Schools’ Head of the River is, without doubt, the highlight of the Head racing season. This unique race brings the best junior crews in the country to the most iconic stretch of river in the rowing world, offering HORR, WeHORR and future Blue Boat hopefuls the opportunity to experience the high-octane racing that takes place year upon year on the Tideway.
This year, clouds of doom gathered over clubs up and down Britain as the possibility of a complete cancellation of the event looked ever more likely – but happily, most categories escaped the axe of the race committee. As for those who did race, what were the results, and what does this mean for junior rowing as we begin the charge toward regatta season?
Men’s Championship Eights:
The ‘blue ribbon’ event at this year’s Schools’ Head was as dramatic as ever with the top three crews being separated by less than a second. Eventually, in spite of strong competition, Shiplake claimed the headship, with Eton College and St. Paul’s School finishing second and third respectively.
These results are not entirely surprising considering the current landscape of this category, as St Paul’s struggle in the wake of arguably the greatest schoolboy eight of all time – their predecessors under Bobby Thatcher. The next few months represent an ideal opportunity for the likes of Shiplake, led by the evergreen Dave Currie, to stamp their authority on the category.
Women’s Championship Eights:
Widely regarded as one of, if not the most successful junior women’s rowing programme currently in operation, Henley Rowing Club deposed of Headington, another historically successful program, by claiming the title at this year’s Schools’ Head by a small margin.
Falling in behind Henley however were Lady Eleanor Holles School, and Latymer Upper School, with LEH coming in just under two-seconds shy of the victors, with Latymer a little way back. There was no doubt disappointment for the two international crews which travelled from Ireland and Italy to take part in the event, with crews from Istituto Statale Gavirate and Enniskillen Royal Boat Club both placing well below the leaders, with a margin of over a minute between Henley and the Italian visiting crew.
Junior 16 Men’s Championship Eights:
Eton have managed to gain a reputation for staying hidden at Dorney throughout both regatta and head seasons, only fielding crews when certain criteria are filled: firstly a high profile event, which will only be attended by a high performing crew. This strategy may prove unpopular with their opposition as the strength of the light blue crews are often hard to gauge, however, when they do show their hand, they do so in style. This year they came away with a victory that puts them in an enviable position approaching the summer.
Three-seconds behind the Etonians, Westminster College finished in bitter-sweet second, claiming the spot just a tenth of a second ahead of Aberdeen Schools. In a trend seen across various categories, St. Pauls were once again unable to break through the field, finishing just shy of 20 seconds behind the winning crew, a similar margin to that which the St. Pauls crew experienced at Hammersmith Head a matter of days before. Shiplake managed to finish ahead of St. Pauls, with a slightly underwhelming fourth-place finish, somewhat of an anomaly for the crew this season.
Junior 16 Women’s Championship Eights:
By claiming the gold standard for any J16 Women’s crew wishing to be considered as potential winners at National Schools’, Headington have made their intentions for later races unambiguous. The Oxford-based school have made it clear that their dominance remains a strong trend by establishing clear water over both Henley Rowing Club and Glasgow Schools.
The rest of the category was a mixed bag, with more scratches being observed here than in any other category at the Schools’ Head. Lady Eleanor Holles were unable to emulate the relative success of their older counterparts, finishing in fifth, whilst Surbiton High School were able to retain their fourth place finish from last year.
Other results:
Aside from the four categories above, another six events were raced making for equally dramatic racing in both the younger and lower categories for both men and women. In the boys first eights, a dead heat was declared within a tenth of a second, resulting in both Monmouth School and Winchester College claiming this particular headship. Meanwhile in the second eights, St. Paul’s took pole position, with Shrewsbury tucked in behind; these two crews have now established a clear dominance over the rest of the field and the latter may well be looking to amalgamate their first and second eights through the Easter training period.
In the only other J18 race for girls, the first eights was won again by Henley Rowing Club, who finished well ahead of their closest rivals, Putney High School.
For the J16s, Bedford School claimed the title in the first eights, only two-tenths of a second ahead of Monmouth School, whilst in the second eights Eton College put over 20 seconds between themselves and Westminster School.
King’s College School were successful in cementing a win for their J15s at these boys first ever Schools’ Head, beating their closest challenger, St. Pauls by a margin of around five seconds
Conclusions:
As ever, the Tideway produced some surprising and some predictable results across the ten categories that raced. With Schools’ Head being a major benchmark as the regatta season creeps closer, clubs such as Shiplake and Henley have placed themselves in a strong and defensible position. In stark contrast, the likes of St. Paul’s will be keen to capitalise on the frustration that has arisen from numerous races this season to turn emotion into speed, especially with the unenviable task of retaining the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
Amidst storms, both literal and metaphorical however, one reality is bold and distinct: the summer will be packed with dramatic, hard-fought races at all levels of Junior Rowing, and coaches and athletes alike will not rest until they’ve all had their say.
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