The Fours Head sees head season truly get underway, with hundreds of fours and quads flocking to the Tideway. This category is always intriguing, with smaller clubs often in the hunt for a trophy: this is reflected by the huge list of 40 entries, including many from further afield. The favourites are likely to be a mixture of Tideway clubs and a few less local counterparts, all aiming to be the fastest down the 6.8km course.
Thames Rowing Club
Last year’s winners in this event were Thames RC. The club is continuing to assert its dominance in women’s rowing and year on year their squad grows. With eligibility coming into play in the “Club” categories, this crew will likely be the mid to lower end of their group. Despite this, the last few seasons have proved just how impressive Thames’ strength in depth is, so expect them to still be challenging for the win. I expect they will be aiming for a clean sweep in the women’s sweep events, an added incentive for this crew.
London Rowing Club
Thames’ neighbours London RC were second by seven seconds last year and will want to close this gap. Their women’s squad is continually developing and their sweep crews will take heart from their second-round performance in the Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in the summer. The Tideway is their home ground, so they will not yield easily to other competitors.
Vesta Rowing Club
The final Tideway club I expect to be in the mix is Vesta RC. The smaller of their aforementioned neighbours, they always punch above their weight. This looks to be their top crew, with no entry in the Championship equivalent. I would therefore expect them to properly challenge for a win in this event. They start further down the field compared to their rivals, which could play to their advantage should they gain confidence from overtaking crews.
Upper Thames Rowing Club
Upper Thames have equally competitive talent in their sweep and sculling squads, something which some of their rivals struggle to match in both disciplines. They had some strong performances in fours last season and will want to push on again this year. At Fours Head in 2022, Upper Thames placed first in the Club Women’s Quads and they will be keen to mirror that success with the sweepers in 2023.
City of Bristol
Outside of the Thames region, City of Bristol are regulars in contending for club pennants. Their impressive season in 2022-2023 was capped by coming second in the provincial club pennant at WEHORR. In the fours event they will want to replicate, if not better, these feats and if they continue on this upwards trajectory they could upset the likes of Vesta and London.
Cantabrigian
Another club travelling from further afield is Cantabrigian. Always strong in head races and club sweep events, they regularly challenge traditionally bigger rivals. Victory in this event may be too tall an order, however they could still challenge for minor placings and step on from last season.
Prediction
I expect this event to be tightly contested, but Thames will take victory again this year. They will be pushed close by Vesta, Upper Thames and London, all of whom will be separated by small margins.
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