The Thames’ twists and turns at Wallingford play host to one of the last head races of 2025. A challenging 4000m upstream course awaits the clubs participating in this year’s race. While the current cold and wet weather may provide additional jeopardy, having led to the cancellation of the race in both 2023 and 2024, the forecast for Sunday (at the time of writing) promises sunshine and light winds. Rowers from the upper reaches of the Thames will now cautiously be looking forward to testing their first months of winter training against local rivals and further-afield crews alike.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
Oxford Brookes‘ women have had a quiet start to the season, with no major racing under their belts as of yet. Recent major changes in coaching structure, and a turbulent season last year, which left the squad with no wins at Henley Royal Regatta and only one (the Aspirational Academic 8+) at Henley Women’s, have left the previously dominant Brookes under a shadow. However, alongside their two fours entered this weekend, four eights are also racing in the first division (three U23 crews and one senior crew for time only), indicating continued depth in the squad, including four current GB trialists. There is no doubt that intimate knowledge of their home stretch will also benefit them hugely. Leading off in both the coxed and coxless four categories, it seems likely that they will take the double win, repeating their efforts from 2022.
Sir William Perkins’s School Boat Club
The crew from Sir William Perkins’s School, however, may challenge Brookes’ efforts. A four from the school recently competed in the championship coxless four at Fours Head and finished as 16th-fastest across all women’s coxless four categories, with the crew including rising star and GB U19 World Championships silver medallist Emily Nicholas. This, coupled with their recent training camp in Wallingford, will make them a formidable opponent for the Oxford Brookes entry, assuming no changes in lineup.
Lea Rowing Club
Lea may also be contenders here in both categories, with one coxless and two coxed fours taking to the Thames. Their ‘A’ boat recently came fifth out of 32 in the club coxed four category at Fours Head, with their ‘B’ boat not far behind in 11th place; meanwhile, their club coxless four came in 19th out of 39. Whilst I expect crew lineups may have changed slightly, this marks a very strong early-season performance in the ranks of the smaller London squads; it will be interesting to see if their success is consistent as the season develops. Additionally, Lea qualified a coxless and development coxed four at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2025, showing decent form in these boat classes. I would expect them to be the fastest club crews in both events.
Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club
Maidstone Invicta‘s three coxless fours likely align with their crews that also raced at Fours Head, with their top boat coming in 16th, three places ahead of Lea, in another decent showing for a smaller squad. Whilst their crews may not be in line for the win when up against the mighty Brookes, we will see Lea and Maidstone battling it out for midfield dominance, with coxless fours from RAF Boat Club and City of Oxford Rowing Club chasing them on.
Oxford University Boat Club
With five women’s eights racing for time only in this division, it seems likely that the Oxford University‘s coxed four is more of a development entry. OUBC raced four championship coxed fours and five senior academic coxed fours at Fours Head, coming away with some respectable results, including fifth in the championship coxed four. However, their academic fours perhaps didn’t perform as well as expected, with their top entry coming in 7th behind three Cambridge crews. It is still early in the season, however, and OUBC are still building momentum – and the home water advantage is not to be sniffed at, especially on this complex course.
Predictions
It seems inevitable that Oxford Brookes are the favourites to win both the coxless and coxed four categories, even without any major results from this season to gauge their current strength. However, spirited performances and confident steering from Sir William Perkins’s School in their coxless four and Lea RC in their two coxed fours could potentially challenge Brookes’ dominance, especially at this early stage in the season.
