‘ere we go again. Spring has sprung, winter has (theoretically) rolled back the clouds and the sun has even threatened to make an appearance on a couple of occasions. Wallingford has been and gone and now we’re confronted with the soothing prospect of back-to-back weekends of river racing before National Schools’ Regatta takes over the final May bank holiday. Here, we’re going to take a look at what we believe to be the key authors for this chapter of the junior rowing narrative…
Junior Men’s Eights
Can anyone defeat St Paul’s School? That’s essentially the question on everyone’s lips as we approach the seminal races of the season. If anyone felt that they might have stepped off the gas in the past few weeks after a blockbuster showing on the Thames in March, their performance at Wallingford last weekend should put those fears/hopes to bed. They finished second in Challenge Eights and won both Challenge Coxless and Coxed Fours – a remarkable achievement for a schoolboy crew. Although they beat an array of senior crews bidding for club glory at Henley Royal Regatta, the more significant victory came in defeating Eton College’s second eight by nearly 25 seconds in the final. It’s easy to laud the achievements of Bobby Thatcher’s boys, and rightly so – but can anyone catch them? Abingdon look to be re-establishing themselves at the right end of the junior rowing spectrum as they put in a strong performance to win Junior Eights. It’s also worth noting that St Paul’s choose not to send any of their athletes to Munich, a factor which inevitably strengthened their hand last weekend and weakened their opponents. Eton, who often get faster as the season wears on, boated their second eight and were well amongst the pack for the most part, securing an A-final berth in Challenge Eights and finishing second behind Abingdon in the junior equivalent. We’re still yet to see anything from Shiplake, who finished second at the Schools’ Head of the River. Let’s see how St Paul’s fare when Shiplake and Eton boat their strongest crews in just over a fortnight.
In the race for the Child Beale, Bedford School and Great Marlow School put out strong crews at the weekend. In the first semi-final for Junior Eights, what was noticeable was Bedford’s speed in the first 1000m – they led the field to that point and were only reeled in during the closing stages. Great Marlow School, who ended up beating Bedford in that semi-final and subsequently securing an A-final place, look strong approaching National Schools’ Regatta. This weekend sees Bedford School attempt to win on home water, as they front up in Open Eights at Bedford Regatta. Kings College School, Great Marlow, Bedford Modern and an unknown quantity from the South African Schools Rowing Union will also feature on the day.
Junior Women’s Eights
Headington’s iron-cast grip on this title appears to finally be slipping. After years of dominance, the Oxfordshire-based school are starting to feel the strain as their long-time bridesmaids take centre stage. Henley, winners of pretty much everything relevant since the turn of the year, were not present in the eights category at Wallingford, leaving Headington and Lady Eleanor Holles to do the hard work. The latter took a very impressive victory in Challenge Eights, six seconds clear of senior Vesta, Thames and Cantabrigian crews. They were also some 14 seconds ahead of Headington, who won Junior Eights in their absence. With Latymer, Nottinghamshire CRA and Marlow all floating around, this category is finally showing signs of life after years of predictability. It would take a brave person to bet against Henley; their junior squad were present in some form at Wallingford, recording a pretty substantial win in Junior Coxed Fours. With a selection of athletes competing at Munich, their reintroduction ahead of the National Schools’ Regatta should only improve their chances.
Junior Men’s Quads
An absolute favourite of mine, the standard of junior sculling has improved exponentially over the past few years. From the dominance of Sir William Borlase to the long-awaited red box for the Windsor Boys School, the narrative has always been one of quality and excellence. This year looks set to be one of the tightest affairs we’ve seen in some time. Maidenhead, undoubtedly favourites for the Forest Cup, were not present at Wallingford as the majority of their crew were representing Great Britain in Munich. This left a vacuum for their rivals and challengers to stamp authority on the event. Westminster School, who have returned to old ways by boating a top quad, won Challenge Quads ahead of Star & Arrow. Claires Court School, who haven’t been at their best so far this season, finished up fifth whilst a surprise package from Hinksey Sculling School were fourth. Over in the junior category, Henley’s boys refuse to live in the long shadows cast by their female teammates – they won this event ahead of two Star & Arrow crews, Lea, Marlow and Globe. It’s no surprise to see these crews featuring highly – Leander (entered here as Star & Arrow) have always been strong in this category whilst Westminster will surely have a claim on account of their depth. The Windsor Boys School boated doubles, racking up good wins in both the Challenge and Junior events.
Junior Women’s Quads
Latymer always perform well in this category – they were the last winners of the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup before this period of seemingly unending Gloucester dominance. This crew finished third in Challenge Quads, defeating Henley in the process, before switching their efforts to the junior equivalent, which they duly won. After an excellent performance on home water in March to take the first of the three big junior prizes, Latymer must surely be considered strong contenders to continue this winning form in a couple of weeks time. That said, Henley will undoubtedly boat a quad comprised of members of their all-conquering eight, which poses a significant challenge to the stranglehold established by Latymer. Gloucester, who always get faster approaching Henley, will also feature whilst you can never write off Headington and Marlow. I’ve got nothing personally against Gloucester but, for the sake of change, it’d be nice to see a new name on the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup this year. Those girls have really set the standard for junior women’s sculling, continually refining the program to produce genuinely world-class crews year after year. I’m sure their rivals, watching enviously from the manicured lawns of the Stewards’ Enclosure as class after class of Gloucester athlete lifted the trophy, will have a good idea on how to beat them. Ideas are one thing – reality is something altogether different.
Junior 16 Men’s Eights
The stepping stone between learning and competing, the Junior 16 category regularly produces phenomenal racing. Westminster and St Paul’s School were exceptionally strong at the Schools’ Head of the River, but were both a little off the pace at Wallingford. It’s very easy to get carried away with results at the first regatta of the season – they do indicate confidence approaching the business end of the season in addition to how well your crew has transitioned across racing disciplines. Taking this into account, you have to applaud Abingdon School – the boys in pink were winners at Wallingford after a fourth-placed finish in March. Westminster were third, a second back, whilst St Paul’s School were fifth. Can Abingdon maintain this sort of form approaching the National Schools’ Regatta? It’s difficult to predict – they aren’t racing at Bedford, which is unusual for them, so I think there may be some intensive miles between now and the end of May.
Junior 16 Women’s Eights
This looks like it is developing into a straight dogfight between Henley and Surbiton. Henley were victors in March on the Tideway, but withdrew from Sunday’s racing to leave Surbiton an unobstructed path to victory. Lady Eleanor Holles will also be in contention, finishing five seconds behind the leaders on Sunday, but it’ll be interested to see what the make-up is like come National Schools’ Regatta and whether Henley can continue to record victories in this event.
There’ll undoubtedly be other stories to tell, new patterns to unfold and new champions to crown, but this is my overarching preview ahead of a hotly-anticipated regatta season.
Good luck to everyone – I’ll check in again shortly after the Henley hangover has subsided!
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