A new year, a fresh start – promising crews, renewed rivalries, reputations to forge; all things that come to mind when we hear that name – Quintin Head. A race that has been opening the eights season on the Tideway since 2001, and a highlight of winter racing, Quintin Head is a perfect opportunity for crews to test themselves in preparation for the Head of The River races in the coming months, and as such is well-attended by some of the most prestigious names in both junior and senior rowing. There are over 300 crews poised to take on this infamous stretch of Tideway, 14 of which will be sure to provide us with some thrilling racing as they battle to claim the title of the fastest Junior 16 open eight.
St Paul’s School Boat Club
To look through the list of entries for this year’s Quintin Head and gloss over the three from St Paul’s School Boat Club, would, I think, be foolhardy, nigh on criminal. A legendary name in the British schoolboy rowing scene, they are renowned for their eights. The boys from St Paul’s will be looking to add the Junior 16 title at Quintin to their lengthy list of victories. Having taken second place in the Junior 15 eight last year to King’s College School, all three St Paul’s crews will be pushing hard, seeking to mirror the results of last year’s Schools’ Head of the River Race, where the Junior 15 King’s College crew were overturned by St Paul’s A to take the victory. Building off of last year, I think that the budding J16s from St Paul’s will be hard to beat, a trait shown in their resounding 20+ second victory in the Junior 16 coxed four at the inaugural Junior Fours Head, as the boys will be sure to want to continue this winning streak.
Radley College Boat Club
A strong contender to upset the dominance of St Paul’s in the schoolboy eight scene bursts from the banks of Radley College Boat Club. Yet another byword for British schoolboy rowing, crews from Radley College always seem to fare well wherever they compete, be that domestically, with strong performances at Henley Royal Regatta, or across the globe, with crews demonstrating the quality of training they receive and the grit they manufacture at events such as the Head of the Charles. I’ll be expecting this same grit to be very prevalent in both eights that Radley are putting into Quintin, especially the Phillips-bowed crew that secured victory over a St Paul’s crew in the Band One Junior 16 eight at the recent Wallingford Head, and I reckon that their confidence following on from this win only weeks ago will have them hungry and hot on the heels of those St Paul’s crews.
Westminster School Boat Club
A resounding fourth place at last year’s Schools’ Head of the River Race in the Junior 15 eight sets up the crew from the Westminster School Boat Club to place on the podium. A less than satisfactory start to the winter season for Westminster, however, with their Junior 16 eight failing to start at the recent Wallingford Head, could spur them on to prove their mettle, which definitely has the potential to cause some upsets with the running favourites.
Shiplake College Boat Club
Shiplake College Boat Club, another great bastion of junior rowing, are also throwing their hat into the ring as a contender for the Junior 16 title. Shiplake are infamous for their powerful crews that have stormed many of the domestic races over the past decade, and the sheer volume of their alumni who go on to row at an international level and secure great victories is a testament to the time and effort that they put into their crews and the quality of training that they all receive. As such, it would come as no shock to me were there an incredibly dominant performance from the crew from Shiplake, as I’m sure they’ll seek to replicate the results of the recent Wallingford Head, where they placed first in the Band 2 Junior 16 eights, but actually outpaced the winning Radley crew of the Band 1 Eights by almost 19 seconds! A display like that isn’t down to luck, and as such, I believe Shiplake will be going into this weekend’s race with an air of confidence that will be very hard to diminish.
Prediction
Ultimately, I think this will become a two-horse race, with the crews from Shiplake and St Paul’s School vying for advantage over one another, and whilst St Paul’s experience on the Tideway will give them an edge over Shiplake, I do think that the Shiplake crew will just creep out to take the victory. However, I think the race for third place will be just as exciting, between Radley College and Westminster School, with Radley’s recent experience and success giving them an air of confidence going into the race. I wouldn’t rule out an upset from the Westminster boys, with their misfortune at Wallingford still smarting, giving them the grit to dig in deep and race hard.
