Each year, Schools’ Head presents the challenge that is probably the hardest and fastest 4.2 miles that an athlete has to face. A race that is both dreaded and savoured by many, it is the culmination of the head racing season, giving crews a clear marker of where they are in comparison to others ahead of the good weather, shorter races and side-by-side competition that regatta season presents. It is the true test of a program’s winter training and will separate those who have put in the work and those who have not. This year is no different and is shaping up to be hotly contested, particularly in the Championship Eights category, where the margins are small and races are won and lost over fractions of a second.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
St Paul’s (SPS) have had a great season so far this year and will no doubt need no introduction. Producing six trialists in the top ten at February trials, three scullers in the top five at Sculler’s Head and dominance at Pairs Head, it is clear that St Paul’s have individually exceptional athletes for this season. Not only this, but they have dominated the competition in the VIII as well, achieving a win at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, second place overall at Quintin, only 0.3s behind the overall winners Thames, and also coming away victorious from a private fixture with the University of London first VIII. I’d say SPS are in a very good position to take home gold and could even go on to emulate the successes of the great 2018 cohort.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Shiplake College have a great deal of success at the Schools’ Head in recent times, coming away as winners in 2023, 2022, 2019 and 2017, and so with their experienced coach Hugh Mackworth-Praed at the helm, they will certainly be looking to repeat the results from the previous few years, particularly with strong representation at trials. Additionally, a good result at Quintin in somewhat matched eights could show that they will be looking to be competitive for medals.
Radley College Boat Club
Always a strong presence in the schoolboy scene, Radley will be hopeful that they can reproduce the result from last year with a very strong second place, particularly considering their second place at Quintin Head earlier in the year on this course. Led by the experienced George and Gray-Cheape, Radley may be able to cling on to their medal position, particularly following a solid set of trials results, however, I am doubtful that they will be able to do this if they stick to form and refuse to rate above 30.
St Edward’s School Boat Club
After a great end to the season last year, St Edward’s (Teddies) will be gunning for the same if not better position as last year, however their fifth-place finish at Quintin Head makes me less sure of their capability to do so, especially with so few returners from last year. Given their defeat at the hands of Shiplake in Seville, I am ever so less confident of their prospects, and while I expect them to be competing at the sharp end, I doubt they will be troubling those in contention for medals.
Eton College Boat Club
Eton have so far had a pretty average season, following a relatively quiet season last year. Following third at Quintin Head and four combinations in the top 20 pairs at February trials, I wouldn’t be surprised to see yet another mid-position result from Eton, potentially coming fifth again this year. If there’s a headwind on the day, however, the odds could be in Eton’s favour, as they generally possess some of the biggest athletes in the field.
King’s College School Boat Club
KCS are coming off the back of a rebuilding year in 2023. They have already had some good results this year, with a win at Quintin and two top-ten finishes at trials, but we don’t know how fast they are just yet. With the threat that KCS could pose, I would expect them to be right in the thick of the action, especially with the relative advantage of home water.
Hampton School Boat Club
The dark horse of this year’s competition, Hampton produced a very good result against KCS at Hampton Head, beating them by 1.4s, indicating some very good speed, alongside some good trials results and their GB France representation last summer. I would not be surprised to see Hampton cause upset when the results present themselves.
Westminster School
A regime change at Westminster has seen Josh Butler depart for pastures new. The new program has had a steady start, finishing eighth in the junior classification at Quintin Head before securing seventh in the same category at Hammersmith Head a month later. They were sixth overall in 2023 and will be hard-pushed to replicate that result in 2024, with an ever-increasing standard and what feels like slightly faster front-runners.
Latymer Upper School
Two matched eights at Quintin Head produced what looks like relatively underwhelming results with a 15th and 16th from 29 boats. The integration of these two units will be intriguing to watch though, particularly as we did not get to see Latymer race at Hammersmith Head. A boat club who have flattered to deceive a little in the past few years, they’ll be wanting to show up on home water and set the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons.
Bedford School
It’s always a pleasure to see rowing ascendency working as it should. Bedford were victors in the first eight category in 2023 and have chosen to pit their wits against the very best in 2024, demonstrating how crews can step on when the league they’ve risen to the top of becomes uninspiring. We’re not expecting Bedford to punch too hard in their first year back in the business end of junior rowing; an eighth-place finish in junior eights at Hammersmith Head, some 22 seconds back on the winners from KCS, is unlikely to be a margin they can recoup in a matter of weeks.
International Crews
While it is great to see the presence of two international crews from Italy, Istituto Statale: E. STEIN and from Ireland, Enniskillen Royal Boat Club, previous results from their trips to the Tideway would indicate that they will not be contesting for the medals and it will instead be the domestic crews which we see battle it out at the top end.
Predictions
- St Paul’s School
- Shiplake College
- Hampton School
- KCS Wimbledon
- Radley College
- St Edward’s School
- Eton College
- Latymer School
- Westminster School
- Shrewsbury School
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