The second Tideway Head of the season is only a few short days away, and with it comes a small armada of junior crews stepping out for the first time this year.
Always a hit with rowers and scullers alike, the results of this year’s Pairs Head will surely set the scene for the rest of the calendar – if not academic – year. The Men’s J18 doubles see a mix of crews enter, some from the established order of the rowing world and others with serious potential to upset the old guard. Regardless, with upwards of 35 crews jostling for a single pennant, the racing is set to be a dogmatic display of the best junior men’s sculling the country has to offer.
Henley Rowing Club
A club with a deep history of producing some of the nation’s best scullers, Henley Rowing Club boats two J18 doubles this weekend, both with some sobering pedigree. The first of the dynamic duos is Ribbons/Hutchins, who competed as part of Henley’s Fawley crew at HRR, a boat knocked out on the Friday by eventual finalists from The Windsor Boys’ School. Hutchins was also part of the quad that finished just outside of the medals at both NSR and Malow Regatta, whilst Ribbons took on NSR in the single, missing out on a place in the B-final by under a second. Henley’s second pair of Wallace/Landau is also a pairing lifted from the Fawley, but not in the way you’d initially expect. Wallace was indeed a member of the Henley crew that raced both at NSR and HRR, whilst Landau raced in Leander’s top quad at NSR before mysteriously disappearing from the roster ahead of the Royal. He has since resurfaced at Henley RC, leaving one scratching their head at such a scenario – especially given that at the time of Landau’s switch, Leander was clearly the stronger of the two (highly capable) men’s sculling systems. Notwithstanding this, both of the Henley doubles will be challenging for the top spots. However, I suspect the Wallace/Landau combination to be faster and likely the quickest junior crew on the course.
Westminster School Boat Club
A crew that has already secured experience on the Championship Course this year, Griffin/Polychronopoulos are another pairing fresh off the Henley train. Both were in the Westminster PE eight that fell out of the competition on Saturday; Griffin was one of two brothers in the crew, and despite being the younger sibling, weighed in at 92kg, making him the heaviest member of the crew and a formidable engine both on the Henley Reach and the Tideway. Both Griffin and Polychronopoulos raced two weeks ago at Scullers Head, where they placed 3rd and 7th respectively, with the top two spots going to TWBS scullers, who haven’t entered Pairs Head. It would be a shock if this double failed to make the top three, though, with less recent sculling expertise on board, I’d expect them to fall short of favourites from Henley.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
Despite being more revered for their prowess with just a single oar, any competitor would be unwise to dismiss the rigour of the SPS training programme out of hand. In fact, St Paul’s have entered five doubles into this category, a number admittedly dwarfed by their 18 rowers in the men’s J18 pairs, but they still boat the largest sculling fleet in this event. Many of these scullers have popped up at events throughout the season, but with most of Paul’s top rowers residing in pairs, only one of the Henley campaigners has found his way into the double: Rehan Ackrim. The Ackrim/Aziz-Kahn double is ranked as the top double from the school, and when looking through the former’s track record, it’s easy to see why. Ackrim won Pairs Head in 2020, stroked the GB-France eight in 2019, and won NSR in 2018 and 2017 in the eight and oct respectively. Although little data exists on Aziz-Kahn, we can rest assured that he will compliment Ackrim in the double. Yet despite having an impressive pedigree, it’s tough to see how any of the SPS crews will walk away with pennants when pitted against seasoned scullers and small boat specialists.
Norwich School Boat Club
A combination whose average oar count at NSR was 1.5 takes to the water with four this weekend in a bid to rattle the more established names in the draw. Cooper/Tremelling are both small boat devotees, with Cooper just missing out on the spot in the A-final at NSR this year in the pair, whilst Tremelling finished just off the podium in the doubles over the same weekend. Whether this duo will have the raw power to make the top few spots remains to be seen, but with a firm command of a narrow shell under their belts, it’s all to play for.
Notable Mentions
KCS has entered a double containing at least one J17 that took silver in the J16 quad at NSR this year, putting them in a solid position to justle for the lower placings. Kingston Rowing Club meanwhile deploys a sculler that finished in the A-final of Championship Singles at Nat Schools’ earlier this year, making them another crew to keep an eye on as the results trickle in.
Predictions:
For me, the HRC crew of Wallace/Landau is the standout combination, and as such, I would expect them to take the headship. Westminster’s Griffin/Polychronopoulos are another duo to watch and would be my favourites to finish in the ‘silver medal’ position. However, aside from those two crews, the field truly is open. The top St Paul’s crew will likely rank highly, as will the Norwich School Boat, but the Tideway is ripe for an insurgent crew to upset the established order.
Good luck!
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