Schools’ Head of the River 2019 – Junior 16 First Eights

The pinnacle race of the junior Head race season, the Schools’ Head is the first time we get to see those crews who will be at the front of the junior rowing scene for this summer. The types of crew that enter this particular category can be split into two; second crews that are second crews to those racing up in the Championship category, and those who don’t quite have the firepower to compete at the top table of J16 8s racing. This field seems to consist of the latter. Nevertheless there will be fierce racing, against not only with the 10 boats, but also the notorious Championship course from Chiswick Bridge to Putney

Bedford School BC

An ever growing presence on the junior rowing scene, Bedford are growing ever more competitive at all age groups. With no boat racing in the Champ division, I would assume this is Bedford’s top J16 crew. As such they will be after a good result. Bedford have been doing a fair bit of racing so far (albeit non of these results are for a crew with the name listed on the entry sheet) but they placed 5th at the Reading University Head on Saturday and had crews placing 12th and 20th at Hammersmith. Since non of these results match up to the name here, it is hard to say for sure how quick these guys are, but they are in a solid program and will be gunning for a good result.

Winchester College BC

Very much a club on the up, Winchester are looking to produce some consistently quick crews year on year, and this J16 8 looks to be fast. They haven’t done a huge amount of racing, with their only result being a commanding win at Avon County Spring Head (where they actually put a fair bit of time on the current 1st 8). Winchester are somewhat hamstrung by the fact their home stretch is only about 1km which could prove costly over such a long race, but this isn’t something that has held Winchester crews of old back too much, but its worth noting. Based on this, it is a slight surprise not to see this crew racing up at Champ level, but they will be serious contenders in this category

Kings College School BC

Again, another club who are on the up, both in terms of the individual athletes they produce, but also the collective quality of crew, KCS must be a threat here. Again with no crew in the Champ division, this is a crew with some racing under their belt at Hammersmith Head where a Kings J16 8 placed 14th and an 8th at Quintin Head. Again, a lack of crew names means that these results should be taken with a pinch of salt, but give an idea of where the squad is at. Chuck in a bit of Tideway know how, and Kings could well sneak a surprise here.

Monmouth School BC

When I wrote my Reading Uni Head article, I didn’t think Monmouth would mix it at that event. Fair to say I am now eating my words. They placed a fantastic 3rd and were beaten only by two crews racing up in the Championship event in the form of Shiplake and Teddies. It is only one result yes, but it should be a good message to their opposition and they will be after a better result here against a wider range of crews.

Predictions

These are the crews that I think will be at the sharp end of this event, the other six will all be looking to spring a surprise, with the likes of Dulwich and Norwich lurking, not to mention Bedford Modern and St Georges, along with Reading Blue Coat and Team Keane. I think these crews will struggle getting among the aforementioned but the Tideway is unpredictable, and these guys will know the importance of this event in the context of the season as a whole.

If had to put the top 4 in order I would say:

1. Monmouth School BC
2. Winchester College BC
3. KCS
4. Bedford School

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