Sat at the start of the National Schools’ Regatta is a peculiar thing. Amongst the throng of coaches and spectators, astraddle bikes of various shapes and sizes, is a shared commonality; a partisanship that divides all but a zest for the sport and for the athletes lining up under the glistening Olympic arches that connects a sea of like-minded folk. The hush that descends as the starting orders are barked; the rate-watches clutched to handlebars; the rising and falling of coxes hands; the unique realisation that this is a moment that many athletes on the water will never again repeat; the crowning glory of a junior rowing career.
Despite the squalls and the sideways showers, the 2024 edition of the National Schools’ Regatta got away without a hitch and delivered to us an enthralling set of races that I can safely say were amongst the best I have witnessed in my decade of covering this event. Without further ado, or literary flourish, let’s dive in and unpack…
Open Championship Eights
St Paul’s delivered but not quite in the manner I was expecting. I should be clear – the performance from Bobby Thatcher’s boys was emphatic and typical of the way in which they conduct their business. What surprised me – pleasantly – was the manner in which the chasing pack seem to have risen to the challenge set out by St Paul’s at the Schools’ Head of the River just over two months ago. This crew have been framed as equally talented and equally tenacious in comparison to the great 2018 boat and that may be true, but the opposition have come a long way since that fateful year. Radley, Eton, Shiplake, KCS and Teddies all gave favourable accounts of themselves and although St Paul’s began to stretch their legs and move out in the second half of the course, the chasing pack never let them go entirely. In the end, it was Sam Townsend’s Radley who secured a precious silver and Shiplake stole through to win their first medal of any colour at the National Schools’ Regatta for five years. A word also on Eton, who were actually in second with 500m to go but ran out of steam in the closing stages. More to come from them, I feel.
Girl’s Championship Eights
It was a true privilege to ride with this final from the comfort of my commentary car. The field was evenly spread in the opening half, evidenced by the fact that just over a second split the leading four boats. Four had to be squeezed into three though and the gas came first from Hinksey, who broke the back of the contest at the 1000m marker to find an incredibly rhythm that proved indestructible. All three of Headington, St Edward’s and Henley’s bows had hit the front at some point in the opening exchanges but they now all found themselves with collective work to do and strength to muster. With the finish line closing, and Hinksey having stretched out to nearly a length in utterly imperious fashion, it was Teddies who stole home ahead of Headington to give us a one-two that did not feature the latter or Henley for the first time since 2008.
Open Championship Quads
Guess who’s back. There are basically three inevitable truths in life; death, taxes and Windsor Boys showing up at the National Schools’ Regatta to take home the Forest Cup. This is their third victory on the spin and Mark Wilkinson’s charges are showing no signs of slowing down approaching the apex of the season – a tilt at the Fawley Challenge Cup. Marlow Rowing Club, who won their second successive silver in this event, clung on to Windsor for as long as they could but the superior technical suite of the state schoolboys eventually paid dividends on a course where the elements dictated the prevalent state of play. I expect Pete Chambers to rally his troops in the face of the fact that they were a second back on Windsor and will expect to find more speed in the weeks to come. Hinksey put in a blinding performance to feature as best of the rest, six seconds back on the leaders, to continue their ascent to the very top of the junior pyramid.
Girl’s Championship Quads
What else is there left to say about this Wycliffe quad? After such crushing disappointment in 2023, where they dominated all season only to fall at the final hurdle and succumb to Tideway Scullers School at Henley Royal Regatta, there appears to be no chink in their armour this year. They won this final by nearly nine seconds and had no need to unleash what I am sure will be a nifty sprint to the line as the battle for silver and bronze – which only really featured Marlow for the former and Molesey/Lea for the latter – unfolded with relative innocuity. Can anything stop Greg Flower and his girls, who also secured a stunning second quads gold?
Notable Mentions
First of all, it was honestly a very good weekend for the team here at JRN. Reviewing our predictions, we got the bulk of the big ones right – including three of the four categories above – and even called complete podiums in some situations. Given the variable nature of junior rowing – plus an ever-evolving and tempestuous Dorney Lake – it’s often to hard to get our analysis spot on but I would say I’m pretty pleased with the collective effort in 2024 given how little racing we had to go off. I’m sure there will be those amongst you reading this and chortling because we called your specific race wrong but that won’t derail me.
As has become a habit of mine, I had the honour of following this weekend’s racing from the commentary cars that sped up and down the course to provide coverage of every single contest throughout a frantic three days of racing. This afternoon’s finals were full of drama, not least in the mano-a-mano single sculls. Briony Wood of Glasgow Academy reclaimed her title after dispatching the earnest attentions of Catherine Gardner of Hartpury University. Not to be deterred, the boys and girls from Gloucester secured a further three medals (all golds) in the open championship single, girl’s championship double and girl’s junior 16 quads in what was a splendid weekend for that group.
The Snoxall brothers upgraded their open championship double silver from 2023 to a gold in 2024, fending off the keen interests of the Windsor Boys School, who themselves took four trophies (including the open championship quads) home and continue to set the standard for schoolboy sculling right across the age groups.
A shout-out to a crazy performance from Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association, who had Robert Treharne-Jones on commentary gawping in disbelief as they blasted off the start of their open championship pairs final rating above 40 and basically did not come down from that point on. Their winning margin of nearly four seconds was remarkable considering they looked spent at halfway.
Beyond their defining triumph in the open championship eight, St Paul’s had a magnificent weekend in a fitting tribute to the program Bobby Thatcher has built. They won five golds across the course of the weekend, including second and third eights, which underlines the emphatic nature of their dominance at senior sweep level. Their junior 15 cohort also look pretty tasty, taking home the first and second eight titles to boot.
Royal Shrewsbury School piled their resources into the fours and reaped the rewards as their open championship coxed four and girl’s championship coxless four both secured memorable victories in testing fields. Shanklin Sandown put their rudimental style to effective use in the open junior 16 doubles, punching stroke for stroke and edging out to a marvelous gold. In the female equivalent, sprint bragging rights go to A.B. Severn, who snuck past Sir William Perkins on the line to claim the Simon Sears Cup.
As always, there were innumerable performances worthy of a mention and I simply do not have the digital parchment – nor mental patience – at 10pm on the Sunday of the regatta to wax lyrical any further. My takeaway message was that this weekend represented another clinic in how to run a successful junior regatta (kudos to the National Schools’ Regatta organising committee) but also, this was a message to the world that UK junior rowing is at the peak of its collective powers. As all eyes turn towards the Henley series – and international interest begins to draw its plans against the foremost British powers – the racing over the past three days was deeper, broader, braver and better than I have ever witnessed. The winners drove themselves to the limit of their capability but when we arrive at what we perceive to be the end of our tolerance, what do all good rowers do? They re-draw the lines.
Gold is in the air over Dorney Lake but the finish line for Henley – physically and mentally – creeps inexorably on.
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