And here we have it folks, the grand finale of this remarkably unimpressive head season: The Head of the River Race. Although GB Spring Assessments will have taken precedence for many of the top junior rowers, a slightly less stacked field will allow alternative crews to take the limelight. With two junior pennants up for grabs: open junior and club junior; the playing field is wide open.
King’s College School Boat Club
King’s College are back, and back with a vengeance, with what appears to be a significantly stronger eight compared to last season. Despite only placing seventh at Schools’ Head 2023, and an underwhelming fifth at National Schools’ Regatta last season (falling eight seconds short of the podium) this year has started far more notably. They have won at both Hammersmith Head and Quintin Head so far alongside a third-placed finish at the Schools’ Head of the River 2024. Furthermore, with two athletes in the top ten at GB trials, their results speak for themselves. Having left many top programs feeling rightfully wary, if KCS can continue to develop, nothing stops them from being at the top.
Hinksey Sculling School
Despite its history as a sculling-oriented club, Hinksey has been known to delve into the dark waters of sweep. Most notably they made the final of the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta 2021 with a crew consisting only of juniors. However, they also claimed the Junior Club pennant at HoRR last year by 18 seconds; a title they will be looking to defend. This year they have finished third at Hammersmith Head, and claim to have gained pace since then. With the club’s top men’s rower, Herbie Austin-Baker, in the boat, who at 18 years old placed third at U23 November, and riding high after making the final of the Fawley Cup at Henley Royal, seemingly anything could be possible for this small community club.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
SPS is one of the most successful junior programs in the world, so it would be impossible to finish without mentioning them. Having made the final of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal for the past three years in a row, they consistently fight at the apex of the sport. Already this season, they have produced six of the top ten trialists at February GB trials, won the Head of the Charles Regatta, finished only 0.3 seconds behind Thames Rowing Club at Quintin Head and taken the headship at the Schools’ Head of the River yesterday by a whopping ten seconds. Unfortunately, however, due to calendar clashes, many of their top crew may not be racing at this event. If this is indeed the case, we could expect a similar crew to Hammersmith Head, which only finished fifth, 18 seconds behind the victors. This will only be made clear on race day.
Predictions
It seems almost certain that Hinksey will take the Club Junior Pennant for the second year in a row, with their main competition being Nottingham and Union Rowing Club, whom they beat by 46 seconds last year. As for the Open Junior Pennant, it largely depends on the strength of the crew SPS chooses to put out, but my bet would be on KCS to take the win.
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