Pairs Head of the River 2023 – View from the Embankment

Two down, two to go. 50% of the capital’s flagship head races are done and both were smiled upon by the weather Gods. The seasonal grey of October was replaced by midsummer sunshine as temperatures of 25 degrees descended on London, filling pub gardens and towpaths across the city. On the Thames, it was down to business as the solitary confinement of Scullers Head was replaced by the duo-driven mantra of Pairs Head. A few stand-out performances, as listed below, as the narratives for the 23/24 season begin to form…

Men’s Racing

For Cambridge 99 to win the headship is something special. This was a remarkable row from Will Young and Tom Wilkinson, who took the overall win by just under four seconds ahead of a field containing heavyweights from Reading University, London, Thames and UL. The Cam-based club also secured the win in the Open Senior Pairs division in a performance that cements as a squad to watch in the coming months.

St Paul’s continued their exceptionally strong early season form, with the pair containing junior international Felix Peerless winning the Junior 18 category and also completing the course as the fastest pair of the day. That in itself is a stunning achievement for a junior outfit and they were backed up by six more crews from the school in positions two to seven. It’s hard to read too much into these results given the relative lack of competition but as beaten finalists at last season’s edition of Henley Royal Regatta, Bobby Thatcher’s boys are going to take some stopping.

Staying with pairs, Thames took the championship title but will probably have been a little miffed to finish three seconds behind a schoolboy crew. The club title went to Mundener Ruderverein von 1912 e. V. Germany, who we’ll hope to see more of as the season progresses.

The J18 double title went to a duo from Reading Rowing Club, who emerged at the top of a 24-boat pile ahead of crews from Westminster School, Tideway Scullers School and Staines Boat Club. Wycliffe took the win in the J16 category as they continue to build out the depth and breadth of an already highly impressive squad – more on them later.

Bath University were in fine form to take the senior doubles win, beating out crews from Tideway Scullers School and a curious Parish combination from Crabtree Boat Club. Gloucester Rowing Club were winners of the club division, another example of the incredible growth the sport is experiencing outside of the Thames Valley. Reading University’s lightweight victors were blisteringly fast to not only finish first in their category but also record the fifth-fastest time of the day.

Women’s Racing

With the pair being one of the boats of choice for the GB trialing system at senior and U23 level, having a strong pair to send to trials is advantageous, to say the least. In the Championship event, the Thames RC combination of Campbell and Crocker proved their mettle by returning to Putney with a 15-second win. Imperial College’s Lizzie Witt made history in August last year by becoming the first female rower from IC to medal at a U23 World Rowing Championships, where she won silver in the eight, and followed that up by winning the top pair category at Henley Women’s Regatta this year. The Imperial machine shows no signs of slowing down, as Witt together with partner Ellington finished second, around 12 seconds ahead of local rivals UL who finished third.

In the Club and Senior events, the gap between winners was slightly smaller, with four seconds separating the top two of Wallingford and Cantabrigian. Worthy of note here is the third-place finish by Hardwick and Young of Quintin BC, who have capitalised on strong form at the back end of last season to perform well here. On the Senior side, Thames reigned supreme yet again, as the pair of Heap and Wollenscroft earned victory by over 20 seconds ahead of Cantabrigian in second and Upper Thames in third.

Walton Rowing Club – an institution who have a long history of producing exceptional junior outfits – were victors in the junior pairs category, finishing over 40 seconds clear of their opposition.

Switching to two blades, the headline billing was the duo of newly-minted world champion Lauren Henry alongside lightweight international Liv Bates. The two made good on the obvious potential of the combination, leading the field out in Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association colours and taking home the women’s headship by 14 seconds. Behind them were the crew from Reading University Boat Club of Finnola Stratton and Ellie Cook, who both raced for Great Britain this summer. In the senior event, Leander saw off London RC and UL to clinch the title by six seconds.

Wycliffe produced another stellar example of schoolgirl sculling to clinch the top four places in the WJ182x event. Their top combination of Lily Martin and Eloise Etherington – the latter of whom has already won Scullers Head – will surely prove to be an invaluable duo as the season winds on. The battle for J16 supremacy went right to the wire between homegrown units from Tideway Scullers School and Barn Elms Rowing Club. In the end, it was the white, red and yellow of the Chiswick club that prevailed by less than a second. Ella McDougall of Barn Elms has already taken the WJ16 title at the Scullers Head and is a name to watch in the coming months.

About The Author

Tom Morgan

Tom is the Founder of JRN. He has been creating content around rowing for over a decade and has been fortunate enough to witness some of the greatest athletes and races to ever grace our sport.

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