Pairs Head is the second race on the Tideway of the 2025/26 season, taking place just six days after Vesta Scullers Head. The event, run by Barnes Bridge Ladies Rowing Club, spans 4,500m. Crews will start at Chiswick Bridge and race downstream to Harrods Furniture Depository, just after Hammersmith Bridge. The Women’s Intermediate Doubles category will be contested by 11 hopeful crews, travelling from as far as Nottingham to take part. As one of the first major head races of the season, Pairs Head serves as a way for athletes to test how their summer training has set them up for the season ahead, and how they measure up against their rivals.
Nottingham Rowing Club
Sisters, Annie Beaumont and Cathy Beaumont, who unsurprisingly have plenty of experience racing together, make up Nottingham’s double. In 2023, the duo were part of Nottingham’s first crew ever to qualify for the Wargrave Challenge Cup, and only a few months ago, they accomplished the same feat of qualification in a stacked field. Another aspect of their impressive portfolio was the pair’s progression to the quarterfinals of the Lester Trophy for Club Coxless Fours at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2024, proving they are not to be underestimated this weekend.
Upper Thames Rowing Club
Another crew with experience not to be taken for granted is Upper Thames. Only a few months ago, Lucy Ryan stroked their Wargrave ‘A’ crew at Henley Royal Regatta and was also part of their pair that made it to the final of Henley Women’s Regatta in the Redgrave Challenge Vase. On Saturday, Ryan will be joining forces with Yasmin Ryman-King, a fellow Henley Women’s Regatta finalist and National Schools’ Regatta silver medallist.
Globe Rowing Club
Globe RC are the only club to have two crews entered in this category. The first crew consists of Imogen Pringle and Naomi Doye who together qualified for the Chairman’s Trophy for Aspirational Coxless Quads at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2023. Their second crew is formed of Helen Gilbody, who has just raced at Vesta Scullers Head, testing the waters ahead of this weekend, placing sixth in the Lightweight Women’s category. She is joined by Tilda Haines, an experienced rower who has represented the University of York BC and Loughborough BC.
Kingston Rowing Club
Soraya Jalili is another competitor who raced at Vesta Scullers Head where she placed tenth in the Lightweight Women’s category. This weekend, Jalili will team up with Kingston RC captain Sally Young, who placed fifth in the Mixed Doubles category at Pairs Head last year.
Putney High School Boat Club
Despite being the only school crew competing in the category, Smith and Sodha from Putney High School boast a competitive edge of familiarity with the Tideway. The ability to read the conditions of the Thames, coupled with the familiarity of boating from their own club, is something that can make all the difference on such a tricky stretch of river.
Predictions
It looks as though Saturday will be the first Pairs Head for most of these crews. Although many of them have likely raced the Championship Course in eights, I think the experience of those who have navigated the stretch for themselves is likely to give them the edge. Whether the familiarity with this exact stretch that Putney High School possess outweighs the likely greater experience of the rowers from Globe RC, who are based further downstream, will be interesting to see. That being said, the forecast conditions for the weekend appear favourable, so the double from Upper Thames Rowing Club, formed from two HWR finalists, could well be the front-runners for the title. I think their greatest competition comes from the likes of Nottingham RC and Globe RC ‘A’. However, if conditions take a turn for the worse, it could be the girls from Putney High School who come out on top.
