As the dust settles on a sensational junior world championships for Great Britain, the collective rowing community breathes a long sigh of relief. The racing season is over, memorialised only by a selection of silverware hung on bedroom walls and a collection of scars on well-worn palms.
2018 was memorable for so many reasons, not least the blazing temperatures and sun-soaked greens at Henley Royal Regatta. The world’s premier rowing event shone in more ways than one, eclipsing previous editions in a manner as effortless as it was spectacular. Records fell with unerring frequency, both intermediate and whole, whilst new junior champions climbed blue and white steps to write themselves into rowing folklore.
Dorney Lake, the geographical point of greatest triumph for Team GB’s rowing squad, played host to the National Schools’ Regatta for the third year in a row. Although the men’s championship eight provided little in the way of true drama – more on this later – the women’s eight finally crowned new champions. The sheer scale of this regatta, which has grown beyond all proportion since its inception in 1947, reflects only the rising standard of the sport in the UK. For many, this is the pinnacle of their racing season – a chance to down your closest rivals on a national front.
A truly alien thought is that we, the UK, ever had a winter. In a summer where coats have been confined to the darkest depths of our wardrobes, glanced at in genuine bewilderment that we should ever need to actually wear a second layer, it is easy to forget that winter came and came cold. Boats against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past, let me transport you to a wet and wild Tideway, gripped by the unforgiving chill of a harsh winter. It was there that we saw the first murmurings of something special – record-breaking runs from top to bottom on a day which almost seemed to be a gatekeeper for the racing to come. Cover the course and you’re granted safe passage to regatta season.
Here are the highlights that Junior Rowing News have selected from 2018:
Bobby’s Boys Finish In Style
To be in the press box on Henley Sunday, amongst people who genuinely shared a passion, was something quite unique. Couple that with some of the Regatta’s greatest ever racing and you begin to feel privileged. That is the only word I can use to describe watching St Paul’s School finally go full throttle. When a crew has had the leash on all year, in fear of revealing their true hand, it is all the more incredible when they finally show you what they’re really capable of. 6:06 will stand for generations as a genuinely brilliant record, for a genuinely brilliant crew. Superlatives are so cheap in this era of instant gratification, but Bobby Thatcher’s crew deserve them all. They are the greatest schoolboy of my lifetime, eclipsing the achievements of even the great Eton crews of 2009 and 2010. Their only remaining rival? The slow erosion of time.
Windsor For The Win
It is simple to be charmed at Henley, or to pretend that you’ve witnessed something special. The very air you breathe in that quiet corner of Oxfordshire feels, for one week, almost injected with adrenaline – pulsating and alive as a carnival of rowing comes to town. But Windsor’s performance was special. They’re unfortunate in one sense, in that they competed alongside St Paul’s – it was hard to be heard in the cacophony that followed. Windsor, though, are a talented, regimented, fiercely competitive outfit, who value a red box above all. They were utterly dominated at the National Schools’ Regatta by a Maidenhead combination who looked a sure thing for the Triple Crown, but underwent a dramatic resurgence to execute the perfect match race and retain their Fawley crown.
Henley Topple Headington
Ryan Demaine’s spell of dominance came crashing down in tumultuous fashion, as long-standing pretenders Henley finally toppled their greatest rivals. Headington, who had won nine consecutive eights titles at the National Schools’ Regatta in a period of control that spanned nearly a decade, had a tricky season but there was no detracting from a marvellous Henley showing. Watching them finally unseat Headington at the head of the top table felt like a coming of age in a year when they swatted aside all domestic opposition. Although Henley Royal Regatta proved a step too far, several of the eight went on to represent their country at both the Coupe and the junior world championships.
Bedford On The Rise
It’s been too long since we saw a truly top-class Bedford eight. The boys in blue came into this season with history weighing against them and the sands of time ticking to produce. But produce they did, upsetting the form book and the established hierarchy to finish fourth in the final of Championship Eights at the National Schools’ Regatta. Their raucous celebrations in the semi-final were both peculiar and fully merited, as they enjoyed an official first eights victory. That was a watershed moment for the school, who have been racing at first eight level for a few years now. With Connor Sheridan now a junior world champion, perhaps Bedford can continue to build on this season’s success.
Foreign Interest
For the first time in its seven year history, the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup was won by an overseas entrant in the shape of Y Quad Cities Rowing Association. A wonderfully gifted crew, built on the premise of raw power and staggering mid-race pace, they shelled all-comers to end up as comfortable winners at the world’s pre-eminent river Regatta. A highlight of their week was perhaps their quarter-final victory against home favourites Henley, a race which many had slated as the final two days early. Having been led to the Barrier, the Americans never lost touch and gradually reeled in a flagging Henley outfit before rowing them down past the enclosures. A historic win, in a year which profoundly demonstrated the strength of junior women’s rowing.
Shiplake Sensation
Substantial credit should go to Shiplake’s brave senior eight, who were one of St Paul’s many bridesmaids in an unusually noncompetitive season. However, this piece isn’t about the past – it’s about their future. In one of the most exciting J16 fields in many-a-year, the Vikings took the fight to everybody else at the National Schools’ Regatta, flattening their opposition to record a remarkable victory and signal that the future is bright for Dave Currie’s cohort.
What Is Strength Without Depth?
Before Gloucester’s incredible spell of dominance in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, Latymer were the holders of this event after winning the trophy in its second edition. Although they weren’t able to repeat the feats of yesteryear, they had a very special Henley Royal Regatta in qualifying three boats for the Regatta proper. For an event which only houses 16, that is a staggering achievement in itself and representative of the vast strides the program has made to establish itself as one of the leading junior rowing programs in the country. Beyond that, they were also the winning half of the most exciting race of the Regatta as they edged out Ruderverein Kreuzgasse, Germany by a single foot. Watching from the press box, it was a suspension in time as a strange silence fell upon the assembled crowd, in anticipation of a verdict. Thankfully for Latymer, it fell on their behalf.
For so many reasons, this year’s season was memorable. Compelling racing, undercurrents and sub-plots, champions crowned and records broken, blistering temperatures and icy waters, dreams made and nightmares lived, all in the name of a sport we love to hate. Reflecting back, it’s been a season defined by genuine excellence – Great Britain are once again firmly at the forefront of junior rowing, driven there by a generation of best-in-class athletes.
2019 will bring new stories to the fore, but this year will be remembered fondly by those who sat in the press box at Henley, stood on the finish line at the National Schools’ or cycled on the towpaths during the bleak midwinter. Roll on September.
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