This year feels a little different. Wallingford Regatta is the first marker in the sand of competition, the opening bow for crews up and down the country to test their mettle after a long winter of time trials and mileage. This year, though, the landscape is shifting. We can no longer expect or guarantee that the same names appear at the top of the timesheets; the competitive environment is evolving to accommodate the deconstruction of dynasties and the unfurling of new challengers. Yesterday’s results bore that theory out – there was a selection of surprises on the timesheets, and it is now clear that this summer will be compelling from a neutral perspective.
Open Challenge Eights
To the eagle-eyed observer, it will be very apparent that the full scale of Thames’ firepower is yet to be revealed. They were in matched eights yesterday, placing second and third in the A-final behind London, who won the event outright and perhaps have their hierarchical ducks in a better row at this stage of the season. It’s hard to speculate whether Stu Heap and his athletes will view this as a positive result given they were also missing a couple of their top oarsmen. On the one hand, they finished nearly three seconds clear of Thames, which is never a bad result. Conversely, given the matched nature, they didn’t put the amount of distance and time into Sander Smulder’s crew as they might have hoped. This leaves us tantalisingly balanced approaching another training block.
St Paul’s School, who opted to race up a division, were fourth overall, seven seconds ahead of St Edward’s School. That distance was extended from the heat, and their time was also three seconds quicker than any other junior crew on the day.
Women’s Challenge Eights
Consider the surprise sprung. Molesey have risen from relative quietude on the women’s side – where their efforts amounted to two semifinals in open events at Henley Royal Regatta last year – to be a genuine contender in women’s club rowing. They won this event by five seconds over Thames, whose perennial dominance of this category means they’ll be fired up to retake the crown over the coming weeks. This Molesey crew are not entirely Wargrave-eligible, so that is an important consideration when reflecting on the competitive set, but with the induction of The Bridge Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta, this boat may be gearing up for a tilt at the intermediate title.
Where Thames may have slipped back on Molesey, they continued to exert control on their home patch. They placed three eights in the A-final, all of whom finished ahead of London, who rounded out the line-up here. Leander were third, two seconds behind Thames’ A crew.
Open Junior Eights
A huge entry – that generated five heats and a repechage – amounted to an impressive win for Radley College, whose typical early-season sluggishness fools so many into writing them off at the first hurdle. Perhaps more remarkable was that they secured two of the six available seats in the A-final, with their ‘B’ crew finishing fifth. Latymer had a good day, placing second despite losing Raphael Corbett to the Munich Junior International Regatta. Eton – who placed third overall at the Schools’ Head of the River in March – had a slower day, having to go through the repechage to reach the A-final before scratching from the final. Despite also losing two athletes to overseas commitments, King’s College School were third, only seven seconds back on Radley. With Shiplake, St Paul’s and Teddies to re-enter the fray, we should be in for a fascinating close season.
Women’s Junior Eights
With the Schools’ Head of the River victors, Headington, opting not to boat their top eight here (after four of their athletes were selected for Munich), the runway was left empty for St Edward’s School to take an impressive win over a field including Henley, Shiplake and Lady Eleanor Holles. This category is arguably one of the most compelling as we approach the apex of the summer season; any one of six crews could be in prime position come the Henley series. 20 seconds was the gap in March between Headington and the chasing pack – expect that to shorten as the crews around Ryan Demaine’s programme get faster, wiser and more race-savvy.
Open Junior Quads
Relatively little surprise at the business end here, as the indomitable Windsor Boys School took the top prize, despite missing two of their best athletes. We’ve waxed lyrical about this programme in the past few years, but their canonical superiority is now such that they are expected to triumph even when missing 50% of their horsepower. The Grange School wound up second after placing sixth in March at the Schools’ Head of the River, seeing off the close attentions of Great Marlow School, Claires Court School and Marlow Rowing Club.
Women’s Junior Quads
It appears that the Tideway Scullers School have chosen their voyage vessel for 2025 – and it’s the quad. After stints in the eight, which saw them take the junior headship at the Women’s Head of the River, and the quad, which led them to a similarly decisive victory at the Schools’ Head of the River a few weeks later, the question mark was around which boat they’d prioritise. Winning by three seconds was made all the more impressive by the fact that two of their star athletes were in Munich, so this boat will only get faster. With Wycliffe to come back here, the accumulating pack will be curious to watch; Marlow were second yesterday, four seconds faster than Claires Court, who in turn saw off the Royal Shrewsbury School by nearly 13 seconds.
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