Another year of thrills and spills on the Tideway, another year of head racing and long ergs, another year of winter victors and cold mornings. It’s all over now, but the fall-out from yesterday’s enthralling racing at the Schools’ Head of the River promises to set us up perfectly for another blockbuster summer of racing.
Championship Eights
All hail the undisputed kings of junior eights rowing. St Paul’s School, winners at the Pairs Head, Fours Head and Head of the Charles to name but a few, ended their incredible head season on an appropriate high to claim a staggering 20-second victory at the Schools’ Head of the River. Few doubted that they would emerge victorious but the sheer margin of their win will have sent the likes of Eton and Shiplake packing back to their boathouses in green-faced envy. I haven’t seen such a dominant performance at junior level since the legendary Eton crews of 2009 and 2010, a tribute evidenced by St Paul’s record-smashing run yesterday. Beyond the hysteria that will naturally surround their win, there are a few mitigating factors that should be examined. To start with, Bobby Thatcher’s boys raced on their home territory against crews with minimal tideway experience. In addition, St Paul’s are traditionally strong throughout the winter but have been known to tail off in the summer months. There is a great deal of expectation surrounding this crew – can they win the Triple and send more records tumbling? With Eton, Abingdon, Westminster and Hampton at their backs during the summer, I expect the challenge to be more forthcoming as we roll around to regatta season.
Girl’s Championship Eights
This one has been a long time coming. After years of Headington dominance, Henley finally wrestled the crown off their perennial rivals. A fantastic win at the Women’s Head of the River was followed up by a show of strength and fitness on the same course at the Schools’ equivalent, and they’ll now be heading into the summer with confidence. Headington have a phenomenal program in place, spearheaded by Ryan Demaine, and they will look to respond. What was noticeable yesterday was the differing styles that the crews had – I expect Headington, who are polished racers, to be far stronger in a regatta format. Outside of the double H duopoly, Lady Eleanor Holles finished in what has come to be their secure third spot. Latymer finished last, but stacked their quad and secured an important win in that category.
First Eights
Always an engaging category, and one that seems to change hands every year, Bedford School delivered an exceptional performance to beat off the keen interests of Portora Boat Club, Great Marlow School and Norwich School. Notably, they also beat the times of Latymer and King’s College, Wimbledon, who choose to race in Championship Eights. Bedford have been promising much for several years now, with former Olympian Pete Mulkerrins at the helm. Having grown up in the town and watched Bedford at close quarters for several years as a junior, it really excites me to see them rejoining the top table of junior eights. Whether or not they can sustain this charge remains to be seen – they were three seconds ahead of Irish crew Portora and six clear of Latymer. This category always delivers on excitement and spectacle, producing some of the best racing across the regatta season, but I actually fancy Bedford to continue on their upwards trajectory. Pete is a wily old fox, who knows how to draw the best out of his crew at the right moments. He will have them geared up for a summer scrap.
Second Eights
What a performance from Eton. To not only secure the win but actually post a time that would have been competitive in Championship Eights demonstrates the incredible depth that Eton have in their squad. I had an interesting debate with someone on Twitter about whether or not Eton had matched their crews – their times were only 11 seconds apart, which isn’t a great deal over the longer Schools’ Head course. Approaching the summer season, it seems natural that Mark Fangen-Hall will examine the resources at his disposal and see whether an amalgamation of the two crews would benefit the speed of the top eight. If Eton are to gain on St Paul’s at the sharp end of junior rowing, there needs to be some serious bridging of a gap that has stretched beyond expectation. Behind the Eton second eight, St Paul’s picked up second place in a time which would have seem them finish second in first eights. Radley College also had a really promising row in this category, finishing 11 seconds behind their top crew, who appeared to undergo some issues at the start.
Girl’s First Eights
An event that attracted a much healthier entry than the championship equivalent, which perhaps poses questions about the structure of junior women’s rowing, it was an Irish curtain call as Portora won the event by five seconds over Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association. It is worth remarking on the performance of Irish crews at yesterday’s event as a whole – Portora were also silver medallists in Men’s First Eights. Such a strong showing from our cousins over the sea can only be a good thing for junior rowing, as UK national events continue to attract the very best of European competition. The Nottinghamshire County RA entry are understood to be a crew who have raced under various guises in the past year – Becket Rowing Club was a prominent junior women’s club in Nottingham last year, and I believe this crew contain strands plucked from that part of the world. Headington, ever-present at the sharp end of junior rowing, finished third but were some way back on the leading couple.
Championship Quads
All aboard the Maidenhead express! These boys have been promising to deliver on the big stage for a few years now, and yesterday marked their first proper foray into winning territory at J18 national level. Having retained their entire Henley semi-finalist crew from 2017, they’ve got to take the favourite tag approaching this summer. Their performance yesterday was dominant, inflicting an eight second margin of defeat on the Windsor Boys School. They also saw off Leander Club, who beat them at the Fours Head in November. They’ve stepped on in significant fashion through the apex of the winter, and will surely be looking to deliver a National Schools’ title to make good on the potential they’ve harboured for several years. I remember watching this crew, in its earliest form, develop at J15 level and even then it was apparent that they were destined for the summit of junior rowing. The Windsor Boys School have a unique challenge on their hands – how to better the achievements of one of their most successful years ever. I spoke with Mark Wilkinson back in October about that very real issue – they’ve got three returners from last year’s Fawley-winning boat but are so far struggling to scale the same lofty heights. Don’t write them off though – they’re fearsome competitors and will be dangerous opponents come summer.
Girl’s Championship Quads
This is shaping up to be one of the narratives of the season. Gloucester Hartpury, the effervescent victors at Henley Royal Regatta. Latymer Upper, one of the stalwarts of junior women’s rowing and Diamond Jubilee winners in 2013. Marlow Rowing Club, recovering from something of a hiatus after an incredible season in 2014. Throw Headington and Henley crews into this mix approaching Henley and you’ve got a melting pot ready to explode. Latymer ran out winners yesterday, a few seconds ahead of Gloucester, who were a couple of blades ahead of Marlow. What can we expect in the summer? Fireworks, for sure, but yesterday might be more significant than people realise. Gloucester aren’t usually that strong in March, preferring instead to focus their efforts on the summer racing. Indeed, they didn’t even race at last year’s Schools’ Head. This is pretty ominous for the rest of the field, but such is Gloucester’s hold over the Diamond Jubilee at Henley that their rivals will have a pretty firm idea on how to beat them now. Of course, it hasn’t worked yet – Gloucester have won four years in a row. At the National Schools’ Regatta, we will have a firmer idea of the movers and shakers but yesterday leaves the field well and truly alive.
J16 Championship Eights
The stepping stone between learning to row and learning to win. Westminster, hosts of the event on their home stretch, had a relatively disappointing day yesterday but showed their conveyor belt of talent in winning J16 championship eights. The pink-clad boys from Putney are one of the leading names on the circuit and their challenge is now to turn this unit into not only the undisputed champion at J16 level but a powerful crew primed for the upper echelons of junior rowing. St Paul’s have stretched away from Westminster in the past couple of years, to the extent that the latter boated a top quad as opposed to the expected eight yesterday. That’s not to say that Westminster can’t claw back this deficit (St Paul’s J16 eight were a couple of seconds behind them yesterday) but it’s a heady challenge for Josh Butler and his coaching staff to face. Originally stated as winners in the live results, Shiplake College finished third. Considering the fact that they were a ‘Child Beale’ program several years ago, the job Dave Currie has done in transforming the school into one of the UK’s junior rowing powerhouses has been nothing short of remarkable. With strong support from the school community and headmaster Gregg Davies, Shiplake are on an upwards trajectory that shows no sign of abating.
Although there were a number of other sub-plots to unfold yesterday, that’s the gist of my review. I’m excited to once again watch a season of junior rowing unfold, as dreams are made and hearts are broken in the name of a sport we all (claim to) love.
Keep an eye on our website as we post more content across the next few weeks, leading into the regatta season. Good luck to all athletes training to find speed as we approach the summer – Henley and the lure of the progress board await!
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