There’s something about an eight in motion. Something about the way it twitches, jerks, lifts off the start. The surge of spray and salt, churned up by blade and bow. Something about the way it shifts, like a machine hunkered down against a dirt track, stepping through the gears. Something about the way it grunts, forced against nature by the hand of man. Every movement controlled by one conductor, orchestrating his crew through an aquatic symphony. Something about the way it feels to win – to vanquish your rivals in the oldest, biggest, fastest boat of them all.
On Saturday, the finest schoolboy crews in the UK will face each other on the narrow straights of Dorney Lake. There are favourites and there is form – a junior rowing season wouldn’t be complete without a compelling narrative. Rowing, however, has a funny way of conjuring the unexpected; taking what you believed to be the book and rewriting the chapters you thought you understood. These crews, who combine incredible physical strength with lung-stretching aerobic capacity, face up at the National Schools’ Regatta – and we’re confident it’ll be one to remember.
St Paul’s School
With Bobby Thatcher’s program thriving, these boys managed to achieve an awe-inspiring time of 5:52 at Wallingford Regatta in the heat of challenge eights, and then went on to win both challenge coxed and coxless fours by appreciable margins. The second part of the triple is almost in St Paul’s grasp, however these boys will have their eyes set on bettering this. If conditions favour this crew next Saturday, could they break the Queen Mother’s cup record? A viable goal, however with second and third place finishers at School’s Head, Shiplake College and Eton chasing them down every step of the way, there is bound to be a merciless battle about to unfold for the trophy. Can St Paul’s hold onto their reputation that they have built up so far this season? Or will the success of the programs and coaching at Eton and Shiplake present a challenging combat for St Paul’s to hold onto the reputation they have built up for themselves so far this season and to triumph and win what they believe is rightfully theirs.
Shiplake
The new kid on the block. Perhaps not in the context of rowing, but certainly an infiltrator at the business end of junior eights. Since the arrival of Dave Currie several years ago, this program has gone from strength to strength. Their most remarkable feat? Consistency. Every year, a brave new face threatens to disrupt the established powerhouses and their efforts, although to be admired, achieve relatively little as they eventually fade to the shadows. Shiplake have not only grabbed a seat for themselves at the top table, but they’re actively dining there too. A powerful, well-drilled unit who produced an excellent row at the Schools’ Head of the River to finish as the closest challengers to an indomitable St Paul’s crew. Their challenge is to now maintain their speed throughout the summer season – they finished third at the National Schools’ Regatta last year and were then knocked out of Henley Royal Regatta at the semi-final stage by a resurgent Radley crew. I don’t know whether the St Paul’s hurdle will come too soon – Bobby Thatcher’s boys are truly exceptional in the ‘exception’ sense of the word – but all Shiplake can do is keep their eyes in their own boat and pull bloody hard.
Eton
Based on their results this year so far, Eton are looking like medal contenders for NSR. Their 3rd place at SHORR, just behind Shiplake, must have given them a big boost and racing on their home water should also be a big advantage. I’ve seen footage of Eton training at Dorney and they’re looking strong. Their time trial position puts them in a rather interesting sandwich with Hampton ahead and Radley behind so this is going to be a group to watch. Eton’s Max Shakespeare will be driving the boat hard from the 5 seat and I have no doubt they’ll be looking for a good time to make sure they pick up a great lane draw to minimise the impact of the predicted cross-head winds.
Radley
Ever the enigma, Radley seem to jump from the sublime to the ridiculous. They’re the sort of crew who will finish last at National Schools’ but go on to make the Saturday of Henley. What I can predict is that they’ll race fiercely – they always turn out strong, technically adept crews who make the race difficult for their opponents. They had a disappointing experience at Bedford Regatta, losing out in eights and fours to crews I would generally consider inferior to them. With so little time to adjust between the two events, it’ll be interesting to see how Radley rally in the next ten days. Studying the results from this season, they haven’t really made a convincing account of themselves yet – their third-placed finish at Wallingford in junior eights was behind Abingdon and Eton’s second eight. Do not write these boys off though. They finished fifth at the National Schools’ Regatta last year – a position I could realistically see them repeating in 2018 – before making the final of Henley Royal Regatta as the last standing domestic crew.
Westminster
With a lot to prove after their less-than-stellar SHORR result, Westminster’s gamble to make their top boat a quad this year hasn’t paid off so far. They’ll be hoping for a big turnaround in their fortunes for NSR to bring some cheer to this year’s boat club results. If the relationship between cox Alexander Foster and his stroke man is working well, they should be able to catch Gloucester during the time trial and that would set them up well for a place in the A/B semi-final.
Hampton
Hampton have a detailed history when it comes to junior mens sweep, and have been featuring in the championship eights final for a number of years now. However, since a podium finish in 2014, Hampton have been struggling in recent years to find their feet and have been finishing towards the bottom end of the A final. With the added excitement of eight lane racing at Dorney, and a 5th place finish at School’s Head of the River in March with a crew member missing, Hampton have set themselves up well to reach the A final of this prestigious event. However, a 4th place finish at Wallingford Regatta in Junior School eights against the likes of St Paul’s, Radley and Eton College’s Second eight, would suggest that a medal is somewhat out of reach for Hampton’s eight this year, with Shiplake College, Radley, Abingdon and Shrewsbury still yet to be added into the equation.
Abingdon
Bing bong they’re back. A glory story from the days of my own junior career, Abingdon had total control of the junior eights category for several years. After a quieter period, where efforts were perhaps too focused on developing the precocious Tom Digby, the boys in pink and black are back. They won Wallingford Regatta – in an admittedly quiet field – but that win will have done them the world of good in reversing the result on Eton’s second eight who beat them in March. Their failure to make the ‘A’ final of Championship Eights at the National Schools’ Regatta last year will have been a major wake-up call to everyone involved with the program and it appears to have worked – their first eight has improved exponentially whilst their J16 cohort are doing bits at that level under the guidance of Abingdon alumni Rory Copus. I don’t expect Abingdon to challenge for medals – that step may come a little too soon – but they should certainly be in the mix for positions 4, 5 and 6.
Royal Shrewsbury School
Likely to be in the mix for an A final spot at NSR, Shrewsbury have had a great lead in to the big Dorney weekend. Taking two titles at the recent Bedford Regatta, their top boat is obviously fast and having beaten Bedford, who got the better of them time-wise at SHORR, they’ve improved and suit the shorter distance. However, with Radley starting one place in front of them at the NSR time trial, they’re going to have to work hard to make the A/B semi-final because catching that Radley boat is going to be a tall order.
St Edward’s
St Edward’s are another traditional rowing school with an elaborate background in the championship eights category. Within the last 20 years, St Edward’s have won the Princess Elizabeth at Henley and in 2013, they placed 2nd at National Schools. However one could question whether their glory days have passed as in recent years they have struggled to maintain their winning streak. A respectable 7th place finish at School’s Head of the River would indicate they are capable of an A final finish, however with Radley and Westminster typically picking up speed as the season progresses, it remains in question how St Edward’s will be able to perform with such a competitive field and high-caliber of championship eights this season. A mysterious scratch from Junior eights at Wallingford Regatta means that the speed of St Edward’s eight over a 2km regatta course is yet to be discovered and it is therefore challenging to predict how they will fare in the Queen Mother cup next weekend when every club is putting out their strongest combination possible.
King’s College Wimbledon
King’s College are to be admired for success in previous years in the first eights category and have made the courageous step up to championship eights this season. Their tenacity and determination should be respected, however the advance to championship eights is one which takes more than one year to adjust to, if the crew and the coaches are desiring to win some silverware. A position in the A final certainly isn’t out of reach for King’s College this season however a 12th place finish at Schools Head of the River would suggest that we will see King’s College place towards the top end of the B final. King’s College will be undoubtedly giving it absolutely everything in the time trial and semi-final to try and secure an A final finish and to supersede those clubs and schools which have the heritage of reaching the championship eights final year upon year.
Latymer
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending lunch with Phil McGee, Director of Rowing at Latymer. It was a useful insight into the program, and it’s great to see Latymer stepping up to play with the big boys. Whether continue to commit to this category year in year out remains to be seen – it’s a tough field and one they haven’t quite sussed yet. All that said, Shiplake managed to make the jump so I’d expect Latymer to put on a strong showing this weekend. They’ll be delighted to sneak into the A-final, after an eighth-placed finish in this category at the Schools’ Head of the River. They were drawn a pretty hard heat at Wallingford, failing to make it out alive – they’ll need to step it up for next Saturday if they want to secure a place in the top eight. Child Beale crews will also feature in the mix, and both Bedford School and Great Marlow beat them at Wallingford. An intriguing match-up, and it’ll be fascinating to see who comes out on top.
Kings School Chester
I think Kings School Chester’s goal for NSR 2018 has to be to make the A final. Having come 13th in Ch 8+ at Schools’ Head means that they’ll need to have made a big jump forward to push themselves into a top 6 position at NSR. It might be that they’re better over shorter distances, in which case the Dorney course could suit them well. Kings also have the benefit of having been able to complete their NSR prep away from the London/South East rowing circuit. Kings are starting 8th in the time trial and with Canford ahead of them, I’m sure they’ll be hoping to chase them down before the finish.
Bedford Modern School
After being knocked out in round one by Keble College at Bedford Regatta, BMS will be wanting to turn things around. A disappointing 12th at SHORR in 1st eights will hopefully mean that speed has been found over the Easter break, and BMS are back with a vengeance. They have entered Champ Eights, which suggests that they think they have really stepped on.
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