Thursday Reviews
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, USA v The Windsor Boys’ School ‘A’
Belen Jesuit Prep would have undoubtedly shaken a number of spectators during this race, as, by the End of the Island, they had taken a canvas lead over Windsor Boys, the current undefeated British National Champions, last year’s Fawley winners, and undoubtedly favourites to take the win this year. Unfortunately for the Americans, Windsor Boys remained unrattled, and immediately began to row through Belen Jesuit, putting their canvas out in front by the barrier, and moving this up to a one-length lead by the Fawley, both crews still rating at an impressive 38. From there, Windsor Boys began to settle, looking to conserve energy for the later races, sending it along at a steadily decreasing rate, before finally coming through the finish line in a comfortable two-and-a-half length lead win.
Marist Coll. Canberra, AUS v Hartpury Coll.
Marist College, winners of the Australian National Championships, came into this event undoubtedly looking to see what kind of impact they could have overseas – unfortunately for them, Hartpury College had other plans. Off the start, Marist looked strong, with Hartpury’s veering off the start allowing them to take a canvas by the End of the Island, rowing long at a rate of 38, leading by one length at Fawley. However, that’s when Hartpury began to put in their push: by Remenham club, Marist had stopped increasing their lead, and by the milepost, the two crews were level. Hartpury dug deep and increased their lead up to one length by the mile and an eighth post, and despite some questionable steering in the finish enclosure, stormed to a confident two and a quarter length lead win over Marist, in an unbelievable comeback.
Maidenhead R.C. v Claires Court Sch.
Despite unfortunately just falling short of taking the win, Maidenhead bravely made sure that Claires Court never felt comfortable as the two crews raced down the Henley course. A close race from start to finish, Maidenhead and Claires Court were level coming through the island, and Claires Court had only managed to build to a canvas lead by the barrier, which was increased to a two-thirds length lead by the Fawley. While there was never a point where the verdict seemed inevitable, by the milepost, the likely favourites seemed to be Claires Court, ahead by one length, a distance which they maintained until the finish, despite a warning around the finish enclosures for dodgy steering, ensuring their spot in a Friday race.
Friday Previews
Shiplake College v Tideway Scullers’ School
Although it would be pretty incredible for a sweep school such as Shiplake to beat out a strong, well-established sculling programme in Tideway Scullers’ and make the weekend of Henley, given Shiplake’s recent performances, it would be foolish to count them out just yet. Despite only having been sculling for a few weeks, Shiplake recently defeated Kinross Wolaroi School, second-place finishers at the Australian National Championships, demonstrating a high level of skill already, which could result in a pretty incredible showdown tomorrow against the well-known Tideway, silver medallists at the National Schools’ Regatta this year.
Grange School v Molesey B.C.
Having just defeated a fairly gritty St Paul’s quad, Molesey will be confident going into their matchup against Grange School tomorrow as a seeded crew versus an unseeded crew. However, based on their performance today, it would be unwise to underestimate Grange School, who put in a strong shift to make an unbelievable comeback against a strong German crew. Backed up by some strong international racing experience in the Grange School crew, they’ll be going into tomorrow looking to cause some damage against one of the biggest names in British sculling.
The Windsor Boys’ School ‘A’ v Claires Court Sch.
After winning National Schools’ Regatta by over 15 seconds, last year’s Fawley winners Windsor Boys are undoubtedly coming into Friday’s racing as the favourites over National Schools’ Regatta bronze medallists Claires Court. But that being said, Claires Court did show an impressive level of determination and grit today as they bravely held off the attacks of a strong Maidenhead crew, so who knows what damage they’ll be able to do tomorrow to the undisputed giants of schoolboy rowing, Windsor Boys – we’ll just have to wait and see.
