National Schools’ Regatta 2025 – Girls’ Second Quads Preview

Returning to Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre, the 2025 National Schools’ Regatta is fast approaching. As schoolgirl sculling grows in popularity and standard, the second quads category becomes more competitive each passing year. This time, the event boasts 13 strong entries, including two ‘C’ crews, ready to prove themselves against some of the best young scullers nationwide. Let’s take a look at the favourites.

Wycliffe College Boat Club

This quad debuted earlier this season in the women’s Junior 17 quads category at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head in true Wycliffe College Boat Club fashion, dominating the field. They posted a time that would have placed them fifth in the women’s Junior 18 category and left second-place finishers Hartpury trailing 14 seconds in their wake. Forming a composite with their ‘A’ crew at the Junior Sculling Regatta, Wycliffe claimed another win to consolidate their top spot moving into the summer racing.

Headington School Oxford Boat Club

With one of the strongest junior girls’ rowing programmes in the country, Headington School Oxford Boat Club are out in full force for the National Schools’ Regatta weekend. Entered in championship eights, second eights, championship singles, championship quads, and second quads, the depth of talent within the squad is apparent. While this particular second quad combination hasn’t appeared on the circuit this season, and so remains a relative unknown, they certainly are not one to underestimate.

Maidenhead Rowing Club

With a nearly identical lineup competing at the Junior Sculling Regatta last week, Maidenhead Rowing Club secured a 12th-place finish in a highly competitive women’s Junior 18 field, an encouraging sign as they head into the summer season. Their seventh-place ranking among second quads at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head positions them well to break into the A-final this weekend. Freshly back from a sunny Easter training camp in France, the crew has had some useful time to focus on technical improvements that could give them the edge in this strong field.

Great Marlow School Boat Club

Less than a second behind Maidenhead over the 3.6km course at the Junior Sculling Head, Great Marlow School Boat Club will chase them down with intent on Saturday. However, a slower first half in that race suggests they may like to hold back on a first run, which could cost them with no semifinals to fall back on. With the time trial arguably carrying more weight than the final itself, they’ll need to come out strong from the very first stroke.

Sir William Perkins’ School Boat Club

Climbing up the ranks in recent years has been the impressive rise of Sir William Perkins’ School Boat Club, who have produced crews and scullers of higher and higher calibre each year. This standard trickles down through their squads to deliver highly competitive second quads, as shown at the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head, as they claimed the sixth-fastest second quad of the day and 28^th overall. This crew also claimed a recent 18^th place in some harsh conditions at the Junior Sculling Regatta to get some vital race experience in before the big day.

Predictions

The dominance shown throughout the winter would have to place Wycliffe as the crew to beat, with Headington following in silver. It could be a good fight between Maidenhead and Great Marlow School for the last remaining medal, with the latter coming out just on top. Rounding out the top five should be Sir William Perkins’, but not without threat from some other crews racing.