The days are getting longer, the sun is shining brighter, and marquees are beginning to be erected in a small town in South Oxfordshire. Summer racing has officially begun. The first in a series of annual pre-Henley royal Regatta contests, Wallingford Regatta is run on the familiar site of Eton Dorney. The Head of the River Race 2025 arguably saw the first test of strong regional players against each other, where the might of the London Putney elite battled the finest from Cambridge, Bristol and others. A good performance here could not just give a mental uplift, but it could catch the eye of the Henley Royal Regatta Stewards and make a berth in The Thames Challenge Cup that much more assured. At its core, however, the objective remains the same. Go through 2000m faster than the other boats.
Thames Rowing Club
When your club’s third crew can beat most clubs’ first eights, you know you have a system that works. Season after season, boats are filled with the best and brightest oarsmen and gap year students with fast ergs and big dreams that make the Thames RC armada a force to be reckoned with. Three wins at Henley Royal Regatta 2024 was followed by an impressive head season, culminating in five eights finishing inside the top 40 at the 2025 Head of the River Race and two eights inside the top ten. Thames have raised the bar in club rowing significantly over their period of dominance, but so too have their rivals, with the gap between the black and red of Thames and the chasing pack looking slimmer with every passing year. Sander Smulders has entered two eights in this event, each of which will want to avenge the silver medal in last year’s event and maintain Thames’ status as the best club in the country.
London Rowing Club
A club that has fought its way back from the relative wilderness to become a ferocious challenge to Thames hegemony, the rise of London RC back to the top of club rowing has been one of the most exciting narratives of the last half-decade. A win at Henley Royal Regatta two years ago, the rebuild of the women’s squad to make the final of the Wargrave Challenge Cup (an occurrence that would have been unthinkable a few short years ago) and a Thames Challenge Cup campaign that many thought was a virtual cert to win. But, like much in life, things didn’t go according to plan, as the red and black of Thames felled the blue and white. In 2025, London have been consistently competitive, placing two crews in the top ten at the Head of the River Race and picking up the headship at Quintin Head in January. Under Stu Heap, the club have oscillated in recent years between the eight and the four as their top boats for Henley Royal Regatta, which, given they have very fast athletes, should prove for an exciting spectacle further down the line.
Eton College
Dominant in schoolboy rowing throughout the last decade, Eton started this decade well and have continued to perform at or above their high standards over the past couple of years. With no Henley Royal Regatta win since 2021, the longest streak without the most cherished schoolboy silverware since 2009, Eton are still amongst the pack but have slightly slipped behind St Paul’s, Radley and Shiplake in the last couple of seasons. With the tenure of Olympic gold medallist Will Satch now truly underway, Eton were third at the Schools’ Head of the River, bested only by Shiplake and holders St Paul’s School. As with most school boat clubs, Eton tends to develop speed late on in the season, making any results here a decent predictor of where they will end up at Henley Royal Regatta and National Schools’ Regatta 2025. A win seems unlikely, given the quality of the other crews in this event, but Eton should feel confident in the work they’ve put in this season and should place well in this event.
St Paul’s School
With no athletes due to compete at the Munich Junior International Regatta, this may well be very close to St Paul’s fastest crew. After another exemplary winter – where they took both the Schools’ Head of the River and Hammersmith Head headships plus placed several athletes at the top end of GBRT U19 trials – Bobby Thatcher will have his sights firmly set on retaining both the boy’s championship eight title at the National Schools’ Regatta and then The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. The talent in this crew runs deep, with athletes like Alp Karadogan and Patrick Wild, who won the U19 Trials April Regatta in the pair, featuring prominently. If St Paul’s have found more speed over the long Easter break, we could be in for another breathtaking summer run.
Marlow Rowing Club
Another rapidly-emerging contender in the ever-shifting club landscape, Marlow have had a sensational 12 months. Their win in The Wyfold Challenge Cup was followed up by a string of impressive performances in the eight throughout the winter, and they rounded it out with a 17th-place finish and the Page Trophy at the Head of the River Race in March. Depending on which boat they prioritise in the summer, they could be a force to be reckoned with.
Prediction
I can’t see anyone other than Thames or London winning this event, and based on current form in the head season, I would say Thames will just edge out London for the win. Regarding the minor placings, I would expect the junior crews of St Paul’s, Eton, Hampton and possibly Bedford to be in the mix with Marlow and perhaps TSS joining them in the A-final.
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