The largest regatta in the country plays host to the fastest female crews around. This year’s Girls’ Championship Eights Category looks as if it is going to be incredibly competitive; Henley are holders and arguably favourites but can feel the hot white breath of Lady Eleanor Holles on their shoulder. Headington had a slow winter season but are strong racers whilst Latymer traditionally get faster approaching Henley.
Henley RC
Henley were the winners of the girls’ championship eights at Schools’ Head, a fantastic achievement and the second year in a row they’ve managed to take the win. In addition to this, they came first in both the women’s school four, junior eight and coxless quad at Wallingford Regatta, as well as Henley crews placing first and second in the WJ18 8+ at Henley 4s and 8s Head. It’d take a brave man to bet against them – the wheel keeps turning and the production line of genuinely world-class athletes keeps churning. You could almost argue that they looked a little vulnerable after being hounded by Lady Eleanor Holles at the Schools’ Head, but they’ve clearly stepped on the gas since then and widened the gap between themselves and the field.
Lady Eleanor Holles
Lady Eleanor Holles had a breadth of talent on display at Wallingford Regatta at the start of May, showcasing a large women’s junior 18 squad. They fielded two eights at WJ18 level; one raced in the women’s challenge category with the other in the women’s schools category, coming third and second respectively. In the school’s eight category they came second to Henley, separated by five seconds. At Wallingford the challenge event is targeted at crews hoping to compete at the highest level of events further through the season. Entering an eight into this category shows LEH’s intentions for the rest of the regatta season. These intentions were backed up with compelling evidence to show that they are worthy of being at the top end of women’s junior eights as they finished first in their heat, losing out to two Thames crews who all have a few years on the girl’s in the LEH boat. At Schools’ Head of the River LEH had an eight entered into Girl’s Championship Eights. A strong performance led to them finishing second, missing out on first by less than two seconds to Henley. Back at the start of February LEH’s eight took first place in W8+, finishing with the 7th fastest time of the day at Peterborough Head of the Nene. LEH look set to finish at the top end of the category at National Schools’ Regatta with their main competition for the top spot being Henley RC.
Headington School
An old powerhouse of junior rowing, Ryan Demaine’s girls are the benchmark to which all other crews aspire. The dynasty they established over this event lasted nearly a decade but now they’re in an unfamiliar position – part of the chasing pack. They still produce quality athletes, as evidenced by the continual involvement of their cohort on the international scene, but the defeat they suffered last year at the hands of Henley seems to have disrupted their usually unflappable rhythm. At the Schools’ Head, Headington came 5th overall in the Championship eights category – a position I imagine they weren’t best pleased with. In addition to this, the club entered two crews in the the WJ18 4+ category at Henley 4s and 8s Head, placing 3rd and 4th overall, and came 4th in the women’s eight at Wallingford Head. Fairly mediocre results for a school who have held a seat at the top table for so long, but they need some big performances this summer to re-assert themselves.
Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School have also had a very successful season, coming 3rd overall in the Championship eights category at Schools’ Head. At Fours’ Head, the crew came 7th in the Junior Championships quad, and at Wallingford Head they placed 4th in the WJ18 8+. At Wallingford Regatta, Latymer were successful in both the Challenge and School Eights, coming 6th and 3rd respectively.
Putney
Putney High School have a large squad that has been present at many of the main events leading up to NSR. At Wallingford Regatta they had three sweep boats entered at WJ18 level. The only boat to make it through to a final was their uncoxed four racing in the challenge event. Their challenge eight raced in the same heat as LEH, finishing fifth to LEH’s first place finish. An impressive performance at Schools’ Head of the River led them to finish second in the Sch G 1st 8+. They achieved this in a time of 19:12.8, compared to LEH’s time of 18:46.0.
St Michael’s
A relatively unknown quantity, but St Michael’s Boat Club are one of Ireland’s premier rowing clubs. So far as we can tell, this crew won their category at the Skibbereen Regatta a couple of weeks ago and their junior women’s eight won bronze at the National Championships in Ireland last July. In the five seat, Ellen Murphy represented her country at the Coupe De La Jeunesse last summer, finishing fourth in the eight so expect her to be a driving force behind these girls.
Marlow
A quieter winter period for these girls, but their appearance in the final of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup last summer was a surefire sign that this squad are here to stay. They chose not to enter an eight at the Schools’ Head and have already made their intent clear in fielding strong quads at the Scullery three days later. This eight contains all four members of the top quad, three of whom raced in GB colours last summer at the GB-France match. They’ve got another year but will keen to get a foothold in 2019 to set up an assault on the summit next year.
Emanuel School
Emanuel School seem to have less experience racing this season than the other crews entered, though they did take 6th place in the Girls’ School 1st eight at Schools’ Head. In addition to this, the club came 2nd in the women’s junior challenge coxed fours at Fours Head and 2nd in the WJ18 pair at Pairs Head.
Prediction
It feels difficult to look beyond Henley. The dominant force in junior women’s rowing, they’re unbeaten in competitive competition this year and have continued to step on from their victory at this event last season. The question that the collective pack are trying to figure out is how they can be beaten. They were run pretty close – by their own high standards – at the Schools’ Head as the Lady Eleanor Holles school closed the gap to just under two seconds. However, LEH then fell five seconds off the pace at Wallingford, having led them to 500m. I expect a closer race next Saturday but would still make Henley favourites ahead of LEH, Latymer and possibly a resurgent Headington.
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