Wallingford Regatta 2023 – Men’s Challenge Events Preview

The summer racing season really kicks off this weekend with Wallingford Regatta, a classic Dorney-based multi-lane event that sees crews from across the rowing world do battle, with a view towards gauging relative speed pre-Henley.

Where once there were multiple categories (Championship, Senior, Intermediate 1 – 3, etcetera), everything’s been distilled into much simpler categorisation: Challenge for top crews, Club for clubs, and School for schools.

While simpler, this system does leave more room for speed disparity in these events. With that in mind, I’m going to a fairly brief overview of each Challenge event, and mention who I believe will be the fastest crews in the hunt for the top spot.

Challenge Eights

The fastest event of the regatta, Challenge Eights is always a ferocious battle that sees top crews from across the country test their speed against each other. This can include Ladies Plate-standard club crews, top Thames Cup crews, Temple Cup crews and Princess Elizabeth crews too. Minor battles between certain rivals will play out across the category, but everyone will be hoping for a high-placed finish.

There’s one standout crew here, and that’s Leander ‘A’. Leander are a force to be reckoned with this year, with a multitude of talent across their squad, including old Oxford Blue Josh Bowesman-Jones, ex-Brookes rower Miles Devereux, Leander mainstay James Vogel, and more. Their main domestic rivals, Oxford Brookes, will be at BUCS Regatta, leaving Wallingford fairly open for the taking.

That being said, there’s good speed to be found elsewhere in this event. Tideway-based Thames ‘A’ will be looking to build speed in the run-up to Henley, and always use these Dorney regattas as a proving ground. Their top eight probably won’t challenge Leander’s, but it could certainly put up a good fight
against Leander ‘B’, and stop a Leander one-two. Tideway rivals London ‘A’ will also be in the hunt here, and will be really keen to get a win against Thames. That will be difficult; London are certainly on the up, but Thames remain fairly dominant in the club circuit – particularly relative to other Tideway clubs.

There are some cracking junior eights in this category, too, and the battle between them will lay the groundwork for the next few weeks leading up to National Schools’ Regatta. PE ’22 winners St Paul’s School will be looking to pull ahead of Radley College, who beat St Paul’s at Schools’ Head back in March. St Edward’s School was fourth in that event – one behind SPS and two behind Radley – so they’ll be keen to see whether they’ve gained ground. But the main player here is Shiplake College, winners at School’s Head. Shiplake have quite often underperformed after fantastic results in early season head races, so they’ll be here with a point to prove. It’s certainly a tantalising prospect to have the top four finishes at School’s Head meeting again at this potentially pivotal race.

Prediction

No surprises that I’m picking Leander ‘A’ for the win here, but beyond that, things get tricky. Leander’s second eight, the club top eights and the school top eights will all be, on paper, similar speeds. I think that Leander ‘B’ do have the experience and speed to pull off the second-place finish here, and Thames ‘A’ will have the horsepower to take third ahead of the school crews – but I think it’ll be close, and the rest of the ‘A’ final might be populated completely with junior top eights.

Challenge Coxless Fours

This is a trickier event to preview, as it’s difficult to guess at the personnel of each of these crews, and there’s generally less data to suggest relative speed. This will undoubtedly be a highly competitive event, however, with several crews – likely looking at entering the Wyfolds or the Brit at Henley – looking to establish early-season dominance in the fours.

Oxford Brookes jumps out immediately in this category, but it’s difficult to know exactly who these athletes are, given the majority of the Brookes squad is at BUCS. I’m tempted to assume that these are some of the top older guys that are looking towards the Visitors (or maybe even the Stewards)
at Henley – potentially featuring athletes like Sam Bannister and Matt Rowe. If that’s the case, this event is likely already sewn up, with Brookes ‘A’ taking the win and Brookes ‘B’ following in second.

That being said, there’s quality elsewhere in the field. London ‘A’ will likely be the top four athletes out of the London top eight; London does have some solid talent at the top end, and they’re a pretty technical squad, so they’re likely suited to the coxless four. Challenges will likely come from Upper Thames
‘A’, Kingston, Lea and Vesta ‘A’, all of whom have shown speed this season, and will likely be in the process of gauging whether or not they should prioritise an eight or a four for Henley.

Don’t forget Shiplake College, who seem to be doubling up in this category. Their top four guys will be quick, and will give any of these club crews a run for their money.

Prediction

Oxford Brookes in first and second, with London ‘A’ in third.

Challenge Coxed Fours

A straight final for this event – fairly expected for this time of year, as Britannia Cup crews are generally speaking the last to come together in the run-up to Henley, as clubs work on which boats to prioritise. Difficult to know who the standouts here will be, but London enter with great pedigree in
this boat class and fantastic depth across the squad this year, so are likely favourites. Tideway rivals Vesta will be keen to give them a run for their money, but the Shiplake College four – probably the second half of their top eight – are certainly in with an outside chance of taking the title.

The other clubs entered here are Kingston, Marlow and Nonesuch. Kingston had a great season last year and have really improved as a club, but Marlow have shown great speed in fours over the last few years. This should be an interesting – and potentially very tight – race across the board.

Prediction

I’m going to go with London in first, followed by Shiplake, with Vesta in third.

Challenge Pairs

The trickiest boat class of all, and too-often underrepresented at these Dorney regattas due to the limited opportunities for pairs at Henley. It’s doubtful that many of these pairs will be looking at entering the Goblets, so these will likely be top athletes from these clubs just looking
for more small boat racing experience. That being said, there certainly will be pairs here that will hope to continue racing the boat class further into the summer, and this will be an important early marker.

Leander will likely be strong here. It’s difficult to know quite what standard this pair will be from the pink palace, but they certainly do a huge amount of small boats work, and there is always Leander representation in the Goblets. I expect this pair to probably be the form crew.

Wimbleball does offer potentially interesting rival, however, as this is often ex-Brookes students. If that’s the case, this may well be the dark horse. Thames ‘A’ will look to get right up there onto the podium, but will be fought hard by Upper Thames. Itchen Imperial has a pretty good small boats record, too, and shouldn’t be discounted. Juniors from 1863 Club and Emmanuel School will fight it out probably towards the bottom of the event, but it will certainly be fantastic small boats racing experience for the young athletes.

Prediction

Without knowing quite who we’re dealing with, I’ll go with the safe option – Leander ‘A’ in first – with Thames ‘A’ in second, and Wimbleball in third.

Good luck to all crews.

Five Man

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