Autumn nights drawing in and leaves beginning to cover the Tideway towpaths are a tell-tale sign that we are in Fours Head season. For the first ever time, a fleet of Junior 16 coxed fours will race down the most prestigious head racing course in the world, in a new event that has formed from the heavily over-subscribed Fours Head, a highlight of the British Rowing racing calendar that attracts talent of the highest calibre, has now blossomed a junior event from its midst. The Junior 16 category is the youngest category of the event, and with this comes the most exciting and unpredictable racing. Not a single club or school will yet have their names engraved in this trophy, but this Friday 24 crews have the opportunity for theirs to be first.
Hampton School Boat Club
Hampton dominate the start order with an impressive entry of four fours. Clearly, they want to show off their depth and make a statement for this year. There have been a few good appearances from Hampton’s J16 squad so far this season, at Kingston Small Boats Head, Hampton placed an A and a B four in second and fifth place respectively, just falling short of the win to Radley College, who have decided not to make the trip to the Tideway this weekend. Hampton may be disappointed to not have another shot at beating this crew, who pipped them a weekend prior, but this won’t stop them seizing this opportunity to test their speed against some new opponents.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
Always a mighty force across all levels of junior rowing, St Paul’s School will look to take home the win. All three crews will be ambitious but heads will be turned by their A four, which by the looks of the provisional line up includes three GB U19 trialists. Bow pair Lee and Ludgate, and stroke seat Zarkovic all made appearances at GB’s supplementary event in Caversham. Particular mention goes to the bowman: Hoa-Tinh Lee, who finished 24th in an incredibly competitive field of over 60 of the country’s best junior rowers. The pedigree in this crew is striking, and despite starting 5th in their category, the number one spot will be the only one on their mind, even if a few overtakes on their home course may be needed along the way.
Dulwich College Boat Club
Another school that is no stranger to the course is Dulwich College. Their rise in junior rowing over the past decade has not gone unnoticed, and now Dulwich is a name frequently seen in the A-finals and on the podium of race results. This squad narrowly missing out on the A-final at National Schools’ Regatta last year would have left a bitter taste in their mouth, and very few appearances so far this season shows they have spent the first months of this season training relentlessly along this very course. Only one crew has been entered for this school in J16 fours, made up of three rowers and a cox who were in said eight last season, and they are joined by Andy Flores who has worked his way up from the seven seat of the J15 2nd eight from last summer. Can the home course advantage and a new face in the bow seat of their top boat be enough to produce the finish they are after?
Istituto Statale E. STEIN, Italy
Perhaps a surprise to see on the start list, Istituto Statale, hailing all the way from northern Italy, just above Milan where they train on the scenic waters at the foot of the Dolomites. Little can be said about this crew’s results and recent performance, although they did also make an appearance at the School’s Head of the River last March; clearly, they are fans of the famous course these crews will race over. As a J15 unit that ran this course last season, they took home gold, winning J15 School’s first 8s with an astounding margin of over 30 seconds. It’s obvious this group doesn’t come to the Tideway to mess around, although beating the British schoolboy rowing powerhouses, which appear on the entry list, is no easy feat. These young Italians will want to come home with the same colour medal as last time they raced this course!
Bedford School Boat Club
Once again Bedford School find themselves racing, Istituto Statale, along the course where they fell short to the Milanese at School’s Head of the River Race last season. Looking back to this October, Bedford’s J16 squad had a successful day at the Bedford Small Boats Head, where they won the J16 4x+ and tied with King’s School Ely to win the J16 4+. Judging from the provisional lineup, the crew racing this Friday is a mix of oarsmen from both boats. Can some added sculling experience turn this four into a real threat?
Prediction
Every boat here has the potential to make history by being crowned the first ever winners of this event at the first ever Junior Fours Head. J16 rowing is notoriously hard to predict, and the lack of results due to it being this early on in the season doesn’t make my task any easier. After the impressive results of St Paul’s athletes in the single scull just last weekend makes it hard not to predict them favourites, especially when you factor in the home water advantage. This being said however the trials process may have absorbed this crews focus and a lack of time spent in this line up will mean the door is open. Hampton will look to capitalise on this and try to embed themselves in history as the first ever winners of this event. Istituto Statale would not have flown over if they didn’t think they had a chance at taking home more silverware. I predict that these three crews will fill the podium, but there is no reason that Dulwich or Bedford won’t also find themselves right in the mix.
