There’s something truly beautiful about a quad sculling together with faultless rhythm and absolute precision; it’s a rare sight to behold but Championship 4x’s at NSR provides the perfect showcase to see some outstanding sculling. It’s an event packed full of the best crews from the best clubs and gives us the first hint at what can be expected for the Fawley Challenge Cup at HRR (although the timing of the Junior World Championship somewhat complicates matters this year).
On Saturday, 31 crews will end their COVID imposed racing drought and battle it out to prove themselves the best in the country. This year the outcomes of NSR hold perhaps more meaning than usual as all the hours of solitary training completed through the trials and tribulations of the last 12 months comes to a head and we realise the dreams that have kept us going.
We’ve all more than earned the right to some exciting racing and this year’s edition of the Forest Cup promises just that. Although it’s impossible to know how athletes and clubs have fared with their training during COVID we can still have a look at what the order of crews crossing the line may be.
Leander
The most prestigious rowing club in the world needs little introduction. The 2019 FCC winners will be hoping to one up their 2017 and 2019 2nd places with some silverware to add to their already expansive trophy cabinet. Leander’s 2021 1st quad is made up of a slew of NSR 2019 A finalists including a couple of athletes from Tideway Scullers Schools and Sir William Borlase. The crew also has Tristan Grainge who won 2nd 4x’s as a J16 and is sure to bring some experience to the boat.
Henley Rowing Club
The 2019 Champ 4x winners and overall NSR Victor Ludorum winners have produced some quality crews over the years. As with every other club, no racing over the last year means it’s hard to tell what the club has to offer this year but if past results are anything to go by they’ve probably got something worthy to offer.
The Windsor Boys’ School
A state school rowing club which has become one of the top sculling centres in the country Windsor Boys has always got to be taken seriously when talking about the top honours. The club has had a number of podiums in this event in recent years and has won and set course records in the FCC at HRR in 2017 and 2018 meaning they know just what it takes to succeed at the highest levels. Their entry this year is a combination of 1st and 2nd place in J154x+ at NSR 2019 and although two year old results are nothing to go by there’s the potential for a quick crew.
Tideway Scullers School
A club which consistently turns out fast crews year after year, Tideway’s entry has the makings of a crew to be watched. The big name in the crew is Gabriel Obholzer; famed for going 5:53.7 over 2k and setting a new British junior record he’s sure to bring no small amount of wattage to the crew. Finn Regan was part of the club’s J16 4x winning crew in 2019 and along with Albie Oliver raced at the GB France Match. However entries in Ch 2x and Ch 4+ means Tideway are hedging their bets across a number of events and only time will tell if this has diluted any crews. All in all this crew has the right credentials but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to perform in one cohesive package.
Walton Rowing Club
A club which has been putting together an increasing quality of crews over the last few years Walton made the A final in 2019 and this year i’m sure the aim must be to medal. Their crew has two J16 4+ gold medalists so it’ll be interesting to see how successful the transition from sweep to sculling is and whether it results in success.
So it’s a case of the usual suspects then when it comes to entries for Championship 4x and the top 10 won’t look too different from previous years. The lack of results and information over the past year means it’s anyone’s guess as to who will come out on top but I reckon:
1st: Tideway Scullers School
2nd: Windsor Boys School
3rd: Leander
The likes of Claires Court, Lea and Sir William Borlase are also sure to have some competitive entries but no matter who wins it’ll be a huge enjoyment to see some quality crews go head to head for the first time in far too long.
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