From the lofty heights of the eight, the four and the quad, the descent from larger boats into singles racing signifies one thing: Head Season has arrived. To win a race in the summer and have a successful season, winter training traditionally consists of long miles and long sessions, designed to expand the lungs and raise thresholds that have likely been a little neglected over the summer. Vesta Scullers Head as the name would suggest is an event exclusively for single scullers. With just oneself and the Tideway for company, any slip-ups will lead to a loss of valuable time and could be the difference between a high placing or finishing in the doldrums. With an extensive range of clubs represented, this year looks to be another quality year.
University of London Boat Club
A strong presence on the Tideway since 1921, University of London Boat Club, more commonly known as UL, has one of the most successful pipelines to Olympic and World Championship success that few other clubs can boast of. Tim Foster, Paul Bennet (who came to UL never having rowed) and Jess Eddie have all donned the purple all-in-one over the years, and the UL name is one that continues to be respected in British Rowing today. Although perhaps better known for their competence at sweep rather than sculling, UL has produced some top-class sculling talent in recent years, most notably GB U23’s Georgie Robinson Ranger. The flying of the UL flag in this event falls to two Old Gregorians (Old Boys of St Georges College Weybridge), Ferdi Robson and Zizzi Kanaan. Robson, recently appointed Club Captain was part of the victorious UL Intermediate Men’s Eight that won gold at BUCS Regatta 2023 before rowing in the Second VIII that was part of the historic triumvirate of UL men’s eights at HRR 2023, the largest they’ve contingent even sent. Kanaan has already proved his skill in the single, his most recent win coming in the 2023 Thames Valley Park Regatta. Coming from an established club with a high-quality program and seeing in Kanaan’s case, proven results at a reasonable level, I would expect both to place relatively well in the field with a top-ten finish being the most likely outcome.
Vesta Rowing Club
The host club of this event, Vesta have had a noticeable rise in quality over the past couple of years, with five crews on the men’s side alone qualifying for HRR and a women’s crew making it to the Friday in the Wargrave, where they fell to Leander. Any club can produce good athletes at the very top, but Vesta’s quality in depth seems better than most. Vesta has entered the majority of their athletes this year into the senior category, and the remainder into the club events. The highest finisher last time around, Oliver Poynton returns to improve upon his 11th-place finish last time around. The fact that Poyton was the highest Vesta finisher last time around by some margin appears to bode well for his chances this year, as does the absence of several strong scullers who have moved into different events, such as Nick Palmer from TSS and City of Oxford’s Simon Kerswell Jensen. The absence of previous quality does not mean of course that there is not another pretender lurking around the corner, but it does level the field slightly. Based on the available data, a middle-of-the-pack finish would be my best guess.
London Rowing Club
One of the most historic clubs on the Tideway and probably in the entirety of Britain, London finally broke their Henley title drought this year in some style, winning the Wyfold over perennial rivals Thames and making the semi-finals of the Britannia. As with many clubs that have large squads with good depth, London has placed the majority of its athletes in the Championship and Senior 1x, with their only entry in the club event coming in the form of M Boyd. Unlike some other Tideway clubs that perhaps don’t specialise in sculling as much as sweep, London has steadily built up a good level of sculling, thanks to successive Prince of Wales Quads, and in particular Rui Xu, who won Scullers Head last year. On the recognition of London sculling alone, a top-ten finish should be relatively straightforward but beyond that it will be up to the individual, especially in such as strong group.
Predictions
In an event like a singles race, a lot depends on the conditions on the day and experience with navigating the course, in this case, the Tideway. Oversteering has been known to cost vital seconds in the past and has led to large gaps between competitors (the winning time in last year’s event was 13 seconds ahead of second place). In terms of the placing of the event, all three of the previewed clubs should make the top ten or top 15 fairly comfortably. I’m slightly hesitant to say that one or the other will come away with the win, as conditions and steering competence can be the difference between winning and losing. Based on previous performance I would have to say Poynton from Vesta looks to be the potential highest finisher, with London RC’s Boyd running him out for a close second and Ferdi Robson rounding out the top three.
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