As is Henley tradition, the draw was made on Saturday for Wednesday’s racing, and the crews selected by the Stewards were revealed. Here, we look at the draw, the selected crews and potential progression through the regatta.
Selected Crews
The Stewards have selected eight crews, and these boats will all enter the regatta on Thursday for their first race. The top four from the National Schools’ Regatta have all been selected, along with Warrington, Sydney, Gloucester and Henley ‘A’
The selected crews are split as follows:
Top Half
Windsor Boys School (will race the winner of Hampton vs York)
Westminster School (will race the winner of Henley ‘B’ vs American School in London)
Sydney (will race the winner of Tideway Scullers ‘A’ vs Marlow)
Gloucester (will race the winner of Neptune vs Tideway Scullers ‘C’)
Bottom Half
Warrington (will race the winner of Lea vs Globe)
Leander Club (will race the winner of St Josephs Nudgee vs Monmouth)
Henley ‘A’ (will race the winner of Tideway Scullers ‘B’ vs Claires Court)
Maidenhead (will race the winner of Star and Arrow vs St Pauls)
Wednesdays Racing – Highlights.
The beauty of the random draw means that you can get some real blockbusters very early in the regatta. This year is no exception, with three races in particular that could be of serious interest.
Tideway Scullers ‘A’ vs Marlow
Two top crews lock horns on Wednesday in one of the stand out races in the Fawley. Marlow have had a reasonable season, placing in the B final at National Schools and then 6th in the A final at Marlow Regatta. Tideway Scullers were without top athlete Laurence Joss for the National Schools’ Regatta where they made the B final as well, and then at Marlow finished 5th. Both these crews are improving and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top as Marlow look to avoid a second straight Wednesday exit.
Verdict: 1 1/4 lengths to TSS
Lea vs Globe
A Wednesday match up between two of London’s stand out junior rowing programmes, and a repeat of a clash from Thursday last year. That race was won by Globe but this year that result could be flipped. Globe lost all bar one of last years crew, with stand out athlete Jake Offlier the only returner. The European Junior champion in the 2x will look to defeat a Lea crew who have had a narrow advantage all year. At Henley though, anything can happen and this is sure to be a fantastic race.
Verdict: 3/4 length to Lea
Star and Arrow vs St Pauls
This is a battle of the second crews from their respective clubs, with four of St. Pauls’ 2nd eight going head-to-head against what is the second Leander junior crew. If Marlow Regatta is anything to go off, this really will be tight with a mere 0.5 seconds between St. Paul’s in 3rd and Star and Arrow in 4th. Both of these crews came through Friday’s qualifiers. This race is going to be tight, and Star and Arrow may find being on home water and having been sculling all year may make the difference.
Verdict: 1/3 length to Star and Arrow.
Beyond Wednesday…
In terms of looking at potential progression a likely final could be the 1-2 from National Schools in the form of Windsor Boys and Maidenhead, but having said that neither crew has a straightforward route to the final.
Friday could see a Windsor Boys vs Westminster race, which could tell us just how serious the apparent Windsor Boys improvement is. On the opposite side we could see Maidenhead vs Leander in the semi final which could be a real lung buster all the way down the 2,112 metres of Henley track. If it does pan out that way then we could well see Maidenhead take a long overdue win in the Fawley. On the other hand I wouldn’t rule out Windsor Boys from retaining their title after what has been a fantastic late-season resurgence. At the end of the day, this is Henley Royal Regatta so nothing is assured. What is for sure though is that the Fawley will deliver some fantastic, close and thrilling racing as is the case year-on-year. Let the games begin.
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