As the 2025/26 season’s run of cancelled events continues into the New Year, the Bedford Eights and Fours Head offers a valuable opportunity for crews to get some racing experience and find out their standing among rivals, both local and from further afield. Crews on Sunday will race 2,000m downstream on the River Great Ouse, giving them a brief glimpse of regatta season distances in the middle of this wet, dreary winter.
Open Junior 18 Eights
With ‘Big Head’ season in full swing now, Junior 18 eights will be yearning for racing experience, with their sights set on either the championship eights or school first eights categories at the Schools’ Head of the River in March. The field at Bedford is a strong one, with four of the six entrants coming from clubs based on the course – Bedford School are fielding three crews, and Bedford Modern School one. The former delivered a high calibre of rowing last season, with their top crew finishing sixth in the A-final of championship eights at the National Schools’ Regatta and then racing to day four of Henley Royal Regatta in The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, having been knocked out by eventual winners, Shiplake College. They have continued this momentum into the 2026 season, placing fourth in the Junior 18 eights at Wallingford Head of the River back in November, just under two seconds behind Radley’s bronze-winning crew. The second crew took the silver in Band 2 of the same event, demonstrating an excellent calibre of rowing across the senior squad. Although perhaps less experienced in the eight than Bedford, Bedford Modern School saw a win in the Band 2 Eights at Star Autumn Head in November, once again on the River Great Ouse, where they were the sixth-fastest crew of the day down the 1900m course. Both Brentford Boat Club and King’s School Ely Boat Club are also fielding eights in this category, with King’s Ely having raced the course at Bedford in the Small Boats Head in October. While both have seen strong sweeping results in recent seasons, I would expect one of the crews from Bedford School to take the win in this event – their strong competition record will surely put them ahead, and their intricate knowledge of this stretch will not hurt their chances.
Open Junior 16 Eights
A small field of just three Junior 16 eights will go for gold on Sunday – two from Bedford School and one from Brentford Boat Club. Bedford have seen success in this category recently, too, finishing fourth in Band 2 of this event at Wallingford Head of the River. Their J16 squad have demonstrated their strength in smaller sweep boats, too, finishing first at Bedford Small Boats Head and 15th at Junior Fours Head earlier in the season. Brentford’s Junior 16 eight also have some experience behind them, with a sixth-place finish among some of the country’s top crews at Teddington Head under their belt. I think this will be a close category, but expect Bedford’s first crew to come out on top.
Open Junior 15 Eights
Among the busier categories of the day, seven Junior 15 Eights will be competing at Bedford this weekend, with the competitors once again hailing from Bedford Modern School (two crews), Brentford Boat Club, King’s School Ely, and Bedford School (three crews). As J15s, these crews will likely still be in the earlier stages of their sweeping journey, but Brentford, Bedford School and Bedford Modern have all competed in the eight before: the latter two went head-to-head at Star Club Head of the River, also on the River Great Ouse back in November, with Bedford coming out on top by six seconds over 1,900m. Brentford could well have the edge on the competition, though, having finished a respectable third in Band 2 J15 Eights at Teddington Head, demonstrating an impressive level of stamina and cohesion as a crew. Although King’s Ely is less experienced in racing an eight, their performances in the coxed fours at Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head suggest that their entry will comprise a strong, capable crew. Their programme is slowly building momentum in sweep boats, and younger years will undoubtedly be charged with carrying this positive energy. I would be unsurprised by a victory from any of Bedford Modern, Bedford School or King’s School Ely in this category.
Open Junior 18 Coxed Fours
With Junior Fours Head providing a new, unique racing experience for fours and quads last November, it is likely that several clubs will have spent more time than usual this head season in small sweep boats (where water conditions permitted them training time). Local talent from Bedford School and Bedford Modern will again face King’s School Ely, but also crews from Norwich School and Cantabrigian Rowing Club. I think it will be close between Bedford School’s ‘A’ crew and Norwich School – the latter won the coxless category at Junior Fours Head, and the former would have placed third in the coxed category at the same event, had they not been racing as time-only. Bedford Modern, Bedford School and King’s Ely all raced one another in the Junior 18 Coxed Fours at Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head, with King’s sandwiched between the two Bedford Schools crews at the top end of the results table and the two Bedford Modern crews at the lower end. It appears to be a high level of experience all around in the draw for the Coxed Fours, and I envisage a Norwich or Bedford School crew coming out on top.
Open Junior 16 Coxed Fours
Once again, crews from Bedford School, King’s Ely and Brentford Boat Club will face each other in this category, with the latter’s entry seeming to be similarly composed to their Junior 16 Eight. The 1863 Club have entered a crew into this category (perhaps the same combination that won the Open Coxed Four event at Barnes and Mortlake Regatta last summer at J15), and Bedford are fielding just one crew in this category. It’ll likely be a strong crew, particularly if it resembles that which raced at the Small Boats Head in October, where Bedford and King’s Ely crossed the line in the exact same (fastest) time, with another King’s Ely crew just three seconds behind (almost 30 seconds behind the next fastest boat). Whether it is another Bedford or King’s Ely victory, or a win from either of the other entrants, I anticipate the Junior 16 Coxed Fours being a close race.
Open Junior 15 Coxed Fours
Another of the quieter events of the day, four Junior 15 Coxed Fours will compete in what could well be the first sweep race for the crews. The crew from Norwich School and the two from Bedford School both come from programmes that have enjoyed great success on the national stage, and Brentford Boat Club’s entry has the potential to perform very well. Perhaps the fabled ‘home-water advantage’ will allow Bedford to outshine the competition from Norwich on Sunday, or perhaps that will not have any impact on this simple course.
Open Junior 18 Quads
The Junior 18 Quads will see five crews competing on Sunday: Norwich School finished a strong nineteenth in the same category at the Junior Fours Head, as well as second and eleventh at Hampton Small Boats Head at the end of November. Bedford Rowing Club faced Norwich at the Small Boats Head back in Autumn and were beaten by Norwich’s ‘A’ crew but beat their ‘B’ crew by a second. The two entries from Brentford Boat Club finished third and fourth at Teddington Head before Christmas, losing out to Tideway Scullers and Molesey BC by considerable margins. I think a Norwich School victory is on the cards in the Junior 18 Quads, with Bedford RC not too far behind. The battle for Bronze will be between the two Brentford quads and Star Club, which should be quite well-matched and potentially very close.
Open Junior 16 Quads
Just three Junior 16 Quads will take on the 2,000m course this weekend. Brentford Boat Club have mostly competed in J16 sweep categories so far this season and Star Club finished joint-third in a very tight category at Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head. The composite entry from Bedford Rowing Club and Northampton Rowing Club could be a strong one, particularly after a Bedford J16 sculler’s 23-second win at the Small Boats Head in October. I would be unsurprised if Star or Bedford/Northampton taking the win in the J16 Quads but could see either crew taking the gold.
Open Junior 15 Coxed Quads
Among the broader categories of the day, the Junior 15 coxed quads event will see eight crews race, with entries from local clubs Star Club and 1863 Club racing those from further afield, such as Norwich School (two crews), Brentford Boat Club and Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe (three crews). Brentford’s J15 scullers are experienced in the octuple, having raced it at Teddington Head and finishing second in their category of two, and Norwich raced an ‘A’ and ‘B’ crew at Hampton Small Boats Head, which finished 14th and 32nd respectively. Here, they faced RGS High Wycombe, racing two crews and finishing third and 29th. The local challengers from StarClub raced at the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head last year, placing joint-third with one of seven St. Paul’s School crews in an eye-wateringly close event, with second and third, fourth and fifth, crossing the line in the same time. This will certainly be a close category, but I expect that RGS High Wycombe’s ‘A’ crew could be well-set up for the win here, with Norwich’s ‘A’ crew fighting RGS’s ‘B’ crew for second place. The crews from Brentford, 1863 Club and Star Club will likely be close behind, with Star Club possibly beating RGS’s ‘C’ crew for third.
Open Junior 14 Events
The two open Junior 14 events, coxed quads and octuples, will see many athletes racing for the first time in their rowing careers. In the Octuples, Brentford could have the edge over the crews from Norwich, Bedford, and King’s School Ely: before Christmas, they won the Junior 14 Octuples at Teddington Head by a margin of more than two minutes. On the quad side, 12 crews will take to the water. Star Club (two crews), 1863 Club and Bedford School will be racing on familiar waters, with Brentford BC, RGS High Wycombe and Norwich School also making the journey. Star’s crew won Star Club Head of the River in November by a sizable margin, but with so many crews racing after winter weather has disrupted water time for so many clubs, it could be anyone’s race.
After one of the wettest winters on record, with the list of cancelled competitions growing by the day, it will be great to see such a huge contingent of junior crews racing at the Bedford Eights and Fours Head this Sunday.
