The final rehearsal for Henley Royal Regatta, the last chance to impress the Stewards, or just another regatta, whatever its meaning for your crew, Marlow represents some of the most competitive racing of the season. With Henley Qualifiers less than a week later and the Regatta proper under a fortnight away, results at Marlow are a great indication of where crews match up and who the favourites will be for HRR.
In this event, the Championship Quads, the entrants will primarily be looking towards competing in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup for Intermediate Men’s Quads (intermediate being a relative term, these are some of the fastest quads in the country), but there are also some crews in this event who will be aiming for the Fawley Challenge Cup for Junior Men’s Quads.
Bagsvaerd Roklub, Denmark
Little information can be found on this crew, with no stroke-man listed on the draw individual athletes cannot be investigated. However, Bagsvaerd Roklub is a base for several Danish national team members, and it’s possible that this crew contains up-and-coming young scullers, perhaps even the makings of an U23 level crew. If this is the case, emphasis on ‘if’, the crew will be right up there and competing with the very best both at Marlow and at Henley Royal.
Bath University BC
With two crews entered, Bath University is once again demonstrating their depth on the sculling side after a very strong showing at BUCS Regatta, where they took silver in Men’s Championship Quads, and won both the Men’s Intermediate Quads and Doubles.
The top quad entered for this weekend is actually the second in the running order. The top two scullers, Jamie Gare and Cedol Dafydd, have been taken out of the quad for Marlow, instead competing in the double where they recently took a win at the International Wedau Regatta in Duisberg. That means this ‘A’ quad contains the third to sixth scullers in the squad, which happens to be the crew that raced recently on the Sunday of Met. On that day they finished sixth in the A final, behind a number of other crews that will feature again at Marlow.
This crew is definitely competitive but any chances of really competing at the top end have been slashed by the removal of the top two scullers.
Bath’s second entry is scullers seven to ten, and although still a handy crew, they will be some way down the results.
Leander Club
This crew didn’t race at the recent Met Regatta, with the Leander crew that was present being made up of juniors who raced the weekend before at the National Schools’ Regatta. This crew bares the name of Rory Harris on the entry list, indicating that this is Leander’s top scullers, all of whom will be seeking to break into the national team in the future.
As one of, if not the, favourites for the win in the Prince of Wales at Henley Royal, it goes without saying that Leander’s top quad will be one of, if not the, favourite to win the Championship Quad event at Marlow.
London RC
London RC have two entries this weekend, but it’s only the first that peaks one’s interest. Some big names of years gone by such as Matthew Curtis, a former U23 lightweight world champion, feature in this crew. Having made a play for the Prince of Wales last year too, this group has returned for another shot.
Their results at Met were encouraging, but on both days they were outclassed with rivals Thames RC, who are also making a play for the Prince of Wales this year. London will aim to make the A final this weekend, which will not be easy given the step up in the field since Met, and from there they will see who they can pick off.
Reading University BC
The undisputed kings of university sculling in this country, Reading University maintained that status by winning the Men’s Championship Quad at BUCS at the beginning of May. However, the tables turned at Met where, on the Saturday, they were beaten for the first time this season by rivals Bath University by a margin of less than one second. This may have knocked their confidence, but more likely it will have spurred them on to make some gains before Marlow.
They have three quads entered in this event and like many crews racing at Marlow, the Reading will be seeking to demonstrate their quality to the Henley Stewards with the aim of pre-qualifying for their event. The ‘A’ quad shouldn’t have any trouble with this, but they might be seeking a seeded spot in the Prince of Wales which will require a very good result at Marlow.
Thames RC
Not usually seen in sculling boats, Thames are more known for their prowess across the eights and fours, demonstrated by their almost domination of all of the club events at Henley last year. With wins in the Britannia and Wyfold events those athletes are no longer eligible to compete in the club categories, and must instead race at the ‘intermediate’ level. Instead of going into the Ladies Plate or the Visitors, the obvious choices, many of those winners have found themselves in the two quads entered this weekend and presumably too for the Prince of Wales.
The ‘A’ quad was dominant at Met Regatta, winning on both days by margins of over five seconds. Again, the competition at Marlow will be stronger than it was at Met, but the Thames ‘A’ quad is more than capable of competing right at the top of this boat class.
The Windsor Boys’ School BC
Maintaining their status as the top centre for sculling in the country with a win in the Championship Quads at the National Schools’ Regatta, The Windsor Boys’ School have chosen to mix it with the top quads in the country at Marlow. Listed on the entries under the name of Atticus Chute, younger brother of phenomenon Marcus, the crew lacks nothing in pedigree.
Despite their age, this outfit is capable of competing with some of those crews mentioned above, and it would not be a surprise to see them jostling for a strong result in the A final.
Prediction
The field really is stacked, with the top crews from Met Regatta joined by several seriously competitive crews from the likes of Leander and even an international entry from the Danish.
Leander will take the win, of that I am certain. How the crews stack up behind them is less clear, the Danish could be a seriously quick crew that is capable of pushing Leander, Thames won’t be too far behind, and the likes of Reading and London will create some awesome side-by-side racing.
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