After falling victim to storms and rain over the past couple of years, the Four’s Head of the River made a triumphant return to the tideway. The addition of Friday’s Junior Four’s Head opened up more spots today, allowing many less experienced crews to have a taste of the Tideway.
At the top end on the men’s side, we saw, unsurprisingly, a Leander quad composed of members of the British sculling squad take the win, with the fastest time of the day. Following behind in second place was the British men’s coxless four, who had recently claimed the title of world champions in Shanghai. Regardless of their prestige, to place second overall in a four is a remarkable feat. Rounding out the top three was the championship quad from Reading University, further solidifying Reading’s reputation as the top sculling university in the country.
Reading also shone on the women’s side with what I think was the standout performance of the day. The win on the women’s side went to the British quad, who won a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships; however, Reading were only 0.3s behind. Although the smallest of margins might be hurtful, being so close to the national squad is an outstanding achievement for Chris Bartley and his crew.
The women’s championship coxless fours was tight at the top, with three seconds separating the top three boats on raw times. Leander took the top two spots, followed by Oxford University’s top crew. Leander appears to be back on form after a slightly disappointing performance at Head of the Charles, whereas Oxford, who also raced, are continuing from their success overseas on more familiar water.
Leander also bounced back from their Head of the Charles performance in the women’s coxed four event, where they took the win ahead of a Molesey Boat Club crew that was composed of members of their eight that took second place in the US.
The men’s championship coxed fours delivered exciting racing with four rowers from the British men’s eight racing against two of their crewmates and other members of the British sweep squad. Both coxes of these crews, Erin Kennedy and Tom Bryce, have had international experience competing in the highly successful British PR3 mixed four. With only 0.1s separating the two crews, it was the athletes from the eight racing as Oxford Brookes and Newcastle University that came out on top.
Tideway clubs had much success in the men’s club events, with Thames winning the men’s coxless fours event ahead of two London boats in second and third, and another Thames boat in fourth. London, however, came out on top in the coxed four as well as the coxless quads. With a third-place finish in the championship quads, could we see London begin to field competitive sculling crews as well as sweep in regatta season?
For the women’s club events, Molesey have continued from a strong season last summer, where they qualified three boats for the Ron Needs Challenge Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta and won The Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. They won both the coxed fours and coxless quads by large margins. They also placed second and third in the coxless fours, but it was London that claimed first place.
In the Academic events, Cambridge University made a statement, winning both men’s and women’s coxed fours events. On the women’s side, they also placed fourth and fifth behind the University of Bath and the University of London. Cambridge University had four crews entered in this event, and Oxford University had five; both seem keen to use this as an opportunity to test their coxes on what will be an essential course for them come March. The men’s side delivered more tight results with just over three seconds between the top five crews. This included two junior crews, from St Paul’s School in second place and Hampton School in fourth place.
Despite the introduction of the Junior Fours Head, many schools continued to enter crews with remarkable success. Alongside their second place in the coxed fours, St Paul’s picked up second place in the academic quads amongst a sea of Reading University crews, a sight that is not unfamiliar, who occupied the other top five spots. Westminster School claimed second place in the coxless fours behind a crew from Imperial College.
A young crew from Hartpury University and College, featuring three athletes who raced in their Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup crew at Henley Royal Regatta last summer, took the win in the Academic Quads category. Reading University placed second, a strong result but not quite displaying the dominance they have managed to achieve on the men’s side. Birmingham University rounded out the top three. In the academic coxless fours, Tideway experience paid dividends. The University of London won this event ahead of Imperial College in second place and their clubmates in third.
After many cancellations, it was exciting to welcome the Fours Head back to the Tideway. An opportunity to see national team athletes racing alongside club and university rowers makes this one of the highlights of the early season. National team athletes dominated the championship events. In the men’s club events, the wins went to local clubs, whereas Molesey shone on the women’s side. The Academic events saw wins from a wide range of clubs and strong performances from junior programmes. With one of the last major races of the year complete, we will see who can carry their success into the new year and who can take the next step to claim the top spots in the summer.
