors in the year there are obviously far more crews than I have written about here. Pangbourne College just missed out on the medals in this event at the National Schools’ Regatta, placing fourth just eight seconds behind the podium. Sir William Perkin’s made up the bottom end of the A-final however still placed far from the bottom of the event overall. Emanuel School placed second in the B-final of this event at the National Schools’ Regatta, beating the bottom two crews in the A-final, placing them in fifth overall for time. Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association (ASRA) recently had two juniors represent GB for the U19 women’s sweep team where they performed very well in the coxless four, more recently ASRAs J16 girls competed at the National Schools’ Regatta in the eights where they consistently placed in the top four crews before placing third overall in the A-final. Much like Henley and St Paul’s, ASRA will have to transfer their skills into the fours in order to be in a position to carry on their winning streak.
Predictions
This will be a tough event to predict I think, crews like Headington and Stratford have already proven themselves very recently in this event however, the fearsome eights crews from Henley and St Paul’s are certainly not going to have lost their skill in the fours. I think these four crews will be the top four at the weekend, with Headington most likely coming out on top having the most experience and success so far in likely the same crew.
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