After the spectacle of National Schools’ Regatta, good results for some, great results for others and a few surprises thrown into the mix, everybody is gearing back up for the most prestigious racing of the year, Henley Royal Regatta. The Metropolitan Regatta provides a testing ground for any changes to crews made in the last week as a result of selection battles, and so it should be an exciting battle for the win.
Leander Club – A
After what would have been a disappointing result at National Schools’ Regatta, finishing fifth behind some high quality crews, Leander will be looking to make a big step on at this weekend’s race. They’ve had a relatively slow start to the year, finishing fifth at the Schools’ Head of the River, fourth at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head before picking up some form to win Wallingford Regatta ahead of Hinksey and Windsor Boys, who both reversed that result last Sunday. I expect that with the experience of Byron Richards, this crew certainly has the leadership and tools to challenge the fastest crews in this event, both at the Metropolitan Regatta and later on in the season at Henley Royal Regatta.
Hinksey Sculling School – A
This crew has just come off the back of a great National Schools’ Regatta, third only behind Windsor Boys School and Marlow Rowing Club, neither of whom are featuring at the Metropolitan Regatta. Word is that Hinksey weren’t quite fully firing at Dorney so expect them to get quite a bit faster over the coming weeks as their potential is obvious, having retained two of the crew that were beaten finalists at Henley Royal Regatta in 2023. Pending any major upsets, I would expect them to be ahead of their competitors, showing their form for the rest of the season.
Tideway Scullers School – B
This looks to be the top boat for Tideway Scullers who, after qualifying for the A-final at the National Schools’ Regatta, withdrew from competition. Given their pedigree, and their winning run at the Schools’ Head of the River in March, I expect that this crew will be challenging for podium placements and will want to turn a corner after what was probably a fairly underwhelming weekend at Dorney.
Hartpury University and College BC
This crew has shown great speed recently, reaching the A-final at the National Schools’ Regatta. Although not quite the fearsome force of half a decade ago, Hartpury regularly put out competitive crews and one only need glance at their results from last weekend to see just how much quality they have in their assembled ranks. The question now is can they assimilate national champion sculler Elliott Donovan-Davies into this quad? If so, they could be real thoroughbred challengers.
Claires Court School
A regular at the business end of junior sculling, Claires Court have struggled to find their feet in a season that has seen vast improvements from a swathe of hopefuls beyond the usual suspects like Windsor Boys and Leander. They were fourth in the ‘B’ final at the National Schools’ Regatta, finishing 11th overall, and will be seeking an ‘A’ final finish in a weaker field this weekend.
Westminster School
An interesting addition to the docket here. This boat looks like it is partially formed of the open championship pair that won bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta. Given Westminster also had a sculler in the open championship division – who placed 22nd overall – this could be an amalgamation of that group. Whether or not they race remains to be seen, but this has the potential to be a fairly decent crew.
Prediction
I think that it will be Leander’s race to lose if they are able to replicate the speed that they had at Wallingford Regatta. Expect strong performances from Hartpury and Hinksey too, and I’ll also be interested to see if Tideway Scullers can recapture some of the form that enabled them to win the Schools’ Head of the River in March.
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