Women’s Eights Head of the River Race 2023 – Head Pennant Preview

Women’s Eights Head of the River Race is the culmination of the head season, and all eyes will be on which crew comes away with the Head Pennant, awarded to the crew which covers the course in the fastest time. It’s been a great head season for women’s rowing, with some fantastic races and dominant displays, with expectations sky high for a top race between these top women’s crews in the country come Saturday. 

Leander Club

Leander Club will come into WEHoRR as favourites to retain headship. Last year, they secured an emphatic victory, beating Brookes into second by a near 35 second margin. Their season started strong this year, as they swept the board in the championship categories at Fours Head, before going on to take victory in January at Quintin Head.

They warmed up for the head by taking the win against Oxford University Women’s BC in their Boat Race fixture which took place just the week before WEHoRR, showing they’re in a strong position and Tideway ready. 

Oxford Brookes University BC

Oxford Brookes University are expected to be the strongest challenger to Leander. Having played second fiddle to Leander at Fours Head, a few weeks ago they took a clean sweep of victories in their fixture on the Tideway against Cambridge University and went on to a further win for their top eight at Henley Fours and Eights Head. They’ll be looking to build on their run of good form since January to close the gap as much as possible to Leander. 

Thames RC

Thames RC have had a strong head season, starting with some good results at Fours Head including second place behind Leander in the Women’s Championship Coxless Fours at Fours Head, beating Oxford Brookes into third in that category. They took the win against local rivals in the Remenham Challenge in December and had a strong contingent of five athletes compete in February trials. While they’d need a spectacular row to come out on top, one would expect that a top three placement should be their aim heading into the race. 

University of London BC

University of London BC were the winners of the University Pennant last year and will be hoping to get closer to the top spots overall. They took second place behind Leander at Quintin in the Women’s Champ Eights, beating out Tideway rivals Vesta RC and London RC on that occasion. However, if they want to claim a top three spot at WEHoRR they will need to put in their best performance of the season so far. 

Others

Tideway Scullers School took third place in this race last year just three second behind Leander and Brookes. With such historic pedigree, they’ll always be looking to defend their reputation as one of the top women’s clubs looking to mix it with the best in the country. There’s also an intriguing composite boat of GB squad members representing Leander/Cambridge University/Tideway Scullers/Edinburgh Uni/Molesey who could trouble Brookes and Thames should they prove to be well-established as an eight. 

Prediction

Leander must go into this event as the favourites, but Brookes would hope to get closer to them than was the case this time last year. It will be interesting to see how the composite crew of GB squad members perform, and whether Thames can hold them off to round out third spot on their home stretch of river. 

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Amy Richardson

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