It is more than likely that the vast majority of the coxless fours competitors will have raced the previous day in the championship eights category. However, the Sunday is a new day and all is to play for. The coxless four requires a lot more skill than the eight. Steering will be a major factor for the successful versus less successful crews, with crew members ensuring the straightest possible line is taken and blades do not hit the buoys separating the lanes. It is essential that the race plan is executed without the support and guidance of the cox.
This year, there are 19 crews entered into the coxless fours category, just four more than the coxed fours category. Looking at the crew members entered into the event, it appears a number of strong boat clubs may have loaded up their coxed four rather than coxless, such as Shiplake and Abingdon. Nonetheless, it will still be an extremely competitive category this year.
Shiplake College
I believe that this four contains the second half of the Shiplake championship 8+, with the top four boys entered into the coxed fours category. However, Shiplake’s eight has been quick this season with a first place finish at SHORR and Quintin Head suggesting that this crew should be pretty fast. However, the Shiplake championship 8+ was beaten by Radley a couple of weeks ago at Nottingham City regatta by a few seconds, meaning that both the 8+ and the 4- will have to find a bit of speed in the next week to come out victorious.
St Pauls B
This crew features stern four of the St Pauls championship 8+. The St Pauls championship 8+ has struggled to produce quite as dominant performances in the junior rowing scene as last year’s crew, but nevertheless this years crew has produced some good results including a third place finish at the SHORR with the slightest of margins between themselves, Eton and Shiplake who finished just ahead of them. The crew also recently raced at Wallingford regatta in the Challenge 4- event and placed third behind two senior mens fours. This puts them in a very strong position for the weekend of racing, with the crew having already practiced their steering down the Dorney course and posting a good time. They beat a couple of other schoolboy crews to earn their place in the final including St Edwards, Westminster and Kings College. This crew will be one to watch out for.
Shrewsbury
This coxless four also features four of the crew members from the Shrewsbury championship 8+. It should be the fastest four from Shrewsbury as the school have not entered a coxed four. The Shrewsbury championship 8+ has also had a strong season so far, including a top five finish at the SHORR and finishing just behind the St Pauls crew at Wallingford regatta recently. The crew did not race their four at Wallingford Regatta, choosing to focus on the eight instead. Due to the eight’s strong performance at this season’s major races, this coxless four should perform well.
Radley
Radley should be a very strong crew, with this four also featuring four crew members from the championship 8+. Radley’s recent victory over SHORR title holders, Shiplake College, places them in a very strong position coming into next weekend meaning Radley could be the ones to beat in both the eight and the coxless four. The crew also features Freddie Nielson who recently represented Great Britain at Munich International regatta, indicating that this crew should be very quick.
Eton A
This is another crew who feature in the school’s championship 8+. Eton are always very strong in regatta season, proven by the championship 8+ result at Wallingford regatta, finishing just a second behind a Thames senior crew in Challenge eights. Their four has not entered any recent regattas, perhaps hiding their speed in preparation for next weekend. If the four is going anywhere near as quickly as their eight is currently going, then the crew should be very fast.
Due to the vast majority of schools/clubs choosing to focus on their championship eights at recent regattas, it is difficult to find results that will help to determine who will come out on top in the coxless fours event. Looking at the recent eights results, I would say that Radley, St Pauls and Eton should be fighting out for the top spot. That said, all the crews entered into this event will have to focus on their steering and race plan execution during the race to get the gold medal… it is a different game to the eights and anything could happen!
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