This article was written prior to the event cancellation
Head Racing season draws steadily to a close as many clubs prepare to blow the cobwebs off fleets stored for the winter and flex muscles built over a long, hard winter in time for the summer racing season. No need for those still wishing for a frosty beasting to worry, though, as Reading University Head Race lines itself up, hoping to beat potentially adverse weather conditions that have halted numerous other events throughout the winter. As is known by most of those who row, the Junior 16 age group is one of the most widely entered and competitive age groupings, and the quad is effectively the pinnacle of the Junior 16 world, taking excellent form, grit and raw power to beat out all other entrants, and as such will not be won easily by any of the crews that stand to contest it this coming weekend. Here are just a few crews with the best chance of securing victory.
Marlow Rowing Club
It is hard to omit Marlow Rowing Club when considering serious contenders for victory in this event; it is one of the premier rowing clubs on the Thames and, indeed, the country. Marlow RC is known for its well-established junior programme and a string of positive results at both club and national levels, with prominent successes at both Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta. Marlow RC’s quality of coaching and competitive drive, reinforced by previous positive results, placing second at the recent Hammersmith Head, and finishing second in the championship quad at the Schools’ Head of the River 2024, will, I think, push them past the limits of their last year’s racing and make use of their dedicated winter training, motivating these juniors to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and strike a chord for the year to come.
Henley Rowing Club
Another crew that will be hot on Marlow’s heels are Henley Rowing Club – a club with a prestigious history and reputation to uphold, as one of the oldest rowing clubs in the country, and producing numerous athletes that went on to compete on the international stage, and made sure that this glory would return to the club. As such, the Junior 16 crew, after narrowly losing out to Marlow and placing fourth at Hammersmith Head by a margin of around seven seconds, will be on a mission to redeem themselves and prove themselves worthy of the name they bear on their backs. Some serious power and dedication will back up this sense of duty after a winter of hard slog, and as a result, the battle for first will be a veritable dogfight, but the question remains as to whether the sting of defeat will give the boys from Henley the extra edge they need to push on Marlow?
Shiplake College Boat Club
The ominous presence of Shiplake College Boat Club as a competitor in this race will cast doubt into the minds of numerous other crews they’ll be lining up against. One of the most notable names in schoolboy rowing, offering elite coaching and facilities to their crews to push them to the best of their ability, Shiplake College BC has produced numerous experienced athletes, counting Olympians in its alumni, and ensuring that a raft of the GB junior squad hails from Shiplake. Following a harsh winter of training near that infamous Henley stretch, itching to get back to racing, it is safe to say that the crew from Shiplake will be straining at the leash to batter down the course and add another title to their long list of accomplishments.
Prediction
Overall, this will be a very close-knit race, with a good chunk of the entries vying to knock each other out of the race and claim the victory. The question does stand, however, whether the sting of defeat in recent competitions will be able to prevail over a sheer quality of training and an iron-clad reputation that embodies so many of the clubs entered, and only remains to be seen what will occur, and who will end the race on top? My final predictions are as follows:
First : Marlow Rowing Club
Second : Shiplake College Boat Club
Third : Henley Rowing Club
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