National Schools’ Regatta 2019 – Championship Boys Eights

As the sun sank below the horizon and the weekend of Henley Royal Regatta 2018 reclined in twilight, the cheers of victory still bounced off the water. The air felt heavy with the scent of success and those on the bank talked excitedly of what they had just seen. The Australian National Eight, running the Romanians into the ground. Mahe Drysdale sprinting into the record books for a dinner party of pineapple cups. And then, St Paul’s School. The finest, bar none, of all schoolboy eights, a crew meticulously devised and extraordinarily conditioned to produce a performance unlike any seen before at Henley. Their dominance sent shockwaves around the rowing world, and carried through into the off-season as Great Britain took gold in the men’s eight and coxless four. How, one might ask, do you follow that? How would anyone better those achievements?

Fast forward ten months and we may soon be presented with our answers. This, we say, in the plural because, for the first time in two years, we have a race on our hands. Approaching the most significant multi-lane contest of the year, there are no decisions already made. No stand-out favourites. No promises, no guarantees, no sure-things and no lack of intrigue. One second separated the top three in March over 7km – next Saturday they race over 2. This has the potential to be one of the most thrilling finals we’ve ever seen at the National Schools’ Regatta.

Shiplake College

One of the most compelling narratives of the last decade in junior rowing. From Child Beale nearly-rans to one of the finest schoolboy eights in the country, Shiplake have truly progressed into a powerhouse of performance rowing under Dave Currie and Hugh Mackworth-Praed. Winners at the Schools’ Head by half a second over Eton and St Paul’s School, Shiplake must surely hold the favourites tag as we approach the apex of our regatta calendar. Huge credit must also go to Gregg Davies, an ardent supporter of sport at the school and a keen commentator and British Rowing umpire, who has recruited the right personnel and laid the groundwork for the success that Shiplake are now experiencing at all age-groups. This particular crew are backed up by a very fast second eight and have substantial domestic and international experience. The only question mark around this unit is whether they can break that glass ceiling. It is easy to be part of a chasing pack but the mentality shifts quite dramatically when you take on the mantle of the fastest. You’re there to be shot at, to be challenged and to be pushed to prove you deserve your titles. Next weekend will be our most telling indicator yet as to whether Shiplake warrant the plaudits.

St Paul’s School

This year, St Paul’s School will be looking to retain their National School’s championship 8+ title after a record breaking 2017-18, seeing them win Head of the Charles, School’s Head and HRR in record breaking times. With only two returners to the crew, St Pauls have struggled to defend these titles this year. The crew came behind both Shiplake College and Eton College at the SHORR. However the margins between these three crews were incredibly small over the long Tideway stretch, suggesting there would be almost no difference between these three crews over the 2000m Dorney course. The St Paul’s crew have not entered many regattas this season other than Wallingford Regatta where they were the second quickest junior crew to Eton College, who finished less than 1 second ahead of them. St Paul’s are always a force to be reckoned with, nearly always finishing in the top 3. However, it is unlikely that this year’s crew will see the 15 second win for the gold medal that occurred last year. The crew will have to find a bit more speed in the next week to be able to hold off the likes of Eton and Radley College for the gold medal position.

Eton College

After a second place finish at the Schools’ Head of the River, the 1st VIII of Eton will return to home water after a promising start to the Regatta season. Wallingford Regatta has proven that last year’s Princess Elizabeth Finalists have not lost any of their speed following their Spanish training camp, rather the opposite. They just got quicker. Following their win in the Challenge Eights Heat, Eton went on to finish second to Thames Rowing Club in the A Final, by just over one second. In this process, they saw off challenges from both St Paul’s and Shrewsbury thus giving them a huge psychological advantage as the days count down until the rematch. It is never wise to bet against Eton when they are on form, particularly when they race down their own course. This is a crew that has the capabilities to become the fastest junior crew in the Country.

Shrewsbury School

Sam Grant’s boys in black and white found themselves some three seconds off the pace of Eton at Wallingford, but this is a significant step on already from last season. Since then, the 1st VIII have ventured to Bedford Regatta where they picked up some silverware and brought some wind back into their sails. Although a finishing place atop the podium seems unlikely for Shrewsbury, do not discount them in the race for silverware – they’ve picked up considerable speed over the past two months and so I’d expect to see them feature prominently next Saturday.

Radley College

The perennial challengers and arguably one of the most consistent schools in the junior eights category over the past six years. Coached by John Gearing, Radley tend to show up on the big occasion. They shocked Shiplake and Eton to take the silver medal at this event last year and performed well at Henley in exiting on the Saturday to a truly remarkable St Paul’s outfit. Whether they can climb onto the podium this season is another matter though. They were nearly 20 seconds back on third-placed St Paul’s at the Schools’ Head of the River and although they often muster a second-half season surge, that deficit is probably too sizeable to overcome. Write Radley off at your peril though – they’re fierce racers, drilled to row well but conditioned to have the mid-year firepower to gun down challengers.

Abingdon School

Abingdon have struggled to make quite the impact in the junior rowing scene as they used to in the days of Athol Hundermark and Dave Currie, last year not managing to make the A final of Champ 8+. The crew also scratched from SHORR this year meaning they are yet to show their form in the british schoolboy rowing scene. This does not mean that the crew will not be quick at this year’s competition however. The crew won the final of Junior Eights at Nottingham City regatta ahead of Monmouth, the winners of J18 First 8+ at SHORR, and KCS. The crew will also feature Connor Brown, who just represented GB at Munich International Regatta, further strengthening the crew. Abingdon will have a tough race this year, fighting off many strong crews to make it into this years A final. That said, a strong performance at Nottingham City Regatta suggests the crew will be fairly quick and perhaps fighting for some of the top spots in the final this year.

Westminster School

Westminster will naturally have been disappointed with their performance at the Schools’ Head, finishing seventh and a long way behind the leading pack. Considering the fact that Westminster were duelling with St Paul’s for the title of fastest schoolboy eight in the UK some four years ago, their decline to mid-table anonymity will have been alarming for supporters. That said, they chose to prioritise the quad last year and may well see that as the best course of action in 2019 depending on squad depth and quality. Their winter work wasn’t awe-inspiring so Josh Butler’s best bet may be to switch from one blade to two and take on the best in the sculling world instead.

Hampton School

Another crew who have fallen out of favour at the summit of junior rowing. In 2012 and 2013, they were stacked full of junior talent with a multitude of international experience and domestic silverware. In 2019, times are harsher and the competition arguably fiercer – St Paul’s reset the bar in terms of excellence last year and the three leading crews this season are all striving for those same giddy heights. Neil Double has a considerable task on his hands to turn around the ailing fortunes of this old warhorse and it seems highly unlikely that we’ll see Hampton feature in the A-final next weekend.

King’s College School

KCS only stepped up to the Championship 8+ category a couple of years ago and are yet to get into the A final, last year finishing 7th in the B final. However, KCS have appeared to have stepped up their game this year and have had some impressive results. The crew finished 9th at SHORR, finishing ahead of rivals Hampton School, Bedford School, Latymer Upper and finishing only 5 seconds behind Westminster School. Crew member Jeff Guggelmann was also recently selected to represent GB at the Munich International regatta, demonstrating depth within the crew. The crew did not manage to make the final of Challenge 8+ at Wallingford Regatta but finished with a time just under 8 seconds slower than St Paul’s in the other heat. It is unlikely that this crew will finish in medalling positions, but with 8 spots available in the A final there is no reason why we won’t see this crew racing alongside the top Champ 8+ crews in the country.

King’s School Chester

Many people often ask why King’s Chester repeatedly enter themselves into Championship Eights. It’s a fair question. So far this season they placed last in the Final of J18 Eights at Wallingford, falling to crews such as Pangbourne and Eton’s 2nd VIII. It was then onwards to Nottingham City where they were bested by SHORR 1st VIII winners, Monmouth School. For this crew, it is going to be another very similar NSR, where they find themselves at the back of the Champ Eight field.

Latymer Upper School

Back in March, the Hammersmith-based school found themselves down in 13th place in Champ Eights at SHORR. Since then, the crew still does not seem to have come together as well as it should or could do. Latymer was another crew who fell to Monmouth at Nottingham City Regatta, with two seconds separating the crews. Similar to King’s Chester Latymer will not be in contention for a medal this weekend and will instead be fighting off non-championship crews

Prediction

It’s a genuinely tough one to call. The ultimate prize in schoolboy rowing, with the possible exception of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, has evaded so many and caused generational upsets. After the remarkably comfortable victory that St Paul’s recorded last year, any hopes of an evening cruise for these contenders has evaporated after a tight winter and an even closer start to summer. With Shiplake opting not to race at Wallingford, and having watched them take the crown at the Schools’ Head, we’re going to predict a win for the boys in red and black. Expect Eton and St Paul’s to be tight on their stern, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see overlap between all three crews crossing the line. Radley, Shrewsbury and Abingdon represent the best of the rest.

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