The most prominent women’s race of the year is already upon us, marking the end of winter and the culmination of the head race season. The Women’s Head of the River Race is always a calendar highlight, and as crews flock to the Tideway, it’s exciting to see who will leave with pennants.
The senior pennant is awarded to the highest-placing crew deemed as below an international standard. No crew members can have competed internationally within the last three years at U23 or senior level, nor can the crew have four or more members who won the senior pennant last year. This makes this category all the more intriguing, with a mixture of club and university crews. 52 crews are eligible, with multiple A, B, C and even D crews from bigger clubs versus smaller single-crew clubs. Most of these crews will also feature in our separate ‘university’ and ‘club’ previews, but as they’re all vying for the top pennant too, we’re going to feature some twice.
Four clubs truly stand out as ones to watch this weekend, and it should be a close match-up.
Thames Rowing Club
No fewer than five Thames crews are eligible for the senior pennant, such is the depth of their squad. Their B crew are defending champions of this category, and any other club will surely be hard-pushed to take this off them. This will be a changed crew from last year, both inevitably and due to eligibility requirements, but Thames have a knack for continually churning out triumphant eights, so it would be no surprise to see them on the top step. They comfortably won their recent fixtures versus London and Vesta, and this will prepare them well for this weekend. Thames C and D will likely be hot on the heels of their B boat, and the challenge will be how many A crews these boats can overcome.
Newcastle University
Newcastle are certainly the academic crew to look out for in this event, and under the eligibility rules, it’s not just the university pennant they will have their eyes on. Two weekends ago, they achieved an impressive victory on home water at BUCS Head and will want to back this up this weekend. They are currently unbeaten in the 2024-2025 season, also winning Rutherford Head, and will hope this continues. Their B crew are also senior pennant eligible and will want to take scalps of A crews. They placed second in the intermediate event at BUCS Head and can no doubt take confidence from this into this weekend.
Edinburgh University
Another university crew eligible for this pennant is Edinburgh. Making the trip down to the Tideway, they will want to ensure this is a successful weekend. Beaten by Newcastle at both BUCS Head and Rutherford Head, they will want to close this gap while also taking on some club crews. In 2024, they placed third in this category, so will chase a higher placing this year. Their B crew are also eligible and placed third in the intermediate event at BUCS last weekend. Getting the better of other universities will be a good show, and they should beat some A crews this weekend.
London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club will also compete for the senior pennant this weekend. Fifthin 2024, they will have their eyes on a number of crews ahead of them, notably their neighbours, Thames. At Quintin Head in January, they placed second and continue to improve on last year’s performances. This past Sunday, they had a tight tussle with Oxford in the latest round of Boat Race fixtures, just losing both pieces but no doubt having gained huge confidence from the match-up. London are a women’s programme on the rise and their focus will be on maintaining that ascent.
Notable Mentions
We’re yet to see Upper Thames racing this season, so it will be great to see them finally getting a run out after a long winter.
On home water, Imperial certainly cannot be underestimated. Fourth at BUCS Head, they were well beaten by Newcastle and Edinburgh, but can look to close the gap on the Tideway.
Cantabrigian are now used to punching above their weight, and for a small club outside the Thames Valley, they are a crew who will continue to make great improvements. Their recent outing at Hammersmith Head will have been vital preparation for this weekend.
Prediction
The battle for this pennant looks to be shaping up to be between Newcastle and Thames B. Two clubs that are yet to face each other this season, it will be intriguing to see how the university crew fares against the club crew on its home water. It’s a close call between these two, but Thames might have it on home water. It could be equally tight in third between London and Edinburgh, but the latter should take the final place on the podium.
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