Located in the serene surroundings of southwest London, rowers from the great and the good of British rowing clubs descend upon Kingston Rowing Club for one of the last head races of the season. Spring is in the air, and as the Head of the River Race 2025 looms next weekend. The lineup in the Senior Mens Eight category is made up of clubs from the south of England, and several of the larger London clubs having opted to race at the Heineken Roeivierkamp in the Netherlands; the field is small and ripe for a good placing and a win for a lesser known club.
Kingston Rowing Club
Kingston Rowing Club has a history of producing quick quads at the junior level and fours at the senior. However, Kingston’s performance in men’s eight has been lacking over the past couple of years. Kingston has focused their strongest athletes on The Wyfold Challenge Cup.
Kingston has been rebuilding as demonstrated by a fourth place finish at Hammersmith Head, barley a second behind Auriol Kensington and just shy of Putney Town. With some wins in the smaller boats at Kingston Small Boats Head before Christmas in the B1 coxless four event, Kingston appears to thrive on their home water and one senses that the power in small boats is making its way to the eight. Only time will tell, but I sense that this boat will only get faster as the summer progresses. One to watch for sure
Lea Rowing Club
Another club that prides itself on its depth in eights and fours, Lea Rowing Club has it in spades. From junior to senior, from four to eight, Lea has qualified multiple boats for Henley Royal Regatta year after year.
Lea has entered two eights into this event, highlighting the club’s depth and given that they appear to opted to stick the majority of their athletes in these boats as opposed to the four, one would think that they stand a good chance of taking home a good placing.
Tideway Scullers School
Tideway Scullers School (TSS) is the nursery of champions, evidenced by their staggering 21 world championship medals in four years. The TSS junior sculling program is among the best in the country. However, their senior system has ventured into sweep more prominently in recent years with a top 50 finish at last year’s Head of the River Race and strong showings in The Wyfold Challenge Cup.
After a disappointing showing, by TSS standards, at Quintin Head—where they finished 26th overall—the crew bounced back and won open intermediate eights at Hammersmith Head. Given that this crew seems to be very strong, I would be surprised if they do not take at least second place in the category. This race is Scullers’ to lose.
Predictions
Tideway Scullers School should take the win, with Kingston Rowing Club, Peterborough City Rowing Club and Lea Rowing Club fighting it out for second. Home water advantage should do the trick for Kingston, with Peterborough and Lea scrapping it out for third.
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