The inaugural Junior Fours Head is, for many schools and clubs, the first opportunity to showcase their speed in the new season. It is the largest head race of the year so far, and indeed the entries were significantly oversubscribed with clubs from all around the country (and even two Italian boat clubs). This event specifically is a tough one to predict; every club has different thoughts as to which boat class they want to prioritise, and every club is going to suffer from losing its most senior athletes differently. Nonetheless, some crews look absolutely poised to row their best race this weekend.
St Edward’s School Boat Club
St Edward’s School are a dominant force on the junior sweep circuit right now. They have consistently made the A-final at the National Schools’ Regatta in the championship eight over the past few years and even won the event and corresponding Henley Royal Regatta trophy in 2023. This four is on form to meet these high standards, containing two members of last year’s championship eight, which placed fifth at the National Schools’ Regatta and made it to Friday in The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup – including Carter Horrix, winner of the GB-France match in 2024 and recipient of the British Rowing Junior Crew of the Year award. The other two members come from the infamous ‘Templeachter’ – Teddies’ second eight that not only qualified for The Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, but made it to the quarterfinal, one of only three British crews to make it this far. This boat made history as the first-ever junior second eight to make it this far, and was closely followed by many during the regatta because they were such a huge underdog. Needless to say, all four of these athletes are clearly powerful rowers, and I think this boat will perform very well.
Abingdon School Boat Club
One of the only boats in the draw to consist entirely of members from last year’s championship eight, the ABS-WAGGETT crew is one to watch. The four athletes in this boat have already had some strong results this season, with the stern pair (Beer/Waggett) winning the Junior 18 pair at Reading Small Boats Head, and the bow pair (Kleinknecht/Ord) coming second, along with the full crew winning the Junior 18 coxless four at the same race. The Abingdon eight had a disappointing end to their last season; they finished in a solid tenth place at the National Schools’ Regatta, only to draw Bedford School on Tuesday at Henley Royal Regatta. After a hard battle, Bedford took the win and went on to qualify for the quarterfinal. This crew is undoubtedly one of the most experienced on the water, and although we cannot know for sure how they will perform on the Tideway, I do not doubt that their experience will be invaluable to them.
Eton College Boat Club
A hugely prestigious and highly renowned boat club, Eton College have three boats entered into this category. Of these, I think that ‘Jackson‘ looks to be the strongest, containing three Junior 17 athletes who have moved up from last year’s Junior 16 eight. Alongside them is Dillon Tan, a member of last year’s championship eight, which placed third at the Schools’ Head of the River: Tan will not be rattled by the choppy water. Alongside Tan, Ayre Jackson, the stroke seat of the four, won the open pairs category at Reading Small Boats Head, showing that these athletes can not only row well but also have the composure to steer and manage a coxless boat, something that will be hugely important during the race. Although Eton has lost a large chunk of its eight from last year, I do not doubt that the Junior 17 athletes will fill the gap and propel the boat club to strong results.
Bedford School Boat Club
Bedford are coming off the back of their best season since 2018, as they suddenly jumped from struggling to make it past the first day at Henley Royal Regatta, to being a contender to make it to the weekend. This, combined with their stated goal to win The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup by 2030, means that expectations are high for them this year. However, this is not the top boat at Bedford, as they also have two coxed fours, which contain their top athletes, as well as a quad. This boat consists primarily of athletes from last year’s Junior 16 eight, which struggled to find quite the same speed as their championship eight, coming tenth at the National Schools’ Regatta. I do not think this boat is quite on pace with the other crews, such as St Edward’s, but they cannot be discounted.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Another programme that has lost many athletes this year is Shiplake College. Every single rower but one from last year’s Henley Royal Regatta-winning eight has not returned this year. Although Shiplake is, of course, a robust programme, I do not think that this four will be on par with the high standards that are expected of Shiplake at the moment, as this appears not to be their top four athletes. Instead, they have two coxed fours entered as the top two boats, then this coxless four. This boat contains two athletes from last year’s silver-medal-winning second eight, Bennett and Taylor, alongside Terry, who raced in the Junior 16 coxed four last year, and Cooper, new to the school this year. Although this is not their top boat, these athletes are no doubt strong and should perform well over the weekend.
Norwich School Boat Club
Norwich may seem like a significant underdog, but I think they have the potential to punch above their weight in this race. First of all, alongside Abingdon, they are one of the only crews to consist entirely of members from last year’s championship eight, which finished in 15th place at the National Schools’ Regatta. This result itself may seem nothing special, but they were a young crew, and they clearly have the potential to move up this year. Moreover, it shows that these four athletes have already spent a significant amount of time together and can likely row together very well. This crew contains U19 world champion Nicholas Conway, who recently won the Boston Junior Sculling Head as part of the GB U19 trials. At the same event, Max Stone, James Howard, and Archie Wilkins, the other three members of the four, all performed well, finishing third (Non-GB Trialist J18 single), fourth (J17 single), and 25th (J18 single) respectively. These results are hugely impressive, and I think that this four has some excellent potential to upset the established order.
Predictions
Firstly, it’s worth noting that although St Paul’s School and Hampton School also have boats entered, this event is not their primary focus, and I don’t think they’re likely to perform as well as some of the boats I’ve mentioned earlier. Only four of the programmes I’ve mentioned have made this event their priority: St Edward’s School, Abingdon School, Eton College and Norwich School. Of these, I don’t quite see Eton on par with the other three, due to the young age of the crew and the relatively weaker past results. To pick a winner, I think the experience and past success of St Edward’s School will help them perform excellently this weekend, but I would really love to see Norwich School on the podium to prove that, although they’re a smaller programme, they can still put up a good fight.
