What a weekend of surprises. Cancelled racing, a fearsome headwind, new kings and queens anointed on the throne of junior rowing and a venue change that made the whole event feel eerily like stepping back through the pages of time. This year’s National Schools’ Regatta will regrettably be remembered for the organising committee’s decision to preemptively cancel racing on the Sunday, after forecasts showed strong gusts and a devilish crosswind were in store for participants. That choice, taken on the Friday evening, enabled many to rearrange their plans in suitable time, but robbed us of the high drama that usually accompanies the setting Sunday sun on the second May bank holiday.
Without wanting to dwell on matters of the weather, the racing we did get to witness was furiously fought and fearlessly focused, with Nottingham acting as the proving ground for a new generation of national champions to rise.
Open Championship Eights
Who saw this coming? Certainly not JRN, whose pre-race prediction had favourites St Paul’s School firmly cast as the crew to beat. Bobby Thatcher’s boys have had their fair share of trouble to deal with, including losing one of their crew members to a stroke-related illness. Whilst we send our very best wishes to him and his family, that loss clearly impacted St Paul’s, who seemed to struggle to find top gear in their time-trial or final.
Those who support Shiplake College will probably be frustrated at my choice not to immediately acknowledge a remarkable day for Dave Currie’s programme. In a stunning 15-minute period, they won both open and girls’ championship eights to emerge as the country’s finest school rowing institution. Their boys won the time-trial by less than a second over Radley before turning on the gas in the final to win by over six seconds (having already established a near-four-second lead over the field at 500m gone). This is Dave and Hugh Mackworth-Praed’s magnum opus; the school have been chasing top-tier titles since appointing Currie to run the programme over a decade ago, and they don’t come bigger than the Queen Mother’s Cup for open championship eights.
Radley College also put on a sensational showing to collect silver after finishing seventh at the Schools’ Head of the River in March. Patrick Duggan’s influence is already beginning to show, and now the eyes will turn to Henley Royal Regatta, where Radley are well-known for finding additional speed.
The middle grouping in the A-final (St Paul’s, Hampton and St Edward’s School) were forced to re-row their portion of the contest after an errant safety boat was deemed to have washed down the group in the first staging. St Paul’s showed grit and resolve to reaffirm their third-place position, while Hampton usurped Teddies to finish fourth overall, their best result in over a decade.
Meanwhile, Bedford School stole the last A-final slot from under the noses of Eton College, whose absence from the top table of schoolboy rowing was a bad moment for a programme still bristling after the departure of first eight coach, Mark Fangen-Hall.
Girls’ Championship Eights
Watching Shiplake College’s women drift away from the medal pontoon after securing an epic victory in their showpiece staging, only to be applauded and cheered by their male counterparts, was a special moment for the athletes and everyone involved with this group. Their win was perhaps even more surprising than the men, not least because they finished nearly 20 seconds behind Headington School in March. Whatever Dan Safdari has been cooking is clearly going down well, because they finished nearly seven seconds to the good to reverse the Schools’ Head of the River result. Like all of the racing on Saturday, the conditions will surely have played a part in the margins – and I fully expect Headington to come back in similar fashion to 2024 – but this new name at the top of the leaderboard is a refreshing moment for schoolgirl rowing.
St Edward’s School are another example of a programme finding its feet with ever-increasing assurance in this arena, winning bronze after last year’s silver. Things are shaping up nicely heading into the Henley series, as Teddies + Headington and Shiplake are all finely poised for a tilt at The Prince Philip Challenge Trophy. Latymer Upper School emerged from the wilderness of their eighth-place finish at the Schools’ Head of the River to finish fourth, defeating fancied outfits from Wallingford, Lady Eleanor Holles and Enniskillen.
Open Championship Quads
What else is there left to say here? There is simply no touching this sensational Windsor Boys’ School quad or programme. They won their final by over 15 seconds, sculling steadily away from the field to increase their lead at every timing marker. The race is now surely on for the honour of being their opponents in the final of The Fawley Challenge Cup, with the Tideway Scullers School putting on a clinic in quad sculling to finish second shortly after their girls won the women’s title. Claires Court raced superbly to win bronze, ahead of Hinksey Sculling School in fourth, Molesey in fifth and Marlow in sixth. Lea and Leander – two of my pre-race favourites – were consigned to the B-final after the removal of semifinals, which meant that time trials determined the rankings of the races of significance.
Girls’ Championship Quads
After Marlow absolutely dominated the time trials, putting nearly six seconds into Schools’ Head of the River winners from the Tideway Scullers School, it seemed like we might have a surprise in store. However, Rhona MacCallum’s girls quickly put those theories to bed with a calm and composed performance that spoke volumes about the quality of coaching underway at this crucible of club rowing. Supported by the able talents of Helen Taylor in recent weeks, this quartet took the Sherriff Cup away from Wycliffe College for the first time in three years, as the latter fell into silver with Marlow securing bronze. From here, Tideway Scullers look like a good bet for their second Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup in three years – and the second such victory for crew member Amalka Delevante – but the jostling pack behind them will keep surging, with Maidenhead crossing the line in fourth ahead of Henley in fifth and Sir William Perkins in sixth. I also expect Hartpury to find their feet in the coming weeks with all the talent on board their boat.
Other Stories
The championship singles threw up a fresh set of results. The open title went to Elias Tejpaul of the American School In London, who decimated everyone else to win his A-final by a commanding 16 seconds. His name was not one JRN had noted in advance (more fool us) with his only performance of real note coming at Poplar Regatta the weekend before plus a fifth-placed finish in championship doubles at the 2024 National Schools’ Regatta , but the way in which he eviscerated the field will now beg the question as to whether he can compete for international representation in the summer for his native Switzerland.
On the girl’s side, the absence of two-time winner Briony Wood left the door open for Scarlett Palmer of Chester le Street to take the win over Seren Page of Nottingham Rowing Club. Ella McDougall, one of the pre-race favourites, capsized midway through the contest, having been in second place. The singles are always a real high point, as the eclectic mix of clubs and programmes from across the country is a positive reinforcement of the breadth and depth of junior rowing in the UK.
St Paul’s School and St Paul’s Girls’ School won the opening four A-finals of the Saturday session in a commanding showing of strength from the Hammersmith-based duality, whilst the Windsor Boys’ School and Wycliffe College won the second quads category to demonstrate their immense depth. The former also collected the open championship coxed four title, warning the rest of the community that if Mark Wilkinson can teach his athletes to be as prolific with one blade as they are with two, we could all be in serious trouble.
Kingston Grammar School had an excellent weekend, collecting three golds across the two days (girls’ Junior 15 coxed fours, girls’ Junior 16 coxed fours and girls’ championship coxed fours) whilst Radley College and St Edward’s School collected the open second and third eight titles respectively.
With just over five weeks to go until Henley Royal Regatta, the race is now on for crews to find as much extra speed as possible. With perhaps an exception given to The Fawley Challenge Cup – and the simply sensational Windsor Boys’ School – all three of the junior titles feel like they’re up for grabs. Shiplake have shaken the tree and leave Nottingham as national champions, forcing their opponents to lick their wounds and find some collective comfort in the fact that the races of most notoriety are yet to come.
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