For the 13 crews entered in this category, it will most likely be their first race of the head season. Therefore, the 4250m course will really test all of the crew’s fitness levels and will certainly provide for an exciting race with unpredictable results. As it is so early on in the season, all of these club and school crews will most likely be mixed boats to ensure that they are not giving away any idea of their top crews for the bigger races to come throughout the rest of the season.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
St Paul’s have an impressive entry of 3 quads in this category and will therefore undoubtedly be fighting for the top spots out of the crews entered. Despite St Paul’s being well known for its sweeping ability and consistently producing an extremely fast eight at Henley Royal and National Schools, I am confident that the quads they put out will also be very fast and powerful although they may be slightly weaker technically than some of the other sculling clubs entered. I would predict “Dickinson” to be notably strong as George Dickinson was part of the St Paul’s championship eight last season which reached day 3 of Henley Royal Regatta and secured a gold at National schools. “Mattmoe” will likely also have a similar speed as Andrew Mattmoe was part of the St Paul’s 2nd 8 last season. “Bektas” will most likely be the slowest out of the three St Paul’s crews as Bektas was part of the St Paul’s J16 2nd 8 last season. However, it is impossible to know what the speeds of these three crews will be as the other members of the quads are unknown.
Maidenhead Rowing Club – Rowe
With Maidenhead being one of the stronger sculling clubs in the country, this crew is bound to be extremely fast. This quad will probably have some returning crew members from the championship quad that placed 3rd at National School’s and reached the semi-finals of Henley Royal Regatta last season, including Harrison Rowe, who also represented Great Britain at Coupe de la Jeunesse over the summer.
Magdalen College School Boat Club
As Magdalen College is located in Oxford, this race will be close to home and therefore they are likely to have a lot of supporters on the bank cheering them on throughout the course. A 5th position finish in the D final in championship quads at National School’s Regatta last season means they aren’t likely to be one of the fastest crews in this category however they will have a lot of experience racing which means they should be able to achieve a decent time.
Dulwich College Boat Club – Wendler
Similar to St Paul’s, Dulwich College have a lot more experience sweeping than in a sculling boat. Therefore, I wouldn’t expect them to be the fastest quad in this category despite the fact that they achieved a respectable fourth place in 1st 8’s at National School’s Regatta last season. Nonetheless, this crew will probably be pretty quick as it will potentially contain a few of the crew members from the Dulwich 1st 8 last year, including Wendler who was in the Dulwich 1st 8 for National School’s Regatta last season.
Kings College School Boat Club
Kings College have made a bold entry of three quads into this category and will therefore be trying to achieve a strong set of results. Once again, this school has more experience in sweeping and eights races, placing 5th in 1st 8’s at National School’s Regatta last season, just behind Dulwich College. They will therefore certainly be trying to beat Dulwich to take revenge for Dulwich finishing 2 seconds ahead of them at National School’s last season.
St Georges College Boat Club – Noyes
St Georges College placed 8th and 9th in this category last year, and will therefore no doubt be trying to improve on last year’s results. Wallingford is known for being a course which is particularly hard to steer and as these quads are coxless, any returning crew members from last year will be very familiar with the course and will therefore help this quad to achieve a faster time.
Twickenham Rowing Club – Stephenson
Twickenham Rowing Club are well known for producing some fast single scullers, although their ability and speed in quads is reasonably unknown. Adam Stephenson placed a decent 4th position in the D final of the championship singles at National School’s Regatta last season and if he is rowing with some other strong athletes, this quad could potentially post a fast time.
Great Marlow School Boat Club
Great Marlow have two quads entered into this category this year. Both “Petrea” and “Mckenzie” were part of the Great Marlow 1st 8 last year, however for this race they will be rowing in separate crews and boats. Both of these crews will therefore have a great deal of experience, however their eight coming 7th in 1st 8’s at National School’s last season would indicate that these two quads aren’t going to be the fastest in this category.
Final Prediction
I think that Maidenhead will take the win in this category with a commanding lead over the rest of the field. I would predict St Pauls “Dickinson” to take second place, with St Pauls “Mattmoe” in third position.
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