The postponing we’ve become so used to has finally reached its end. In just a few short days, the rowers competitive and dedicated enough to train through the occasionally sweltering heat of the holidays will come thundering down the course like Oakley-wearing bats out of hell. This is also a new event (and, as a result, is slightly quieter than others with only 13 crews) and will be somewhat refreshing after the lack of racing last year. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly looking forward to it.
Headington School
Having changed their priority boat after National Schools’ Regatta, where the then top quad placed third, Headington’s eight has demolished their junior competition at every event entered. At Henley Women’s, Marlow, Met and Brit Champs, this crew took the gold (albeit with one crew change after BRJC). Given the fact that they won this event against several of the other competitors, so recently suggests the Headington crew is feeling strong and battle-ready, making another win a strong possibility. However, it’ll be worth watching how the fairly last-minute swap has affected the crew.
Henley Rowing Club
Henley has had a rivalry with Headington in the past, and their 2nd place at the Junior Champs recently (as well as their placing second at NSR and HWR) could well have reanimated it. Their crew is a mix of the quad that finished sixth and the eight that won silver at the National Schools’ Regatta, as well as the eight that finished second behind Headington at Henley Women’s. This is clearly a potent crew, and with a history in the eight, Henley is undoubtedly a club to watch. The shape of the draw suggests to me that this crew should make the semi-finals, though if they do, they will likely be slain by the seemingly untouchable Headington boat.
Shrewsbury
Another crew that raced at the BR Champs, Shrewsbury, came 4th after the amalgamated Scottish team. The latter isn’t running at Henley Royal, so Shrewsbury has a strong chance of seeing through at least a couple of races. The crew itself is a mix of the quad and four that races at National Schools’. The quad missed out on the A-final, placing eighth overall, while the four took to bronze. Like so many others, however, this crew was unable to race at Henley Women’s earlier in the season due to positive covid cases in the squad.
Enniskillen Royal Boat Club
Enniskillen lost its place in the finals at Henley Womens’ Regatta to Headington recently, so with the time since then (and possibly with more time on the water, given it’s the holidays) plus a possible new rivalry, they might well have made up the time needed to secure a spot on the podium. Though given the fact they’re likely to find themselves against LEH on the second day of racing, dashed Henley dreams are not a remote possibility.
The Tideway Scullers’ School
Scullers have become a mainstay of the domestic scene in recent years, and with 17 events qualified for HRR, they’re setting themselves up for a phenomenal end to the summer. This crew will likely draw its strength from its cox, Freya Lovric-Kemp, who drove Scullers’ Junior Women’s Four to a bronze medal at NSR and steered the same crew to the semi-finals Henley Women’s. At the Royal, Freya took the reigns of the TSS Britannia crew that narrowly lost out on a semi-final place to Bayer. The crew is also supported by Mary McWilliam, who won the J18 pair at Pair’s Head earlier this year, and Annalisa Lafond, who came third in the pair at GB trials. This crew, therefore, has deep talent, but when they likely find themselves against the force from Henley, I doubt they’ll manage to pull through, though I would love to be proven wrong.
Lady Eleanor Holles School
With Headington being noticeably missing from the eights event at NSR, it was LEH who took the gold for the second year in a row. Their squad has become pretty formidable in recent years, but they’ll have to overturn recent disappointing results to win their place on the podium. The shape of the draw means that barring disaster for LEH, they’ll most probably find themselves in a final against Headington. I doubt they have the grunt to push past, but having taken a break at Brit Champs, they could be coming into this event with a fresh perspective and new power.
Green Lake, USA
The only overseas crew in this event, Green Lake, have made the trip from Seattle to toss their collective hat into the ring for the glory of winning the inaugural rendition of this event. Stroked by Anna Garrison, this is a crew that saw impressive results in 2018 but have since slipped in the US rankings, falling from a 5th place finish at the US nationals in 2018 to 13th this year. It’s a similar story from the Head of the Charles, where members of this crew claimed the title in 2018, but in 2019 fell to 12th. All of this crew will be embarking on their first Henley campaign, and with a huge age range (Caelan Harrington begin just 15 years of age), it will be fascinating to see what they can pull off. Green Lake will first race on Friday (the second day of racing for this class) against the winner of the Surbiton-Borlase match-up on Wednesday. Instinct tells me this crew will face Surbiton, who will likely knock Green Lake out and secure a seat for Saturday’s racing.
Hinksey Sculling School
A young crew, Hinksey, enters the eight despite having had greater success in the sculling events – half of this crew is lifted from Hinksey’s J16 quad, which made it to the semi-finals of Henley Women’s Regatta, where Kingston knocked them out. Nevertheless, this combination took a respectable 6th place finish at the British Rowing Junior Championships, so this week should be looking to build and taper. Stroked by Martha Shepherd, who only last month turned 15, this crew will have a battle on their hands if they wish to progress through the rounds, though this is a crew with the potential to cause quite the upset.
Putney High School Boat Club
Another crew who have stolen their top athletes from the quad, Putney, have taken girls from the crew that finished 7th overall at NSR and blended them with three athletes from the J16 eight just missed out on a medal at National Schools’. In more recent memory, the crew were 6th in the A Final of JW8+’s at Marlow Regatta. This crew raced the Quarter Finals at HWR and were knocked out by Henley RC, who made the final. With a slightly unfortunate draw, this crew might be a one-race-wonder this week, with their initial competitors – Henley Rowing Club – angling to make the weekend.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club
Another reasonably young crew, the Borlase boat, will face stiff competition on the first day of racing from Surbiton. The crew came a respectable 2nd in the E final at Met Regatta, where they raced against a combination of schools, universities and clubs. On the more traditional junior circuit, the crew came 6th in the B final of Junior eights at Marlow. Sitting at seven in this boat is Giulia Sarno, who competed at j18 early ID trials in Boston as a j16, qualifying for February assessment with an impressive 5K score. As mentioned, this crew has been drawn against Surbiton for the first day of racing, likely to lay down an impressive time. I would be surprised to see this crew progress beyond the first day of racing.
Surbiton High School Boat Club
With five J16 prodigies in this crew, there’s every chance that this Surbiton boat is the crew to take the establishment by surprise. Megan Johnston, Sophie Rankin, Izzie Kennedy, Madeline Greenstock and cox Kate Theobold made up the bulk of the stern section of the NSR crew that set a blistering time in the A-final of the J16 eights, taking the win by over 16 seconds (a time considerably faster than that set by LEH in the Championship eights). Indeed, it was this quintet that took the win in the J16 coxed fours at Henley Women’s Regatta (in a time that was the second-fastest of any junior four at the regatta). The remainder of the crew is lifted from two of Surbiton’s quads that raced at NSR and will no doubt bring an added sense of technical finesse to this crew. Judging by the likely course of this class, I’m expecting Surbiton to breeze through their first round against Borlase and likely also send the Green Lake crew packing. That would leave them likely facing up against LEH on Saturday, where I suspect their Henley campaign will come to an end. That being said, if this crew manage to topple the NSR giants, then Henley glory is not out of the question.
The King’s School, Chester
If I were to pick a dark horse crew from the baker’s dozen entered, it would be King’s Chester. Having narrowly missed out on a podium position at NSR in the Championship eights, this boat has since been strengthened by the addition of J16 crew members. However, this new combination has been unable to test their mettle through the more recent events thanks in part to a school-wide travel ban preventing competition outside of their home county. As such, their first race against Hinksey could turn out to be an early favourite for spectators.
The King’s School, Worcester
This is the first-ever King’s Worcester women’s crew competing at Henley Royal, but do they have the pedigree to take on the big dogs? The majority of this crew placed sixth at NSR but has since been strengthened by the addition of Worcester’s Championship Girl’s pair, which ranked fourth at National Schools’. Unfortunately, they could not race at Henley Women’s with some of the crew forced to self-isolate. However, they did race in fours at the Worcester Junior Regatta, setting the fastest times of the day.
Predictions
The draw looks to have been carefully drawn up to pit LEH against Headington on finals day – which would undoubtedly make for a phenomenal race – but I’m not convinced the hammer will come down in such a way. If, and that’s a big if, Surbiton can catch LEH unawares on Saturday (assuming they get there), we could witness a massive upset on finals day. I’m sure Headington will take the win, but there are plenty of dark horses out there who could make that journey more troublesome than they would otherwise have liked.
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