Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup- St Paul’s

2013 Titles- IM1 Eights- Wallingford Regatta

Coach- Bobby Thatcher

Munich Representatives- Misha Wilcockson 

St Paul’s, like Teddies, have really come on this year, aided by the inclusion of last years dominant J16’s. They have notched up a series of impressive results this year, most noticeably their third place at SHORR and 4th place at NSR, and have a solid crew to take forward next year. Following the ignominy of last years Wednesday exit at Henley [albeit at the hands of a very strong Hampton crew] they have bounced back to be in contention for a weekend spot this year.

Under the careful eye of Bobby Thatcher, ex GB Olympian, St Pauls have flourished and become a real force to be reckoned with. Misha Wilcockson, their charismatic stroke-man, has been a real influence with his gold medal exploits in the GB junior eight and the crew have taken on a competitive mentality. The crew has two pairs in the top 15 in the country and achieved 5th place in CH4+ on the Sunday of NSR in a very competitive field.

I won’t be ridiculous and say that St Paul’s are in the same league as Abingdon but the current crew are probably the fastest ever St Paul’s crew [their time in the NSR final was 0.01 slower than last year’s crew] and I think they’ll go even faster next year. I predict, with a kind draw, that they’ll make the Friday and it will be interesting to see how they fare against crews like Radley, who are due their infamous Henley spurt. The standard in schoolboy eights is very high this year but I predict St Paul’s to come back even faster next year.

The photo is taken from http://www.stpaulsschool.org.uk/sport/rowing

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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