HRR 2021 – Fawley Challenge Cup Preview

Henley is here. One of the greatest rowing events in the world is finally happening, and there’s plenty to look forward to. The National Schools’ Regatta and British Rowing Junior Championships are behind us and have set the stage for what promises to be an excitingly unpredictable edition of the Fawley Challenge Cup – the undisputed peak of junior men’s sculling. This event has showcased some truly exceptional junior crews in recent years, and with at least three big-name clubs possessing the potential firepower to come out on top, we should be in for some quality racing right from the off.

Claires Court School “A”

Claires Court, a big school in maidenhead with an outstanding reputation not only at Henley but a club as a whole. Some past results at Henley seen them winning the Fawley Challenge Cup back in 2016 and getting to the final in 2017. In this crew, an individual to look out for would be R. Hennessy, as he recently claimed 6th in the A final in the J18 1x at Brit Champs back in mid–July. Also, these boys as a whole got a 2nd in the C Final at Nat schools’. Another thing that can’t go a miss is that they entered ten singles at Brit Champs earlier in July, which could distinguish the strongest four athletes.

Enniskillen Royal Boat Club

Enniskillen, an excellent Boat Club located in Ireland with a big reputation for junior rowing. As this club is in Ireland and hasn’t been to many of the UK regattas, we cannot distinguish a crew member that stands out. Still, earlier in May, these boys got a gold medal at national schools in the coxed four, so it will be interesting to see how they have made a move from sweep to sculling.

Exeter Rowing Club

Onto Exeter, Exeter is a constantly developing club, and this shows in their growing junior programme. There are no recent significant Henley results from this club, but this crew could show their class on the Thames. So far, the boys of this crew have had an outstanding season, with Ed Fuller winning Champ singles at national schools back in May. Exeter’s other significant results include a 2nd place in the B final, in the Ch 4x at national schools. At Brit champs, Ed Fuller and Ollie Wickham defended their four year run of being unbeaten in the double, from when they were just J14. Overall I think this crew could be seen as a significant underdog back on the rise when they head down the Henley stretch.

George Watson’s College

George Watson’s College, located in Edinburgh, has always had regular attendees at Henley, whether it would be the Fawley or the diamond jubilee. This crew has been performing consistently well at national competitions. This is seen in 5th place in the B final at national Schools’ and 3rd place in the C Final at Brit Champs.

Hampton School

Hampton School is highly regarded, as they produce some great and successful. Hampton looks like they have put their best four athletes for the quad this year; this shows with them getting 1st place in the C final at Brit Champs and doing precisely the same national schools earlier in May. This Hampton crew could surprise some people on Wednesday.

Hartpury College

Hartpury College, based in Gloucestershire, has a very high standard of sculling athlete; this includes many GB start athletes being involved within their squads. These boys have accumulated decent results over this season and will hope to show that in their last race of the season. These decent results are displayed by them getting 1st place in the B final at National Schools and a 2nd in the C Final at Brit Champs earlier in July.

Henley Rowing Club

Henley Rowing Club made the final back in 2019 with a dominant crew. Could this year’s squad could bring a shock to everyone and do the same this year? The technical prowess of Finn Ribbons could help them do just that. However, these boys as a whole have made some ground with their results, with them getting a 4th place in the A final at national Schools and a 5th place in the B final at Brit Champs. Overall I think these boys could at least get to the semi-finals if they keep their technical prowess as a crew.

Hereford Cathedral School

Hereford Cathedral School are ready to set their school on the map at Henley as they have developed a focused and very technical J16 crew. Their season has been a dream so far, an gold in the J16 4x at national schools and gold at Brit Champs. With them recently qualifying into the Fawley is a monumental achievement for a J16 crew. However, with them being J16, they have one focus, and that’s to get through as many rounds as possible to make a mark.

Lea Rowing Club

A feel-good success story in the junior rowing world, Lea were founded in 1980 and are situated in Hackney, some 30 minutes outside of central London. This year’s outfit finished fourth at Marlow Regatta and made the ‘A’ final of the National Schools’ Regatta and Brit Champs. Their distinctive orange kit and blades make them easy to identify from the banks.

Leander Club

Holders and home favourites, Leander finished third at the National Schools’ Regatta and the British Rowing Junior Championships, losing out to Tideway Scullers and the Windsor Boys on both occasions. This crew certainly aren’t far off the pace and have recovered from losing positions earlier in the season; an example of this is that they lost at NSR and went on to win the Fawley back in 2019. There will be big cheers for these boys rowing from their home ground.

Marlow Rowing Club

It’s been eight years since Marlow’s last Fawley victory. It doesn’t look likely that their entry this year has the potential to change that, with two J15’s and a J16 forming ¾ of the crew. However, Furlonger and Sanders are British Champions in J15 2x, and Towers won bronze in J16 4x at BRJC. So whilst they could be knocked out quickly, the racing experience these young juniors gain by competing at Henley may well be an essential stepping stone for some future stars from Marlow.

Northwich Rowing Club

Based just south of Liverpool, past alumni of Northwich Rowing Club include Rio Olympic champion, Matthew Langridge. In this crew, standouts include Luke Harris getting 3rd place in the single at the J16 summer event earlier this season. The technique and amounts of power coming from Dylan Howard and Charlie Sunley could give Northwich the extra edge. The club has made regular appearances in the heats of the FCC; although they have failed to do so in the last two regattas, this may be the year for them to make it to the quarter-finals for the first time following a 7th place finish at NSR.

 St Andrew’s Boat Club

Edinburgh’s only open rowing club will be making their Fawley debut at this year’s regatta. With 175 years of history behind them, it’s certainly about time this club fields a junior crew into the prestigious world of HRR. As the only Scottish crew, it’s up to Andrew’s to make their country proud but to be honest, I think just by qualifying, they’ve done that already. They’ve only raced at BRJC this season, placing 10th, so the crew doesn’t have the most racing experience, and this may be to their detriment come Wednesday. But with a long drive ahead of them, they’ll have plenty of time on the journey down to perfect their race strategy.

Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School

The Marlow based Grammar School is in somewhat of a rut at present, with its performances in recent years far-flung from the three Fawley titles achieved between 2012 and 2015. Things may be on the up for the school, though, as they make history this year as the first club to qualify crews in all four junior events. Ben Furley, the strokeman, will bring some much needed Henley racing experience, having competed in the Borlase quad as a J16 in 2019. After consistent appearances in B finals across the season, this entry might not reach the lofty heights of years gone by, but they are definitely capable of getting through at least a couple of rounds.

Star Club

Another crew that had to go through the pain of the qualifying time trial, Star Club. Star Club, a highly successful and competitive club based in Bedfordshire, has a substantial crew that could do well this weekend. Sam Gale had qualified for Henley before, as he was part of the quad that qualified back in 2019; recently, Sam put in a solid performance at National Schools with getting into the B final in the single. Past results from this crew include 6th place in the B final at Brit champs earlier in July.

The Kings School, Worcester

Worcester has its fingers in many pies with a crew qualified in every junior event except the Diamond Jubilee, The Kings School. They managed to pre-qualify their entry to the FCC after a 10th place finish at NSR and an 8th at BRJC. In the past decade, the school has seen a qualified crew into the Fawley twice in 2016 and 2017, going out in the first round both times. This year, it looks highly possible that the school may be able to get to at least Thursday and have its best Fawley performance in 18 years.

The Tideway Scullers’ School “A”

Tideway is a powerhouse of rowing talent; nothing better illustrates this than the fact that this crew is just one of seventeen the club has qualified in this year’s regatta. It always surprises me then that TSS had only reached a Fawley final once before, in 2004 when they won as part of a composite with Marlow Rowing Club. If there is any year for them to improve that record, surely the time is now. After a narrow victory at NSR backed up by wins at Marlow and Met Regattas, it is this crew that you would have pegged as favourites, but after a 3-second loss to Windsor at BRJC, this crew is on the back foot going into Henley. Powered by the phenomenal engine of Gabriel Obholzer, who’s 5:54.7 2k is mind-boggling quick and backed up by Matthew Hansen along with GB France winners Finn Regan and Albie Oliver; they may not be as slick as rivals Windsor, but they’ve got the watts to perform if they bring their A-game come racing.

The Tideway Scullers’ School “B”

To be one of only two second quads in an event filled with the best of what the junior rowing world has to offer means this crew will be up against it from day one. However, after consistently racing as the second-best B quad of the season, as shown by a silver medal in 2nd 4x at NSR, this crew managed to outrace a large number of first quads on Saturday’s qualifiers to earn their place in the FCC.

The Windsor Boys’ School “A”

The Windsor Boys’ School has a better record in the FCC than any other club in the event’s 29-year history, having reached eleven finals and won seven. The current course record holders have once again fielded another quality crew this season. Coached by GBR junior men’s sculling coach Mark Wilkinson; Max Bird and Jacob Ioras, who joined Windsor from Maidenhead Rowing Club at the start of the season, join Marcus Chute and Charlie Warren in Windsor’s 2021 bid for the Fawley. After losing out on 1st place at NSR by just 0.45 seconds, this crew managed to turn around that deficit on rivals Tideway to take the win at BRJC. For a club known to peak at HRR, Windsor carries the momentum going into this year’s event and is definitely the crew to beat.

The Windsor Boys’ School “B”

Another quad from one of the front runners, Windsor Boys’, has not raced a second quad in the Fawley since 2009. The best performing second quad of the season won gold in 2nd 4x at NSR, and their most recent performance saw them place 6th in the A final at BRJC. A crew that has the speed to compete with many of the clubs racing on Wednesday will be interesting to see how far a second quad can progress into the event.

Wallingford Rowing Club

This club is more commonly found in the middle ground of the results table, but it seems that they’ve produced a faster boat than their usual entry this year. In the opening race of the season at NSR, they established themselves as the best of the rest behind the three front runners of Tideway, Windsor and Leander, with a 4th place finish. It would seem that consistency is an issue for this crew as they only managed to qualify for the B final at BRJC. However, in that final, they then put down a time that would have seen them finish 4th overall in keeping with their NSR performance. In an unforgiving knockout event such as Henley, there is no room for error, and they need to sort out any issues they have if they wish to progress through the event.

Walton Rowing Club “A”

After a 17th place finish at NSR, Walton would have been pleased that their “A” crew was pre-qualified for the FCC. However, the club’s last foray into the Fawley in 2019 saw them make it through to Thursday. At BRJC, Maffi and Hawes showed some sweeping prowess and achieved a gold medal in J18 pairs. The confidence gained from that placing should stand Walton in good stead going into the regatta to see if they can better their 2019 performance.

York City Rowing Club

York City, having had consistently qualify at least one quad to Henley over the years York may have some work to do to make themselves known at this regatta. However, with them getting a 4th place at Brit champs, these boys could be an underdog or a crew to look out for, for the week ahead.

Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club

The newest club in the event, and probably one of the newest in the whole regatta, is Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club which was only formed in 2016. They will be another club making their Fawley debut. An 18th place finish at NSR suggests the crew probably won’t make it past the first round, but it is an exciting time for Wycliffe as they compete at Henley in what those at the club will hope will be the beginning of many future Henley crews.

Conclusions & Predictions

So, it looks as if a Windsor Boys School v Tideway Scullers School final is the most likely outcome this year. Leander may have something to say about, especially after their narrowest of defeats to TSS at BRJC, and the Henley home advantage may also have a play in this. But, in terms of which club will gain four small red boxes this year, I think Windsor Boys, with their past Henley history, will edge Tideway to become this year’s victor.

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