Typically a staple of the Tideway head racing calendar, the Fours Head of the River is yet another event that has not been held in recent years, last being raced in 2022. The long-awaited return is set for this Saturday, 15th November. The heaviest boat class, the championship coxed fours, has been entered this year by ten crews. It presents perhaps the most punishing of the categories at this race, as if the effort exerted over the 6.8km championship course was not already a challenge.
Leander Club
Leander Club is the current (albeit from 2022) holder of this event. This exciting combination, hailing from the GB team based in Caversham sees its members returning to race in the all-familiar cerise. Featuring Miles Beeson, Archie Drummond, James Vogel, Josh Bowesman-Jones, and bolstered by the coxing experience of two-time Paralympic champion Erin Kennedy, this crew have to be amongst the favourites. Even with such an experienced crew, all of whom returned from the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai just six weeks ago, it is worth noting a further advantage they possess in their knowledge of the Tideway, as both Bowesman-Jones and Kennedy trained and raced here for Oxford University in Boat Race campaigns.
Newcastle University Boat Club/Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
Another combination from the British team, and certainly one that will be eager to see the title change hands. Sam Nunn, Dave Bewicke-Copley, Fergus Woolnough, Will Stewart (of Newcastle), and coxswain Tom Bryce form this Newcastle/Brookes composite. With extensive international experience, this crew is easily recognised as a top contender for the headship, broadly composed of members of the current GB men’s eight. All four of these rowers were in the silver medal-winning eight at the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, with Bryce also claiming World Champion status in the PR3 coxes four, and this will be the first time that we’ve seen them race since. Going up against their teammates in the form of the Leander crew, competition will certainly be hot this weekend.
Oxford University Boat Club
Oxford University Boat Club will spend a lot of time on the Tideway over the coming months, with a clear objective being to overturn their recent disappointment in facing Cambridge in the Boat Race. In this crew, we may see an early glimpse of the athletes vying for selection into the dark blue boat, with Paolo Cicuta, Julian Schoeberl, James Fetter, Theodore Siri Heath, plus returning coxswain and Oxford men’s president Tobias Bernard set to race on Saturday. Despite plenty of international experience in the shape of Schoeberl and Fetter – both having competed in the single scull on the world stage – this will likely be their first run down the Championship Course. United by the stellar Boat Race experience of Cicuta and Bernard, a strong performance here would present a crucial marker for a more successful campaign in 2026.
Marlow Rowing Club
Suppose a crew has a member who has reached a Henley Royal Regatta semi-final, in any event. In that case, they are required to enter the championship category if they enter the Fours Head – this is the likely cause of Marlow Rowing Club’s entry in this event. With three previous Henley winners (Alfie Heath, James Doleman, and Blaise Ivers-Dreux), alongside the experience of Joel Evans, who raced to the Saturday of this year’s Britannia Challenge Cup, the crew will be coxed by Fitzsimons. This crew may be a dark horse in this event and will be looking to upset the pecking order on Saturday.
Notable Entries
We also see some appearances from Thames Rowing Club, London Rowing Club, and a Thames / Kar & Zv De Hoop (NLD) composite, all of which are most likely entered into the championship category due to the eligibility criteria. Although unlikely contenders for the headship, we see that they cannot be discounted from producing a solid performance here. Notably, the men from Thames (including Jamieson, the coxswain of the composite) and London are firmly on their home turf.
Predictions
It isn’t easy to see anyone taking the headship here outside of the top two seeded crews: Leander Club and the composite from Newcastle and Oxford Brookes, and I’m tempted to say that the composite crew will take the win. Outside of these two, we can expect some excitement from a more open playing field. A high placement from Oxford University is undoubtedly on the cards, but if the likes of Marlow, Thames, and London have anything to say about it, this could easily be overturned.
