The coxed fours event is often seen as a supplemental to the champ/ non-champ eights, but this event looks to provide some quick times and close racing. There are some big names racing in this event, with the likes of Radley, Eton and St Pauls looking to be challenging for the top few spaces.
Latymer Upper School Boat Club
Latymer always seem to perform well, however, last year they had a rather disappointing result in this event. Latymer’s boat is comprised of their 1-4 seats (and the cox, obviously), from their Champ Eight. This could be an assault on the category in spite of last year.
Kings College School Boat Club
KCS have both a ‘B’ and a ‘D’ squad racing in this event, both of whom consist of their eight from the Second Eight category. Therefore, I do not think they’ll be competing as strongly against the pre-eminent crews. They’re still likely to race well, as KCS always do.
Radley College Boat Club
Apart from Hector Thorneycroft, the squad is taken out of their Champ eight, and is therefore likely to be fast. Their top oarsmen are in the Champ Coxless four and therefore this crew will not be the fastest Radley could have fielded. However, they’re still likely to dominate and take a spot in the top few spaces.
Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club
Shrewsbury have been racing exceedingly well with exceptional performances throughout the recent races. Wallingford regatta showed that they were just off the pace of Eton and St Pauls but not by much. I think that they’ll dominate here and could achieve a top two place.
St Pauls School Boat Club
The St Pauls crew dominated for the whole of last season, but have been overtaken slightly this season by the likes of Shiplake and Eton. This crew is taken from their Second Eight but after a solid second place for their seconds at Wallingford, they’re still likely to achieve a decent spot here with one of their crews.
Eton College Boat Club
Eton, like St Pauls, have fielded two fours. They’ve tactically placed one four from their top eight and one from their second eight in this category. Therefore, it looks as if they’ll take the top spot in this category from that move. I’m sure they’ll be challenged by the likes of Shiplake, Pauls and Radley but they’ve had authoritative performances thus far this season, and I don’t think they’ll stop here.
Shiplake College Boat Club
This crew is also from their top eight, and their blisteringly fast performances so far have shown that they are capable of winning top events. Therefore, I think that they’ll challenge the top place, and possibly even take it. Their win at Schools Head of the River definitely proved their pedigree.
Hampton School Boat Club
Hampton placed third in this event last year, and they’re likely to place well again, especially after claiming a bronze at Wallingford Regatta. Watch this space.
The Kings School, Chester Boat Club
Kings were slightly off the pace at Wallingford, although they still made it to the final of their category. This crew is from their champ eight, like many of the others racing, so there will be some rivalries formed there, and some internal races taking place too. They usually perform well, so that’s the standard I’d expect.
Monmouth School Boat Club
Monmouth won the School first eight category at Schools Head, and therefore I think that they’re very capable of doing well here, and challenging the top five. Their four looks to be a very strong one in this event and thus they’re unequivocally a challenger for the top five.
Abingdon School Boat Club
Abingdon won the final of Junior Eights at Nottingham City regatta ahead of Monmouth, the winners of J18 First 8+ at Schools head, and therefore they’re a quick club. They’ve been slightly intermittent this season apart from that result, so it will be interesting to see how they place.
Others
Both Monkton and St Joseph College have been off the pace this season, but they’re both decent crews, they will be challenging the crews in the middle of the pack.
Predictions
I predict that either Shiplake or Eton will win, with Shrewsbury, Pauls and Radley coming somewhere in the near behind. Radley look to be the quicker out of the three. Monmouth and Abingdon also seem to be able to place in the top and therefore they’ll also be challenging for the top five spots.
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