A hotly-contested event full of pace and energy, the coxless four is one of the greatest tests of a rower’s ability, both requiring immense power and a great degree of finesse, and so it is one of the best races of the whole weekend.
King’s College School
Having won National Schools’ Regatta in 2021 in this event, we haven’t seen KCS enter since. Seeded first in the time trial, they will certainly be trying to reproduce the result of 2021, and with the pedigree of the KCS coaches, Patrick Duggan and Tom Rendell, this is definitely within KCS’ grasp, although their true speed is unknown. It is possible that this is athletes 9-12 given the first eight will be the top rowers.
St George’s College
Yet another school with great pedigree in this event, St George’s will be looking to repeat previous successes. Having made the A-final at Wallingford Regatta, they clearly have a great deal of speed, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were competing at the business end of the race for the medals. St George’s often put in a good performance at this level and have a rich history of winning national medals in a variety of boat classes so expect this crew to be competitive.
Hampton School
Another crew whom we haven’t seen a lot of in 2024, the speed of this crew is something of an unknown. It’s been a good season so far for Hampton though as they slowly try to climb back to the top of the junior rowing rankings, so this boat’s ability will be a good barometer of their progress so far. However given the strength of their first and second eights, I suspect that this boat may be the third entry from Hampton.
Molesey Boat Club
A dominant season last year in the coxless four even saw the junior four from Molesey enter into the Wyfold Challenge Cup alongside a win in this event. From this, it is clear that they have the pedigree and coaching capability to triumph in this category, but with no returners they perhaps might not be as strong as last year. It seems as if their top junior athletes might be in other races so let’s see as to the quality of this outfit.
Notable Mentions
Nottingham and Union Rowing Club and Kingston Grammar School are both seemingly quick crews, only narrowly missing out on getting to the final at Wallingford. Unless they have gained some newfound speed in the last two weeks, I expect them to be competing for the minor placements in the A-final though.
Prediction
I believe that St George’s are the favourites to win, however they will have KCS and Hampton hot on their heels, with Molesey likely to feature in the chasing pack too.
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