With less than a week left until race day, as the crews finish their preparations, the final countdown to the National Schools’ Regatta has begun and a weekend of close racing awaits. There are 21 entries into this year’s Mariner’s Cup for J15 Coxed Fours but unfortunately very few from the normal ‘top’ rowing schools due to new rules brought in by NSR, and the placement of the event on the Friday, which prohibits crews from racing in both this event and J15 Champ 8’s on the Saturday. However, the racing should still be tight, if a little slower than usual, but with all these crews putting just under a year of work and training for this moment, hopefully it is an exciting event to watch- perhaps even more so than previous years due to the shortening to a 1km course which could benefit some of the stronger crews.
Radnor House
Not being the most well-known of rowing schools, the crew from Radnor House, almost certainly made up of their top 4 rowers, looks to be extremely strong. They came away with an impressive win by a full minute at Schools Head, with a new course record (albeit in a very limited field), a win at the recent Thames Ditton Regatta, and at least a few of their crew picking up medals at Ghent International Regatta. I think this crew will be aiming for the top spot and a gold medal on Friday.
Fulham Reach
Although I know little about this individual crew, their J15 8+ came a commendable 6th in J15 Champ 8’s at Schools Head, and as they do not have an 8+ entered, I imagine that this 4 may be made up of this 8, which indicates they could be a fast boat. Fulham also raced a J15 4+ at the recent Chiswick Amateur Regatta, beating Westminster in a heat, before losing to Kings Canterbury in the final. I expect this crew will be aiming for the A Final, but I couldn’t say whether a podium finish is within their grasp.
Windsor Boys
As a school known mainly for the quad sculling, and having entered two boats into J15 quads, I would think that this crew is probably Windsor’s third boat, but even so, they reached the semi-final at the recent Bedford regatta before losing to the eventual winners, a fast St Pauls 4 by only two lengths, which is not a huge margin, so I still expect the boys from Windsor to be at the front of the racing competing in the A final of the event.
Great Marlow
Coming 3rd at Schools Head, over a minute back on Radnor House, this 4 will have needed to gain some speed since then to be within a chance of competing at the top of the event. Having said that, they lost to the same St Pauls crew as Windsor, who went on to win the event, by only two lengths in their opening round, so clearly had an unlucky draw. Marlow also don’t have any other J15 boats entered on the Friday, so this will probably be their top 4 athletes- and they’ll be hoping for a place in the final.
Latymer Upper
One of the more well-known schools entered into the event, Latymer placed 4th at Schools Head, but with an 8+ entered on the Saturday, this boat will contain the lower end rowers from their squad, and since being beaten easily by Windsor at Bedford, they’ll have to fight hard for a spot in the A/B final.
Westminster School
Usually a big unit on the junior rowing scene, Westminster has a lot of expectation to live up to, but with two eights entered on Saturday, these crews will be from the lower end of their J15’s. Schools like Westminster often display incredible depth within squads though, and with two fours entered they could still look to make an impact on the racing. However, with no recent racing in the four as far as I could see, I couldn’t call how well the boys in pink will do.
Kings Canterbury
Although I wouldn’t normally call Kings Canterbury to be a fast crew, as they rarely feature at the top end of junior rowing, they recently beat Fulham reach by a full 4 lengths in the final of the 1 km Chiswick Regatta, so I won’t rule them out as a potential contender.
Notable Mentions
Norwich have a crew entered, but like a few of the others, also have an 8+ on the Saturday, Pangbourne have two, Walton has one, as does Cheltenham, Kingston Rowing Club, as well as a boat from the Irish St Joseph’s College. It’s also good to see a crew from London Oratory after their recent trouble finding funding for their program. Most of these crews have no noticeable results from the season so far- but has one slipped through the net?
Predictions
Unless one of the other crews has managed to stay under the radar so far, I expect Radnor House to come away with the win, followed by Windsor Boys, Great Marlow and Kings Canterbury fighting it out over silver and bronze.
MarginalGainz
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