Thursday Racing:
Bedford Modern School vs King’s College School, Wimbledon
The first race of the day for the PE produced a fairly predictable result, with this season’s extremely strong KCS crew coming hard out of the blocks and dominating the race for the duration of the course. Whilst Bedford Modern appeared to struggle slightly with their blade work off the start, KCS showed clear technical superiority to take a ½ length lead by the end of Temple Island. By the Barrier, with KCS still rating 39, they had managed to take a three-length lead, extending that the rest of the way down the course and beginning to let up past Fawley to cross the line rating 25, with a verdict of ‘easily’.
Monmouth School vs St. Edward’s School
With Monmouth having had a more difficult Wednesday race than they might have hoped for, it was unsurprising to see Teddies grip the race from the start, taking a length by the end of the Island, and simply rowing over Monmouth as the race progressed. By the ¼ mile mark, they had increased their lead to nearly a length and a half, extending that to two lengths by the Barrier and three lengths by Fawley. With St. Edward’s then holding a comfortable lead, they held three lengths for the rest of the course to progress to a tougher race tomorrow.
Reading Blue Coat School vs Eton College
As Eton is one of the main contenders for the PE this year, the result of this race was always going to be fairly predictable. As expected Eton got out of the blocks fast, leading by a length and ¾ at the Barrier, and 2 ½ lengths by the Fawley, at which point they settled into the race and began to reduce the rate below 30, allowing Reading Blue Coat to come back within a length at the finish line. Credits must be given to Reading Blue Coat, racing on the Thursday for the second time in their history, who produced a strong sprint finish to the benefit of the crowd of spectators in Stewards’.
Bedford School vs Abingdon School
I predicted that this was going to be a good race, and unfortunately it wasn’t as interesting as I would have hoped. Both crews did have a good start, with only ¼ length in it by the end of Temple Island, and with a warning to Abingdon for their steering. However, they quickly took control of the race and had an iron grip on the victory for the rest of the course. By the Barrier they were nearly two lengths up, which they easily extended to four lengths by Fawley. With Abingdon in control, they settled into a four-length lead, eventually crossing the line four and ¾ lengths ahead of Bedford, progressing to a tough race against Teddies tomorrow.
St. Paul’s School vs Dulwich College
Knowing that competing with the boys from St. Paul’s was going to be nigh on impossible, Dulwich went out of the blocks as hard as possible, but despite that, St. Paul’s were already 1/3 length up by the end of the Island. As with many of the other races today, they simply drew away from there, going two lengths clear by the Barrier, and four by Fawley – a gap they sustained through the enclosures as they continued to reduce their rating – finishing comfortably with a 3 ¾ length lead over Dulwich.
St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, U.S.A vs Shiplake College
As expected this was an absolute humdinger of a race with drama the whole way down the course including steering warnings, a sprint finish through the Stewards’, and an unsuccessful protest. With St. Joseph’s making their first appearance at Henley we were all looking to gauge their speed against a top-quality British crew like Shiplake. Both crews looked extremely strong out of the start, with Shiplake’s bladework arguably looking tidier than the crew from St. Joseph’s, but the crew from across the pond blasting ahead off the blocks. At the end of Temple Island, St. Joseph’s had managed to carve out a slender ¼ length lead, and looked like they would continue extending that as they passed the Barrier 1 ½ lengths up. Yet coming towards the mile-marker Shiplake made a huge move which St. Joseph’s appeared to struggle to respond to. Coming into Stewards’ Shiplake drew up to within ¾ length, and to within ½ length at the progress boards. With both crews rating around 37, and Shiplake still gaining, they simply ran out of water – suggesting that perhaps they should have made their move slightly earlier – with St. Joseph’s eventually crossing the line ½ length clear. As well as producing an absolutely thrilling race for the spectators in Stewards’, the dual wasn’t without controversy, with St. Joseph’s warned five times by umpire Sarah Winkless for poor steering. Although Shiplake protested at the finish, it was to no avail, with St. Joseph’s progressing to see another day of Henley, and a battle against St. Paul’s tomorrow.
Shrewsbury School vs Hampton School
After such an exciting race between St. Joseph’s Prep and Shiplake, this was a bit of a let-down, with Shrewsbury leading the whole of the way down the course. With Shrewsbury coming out of the start hard, Hampton crabbed slightly in the first ten strokes and found themselves down. By the quarter-mile Shrewsbury already had a 1 ½ length lead, increasing that to 2 ½ lengths by the Barrier, and three lengths by Fawley. By that point Shrewsbury settled into their comfortable advantage, reducing their rating to 24 by the enclosures as they crossed the line a clear 3 ½ lengths clear of Hampton.
Westminster School vs Norwich School
As is the standard Henley tactic when you know you are the weaker crew, Norwich had an explosive start to try and take an early lead. However, with both crews rating at nearly fifty by the end of the Island, Westminster had a narrow lead of just a canvas. At this point they asserted their dominance, gaining a length and a ¼ by the ¼ mile mark, three lengths by the Barrier and five by Fawley, relaxing into a controlled rhythm to cross the line four lengths clear of Norwich. Westminster progress to what will likely be a tough match-up against Shrewsbury tomorrow.
Friday Preview:
Abingdon School vs St. Edward’s School
This race should be pretty hard-fought, with Abingdon and St. Edward’s having placed fairly close to each other in various races in the 2020-21 season. At National Schools’, Abingdon placed 4th and Teddies 6th, with little to separate the two. Like many of the other races we have to look forward to on the Henley Friday, I think that this is going to be tight for the duration of the course, with both crews probably looking to get the early advantage on each other off the start and towards the end of Temple Island. Whilst it’s difficult to know how much each crew has progressed relative to each other since NSR, both had comfortable Thursday victories, so should still be feeling quite fresh in the legs. If I had to call it, I would say Abingdon, but realistically this dual could probably go either way.
King’s College School, Wimbledon vs Eton
With both KCS and Eton having reached the Friday with relatively easy races against Bedford Modern and Reading Blue Coat respectively, this pairing should produce one of the best PE races of the day. Eton and KCS have tussled for position all season, taking gold and silver at National Schools’ back in May. However, neither crew has made much of an appearance at major events since then, so this race is going to be difficult to call. Despite KCS’s impressive run this season, if I had to make a prediction, I would say that although both crews should remain in contact for the duration, Eton will take the win and progress to the semi-finals on Saturday.
St. Paul’s School vs St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, U.S.A
This should certainly be the race of the day in the PE, perhaps across all the events. With the undefeated US Junior National Champions facing one of the domestic rowing titans, I would expect this to be nip and tuck the whole of the way down Henley’s 2112 metre course. St Paul’s will come into Friday much fresher than St. Joseph’s, having had to face a relatively easy opponent (in the form of Dulwich) on the Thursday. St. Joseph’s, meanwhile, perhaps to the surprise of many onlookers and commentators alike, didn’t quite live up to their impressive repertoire of results, only beating Shiplake by a narrow ½ length margin after a controversial race that saw St. Joseph’s reeled in through the enclosures and Shiplake simply run out of water. Although St. Joseph’s should have now learned (to the peril of many a prior overseas entry), that a 2,112-metre course is not the same as a 2k lake, their narrow victory over Shiplake doesn’t fill me with confidence about their prospects later in the competition. Therefore, although before the competition began I was enthusiastic about St. Joseph’s prospects, I’m not sure they’ll be able to beat a strong St. Paul’s crew on the Friday. However, there’s no doubt that this should be a close race, and it’s possible that there may never be clear water.
Shrewsbury School vs Westminster School
Both Shrewsbury and Westminster have had a relatively easy route to the Friday, rowing over Hampton and Norwich respectively so should have a lot left in the legs for a competitive race. This could be another absolute humdinger, with little having separated the two crews throughout the season so far. I’m expecting both to attempt to gain the early advantage, with a lead coming out from Temple Island often difficult to overturn. However, both crews should remain in contact the whole of the way down the course, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a tussle continuing through the enclosures, and perhaps even a verdict decided by a frantic sprint through the end of the Stewards’. Whilst I’m not sure I can call this with any degree of certainty, Shrewsbury’s prior form might suggest that they’ll take a narrow victory.
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