At long last, the time for the National Schools’ Regatta is upon us. The largest junior rowing regatta in the country, the National Schools’ Regatta is the final opportunity for the championship eights to measure each other’s speed before they dive into Henley Royal Regatta. At the forefront of everyone’s minds, however, is the movement of the regatta from Dorney Lake in Eton to the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham. There is widespread debate about whether this switch is favourable, but this is neither the time nor the place for that conversation. Instead, we shall focus on the stacked championship eights division and attempt to divine the winner of the Queen Mother Challenge Cup. As seen at the Schools’ Head of the River Race back in March, this field is tightly packed and arguably more competitive than it has been in several years, with new faces emerging alongside the established superpowers. The few seconds that separated the crews then will translate to mere feet over a two-kilometre course, so exciting racing will surely be on its way towards us.
St Paul’s School
After the year they have had so far, it is difficult to put anyone but St Paul’s School as the first entry of this preview. Having already won two out of the four races required to secure their second consecutive quadruple, St Pauls will be hungry to crown themselves champions come 25 May. Domestically, this crew have had much success, winning the Schools’ Head of the River Race a full seven seconds clear of Shiplake in second. They doubled down on their status as table-toppers at the recent Wallingford Regatta, ending the day as the fastest junior crew on the water and missing out on challenge eights bronze by less than a second. The next fastest schoolboy crew in that final was St. Edwards School, who finished three seconds back in the heats and eight seconds behind in the final itself.
St Paul’s have been going head-to-head with the country’s premier club and university crews all season long, so the pedigree they have developed will surely help them fare well in the National Schools’ Regatta final. The crew is young, with many athletes coming from last year’s Junior 16 first eight. Those individuals, notably Miles, performed very well at GB trials. The GB theme continues with many of the returners, with Karadogan, Reese, and Wild all racing at the U19 World Rowing Championships last year. The cox, Bocquet, also represented GB last year, leading the U19 women’s eight to an impressive performance. Though the margins have been closer than last year, St Paul’s remain well placed to take gold in Nottingham.
Eton College
A longtime powerhouse of schoolboy rowing, Eton College seem well placed to contend for the trophy and upset St Paul’s. After a disappointing result at the National Schools’ Regatta last year, where they performed admirably in the first half of the final before falling back into fourth at the line, these boys will be eager to set the record straight. A solid third-place finish at the Schools’ Head of the River cements them as a crew to look out for, but their lacklustre performance at Wallingford Regatta has them coming into the National Schools’ Regatta as very slight underdogs. They were the fourth fastest junior crew in the challenge eights category, losing to St Edward’s by a second, Hampton School by 0.79 seconds, and St Paul’s by four seconds. A disappointing school eights heat row saw them ending the day with a scratched final.
However, considering the calibre of the athletes in this crew, if Eton can get their regatta season formula right as they have in the past and step onto a good rhythm, the sky is the limit. On the topic of the individuals composing this crew, Eton brings together enough GB athletes to at least match St Paul’s roster. Crosthwaite-Eyre and Richardson won gold in the eight at the U19 World Rowing Championships, whilst Rybin, Konig, and Clarke each brought home a Coupe de la Jeunesse silver medal. This is an imposing lineup with the potential to explode next Sunday.
Shiplake College
After last year’s impressive National Schools’ Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta campaigns – where they won bronze at the former before reaching the latter’s final – Shiplake College will be looking to capitalise on this newfound regatta season speed. Despite long being known for their inability to convert Schools’ Head of the River performances, Shiplake proved all the doubters wrong in 2024, sprinting to their first medal at National Schools’ Regatta championship level since 2019. This year, they were second at the Schools’ Head of the River by seven seconds, a sizeable margin, but by no means irreversible come the regatta racing. That said, Shiplake opted not to race their first eight at the Wallingford Regatta a couple of weeks ago but will compete at Poplar Regatta this weekend.
Shiplake also bring in a strong group of GB athletes; they had Rhys-Jones and the Latymer converter Hunt-Davies in the Coupe de la Jeunesse eight, whilst Harper also raced for GB, but instead in the men’s eight that won in Canada at the U19 World Rowing Championships. Shiplake’s superb final 500-metre speed may be enough to see them compete for gold.
Hampton School
The fourth-place finishers at the Schools’ Head of the River have pushed on very well since March, finishing Wallingford Regatta as the third fastest junior crew in the challenge eights category. Hampton School beat Eton College by 0.79 seconds, securing their position close behind St Paul’s and St Edward’s. The boat club has come a long way in the last couple of years, and their performance at the Schools’ Head of the River was a testament to that. A fourth place in the championship eights category is by far the best placement they have had in nearly a decade. Additionally, their second eight finished first in the school first eights category, and their third crew competed well in the school second eights category. A boat club environment of success and high performance will, in turn, push the first boat to greater heights as we advance.
St Edward’s School
Rounding out the top five at the Schools’ Head of the River were St Edward’s School, who finished a mere two seconds back on Hampton in March and have since reversed the gap to one second in their favour. After a stunning victory at Henley Royal Regatta in 2023, the general consensus was that Teddies would struggle to emulate the quality of yesteryear but under Jonny Singfield’s careful guidance, the boat club has continued to perform very well. After a strong showing at Wallingford Regatta – where they made the challenge eights final as one of only two junior programmes – St Edward’s are certainly in the mix heading into next weekend.
Radley College
Under new leadership, Radley College have had a curious season to behold. They were seventh overall at the Schools’ Head of the River, over 20 seconds back on St Paul’s School, but have clearly found their now trademarked speed surge, as they won junior eights at Wallingford Regatta. They brought plenty of crews to Bedford Regatta too, but opted not to boat their first eight, leaving Bedford School to take the top prize on the day. With Patrick Duggan – formerly of King’s College School – taking the reins, the question mark will be whether they can convert the perennial posturing in and around the fastest schoolboy eights in the country into silverware of the highest order. They were silver medalists at this event in 2024, a result I think they would love to replicate as we approach the apex of the junior rowing season.
King’s College School, Wimbledon
Another programme with change in the air, King’s College School, Wimbledon will be keen to progress up the rankings next weekend. They were sixth in March after a winter playing second-fiddle to St Paul’s on home turf, and followed this up at Wallingford Regatta by placing third in junior eights (behind Radley and Latymer). Having lost one of their star athletes, Alastair Heathcote, to Munich Junior International Regatta duties, the expectation is that his inclusion will only strengthen their resolve. If they can pick up a medal at this year’s staging of the National Schools’ Regatta – which be their first in this category since 2022 – that would probably represent an excellent return on this season’s cumulative investment.
Prediction
The gold medal does seem like it is St Paul’s to lose. I expect Eton and Shiplake to be close behind, particularly if they’ve timed their run-in well. If we consider a scenario where all crews have their best race, I will predict the ranking as St Paul’s School, Eton College, and then Shiplake College.
About The Author
Discover more from JRN
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
