Henley Women’s Regatta is one of the most iconic regattas on the calendar. Held over the first 1500m of the Henley Royal Regatta course, it gives crews a chance to practise racing, and perhaps more importantly, steering, between those dreaded booms – hit them and it’s game over. As Henley Women’s is held less than two weeks before Henley Royal begins, it is ideal preparation for the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup (Junior Women’s Quad event at Henley Royal). Yet because it is so close, we often don’t see crews at their full potential. In fact, since the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup was introduced at Henley Royal in 2012, the winner of The Bea Langridge Trophy has only gone on to win at Henley Royal on four occasions. As such, it promises for some exciting racing and potentially an unexpected winner.
Marlow Rowing Club
Marlow dominated the Championship Girls’ Quads at the National Schools’ Regatta (NSR), taking what would prove to be an unassailable lead in the first 500m. After finishing as the runners-up at NSR, Henley Women’s and Henley Royal last year, they are clearly looking to turn that around this year. After perhaps a slightly disappointing head season, Marlow look to be the current leaders of the pack and it will be interesting to see how they progress throughout the regatta season.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Shiplake were second behind Marlow at NSR and are the current holders of the Bea Langridge Trophy. Last year they were dominant, and the way they got better and better throughout the season was remarkable. They went from winning NSR by less than half a length to winning by two-and-three-quarter lengths at Henley Royal. As such, I expect them to improve on what they did at this year’s NSR, where the margin of defeat was less than two seconds.
Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club
Wycliffe are probably fairly disappointed with their result at NSR. Fourth by a distant seven seconds is presumably not what they were expecting after being just two seconds down on Marlow at the Junior Sculling Regatta (JSR) and winning the Junior Sculling Head and Wallingford Regatta. But if they can use this as motivation, then they could turn that around and I’m definitely not counting them out just yet.
Lea Rowing Club
Lea came home in sixth place at NSR, which is a good result for them, roughly halving the gap between them and the front from the JSR. My concern is that they may have peaked slightly too early, but I hope I am wrong and that they can take the fight to those ahead of them.
Henley Rowing Club
Henley Rowing Club have entered two quads and it appears that their ‘B’ quad could be a real threat. Their ‘B’ quad is made up of their formidable J16s. I predicted they would win the J16 quad event at NSR and I thought maybe the margin would be around twenty seconds, but twenty-seven seconds is an enormous margin. If you go a bit further back, they came second in the Challenge Quads at Wallingford Regatta in a time that was only four seconds slower than Wycliffe. They may “only” be J16s, but I can see them causing some real problems for the other crews.
Other Entries
Three overseas crews are entered into the Bea Langridge Trophy: Green Lake, Lower Merion High School and Agnes Irwin School. Very little is known about the speed of these crews compared to the home crews, but one thing is for certain – they wouldn’t come over if they didn’t think they could win (and they will also have big ergos!). Other entries also include two of the other A-Finalists from NSR: Kingston Grammar School Boat Club and Warrington Rowing Club – they will be looking to improve on their positions from NSR and secure that all-important pre-qualification for Henley Royal. Also ,don’t discount Molesey Boat Club – they may have not raced their first quad at NSR but placed fifth at Fours Head and third at Schools’ Head earlier this season. If they can keep getting faster then they too might be in the fight for the title.
Prediction
This might just be the hardest prediction I have had to make so far this year. It is likely to come down to Marlow, Shiplake, Wycliffe and maybe even Henley. My head is telling me Shiplake simply because of the way they progressed throughout last season and the fact that they have two winners on board, so I’m tentatively predicting them for the win.
Steady Steight
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