Poplar Regatta 2025 – Men’s Junior 18 Quads Preview

Hosted in the London Regatta Centre, Poplar Regatta is a small but well-known race for clubs in London. Despite its humble number of competitors, it also attracts clubs from farther away. The atmosphere of the race is unlike any other, since a straight, manmade course next to an airport is a new experience for many. The field of competition is rather challenging, considering the small number of entries in the Junior 18 quads, with some well-known clubs arriving to fight it out for the top spots.

Tideway Scullers School

A club relatively local to the course, Tideway Scullers School have had some incredible performances over the years, and this season is no different. Although they are notoriously known as one of the best junior sculling clubs on the Tideway, their crews have missed the top spots in recent events. The TSS quad performed well at the Schools’ Head of the River earlier this year, with an eighth-place showing their capability. Moving into the regatta season, they raced a double and a quad at Junior Sculling Regatta, placing 20th and eighth, respectively. However, only one person from the double is racing in the quad for Poplar Regatta, so their performance will be hard to predict.

Lea Rowing Club

The crews from Lea Rowing Club have achieved exceptional results this year, evidencing their determination to place in the top spots. Even though only one of the athletes from their winning quad at the Junior Sculling Regatta is present in the crew racing at Poplar Regatta, a win in a national race can never be discounted. At the Oarsport Junior Sculling Head, they missed out on a medal by placing fourth in the Junior 18 quads, but a performance like that justifies their ranking here as pre-event favourites.

King’s School Canterbury, The Boat Club A

Although less frequently seen at the sharp end of junior rowing, the King’s School Canterbury have raced in several events this year, primarily the two big Head races on the Tideway: the Schools’ Head of the River and Hammersmith Head, where they placed 25th and eighth respectively. It will be hard to predict the capability of a crew such as this one without more results, but I can safely say that they have a good chance of being in contention for one of the podium spots in this regatta.

Notable Mentions

Out of the six crews in this event, the competition for the podium spots will be tight, so a ‘notable mentions’ section seemed fitting to cover everyone racing. The potential of King’s School Ely is hard to analyse without any data on their past performances, so it will be challenging to predict their result. The same goes for King’s School Canterbury, The Boat Club B, as the two quads may have mixed around since the races. Another formidable opponent in this race is American School in London, who came ninth at Schools’ Head of the River, ahead of some strong opponents, showing their ability to perform at the highest standard.

Prediction

Usually, predicting the outcome of a race is difficult. However, I do not doubt that Lea Rowing Club will take the top spot in this race, given that their past results highlight them as one of the best Junior 18 quads in the country. Tideway Scullers School will be close on their tail, with a strong head race pedigree. Based on the fact that American School in London came one place behind Tideway Scullers School at the Schools’ Head of the River, I think that they are on par with King’s School Canterbury A for the third and final spot on the podium. The competition towards the bottom of the event will be fierce, as all of the crews have shown their ability to perform incredibly well throughout this year of racing.