St Paul’s School, Junior Men’s Eight
23/24 was a year-long clinic in schoolboy rowing from one of the greatest to ever do it. In winning the ‘quadruple’ – the Head of the Charles, the Schools’ Head of the River, National Schools’ Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta – St Paul’s School set new levels of excellence that have not been seen since their 2018 cohort set the world alight in similar fashion. The manner in which this crew – on the unfavoured station – dispatched an excellent boat from Shiplake College in the final of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup was indicative of a group at the very top of their game.
Headington School, Junior Women’s Eight
Heading into Henley Royal Regatta, all of the pre-event hype was focused on the three heavyweight hitters from the USA – who had recently taken gold, silver and bronze at the USRowing Youth National Championships – rocking up on UK soil to repeat the feats of Greenwich Crew, who took home The Prince Philip Challenge Trophy in 2023. Someone clearly had not shared that memo with Headington though. Although this powerhouse of female rowing did not have the vintage season they were looking for – falling to bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta – they did collect pennants at both the Women’s and Schools’ Head of the River before going on to win both Henley Women’s and Royal Regatta.
Windsor Boys School, Junior Men’s Quad
Mark Wilkinson has built the best junior sculling program in the world and 2024 was another sanded stone in this astonishing pyramid of success. They had a rocky patch in March – when they were struggling with injuries – but returned in full force through the summer, accumulating wins at the National Schools’ Regatta, Marlow Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta to tag alongside their win at the Head of the Charles. Windsor are the standard in schoolboy sculling and this crew were supposedly the fastest cohort that Wilkinson has ever worked with. Appalling conditions at Henley Royal Regatta never allowed them to demonstrate their fullest capacity but there is no doubting their excellence.
Wycliffe College Boat Club, Junior Women’s Quad
To complete the set of Henley Royal Regatta junior winners comes arguably the most complete of them all. Wycliffe’s 23/24 season will stand long in the memory as a demonstration of what smart talent acquisition and careful coaching can achieve. This crew were so dominant that had they not been stuck on the same side of the Henley Royal Regatta draw, there was a real possibility that their ‘A’ crew and ‘B’ crew would have been finalists. As it was, the ‘A’ crew won the Triple – with lengths to spare in most circumstances – and even defeated senior Leander boats at the Metropolitan Regatta alongside a record-breaking run at the Schools’ Head of the River three months prior.
Walbrook Rowing Club, Junior 15 Men’s Coxed Quad
It is so pleasing to see newer clubs emerge from the woodwork to lay claim to the summit of junior rowing. The signs were there from Walbrook, whose J14 contingent had a blinding season in 2023 to win the national title. 2024 did not yield that same victory but that was the only blot on a copybook that included victories at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head and Junior Sculling Regatta plus a record-breaking run at the British Rowing Junior and Senior Club Championships just a few weeks ago. If Walbrook can keep this group together, there is a real chance that senior titles will follow in the years to come.
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