Marlow Regatta. The final chance to impress before Henley Royal Regatta. Whilst some of this field will have one eye on prequalification for The Thames Challenge Cup, others will be focused on finding every ounce of their speed ahead of Henley Royal Regatta qualifiers. With the bar rising year on year in club rowing, it’s getting difficult. We should see here just how close the field is amongst those who will be fighting for their qualification. Whilst your usual suspects will lead the field, the remainder of the entries will be much more condensed.
Leander Club
It’s been a difficult few weeks for Leander with everything happening off the water. Whilst it’s challenging to know the whole picture, you have to think about how emotionally tough this must be for the athletes involved, their friends, and their families. This can affect performance, and it’ll be interesting to see whether it’s business as usual for Leander. At the Metropolitan Regatta, we saw how good this crew are, making an A-final and finishing ahead of any other Tier 2 eight in this field.
Thames Rowing Club / London Rowing Club
The B crews of Thames and London are virtually inseparable. At the Metropolitan Regatta, they clocked the same time in the TT, ten seconds behind the Leander crew above. In the C-final, Thames would come out on top over the course, but this was by a little over one second. With the margins so close, it made sense to preview them together because, as with their respective A-crews, you might as well toss a coin at this point. Nonetheless, Thames would be my choice out of the two, having seen this battle over the last year.
Marlow Rowing Club
It’s hard to offer anything but praise for Marlow Rowing Club. Winning last year at Henley Royal Regatta and building on that success again this year, are we seeing Marlow take their place alongside the established names of British Rowing? With a very good D-final at the Metropolitan Regatta, Marlow are in pole position for one of those precious prequalification spots. Only Thames, London and Leander beat them then, and I think it will be the same story this weekend. If they continue like this, they could have an enjoyable few weeks ahead of them.
Prediction
Leander Club will win this, and that isn’t a surprise. There is a limit to what working athletes, like those at Thames and London, can achieve. Nonetheless, it is admirable how high they push the bar for high-performance in club rowing. Marlow will consolidate their recent trajectory, and clubs like Derby, Molesey, and Hereford will hope to be hot on their tails.
