The 2023 National Schools’ Regatta is just around the corner. Clubs will be arriving at this event with a point to prove, hoping that the work they put in over one of the coldest and wettest winters will pay off. The Girls Championship Eight is one of the blue riband events at the regatta and a strong performance here should put crews one step ahead in the race to secure that all-important prequalification for Henley Royal Regatta. Unfortunately, this year, many clubs have decided not to enter their top rowers in this event. However, this does make the competition for the podium more exciting and we could be in for a few surprises.
Headington School
Headington are the clear favourites in this event, despite having a slightly more up-and-down season than their usual main rivals. Saying this, they did inherit the School/Junior pennant at WEHoRR. Third place at Schools’ Head was likely a disappointing result, but it looks like they have used it to motivate themselves for regatta season. They stormed to victory at Wallingford Regatta, largely thanks to an impressive third 500 – an area where they have always been particularly strong. As well as this, they had five rowers at the most recent set of GB trials, and one of their athletes was in the pair that won overall. With no Wycliffe and Hinksey, as well as Henley not entering their top eight, I can’t really see anyone stopping them.
Surbiton High School
I feel like I should be writing this preview saying it’s Surbiton’s to lose. This year’s group were utterly dominant, winning the J14 octo by clear water at this regatta in 2019 and the J16 eight by over 15 seconds in 2021. They backed this up with successes at both Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta over the last two years and placed second behind Henley at last year’s National Schools’ Regatta. However, for one reason or another, they have just been slightly off the pace at nearly every event so far this season. At Schools’ Head they could only manage fifth and were over 20 seconds behind Headington at Wallingford Regatta. On a more positive note, two of their rowers were selected for the Munich International Junior Regatta, and one of them won gold in the four. This international experience could be key in helping them close the gap to the front and secure a place on the podium once again.
Henley Rowing Club
Henley are the defending champions in this event and have won nearly every head race they entered this season. They started the season off strong by winning all three junior pennants at Fours Head for the second consecutive year. They then beat Headington by 13 seconds in the eight at Quintin Head and were nearly 10 seconds faster than them at WEHoRR, before later being relegated to second due to a time penalty. They then increased that margin back to 13 seconds for Schools’ Head, but could only manage second behind Wycliffe who have chosen not to enter this event. Coming into regatta season, I would expect them to still be at the front of the field. However, they lost to Headington at the recent Wallingford Regatta by five seconds. As well as this, that was their first eight, but they have put their top four rowers in the quad, meaning that their eight is now comprised of athletes 5-12. At Wallingford, their ‘B’ crew were just six seconds behind Surbiton in the heats so they are definitely capable of challenging them and winning a medal next weekend.
Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association (ASRA)
ASRA have a great history of results at this regatta in the past few years, particularly in the small boats so it is nice to see them entering the eight at such a major regatta. Their boat is largely made up of rowers from their bronze medal-winning J16 eight and their fourth-placed coxed four in 2022. At Schools’ Head, they placed sixth in the Girls’ Championship eights, just three seconds behind Surbiton. As they didn’t race at Wallingford, it’s hard to know where they’ll fit in, but I expect them to be competitive and push Henley and Surbiton all the way.
Latymer Upper School
Latymer came fifth in this event last year and will be looking to put in another strong performance. They had a slightly shaky start to the season with mixed results at Fours Head, before entering two fairly matched eights at Quintin Head, placing thirteenth and fifteenth respectively. At Schools’ Head, they improved on this slightly to come twelfth and then had a brilliant result at Wallingford Regatta where they placed fourth overall, beating several crews that had been faster in the head races. If they can stay on this trajectory, they could potentially challenge for a medal.
Lady Eleanor Holles School (LEH)
LEH won this event back to back in 2019 and 2021, but could only manage seventh in 2022. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have recovered fully from the loss of their head coach early on in the 2021/22 season. They were over a minute slower than Headington at WEHoRR and placed eleventh at Schools’ Head, just three seconds faster than Latymer. However, they could only manage sixth at Wallingford Regatta, almost ten seconds behind Latymer. Hopefully, they will use this result as motivation to climb up the rankings next weekend.
Other Entries
Other entries include King’s School, Chester and King’s School, Worcester. These crews also raced at Schools’ Head but were over 90 seconds slower than favourites Headington. Whilst I don’t expect them to feature in the fight for medals, making the A Final will be a good achievement for both crews. Llandaff Rowing Club have also entered this event and were slightly faster than King’s Chester at Wallingford Regatta so that could be an exciting battle to watch. It’s also nice to see Kew House School enter this event. Although they probably won’t take home a medal, it’s exciting to see their club expanding and entering a J18 eight is a testament to that. The final crew, whose pace is relatively unknown is St Michael’s Rowing Club, Limerick. Last year, they placed third in the B final, but they have had some strong results at many Irish regattas and at the Ghent International May Regatta. They may cause a surprise or two, but I can’t see them overhauling Headington.
Prediction
I can’t really see anyone beating Headington this year. They seem to be a class above the rest of the field and it’s more a question of what will the margin be and, conditions permitting, can they break the record. Behind them, it’s likely to be a battle between Henley, Surbiton, ASRA and Latymer. The other medals really could go to any of these four crews. If you pushed me, I would say that Henley has just got too much depth and Surbiton will be looking to lay down a marker so I would say that those two would make up the other podium positions, with Surbiton just edging out Henley. However, I wouldn’t count ASRA out just yet and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them on the podium this year.
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