As the season’s grand finale, Henley Royal Regatta, approaches imminently, crews return for one final time to the prestigious waters of Dorney Lake for Marlow Regatta. The season has been varied in the Junior 18 quads event, with many clubs producing strong contingents but enduring inconsistent racing across the board. Frontrunners from the Windsor Boys’ School Boat Club look dominant, but the minor medals appear entirely up for grabs. Let’s take a look at the competition.
The Windsor Boys’ School Boat Club
We have been singing Windsor’s praises all season, and for good reason. The club has not put a step wrong all year, and looks set to win just about everything notable the Northern hemisphere has to offer, having already taken the title at the National Schools’ Regatta, Head of the Charles, and Heineken Regatta. With two members of their crew, Joe Wellington and Isaac Thornton, having been selected to represent GB at the Munich International Junior Regatta this year, no one can match their level of talent. At the National Schools’ Regatta, their performance was nothing short of a masterclass, battling the tough conditions with ease and taking the win by 16 seconds. They followed this up with another exceptional showing at the Metropolitan Regatta, taking the win in the Junior 18 category easily, and falling only six seconds short of Leander Club’s top senior boat, placing them fourth overall in the championship event. With the steady hand of Mark Wilkinson guiding this remarkable quad forward, there is little hope of error for their competitors; the Windsor Boys’ School remains overwhelming favourites.
Leander Club
Leander Club, with a couple of exceptions, have been having a great season thus far. They were runners-up in the Junior 18 event at the Metropolitan Regatta and won the B-final overall in the boys’ championship quad. They have had a couple of stumbles, such as at the National Schools’ Regatta, where they failed to qualify for the A-final, but they have been known to make errors such as this in previous years, and rarely has it stopped them from producing high-quality performances in the sharp end of the season. Though they increasingly find themselves pushed by other contingents, particularly those from Hinksey Sculling School and Lea Rowing Club, a good showing this weekend could provide the confidence they need for a successful Henley Royal Regatta campaign. With an array of talent, including Willem van den Eerembeemt, whose experience at the international level is invaluable to the squad, paired with the history associated with training from the prestigious Leander boathouse, this crew, at least on paper, has been bred for glory. Let’s see what they can achieve this weekend.
Hinksey Sculling School
This crew chose to remain absent on the Saturday of the Metropolitan Regatta, instead putting out the ‘B’ crew and placing top crews into the double event, which performed admirably. Hinksey Sculling School’s placings have been all over the place this season, with a tenth at the Schools’ Head of the River Race, fourth at the National Schools’ Regatta, third at the Junior Sculling Regatta, and knocked out in the heat at Wallingford Regatta. With this in mind, the squad has been pitted against each other in recent weeks, with multiple squad members within reach of the top quad’s final seat. The question is whether they can find a golden combination or if they’ll have to settle for their current setup. It will be fascinating to see how their ‘B’ quad holds up against their ‘A’ boat this weekend. If they are within a reasonable margin, there is potential for a faster combination. However, only time will tell. With Lewie Harris (a top performer at GB trials) and a culture for intense, brutal racecraft, theoretically, this crew should be fast. Regardless, I think a large part of their speed comes from their mentality on raceday, and right now they need to work on their consistency.
Lea Rowing Club
Lea Rowing Club have had a robust lineup this season, bolstered especially by Thomas Pakulis, another GB representative at Munich. Similarly to Leander, they had an extremely disappointing National Schools’ Regatta, unfortunately not qualifying for the A-final. Sadly, they did not make much of an improvement at Metropolitan Regatta, finishing last in the B-final overall, five seconds behind Leander. This shows a worrying level of stagnation coming into the season’s final stages. Will they be able to overcome this, or have they already shown their best performances? I hope they will be able to make a resurgence, though either way, their results this season, such as a win at the Junior Sculling Regatta, already are an immense showing for a club not often found in the spotlight in this event. Regardless, they could fight their way into the A-final come race day with a good performance.
Notable Mentions
Claires Court School are another crew we can expect to see fighting at the top this weekend. They claimed bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta on the brutal Nottingham waters, but have been relatively quiet since then. We’ll see if their tenacity can place them at the top here, though I think they may be slightly behind the podium crews.
Molesey Boat Club should be watched after taking fifth at the National Schools’ Regatta under the guidance of fresh coach Julian Egan-Shuttler, who has undoubtedly helped to reinvigorate the program. Can they break their way into the top of the A-final at this event?
Predictions
As previously stated, the Windsor Boys’ School are absolute favourites. Not only are they the crew to beat, but it would be almost unthinkable that anyone else could take them down. Behind them is less clear, but I would put Leander in second. In third, it will be a ferocious fight between Hinksey and Lea. Either way, the minor medals are wide open for the taking.
