Three of the team headed up to Scotland this weekend for Monster the Loch 2022, a gruelling 21 mile row along the length of Loch Ness.
All types of boats are invited to take part, from conventional racing boats to ocean rowing boats, kayaks, skiffs, and even dragon boats.
Over 300 participants and 90 vessels raced the loch, with the winner, a Surfski Double, completing the 21 miles in just under 2hours and 40minutes.
All images from boating, racing, and the finish line are available now at https://www.allmarkstore.co.uk/f528005595
]]>This weekend sees the first major regattas of the season taking place - BUCS Regatta, Wallingford Regatta, and Junior Sculling Regatta, with over 5,000 athletes racing.
Over the next few months we’ll be shooting as many events as possible, with more increased coverage than any other past season. (We’ve also finalised a super exciting system that allows us to get your start images on the site before you even cross the finish line!)
That’s just a little update from us. Stay tuned on our social media channels @allmarkone, and see a list below of the events we’re covering up until Henley Royal.
30 Apr-02 May - BUCS Regatta
01 May - Wallingford Regatta
02 May - Junior Sculling Regatta
07-08 May - Ghent Regatta
07-08 May - Durham City Regatta
07-08 May - Shrewsbury Regatta
08 May - Ball Cup
21 May - Blenheim Palace Regatta
21 May - Nottingham City Regatta
27-29 May - National Schools’ Regatta
04-05 June - Met Regatta
04-05 June - Scottish Champs
11-12 June - British Rowing Masters Champs
11-12 June - Durham Regatta
11-12 June - Reading Amateur Regatta
17-19 June - Henley Womens’ Regatta
18 June - Marlow Regatta
19 June - Thames Valley Park Regatta
24 June - Henley Qualifiers
25 June - Reading Town Regatta
26 June - GB vs France J16 Trials
28 June-03 July - Henley Royal Regatta
]]>ACTION | VOICE OBJECTIONS TO COUNCIL HERE |
PROPOSAL INFORMATION |
Last week, a plan was submitted to Richmond Council proposing a ferry service at Harrods Wharf in light of the continued closure of Hammersmith Bridge. This will have a significant negative impact on many people who use the river recreationally, including the rowing community.
The ferry is proposed to run regularly from 06:00 to 22:00, creating major river traffic in the area of river that has already been cut short due to the bridge closure. The route itself would particularly impact Fulham Reach Boat Club, a registered charity situated directly opposite Harrods. Their pontoon was also suggested as a landing site for the ferry without their permission or consultation.
Fulham Reach Boat Club allow more than 1,300 local state school children from both sides of the river, including Richmond and Barnes, to access the river every year. They have a further 200 local members who use the charity to recreationally access the Thames. They have been nationally recognised for their charitable work, winning Club of the Year at the 2020 British Rowing Awards.
The ferry would force the club to close, leading to 25 job losses and preventing thousands of people from accessing the river. FRBC have done fantastic work in making rowing more accessible and it would be heartbreaking to see their work end. The proposal would also cause damage to the surrounding area that has been highlighted for conservation by Richmond Council themselves.
We urge anyone in the rowing community to voice their concerns to this proposal and support FRBC and the following rowing clubs below Hammersmith Bridge who will be most affected.
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Last updated 10 Jan.
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Date Planned | Event Name | Current Status |
Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 | Star Club New Year Head | Presumably Cancelled, No Public Confirmation |
Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 | Boston Head | Presumably Cancelled, No Public Confirmation |
Saturday, 23 Jan 2021 | Quintin Eights Head | Cancelled |
Sunday, 24 Jan 2021 | Cardiff Head of the Taff | Presumably Cancelled, No Public Confirmation |
Saturday, 30 January 2021 | Hampton Head | Cancelled |
Saturday, 6 Feb 2021 | Wycliffe Big Head | Cancelled |
Saturday, 6 Feb 2021 | Peterborough Head of the Nene | Presumably Cancelled, No Public Confirmation |
Sunday, 7 Feb 2021 | Remenham Challenge | Cancelled |
Saturday, 13 Feb 2021 | Henley 4s & 8s Head | Cancelled |
Saturday, 13 Feb 2021 | GB Non-Olympic & U23 Trials | |
Sunday, 14 Feb 2021 | Bedford 8s & 4s Head | Presumably Cancelled, No Public Confirmation |
Saturday, 20 Feb 2021 | GB Junior Trials | |
Saturday, 20 Feb 2021 | BUCS Champ + Beginner Head | Cancelled |
Sunday, 21 Feb 2021 | BUCS Champ + Beginner Head | Cancelled |
Sunday, 21 Feb 2021 | GB Junior Trials | |
Sunday, 21 Feb 2021 | Hammersmith Head | Cancelled |
Saturday, 27 Feb 2021 | Reading University Head | Running |
Saturday, 27 Feb 2021 | Norwich Head | Running |
Sunday, 28 Feb 2021 | Head of the Trent | Cancelled |
Saturday, 6 Mar 2021 | WEHORR | Cancelled |
Saturday, 20 Mar 2021 | HORR | Cancelled |
Monday, 22 Mar 2021 | Oarsport Junior Sculling Head | Running |
Wednesday, 24 Mar 2021 | Schools' Head | Running |
This morning the Boat Race Company Limited (BRCL) announced that The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge will be held on the Great Ouse at Ely in April 2021. The event will see the 166th Men’s and the 75th Women’s boat races.
The decision to relocate the 2021 event reflects the challenge of planning a high-profile amateur event around continuing COVID related restrictions as well as uncertainty regarding the safety and navigation of Hammersmith Bridge. Hammersmith Bridge was closed to vehicles in April 2019 and closed to all pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic in August this year after concerns a crack had grown significantly during a heat wave. Following consultation with long-term partners in London, East Cambridge District Council, and the Environment Agency, The Boat Race are delighted to have strong local support, enabling them to hold the world-famous races in Ely, where the Cambridge University Boat Club is based.
BRCL is now working with local authorities to ensure a safe event for the local community, crews, and coaches, as well as the volunteers and contractors helping to stage the races.
They are encouraging the millions of Boat Race fans to get involved at home, enjoying the event on the BBC and respecting any restrictions that may be in place at the time.
Dr George Gilbert, Chair of BRCL’s Race and Operations Committee:
"Everyone is facing significant challenges right now, especially students up and down the country. Organising sport safely and responsibly is our highest priority and moving The Boat Race to Ely in 2021 enables the event to go ahead in a secure environment. While we are sad not to be able to welcome the usual hundreds of thousands of spectators along the course, we will be inviting our communities and wider audience to get involved via our social media channels, and to enjoy the historic event on the BBC."
The Boat Race athletes have been training under strict COVID-19 guidelines laid down by British Rowing, University sports departments and the Government. The crews trained on the water for two months before the November lockdown. The student athletes then began training at home on egos, committed to gaining their place in one of the crews to race in April 2021.
BRCL have thanked their partners Wainwright Golden Beer, Chapel Down and the BBC for their support to help them deliver The Boat Race in 2021.
Keep up to date with all AllMarkOne updates on our social media, @allmarkone. For more information about The Boat Race, visit www.theboatrace.org, or follow them on Instagram (@theboatraces).
All images ©AllMarkOne. Contact for usage.
]]>While summer regatta facing seems far away, it was exciting to see the National Schools Regatta committee's announcement today with regards to their plans for the 2021 event.
Its great to see a commitment to gender parity across events. Changes at the junior level of the sport are so important and will set a new standard for future generations of athletes. The 55/45 split across boys' and girls' entries at the 2019 event should only grow closer to even in future years.
Similarly, the introduction of further sculling events to balance their availability with sweep events is great to see. Especially given the Henley Royal Regatta entry restrictions, clubs tend to favour sculling entries. Clubs on the whole play a key role in making the sport of rowing accessible irrespective of background and hopefully this change will help to encourage young club athletes to take part.
Events will remain available for second crews, aligning with the aspiration of the regatta's founder, Desmond Hill OBE, to 'provide wider experience and comeptition for juniors in school'.
To manage ever increasing entry numbers and ensure the continued safe running of the regatta, a new rule preventing doubling up has been introduced. The hope is that many athletes will still be able to compete across a wide range of boat classes.
The progression system will remain the same as in previous years, with crews qualifying for side-by-side racing being offered at least one but most likely two races.
Further information can be found on the NSR twitter page.
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Racing from 1st to 5th July
Running and Ergo individual and crew events from J12 to J18 and parents.
The aim of this event is to finish the school year with a fun five day event and to engage as many junior rowers as possible and to be a defining rowers’ event of 2020.
]]>Racing from 1st to 5th July
Running and Ergo individual and crew events from J12 to J18 and parents.
The aim of this event is to finish the school year with a fun five day event and to engage as many junior rowers as possible and to be a defining rowers’ event of 2020.
We realise that not everyone has access to an ergo, so we have included running into the event.
The event is organised by Surbiton High School Boat Club, Headington School Boat Club and Kingston Grammar School Boat Club.
Running and Ergo, individual and crew events, from J12 to J18 and parents.
Events are either:
Individual
Crew 4x run made up of 4 runners
Crew 4x ergo made up or four people on ergo
Crews cannot be made up of 2 people running and 2 people on ergo
5 Day Championship event with distances changing each day.
Plate event for non-qualifiers later in the week.
J12 and J13 Open / Women
Wednesday to Sunday
Individual events. Competitors can compete on any day throughout the week and submit their times.
Individual run over 2112m – event Full Course
Individual ergo over 637m – event The Barrier
Individual events. Competitors can compete on any day throughout the week and submit their times.
Individual run over 2112m – event Full Course
Individual ergo over 1047m – event The Fawley
Crew running event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Run.
Crew ergo event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Ergo.
J15 Open / Women
Wednesday to Sunday
Individual events. Competitors can compete on any day throughout the week and submit their times.
Individual run or ergo over 2112m – event Full Course Run
Thursday only
Crew running event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Run.
Crew ergo event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Ergo.
J16 and J18 Open / Women
Wednesday to Sunday
Individual events. Competitors can compete on any day throughout the week and submit their times.
Individual run or ergo over 2112m – event Full Course
Friday only
Crew running event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Run.
Crew ergo event for four people over 1047m each – event Fawley Ergo.
Parents Open / Women / Mixed
Saturday Only
Competitors can compete any time throughout the day.
Individual run or ergo over 1047m – event Full Course
Crew run or ergo 4x over 2112m – event Full Course
Each crew member to complete 528m. The times will be combined for the full course time
Championship Events
Everyone races all four days accumulating points and on Sunday the top four crews will race the full 2112m final.
All crew events in fours.
Crews can include J15+ Open / Women
Event for running and ergo crews
Qualifiers take place Friday 26th June over 637m
Wednesday 1 July – Round 1 – Full Course distance 2112m
Each crew member to complete a portion of the course as decided by the crew. The times will be combined for the full course time
Crew running or ergo 4x
Thursday 2 July – Round 2 – The Fawley distance 1047m
Crew run or ergo 4x
Each crew member to complete 1047m. The times will be combined for crew time.
Friday 3 July – Round 3 - Sprint Day the Island distance 207m
Crew run or ergo 4x
Each crew member to complete 207m. The times will be combined for crew time.
Saturday 4 July – Round 4 – The Middle course Barrier to Mile distance 972m
Crew run or ergo 4x
Each crew member to complete 972m. The times will be combined for crew time.
The Parents Picnic Cup distance 1047m
mixed / male / female crews 4x
Each crew member to complete 1047m. The times will be combined for crew time.
Could possibly incorporate Alumni and Coaches into this...
Sunday 5 July – Round 5 – The Royal distance 2112m
Crew run or ergo 4x
Each crew member to complete 2112m. The times will be combined for crew time.
Entry closing date Wednesday 24 June
To enter please email the event and you will be sent a link to a Google Document
Result submission and distance recording
If Running record your distance on Nike Run Club app.
If competing on an ergo then record your screen time.
Then submit your time on your Rowing Club Google Doc entry form, making sure you enter an individual event time, of if a crew then enter the four individual times for your crew.
All race time MUST be submitted by 6pm on the day you compete.
]]>The first of the three junior men’s categories is the J18 category, changed from last time’s School/Junior category. Since last year’s race was cancelled, only a small number of the scullers here have experience with the race. Starting second is St Pauls’ Dom Valt, who won the J16 category two years ago just ahead of then-Globe RC sculler and current Etonian James Watson-Gandy. Dom’s had plenty of sweeping experience this past year; winning Nat Schools and then representing GB in the pair at coupe as a J17. Hopefully he won’t have forgotten his sculling roots and put on a good show. He’ll be chased by Sol Hewitt of Star and Arrow, who has big boots to fill at Leander after their Fawley-winning quad, and later down the course fellow hippo Joe Willis will give it a go. Joe is coming into this as one of the premier scullers after getting a double bronze at Coupe in the quad and giving it a very impressive run in the Fawley in Leander ‘B’. Some other familiar names peer out down the list from last year’s schools; Norwich’s Huck Hempsall, Mattie Sexton and Johnny Elliot are all returners from last year’s 1st VIII, KCS have a large cohort racing including last year’s Callum Betteley and George Thompson fresh from the eight and four at Coupe, and Shiplake will be looking to re-establish themselves on the Tideway early on ahead of SHORR, sending coupe’s Rhys Ash and some members from last year’s 2nd VIII in Robert Humphris and Federico Focosi, who are fresh from winning Championship Junior Doubles at Pairs Head. The rest of the J18 entries are filled up by Tideway regulars Dulwich, Globe, TSS and ASL.
There aren’t a huge number of races which offer J17 categories, and it always offers a good insight into next year’s crop of athletes. St Pauls’ Joe Middleton is back from worlds with a gold medal, and has started off his year stroking the 1st VIII at the Head of the Charles Regatta, his home water advantage will only improve his position amongst the field. Tom O’Sullivan is another SPS rower who’s just come back from the states, and already has a GB vs France vest under his belt, alongside Max Gillard and Deni Galay. A no-show from Milo Taylor and Felix Kwok seems strange as they don’t seem to be entered in any other categories despite making the trip out to Boston earlier in the year. Tristan Grainge rowed alongside Joe Willis in Leander ‘B’, but is the only Leander J17 here, despite the relatively high number of club entries. More Tideway regulars in this category with Team Keane placing four entries, and Tideway Scullers splitting their pairs head double of Oliver and Kelly who came second in junior championship doubles.
An incredible 30 J16 entries will no doubt be hell on earth for the marshals, but we do see plenty more variety in the clubs and some more veterans of the sculling scene. Windsor Boys School have eight scullers racing, closely followed by Westminster’s 6 and Team Keane’s 5. At pairs head J16 doubles were dominated by Eton in Club, and won by Shanklin Sandown in senior (all the way from the Isle of Wight!) Both Shanklin and Eton aren’t racing, but the Maidenhead double was the second fastest and we do see Jacob Ioras returning from that – a member of the J15 4x+ which on silver behind Windsor Boys at NSR. Worryingly for the rest of the field, all 4 members of that Windsor quad are racing, so we should see a very green podium for this event.
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Westminster were the dark horse this weekend, having hitherto raced sweep they have certainly made an entrance into this year's sculling. They won and beat last year’s NSR J16 and J18 quad winners TSS and Henley by just 7 seconds, so still all to play for come Schools’ Head. Henley we'd expect to be very strong in the quads again this season so perhaps this result was a little disappointing. Walton dominated band 2 winning both the quads and the coxless fours both with competitive times, so don’t disregard them as strong Fawley or Wyfold competitors.
St Paul's won the coxed four by over 20 seconds, so they seem to be dominating the sweep scene as they did in the 2018 season, with this result now being their seventh victory in a row in coxed fours. They should watch out for Bedford however, who’s band 2 time would put them second in band 1, and should be looking ahead to getting back on the scene following a dip in form last year. Another mention must go to Kings College School for winning the coxless fours by over 40 seconds, breaking the course record in the process. They will hopefully continue to rise after their NSR A-Final last year.
One club stood out more than any this weekend for the junior girls at HOR4s, and that was Tideway Scullers. Winning 3 out of 5 junior girls events and setting a new course record Scullers really showed the field the advantage of racing on home water. Be sure to watch out for them come Schools’ Head and WEHORR. Kingston RC won the coxed fours by almost 30 seconds and this should set them up for their third year of junior sweep domination. Putney High School, winners of band 2 quads rowed with a time that would have put them in second place for band 1 quads, beating the likes of Marlow and Henley; definitely ones to watch.
On the university front, Reading University made a real statement fielding the top two fastest quads in both the men's and women's academic events. There's no doubt that if you're looking to scull at university, Reading is the place to go. On the men's side, Hartpury finished third just a few seconds ahead of Reading's C crew. Reading's top women's crew were an astonishing 75 seconds quicker than the next university, Nottingham in third.
Cambridge technically posted the fastest time down the course in the academic coxed fours, but a late arrival to the start cost them time penalties to give dark blue rivals Oxford the pennant. A late arrival makes life more difficult for the marshals, but also can be of benefit in arriving to the start warm and avoiding the cold wait on the bank. With two seconds in it, it certainly looks all to play for in the next few months before we can get a real sense of which way the 2020 Boat Race will swing. Imperial managed to sneak into third amongst a huge pack of dark and light blue crews while Edinburgh took the B2 win.
Oxford also came home with the coxless four pennant in a confident win ahead of Goldie and again Imperial in third. The Oxford lightweights put in an impressive show to finish just fractions of a second behind ICBC. The women's coxless four went to CUWBC, just four seconds ahead of a very strong crew in a slightly different shade of light blue from Edinburgh. Cambridge have been dominant in the last few women's boat races and they will want to prove they can do just the same with this new cohort of athletes. In the same style as the men, Imperial came up in third place and the B2 pennant went to Glasgow.
The women's Boat Race clubs came home with a pennant each as OUWBC took the women's academic coxed fours. A mention goes to St Andrews finishing in third as the only club besides Oxbridge in the entire event! The OUWLRC put in a good performance amongst some heavyweight crews to win B2.
In what might have been a concerning nudge for the Swiss Rowing Federation quad, they lost out on the overall pennant to this summer's U23 world champions from GB, topping off a very successful year with their red boxes as well as gold medals. A very high calibre crew, the majority return for another crack at the U23s in Bled while the talented Sam Meijer will look to break into the senior team and add to 4 world championship titles from the age group levels. Edinburgh finished third in B1, but with a slower time than academic winners, Reading. B2 quads was won by a Nottingham RC/ Reading RC/ Strathclyde Park RC/ Twickenham composite.
The Swiss Rowing Federation did take the win in open coxless fours ahead of Molesey RC and Tideway Scullers. It's nice to see some development in the TSS men's squad with them placing well in these categories after they've been much better renowned for their women's squad in recent years. Molesey took the B2 pennant ahead of two London RC fours, a club that have perhaps struggled to stay at the top of the increasingly competitive domestic circuit.
Perhaps the performance of the day, however, came in the coxed fours. Brookes fielded a top class crew with some of the most outstanding members of their programme who have progressed into the GB senior team in the likes of Josh Bugajski, Rory Gibbs, Matthew Tarrant and Oli Wilkes, steered by Harry Brightmore. They finished a staggering third overall, the highest placing by a coxed four since 1966. They left a fair old margin to Molesey and Thames in B1, while Nottingham and Marlow RCs took the B2 and B3 wins respectively.
TSS were the fastest overall women's crew as they took home the W4x title- especially nice to see a member of the crew that's progressed right the way up since being a Scullers junior. A crew mostly comprising the U23 W4x world champions from GB came behind in second ahead of the Swiss nationals in third. Another composite took the women's band 2 win, this time of Agecroft RC/ Reading RC/ Strathclyde Park RC/ Twickenham RC.
It was scullers who then took the W4- pennant ahead of Nottingham and Vesta, while Molesey topped B2 in a time that would've placed them third up in B1. TSS just missed out on the W4+ pennant to Thames RC by less than a second with Vesta again in third, although they took home the B2 pennant. It's great to see such close margins between two very strong tideway-based women's club programmes and it will be exciting to see how they progress through the season to events next year like WEHORR and HWR.
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This event is dominated by Reading University with 3 Reading University Crews, 2 Nottingham University Crews, a crew from Bath University and a crew from St Andrews, all universities with top women's programmes. Based on the CRI points, Reading University R is starting of first with another Reading Crew following them. Comprised of Kate Lyster, Chloe Knight, Lucy Ryan and Rachael Heap, they share between them a lot of EUSA medals and plenty of GB lycras. Reading University won this event last year so it will be interesting to see how the three crews now compete in the more competitive banding and strong stream, especially considering that during the November Trials they placed first in both the Womens Lightweight single and the Womens single. Nottingham placed 3rd in this event at Nottingham Autumn Head, so they’re having a good start to the season. Bath University has also been looking strong at the beginning of this season, likewise with St Andrews chasing the pack. Overall I think we’re going to be seeing some really competitive racing between these crews.
The Academic Women's Coxed Fours event is split into Band 1 and Band 2, with seven and nineteen crews respectively. Band 1 consists of four crews from CUWBC, two from OUWBC and one from St Andrews University BC.
CUWBC have four crews entered in this event, alongside three coxless fours. It will be interesting to see whether the quality we expect from Cambridge is evident across all seven of these crews. Going off first, and then every alternate crew subsequently gives them an advantage- they will be leading the pack in tough conditions, and in among the mix for the rest of the crews.
The OUWBC crews have three returners from last year’s Blue Boat in Dodds, Koolschijn and Christmann, meaning they have experience of the Tideway and the many twists, turns and pressures it can throw up on race day. Their training at Wallingford over the last few weeks in varying levels of flooding will also have prepared them well for this weekend, with winds and a strong stream forecasted. However, the entry list appears to show their second crew only has three rowers! We will have to wait until Saturday to find out who their mystery four rower is, or whether they really are racing a triple.
The only non-Boat Race club to make it into Band 1 is St Andrews. Despite being a small club and this an as-yet unknown combination, it is good to see them racing here. The crew contains BUCS gold medallists Giddy and Theos, so this should be a fast and experienced crew, hot on the heels of the CUWBC Crew before them.
Band 2 has nineteen crews entered, however eight of them have been scratched. This leaves eleven crews: a second crew from St Andrews, two from York, two from OUWLRC, two from Liverpool, and one from each of Bath, Nottingham, Imperial and Wolfson College Oxford. With a variety of CRI points, suggesting varying levels of racing experience, this category is really wide open, with any number of crews in a good position to take the win. It all rests on how relaxed and focussed they can stay on race day, as well as the all important steering job for the coxes in Saturday’s stream.
There are eleven Academic Women’s 4- racing, with six in band 1 and five in band 2. Coxless fours are the most vulnerable of all boat types racing in the stream tomorrow, so this will be a test of their boat skills and steering, as well as their speed, even more so than any other boats.
First off is CUWBC, in a crew containing two of last year’s victorious Blue Boat including this year’s president Larkin Sayre. The first Edinburgh University crew contains Lydia Currie and Alex Rankin of the HWR-winning crew in this boat type, and so will have depth and speed and a significant level of experience to deal with the conditions and will be looking to emulate that same success even at this early stage in the season. Edinburgh also have a second crew in band 1 and a band 2 entered, and Glasgow University complete the Scottish contingent with a band 2 crew. Imperial college are staring high up the event due their high CRI points, and the home advantage should help them along the gruelling 6.8k.
Local rivals Nottingham and Nottingham Trent Universities will no longer be facing off due to Nottingham Trent Scratching, but even so Nottingham should still be in a good position with an experienced crew leading band 2. York and a second CUWBC crew make up the remainder of band 2, and it should be interesting to see how they do against other clubs here and against their teammates in the coxed fours.
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This year’s line-up is identical to last year so it seems to be a grudge match. HOR4s is the first big event of the year in bigger boats so it is all to play for. They are set off in winning order from last year, but as it is the tideway it is all to play for. With four clubs, Thames, TSS, Vesta and Auriol Kensington on home water they will have the home advantage and the sought after knowledge of the stream. I expect with the stream as huge as it is at the moment, there will be a reshuffle of the top three crews, Lea’s throne might be threatened as the TSS and Thames coxes have been training on this stream and have learnt it’s behaviour.
The women’s club quads entry this year is considerably larger than it has been previously, which is great to see. There are multiple entries from both Molesey Boat Club and Tideway Scullers, which are clubs often seen in a late round rivalry in the women’s quads events at Henley Women’s Regatta. Each will undoubtedly be aiming to overturn the other, and set a marker at this early stage in the season. One of the tideway crews seems to be returning with talented sculler Katy Wilkinson Feller, who represented GB at the U23 championships in 2018, so its likely we’ll see them high up in the rankings. Nottingham are also in the mix here, coming back with Hicken in their crew. She was in the Nottingham composite crew which won the academic quads at HWR this year. Bath University are also bringing some sculling talent in the form of a crew including Laura Macro who achieved 6th place in the GB singles assessment last year, so it will be interesting to see how they fair against the regular high achievers. A surprising entry from the Swiss Rowing Federation, could very well disrupt expectations at the upper end of the leaderboard, and the other crews will certainly be excited for the challenge. The second band contains many crews which earlier this year, couldn’t make the cut, and were eliminated from Henley Women’s Regatta in the very early stages. Crews from Mortlake Anglian and Alpha, Cantabrigian, Lea and Peterborough will likely be aiming to use this race as a progress check, to see how effectively they are making the step on which they need, to produce a more successful summer racing season.
The coxless four category has 8 entries in Band 1, and 17 in Band 2. Starting first and looking to retain their crown are Tideway Scullers. A crew with a deep pool of talent, like Newcastle alumni Millie Perrin, they’ll be fighting against local rivals Mortlake and Anglican, and Vesta. However, it looks like their biggest rival will come from further afield, as the University of Nottingham will be looking to take over this club event as the only university entered. With strong athletes like trialists Olivia Bates, Lucy Stokes and Grace Johnson, the presence of the sports scholars indicates that this is a top boat. Nottingham’s women’s sweep had a great 2019 season, with top results at Met Regatta and BUCS Regatta, topped off with a win at their yearly trek to Xian, China. In Band 1 the only other non-Tideway crew is Marlow Rowing Club, and despite having one of the lowest CRI’s their club pedigree should carry them a bit. Band 2 has a bit more geographical variety to the entries, but given the weather I wouldn’t expect clubs like Worcester and Nottingham to be on form due to the flooding in the Midlands making the Severn nigh-unrowable, and even flooding Holme Pierrepont. Again, it’s Tideway Scullers looking to top their band with the highest CRI, and hot on their heels are Furnivall’s top women’s sweep boat, Vesta’s 2nd boat, and Curlew RC. These local crews look to lead the pack of Band 2 ahead of entries from Molesey, Cambridge City and Upper Thames to name a few.
]]>The Open Club 4+ category is comprised of three bands at Fours Head and is a huge category with a staggering 51 entries this year. Band 1 comprises of 12 entries, and the predictions for the winners could potentially seem quite obvious given the Brookes 4+ being made of the boys from the GB squad, who all finished in the top 10 at November trials earlier this month. Also, with Harry Brightmore coxing, with multiple wins at HORR and within private fixtures against Oxbridge pre-boat race under his belt, he is clearly someone who knows what it takes to win and how to steer a perfect line on the Tideway while doing it. Therefore, a more exciting question that lies here regards the margin of the win and the identity of second place. The race for second place will be something to watch with Molesey’s top 4+ consisting of athletes from the win in the Brit at Henley this year, and Quintin BC fighting to retain the win from last year. Would also be interesting to see if they put some pressure down on the Brookes boys and reduce the margin between them. Both the Thames Rowing Club fours have huge CRI values indicating that there will be a real tussle amongst the greats of club rowing in this event.
In band 2 with 14 entries, the top spot is fair game, with Minerva Bath RC who will be back with a vengeance to claim the top spot after coming second last year to Stratford Upon Avon who are not competing this year. But with crews like Molesey and Vesta in the mix, it will not be an easy fight. Also, Leeds RC who obtained third place last year will be hungry to prove themselves and get one back over Minerva with only 2 seconds between the crews last year.
Band 3 is the largest of all three with 25 entries, so the competition is huge. Last year’s winners Warwick BC will be on an adrenaline rush to retain their spot, especially since Nottingham RC who were just under 2 seconds behind them in second place are racing a division up this year. But with so many crews in this division you can never really tell what will happen, but it will be incredibly exciting to see if any unexpected underdogs take the win.
Another race, another visit from the “bois”. The first boat down the course with number 1 on their bow is the GB U23 Quad which won gold at world championships in Sarasota for the second year running, and picked up the Prince of Wales at Henley along the way. Kieran Clark’s golden boys are coming into this event as the fastest crew out of all the entries, and without any Leander pink to compete against, their biggest challenge will come from the Swiss Rowing Federation. Of course, the swiss will be no pushover. Big names like Barnabe Delarze and Roman Röösli have just secured Olympic qualification in the double. Andri Struzina was in last year’s quad and just missed his Olympic qualification in the lightweight double, and young Jan Schaeuble, only 19, is back from a bronze at U23 worlds and a B final at World Champs. The Swiss will be undeniably speedy, but will they match the experience and home-water advantage of the GB quad? There are 2 more standout crews in band 1 – Edinburgh University, and another Composite. The Edinburgh crew is consisted of some of the finest scullers to grace Scotland. A lightweight crew, James Temple, Matt Curtis, Dale Flockhart and Jack Burns will no doubt carry forward Edinburgh’s tradition of exceptional sculling, and will push all the crews to the very limit.
The final standout quad is a rather interesting composite from Leeds University, Twickenham Rowing Club, Agecroft Rowing Club, and Reading Rowing Club. The most recognisable name to grace this combination is everybody’s favourite Diamonds Sculler Matt Brigham, who famously bested Mahe Drysdale in one of the most spectacular races of the regatta. Alongside him are fellow GB Start Athletes like Twickenham’s Oli Quitmann. Being primarily a GB Start crew, these guys will have the strength and drive to perform well, but their shorter rowing careers may show when placed against some of the more experienced field. The rest of Band 1 are mostly local crews like Putney Town and Team Keane, who shouldn’t trouble the 4 leaders of this group too much. Band 2 has a great mixture of crews from Cambridge to Durham to Bristol, and I can see the Nottingham RC/Twickenham composite, another younger GB Start crew, leading this band, followed closely by Agecroft. Given the low CRI of the composite crew, this will likely have little Tideway racing experience, and compared to the older crews from clubs like London Rowing Club, it’ll be interesting to see if they’ll manage to hang on in front.
]]>218 Henley
219 Surbiton High School "Donatello"
220 Putney High School "H"
221 Lady Eleanor Holles School "Black"
222 Godolphin & Latymer School
223 Surbiton High School "Master Splinter"
224 St Paul's Girls' School
225 Headington School
226 Putney High School "P"
227 Lady Eleanor Holles School "Red"
228 Surbiton High School "Shredder"
With a slightly larger entry of 11 clubs/schools than in WJ16, the WJ15 category sees the likes of Henley, Headington and Surbiton High School stepping up from J14 level into a more competitive circuit. Eyes will be on Surbiton after they took home the NSR gold in both the A and B octos last season. This has clearly been a source of motivation for this year group given the depth they are able to field this weekend with an impressive three crews entered. Their B octuple won National Schools by a huge margin of close to 20 seconds last year- this is no doubt a cohort their coaches will be excited about.
Henley will be first down the track at Quintin and while they weren't making waves in the bigger boats last season, they did top NSR in the girls' coxed quads. Moving up the age groups, they will need to prove they have the depth to remain competitive as the focus moves to eights. Meanwhile, Putney High School has seen the implementation of a new young and enthusiastic coach this year. After having a term of getting to know the girls they will now be looking keenly to prove their talent on a national scale. Nevertheless, J15 is always very tough to call with such young athletes and the big transition to sweep rowing. With all entries here surrounded by intense training environments and high accolades at their respective clubs, we can safely assume racing will be close and rivalrous whatever the outcome. This is potentially one of the first sweep races for these girs- a great learning opportunity for each and every crew to bring forward into the 2020 season!
207 Henley
208 Marlow
209 Lady Eleanor Holles School
210 Surbiton High School
211 Headington School
212 Latymer Upper School
213 Putney High School
214 Emanuel School
Like last year, the WJ16 category has 8 entries from the top performing schools and clubs from around the South East. Marlow won this category in the time of 14:10 in 2019 - and are back again this year to try and defend their title with their up and coming junior women. A thirty second gap separated them from the rest of the girls last year, putting them in a comfortable and undoubtedly optimistic position given this group were bronze medallists in the eights at NSR last year. However, after winning the WJ15 category last year, Lady Eleanor Holles have entered again. Assuming this is the same crew, Marlow will have to be on it for the entirety of the 4800m course in order to maintain their title from a promising LEH crew who will be hungry for the win after their summer season left them a little off the pace of the top crews.
Not to be missed are the Henley and Putney High School crews who placed second and fourth respectively at this event in their J15 year and are here again racing for their second year. Henley were right up there with the likes of Marlow at the end of last summer so they could be a force to be reckoned with if they've hit the winter training hard, while Putney will have that all important home water advantage for the first tideway head of the year. The rest of the field will have had a little more work to do to make up speed looking at where they were last summer, but this is their chance to prove they mean business coming into the new year.
With it so early in the winter head season, predictions are consequently tricky and often inaccurate. However, as the majority of these clubs/schools raced here at J15 level its expected the girls can get a better general understanding of their ranking and fitness coming into 2020 - further allowing coaches to implement effective winter training programmes. The picture as SHORR approaches should soon become much clearer. Additionally, with only single club entries this year, it can be assumed that these clubs have been seat racing to enter the strongest crew combinations which will make for some great racing!
]]>It has been a frustrating few weeks with many events cancelled due to the red-board warnings on the Thames, so this means there have been few races this year to determine who is at the top of the field. Throughout last year Marlow dominated the J16 field and eventually got two fours into GB France; something no one has ever done before. At National Schools, both their J16 and Champ eights came away with a bronze, so one would expect this eight to be very strong. Three people from Marlow’s Henley quad last year are still juniors so they will have eight people straight from GB France plus three from HRR, including Emma Dabinett who went to worlds last year in the bow seat of the quad.
At Fours Head, Tideway Scullers won 3 out of 5 junior women’s events, so they have no doubt proved to everyone that they are ready to dominate this year after a perhaps disappointing end to last year’s season. Their winning quad from HOR4s included Izzy Lack and Evelyna Davies fresh from Coupe along with Zoe Scheske who took the win at early IDs by a considerable margin and also went to coupe at just J16. These athletes plus presumably some athletes from the GB France eight last year should make their eight extremely competitive.
As always, it's expected that Henley Rowing Club will put out a strong eight, made up of GB France athletes along with Hills and Brown of the winning national schools quad last year. At Fours Head Henley only put out one quad that came 3rd, so perhaps they aren’t as strong this year, but who knows- it's still all to play for after so many cancelled races. Lady Eleanor Holles took the win at last year's National Schools in the eight, so one would imagine that this eight will be just as good. At Fours Head, LEH put out two coxed fours who came second and third in the 4+ after Kingston, so they have clearly not been dormant. They have entered two eights this year so be sure that at least one of these will be competitive. Headington have two eights entered this year, showing the field the number of athletes they have. Last year their quad got to the final of HRR, remarkable considering that two of those athletes were J16. As usual I think their eight will be very competitive after what has perhaps been a lacklustre few seasons after their long rein in the junior women's scene.
The most likely outcome seems to be a toss up between Marlow and Scullers. At first glance it may look like Marlow, but considering it is unlikely they will have trained on the river due to the red boards, Scullers may have the edge they need. Henley, LEH and Headington will be looking to make up the remaining top places in this field.
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Championship eights is looking like a student-dominated affair with the first three crews off being Imperial College A, UL A, and Oxford Brookes A. The rivalry between Imperial and UL is one of the fiercest on the Tideway, and both clubs will look to set out their intentions early. Imperial were the overall winners last year, beating UL down to 4th behind Thames and schoolboy crew St. Paul's, but only the year before the tables were turned with UL taking 10 seconds on IC. Too early to call anything for sure, however it’s surely a case of when, not if, Oxford Brookes will catch UL. This is the first time since the 2014 race that Brookes have made the trip down to the Tideway, where they finished second overall winning elite eights behind UL – not a result many will expect to be repeated. Brookes are coming right off the back of their Wimbleball camp, and this appearance is likely to ensure some winter racing after the cancellation of Wallingford Head. Usually Brookes are given a run for their money by Goldie, sometimes Isis and occasionally Leander. However, Isis have entered the senior category and there's word of some private racing further upstream on Sunday, so potentially a run for the reserve trialists and cause for absence of the pink palace. While the Cambridge Women are entered, it’s a no-show from the men, leaving Brookes as sure favourites for the overall this weekend.
Perhaps the absence of Cambridge has something to do with the missing entries from giants Molesey and Thames, but what happens in Ely stays in Ely. The lack of an entry from Thames is especially surprising: they won the event overall in 2017 while racing in Senior Eights (for those too young to remember, the tiers were Elite, Senior, IM1, IM2, IM3) and have consistently placed well since. This is Thames’ first season under new head coach and last year’s men’s coach Sander Smulders, and a brief glance at his profile will assure his position as a fantastic coach, so the excitement for Eights Head is mounting fast! The handful of school crews in Championship eights should place evenly amongst the field, which is rounded off by Oxford Lightweights, who had a fantastic season last year with wins at the Lightweight Boat Race, two bronze medals at BUCS regatta, qualifying for the Temple Challenge Cup, and a silver medal at EUSA.
Senior Eights sees some more variety from the club entries as Quintin start followed by Lea RC, Upper Thames, London, Kingston’s 2V and Molesey’s club eight. The top three crews from last year’s Senior category are all either not racing or not in category, and this likely means that Lea will take the win. Lea raced in Championship last year with a time that would’ve placed them barely second in Senior eights behind Molesey. They shouldn’t have much trouble, but if they do it’ll probably come from the University of Bristol, who are current top dogs regionally after Bristol Head, and their first steps onto the Tideway this year could bring the confidence they need to beat past some of the lower ranked Brookes boats that previously edged ahead of them at BUCS regatta. An Isis entry into Senior is again not something seen for a very long time – nothing in the records which go back to 2001. Further marking this race to be full of surprises, and with almost nothing to judge the crew on besides knowing they’re fresh off a training camp in Temple-sur-Lot, Isis are a true wildcard entry.
Intermediate eights sees the usual London clubs entering: Vesta, Auriol Kensington, Putney Town, London and Curlew all know the water well and have to see off the barrage of Championship university third eights and even a fifth eight from Brookes. They’re joined by two City of Bristol crews and Marlow rowing club. The University of Warwick have laughed in the face of the flooding that has hugely disrupted the rowing scene in the West Midlands, and their first eight should place reasonably well amongst this field, with their time more than any likely to be affected by the conditions the Tideway has to offer them.
]]>This is an undoubtedly exciting event for all involved, one of the few (if not the first) sweep race of the season for many J15s, not to mention on the challenging waters of the Tideway. Conditions will be tough this weekend if the race goes ahead; as always the Tideway based clubs will most definitely have the upper hand. The change from sculling to sweeping is huge, and usually completely reshuffles the school ranking. This is down to different coaching priorities, a change of facilities or simply just the rowers being more mature and eager to listen.
It will be hard to make predictions at this stage of the season, but Shiplake, with two of their boys having broken British Rowing records on the erg, are going off first. It is likely that they have fielded mixed eights so a win may not be on the cards for them despite their 4th place finish at NSR last year. Again, looking like they’re fielding matched eights, the usual offenders of St Pauls and Latymer Upper should maintain their ranking near the top of the field after successful J14 years for both and so much more exposure on the Tideway. Westminster have only entered one boat in this event, this would likely be their fastest crew and should have a crack at winning this as KCS and St George’s are likely to have fielded matched eights too. As stated before, predictions are rather difficult as we cannot tell whether clubs have entered matched eights or simply their first and second boat.
The results from the BASHER regatta last weekend indicate that of the BASHER schools J15 first eights, Hampton are currently leading, followed closely by Abingdon, St Paul’s, Radley, Bedford and Eton in that order. This should be an interesting event to look out for, and will give a good indicator of the depth in some of these squads, as is with J15 heads season in general, it is over to the coaches to get their boats rowing as well as possible!
With a season of sweep rowing under their belts, this is where crews will be laying down foundations of become championship level rowers in a year or two’s time. 12 crews are entered, with big favourites and last years’ NSR finalists St Pauls’ and Radley are likely being the favourites to take the win, as KCS appear to have entered matched eights. St Pauls had a great year with a 2nd at SHORR behind KCS, and were booted out of the medals at NSR by Norwich, who hadn’t even entered SHORR earlier in the year. Again, Norwich haven’t entered despite the strength of competition here, and it it’s mind games they’re playing at then they are surely working well against the likes of Radley and KCS.
Missing entries also come from Hampton and Eton, two juggernauts of junior rowing, so we may have to wait for Hammersmith Head to make some sure-fire predictions for SHORR, as the rest of the field hasn’t previously proven themselves to be contending for medals. Reading Blue Coat’s seniors fell short last year but their J15’s performed well in coxed fours at NSR, Latymer Upper School will have a huge home-water advantage against the travelling clubs, and an eight entry for 1863, previously London Oratory School, is one of the most refreshing entries we’ve seen in a while, after fielding two fours at NSR.
Dave Currie has apparently decided to continue coaching the Shiplake J16s, and will be eager to step on from the results of last year’s J16s squad after not quite matching what Adam Moffatt achieved with his standout NSR winning crew back in 2018. This new set of J16s include a set of fresh recruits from abroad, with a few athletes from Germany joining Shiplake's squad, something we’ve seen in the past at Bedford. It will be interesting to see if their investment will pay off; we shall have to wait and see! Kew House School, a relatively new rowing club have also entered a crew and it is great to see some fresh faces entering the rowing scene. The rowing community will no doubt be welcoming them with open arms. This could be the start of a rivalry between Radley, St Pauls’ and KCS that will continue til the cross of the finish line at Nats a few months down.
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The Men’s J18 category has 20 entries with most of the big schools and clubs fielding at least one entry- notable missing crews including Bedford, Shrewsbury and Abingdon. The results of the racing at Quintin Head often can’t be taken at face value, as some boat clubs have already created a 1st and 2nd VIII split, whilst others are still in mixed crews. The likes of St Pauls have entered, what should be, their 1st eight into the champ 8+’s category. Leaving their 2nd boat to fight it out in this division, they should still put on a good show considering the strength in depth that Paul's consistently have. Both Westminster and Shiplake had strong J16 squads last year and both schools would hope to have a very successful season with the new boys coming into the fray. Westminster have entered two crews whilst Shiplake have entered three. Whilst they could be matched boats it is likely they will still be challenging for the top positions when considering the pedigree of their rowing programs and coaching. Shiplake especially have made a statement by entering 3 crews and, by being the only school to do so (bar St George’s), have set the standard early on. Another big name that is fielding two crews is Radley College. Whilst Radley are usually considered less of a threat in head season, they will endeavour to buck this trend and put out some impressive times. Considering how far these two crews are apart from each other in the start order when compared to the Westminster boats, it would suggest that there is a significant difference in speed between the two Radley crews. However only the results will show whether this is the case on Saturday.
Hampton School will also be ones to watch entering what looks to be their top boat which will no doubt contain some quality athletes. St Edward's will also look to spread some fear amongst the competition. Their J16’s had an impressive last year and coupled with the fact that both Alex Gowans and Thibby Verdin-Mulot have been in their 1st VIII for two years prior to the 2020 season suggests that they’ll have a good balance of experience and raw potential. Latymer Upper School have also entered an eight into this division who will no doubt look to cause trouble all season, hoping to bounce back after a lull last year, and St George’s College have also entered three crews that will aim for a promising start to the head race competitions, and outline the impressive depth the school has.
All in all, this division should produce some exciting and tight racing. St Paul's result from Champ 8+ will also be interesting to compare to this event, bearing in mind that they will be rowing in much cleaner water. One would suspect that Shiplake, Westminster, Pauls 2nd VIII and Radley will all be lingering around the top end of the table. But don’t rule out Hampton, Latymer or St Edward's from pulling it out the bag and taking it to the opposition. There are unconfirmed rumours that the City of Oxford Championship eight may contain some international juniors, but that article is for another time... The racing will be fierce as will the conditions, so those who have prepared for the Tideway and can race the river the best will give themselves a significant advantage. As always on the Tideway, the line the coxes take will be crucial and seeing how each cox deals with each new turn could separate the top crews. Bring on Saturday.
]]>Home Countries is a historic annual regatta held between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Since 1965, the event has been held on stretches of water running 1500-2000 meters long in each of the nations: Nottingham in England, Strathclyde in Scotland, Cardiff Bay in Wales and Inniscara in Ireland. The level of competition has developed over the years, reflecting the increase in participation and posing a greater emphasis on the sport.
In 2020, there will be an exciting change to Home Countries, with the changes being announced on Monday 16th December 2019. The changes will ensure that the event continues to be a valued team event for athletes across the nations. The new race programme will see each team size reduce by approximately 25%, which will improve the competition for places on the team, ensuring the best rowers get to represent their country. Each new team will get the opportunity to race in different boat classes across multiple race distances, with the introduction of a new sprint format for quads and eights. This follows the cancellation of the Power 8 sprints this year after it was introduced back in 2018 with the hopes of making rowing a more accessible sport to spectators.
Additionally, in order to enhance Para Rowing within the event, Home International Regatta will work more closely with the nations early in the season to identify and support prospective Para Rowers, with the aim of delivering top-quality racing opportunities for everyone.
Lee Boucher, a representative of the Home International Regatta GMC, says:
“The Home International Regatta has played a vital role in the development of emerging rowers over the years and is seen as a first stepping stone for many into international competition. Central to the ethos of the event is the team-based element, where every race counts, and we are delighted that whilst announcing these innovative changes we have been able to protect the integrity of the competition.”
All athletes selected in the new team format will represent their country at the regatta in a minimum of two races, so the majority of the team will race three times over the new 500 meter course as well as the standard 2000 meters.
In order for the team sizes to reduce by about 25%, there has been difficult decisions in reducing the number of lightweight seats available to each team. However, the decision has been made following a review of the drop in numbers of lightweight rowers trialling and competing for each nation. With only one lightweight event featuring in the racing programme at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics- the lightweight double sculls- there is some doubt that lightweight rowing will remain a part of the Paris 2024 games and beyond.
All of these exciting and new changes will be implemented at the 2020 Home International Regatta, which will be hosted by Wales at Strathclyde Park on Saturday 25th July 2020.
To summarise:
44 races in total (34 over 2000 meters, 10 over 500 meters)
Up to 62 athletes per team (down from 80 in previous years)
Each team member must compete in a minimum of two races
Equal number of male and female athletes in each team
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Twenty-one entries in the J18 category are almost entirely from clubs and schools on the Tideway; only 7 of the entries are from further afield. Nottingham County have been on a resurgence with their junior rowers lately, notably getting a silver in Champ Doubles at NSR and an A Final in Champ Coxless Fours with Chloe Wild and Jess Austin returning. There are a couple of GB representatives on show too, with Izzy Lack and Evelyna Davies rowing in the Single and Eight respectively at Coupe. The worlds representation comes from Alexandra Riddell-Webster from Godolphin & Latymer in the 4-, the first rower from G&L to ever make a junior worlds squad! Putney High School have three J18 entries: Alice Bridges, Lucia Wickham and Rosie Thoroughgood, and considering their 2nd place overall in Junior Quads at Fours Head, these girl’s should be looked out for. Another familiar name is Emma Kohlmayer from Westminster School, who impressively made the A-Final for Champ Singles at NSR proving that despite their small size, Westminster Women’s rowing could go places in the coming years.
More familiar faces in J17 as Putney High School, Godolphin & Latymer, and Tideway Scullers, however one club stands out amongst the rest – Sacred Heart High School. Only being founded in 2016, the club raced at Henley Women’s Regatta for the first-time last year, and operate out of Fulham Reach. It’s great to see them with their 3 entries and looking to move onwards! There are some quality scullers in J17 including Zoe Scheske from Tideway Scullers, who recently won Champ Doubles at Pairs Head with Izzy Lack, and managed both GB vs France and Coupe De La Jeunesse last year; definitely the sculler to beat. It’s also good to see plenty of entries from schools traditionally associated with their boys rowing: 2 entries from Shiplake, KCS and Westminster respectively bodes well for Junior Women’s rowing.
Another twenty-one J16 scullers are again almost entirely locals, with only Maidenhead’s 3, Hinksey’s 1 and Agecroft’s 1 not rowing on their home water. The J16 doubles at pairs head were won by Maidenhead’s Amelia Carpenter and Olivia Hall, and with Olivia racing she should be expected to put down a quick time. The other two Maidenhead scullers, Ametz Parcell-Arregi and Jasmine Stockdale, finished fourth at pairs head, but shouldn’t be counted out. Putney High School and St Pauls Girls bring some squad depth to the event, but both schools are yet to produce some exceptional results, but things will no doubt get exciting when the season moves more into crew boats. The Agecroft sculler wasn’t racing at the Head of the Lune with the rest of the squad last week, but must be eager to be willing to travel all the way down from Manchester – we could even see a surprise win here!
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There are university crews racing in both the University Pennant and Challenge Academic events this weekend, as well as the now-scratched Beginner-Academic trophy for novice rowers. The University Pennant is for crews of Open and Senior status and tends to be crews at the top end of the draw, whereas the Challenge Academic event is for university crews of equivalent standard to the Intermediate events we saw at BUCS Head two weeks ago. There may be crews from the same university entered into different events or multiple crews in one event, though the Beginner Academic event is entirely separate although sadly these novices will have to wait another year for their Tideway debut. WEHORR was cancelled altogether last year, and although sadly this year it is running with a reduced draw due to difficult weather conditions, it is still good to see the event going ahead anyway. This means that this year’s draw is roughly based on results from two years ago and this length of time can be a significant period of turnover in university squads.
At the top of the draw we have Leander, who are followed by our first two university crews of the day, Cambridge A and Imperial A, with University of London A, Brookes A, Edinburgh A and Cambridge B making up the rest of the university cres going off in the top 10. These will be the crews looking to challenge for the overall headship, following the likes of Leander and Molesey down the course. The Cambridge crews are looking like the Blue Boat and Blondie crews for the Boat race at the end of this month, and should be extremely fast after several weeks of fixtures on the course against some of the very best opposition in the country. Their opposition for the Boat Race however are not joining them at the top of the draw, with the only Oxford crew starting off down in 52nd position suggesting that this is their reserve or third crew instead. Both the Oxford and Cambridge crews have taken part in fixtures against Oxford Brookes over the last weeks, and Brookes have demonstrated some pretty good speed at these occasions and could also be challenging for top positions.
Worth noting first of all is the large Scottish contingent coming down to race, despite being subjected to race cancellations, such as the Scottish Winter Challenge, and poor training conditions (though this is not unique to Scotland- it has been a tough few weeks for everyone!). As usual, Edinburgh can be expected to put down a very dominant performance this weekend following on from a silver medal in Champ Eights and a Gold in Champ Coxless Fours at BUCS. Glasgow University and St Andrews University make up the rest of the Scottish contingent at the top of the draw, with Glasgow performing extremely well to take Bronze in Champ Eights at BUCS and Gold in Champ 4+, as well as a win in Band 2 4- at Fours Head back in November, so we can expect them to be pretty fast this weekend. St Andrews have been a little under the radar so far this season, though a 3rd place in Band 1 Coxed Fours at Fours Head suggests there is experience and potential here. There are also a number of composite crews from Scottish universities, though as composites are ineligible for the University and Academic events, these crews are instead racing in the Senior category despite being university-affiliated clubs, and it will be interesting to see how the times compare.
BUCS Head two weeks ago has been the only opportunity to see how crews are shaping up at this point in the season and so the results from that windy weekend on the Tyne are probably our best indicator of what we can expect at WEHORR. Newcastle took the win in both the Championship and Intermediate women’s eights categories at BUCS, and they look set to do equally well this weekend with four crews surviving the cut proving their incredible strength in depth. Exeter also performed well at BUCS, taking second place there and with a larger-than-usual contingent from them we can expect to see good things from them this weekend as they have crews in both the University Pennant and Challenge Academic event who could do well.
Durham University are also capable of a good performance, with their 1st Eight placing 3rd in the Championship 8 category and their 2nd Eight placing 5th in Intermediate at BUCS. There are several college boat clubs entered from Durham, as well as a handful of Oxford and Cambridge colleges which are in the same situation, and so the crews representing the University should be the fastest of the bunch though all three universities have thriving rowing communities so are definitely capable of throwing up some surprises. Smaller university programmes, such as Leeds who train on a canal and Nottingham who have Holme Pierrepont, have had better luck in terms of training time on the water over the last month and this extra preparation could really help them achieve some good results this weekend as well.
Overall, I think we can all agree that it has been quite a difficult start to the year for the rowing community. With serious flooding and poor weather hampering training time, racing time and even, for some very unlucky clubs, damaging boats and facilities. WEHORR could throw up some really unexpected performances as there is very little to go off n terms of predictions so far, and how crews handle conditions on the day can play a huge part in results, especially on the Tideway. The loss of the Beginner Academic event is a particular shame and the scratching of crews with under 100 points, which has been particularly penalising for university crews with international students who may not have had a chance to race in this country yet amongst all the cancelled races, means this weekend’s event is a reduced size, though even to see it going ahead is a sign that things will get better this season!
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Clubs across the UK are currently gearing up for WEHORR, with only three days to go until the premier event of the winter racing calendar for women. It’s been a pretty devastating winter in terms of weather for the rowing community, and the completion of this weekend’s racing will no doubt feel like a much-welcomed step towards the summer. The peak of the summer racing calendar for athletes of all ages will likely come on the Henley course, but this year especially the discussion is high as to whether that should be at Henley Royal or two weeks prior at Henley Women’s.
There are fair arguments in support of the latter. You’d be hard pressed to find an attendee of the women’s regatta who would do less than sing its praises: a great atmosphere, exciting racing and a wonderful celebration of women’s rowing, no doubt.
The real danger that lies ahead is in Henley Women’s growing into a ‘second rate’ event. At present, HWR is held over the same weekend as Marlow Regatta at Dorney Lake which many men’s crews use as an opportunity for race preparation and pre-qualification for the upcoming Henley Royal. Protecting HWR would require dedication to securing it as the first-class event for women’s’ rowing in its own right and not a stepping stone to HRR like Marlow is now if more women's events are to be introduced at HRR.
First held in 1988, it’s certainly young compared to Henley Royal which was first raced in 1839- nearing two centuries ago. There is much history and tradition at the core of HRR so with respect to age alone, it would be wildly unreasonable to expect HWR to hold the same sense of prestige that HRR does while still in its early stages of growth. It needs time to develop its unique history and traditions, but time isn’t the only limiting factor in it holding its own in the calendar. It’s lacking in its reduced course length and the subsequent exclusion of the blue and white tents, enclosures, crowds and close connection to the town itself that are at the heart of what make HRR such a special event. The shortened course is for logistics and safety alone, but some feel it would benefit greatly if the organisers were allowed to utilise the full Henley stretch.
When it was introduced, the purpose of the women’s regatta was to make up for the absence of any women’s events at HRR, so it is understandable that some find it strange that it exists at all when there are now women’s events in the HRR programme, especially to the younger generation who have only known HRR as it is now.
It’s worth highlighting how recent the introduction of women’s events at Henley is. The women’s single sculls event- now the Princess Royal- was only introduced in 1993. It was another five years until a second invitational women’s category was introduced and the Remenham was not the open event we know it as now until the year 2000. This isn’t to argue that any of this was hugely out of line with the general state of women’s rowing at the time. Leander Club only began to admit female members in 1998. Women’s rowing was first incorporated into the world championships in 1974 and later introduced as a 1000m Olympic event at the 1976 Games, extending to the full two kilometre course in 1988. Women’s rowing has come an awfully long way in the last fifty years- people had to fight for its growth and simply inclusion until very recently and will continue to do so into the future.
The growth of women’s rowing has not only been recent but extraordinarily fast and the argument that the numbers in women’s rowing are not yet adequate to warrant equal events is long outdated. Entries at WEHORR increased tenfold from 1977 to 2003, with the event this weekend hosting a 318-strong start list. Back in 2018, the most recent year in which both the men’s and women’s heads went ahead, WEHORR had 300 finishers to HORR’s 302. Women made up more than half of university student entries only a few weeks ago at BUCS Head, while British Rowing membership statistics hit a 48:52 split long back in 2012/3. The numbers are already there.
The idea that the standard of women’s rowing is lacking is equally strange. At the most recent Olympics in Rio, the British men’s squad took home two gold medals while the women’s squad took one gold and two silvers. Last year’s U23 World Championships in Sarasota, a hugely exciting display of the future rowing talent in this country, saw a best-ever performance for GB as they topped the medal table. The men’s and women’s halves of the squad took three gold medals and one silver medal apiece.
Women are performing at the highest levels in the sport, although the pathway in may differ and the rate of development may be at a different pace. But what can we expect when at present 352 boys have the chance to race at Henley driving them through their junior careers as either budding scullers or sweepers, while junior girls know that only 80 scullers will have that opportunity? The importance isn’t in events merely existing but in athlete numbers too. This notion is being duly led by the International Olympic Committee who approved the change towards gender parity for the upcoming Games in Tokyo which will see equal events and athlete numbers contesting for medals. This complemented a concurrent decision by FISA to make their world championship programmes equal.
It’s not all plain sailing though. The School’s Head of the River came under heavy criticism last year after a controversial decision was made allowing J15 boys’ eights to race but not girls’. The significance in that decision lay far from whether there was any substance in the argument that J15 boys would be more competent to race and marshal in challenging conditions than their female counterparts. Regardless of the lack of reasoning this held for many, it boils down to a decision being made that sent a very damaging, backwards message out to young women. By the age of 14, the dropout rate across sport is twice as high for girls than boys, owing to a number of factors including social stigma. It is the responsibility of the organisers of junior rowing events to foster both junior men’s and women’s development and the message that decision sent had little place in modern day sport.
To foster women’s rowing in this country from the bottom up, young women need to feel like they have equal opportunities in the sport. Arguing that it’s unfair Henley Women’s Regatta still exists doesn’t make a lot of sense if you now consider how rapidly women’s rowing has grown and the lack of space in the Henley Royal programme at present. It may be easy to forget that only four years ago, the women’s events at HRR were still outnumbered in men’s events 4:1, and even with the brilliant new introduction of the student eights event, 16 women’s eights will have the chance to race past the enclosures this summer compared to the 116 men’s eights. Abolishing HWR because there are now women competing at HRR would only extinguish a large chunk of high calibre racing for women in the domestic calendar and could have potentially catastrophic knock-on effects to the detriment of the sport.
It took just shy of a century before a women’s Boat Race was introduced to match the men’s event, with the move to the Tideway in 2015 coming another 88 years after the initial introduction of the women’s event. The 2021 introduction of junior and club women’s eights at Henley is clearly a huge step in the right direction. While change is certainly present, it is still slow in the eyes of many. With regard to the Henley regattas, there is definitely a sense that significant change is imminent.
Even with the announcement of the six-day regatta at Henley Royal in future years, adding events- women’s or otherwise (further club or university sculling events certainly deserve consideration) would necessitate cuts in existing areas of the programme. Henley has a certain reputation for a display of rowing at the elite level, so some would undoubtedly welcome cuts to the qualification numbers in the larger events which have seen a handful of crews qualify automatically in recent years. Of course, those whose qualification spots would be cut are less likely to support this change.
This welcomes an idea that has been kicking around the rowing community for a while now that Henley Women’s Regatta could be reinstated as an entirely new event if a time came when Henley Royal could provide equal men’s and women’s events. This could be more focussed as a development regatta for both women and men, redirecting the shorter course and the positive atmosphere that already make HWR the great event it is towards a more grassroots level of the sport for younger or less experienced athletes. What might be drawbacks to the current HWR for the top tier of athletes could be benefits to the development athletes and allow them to get their first taste of the Henley course without the huge scale and large crowds at Henley Royal. A key difference already between HRR and HWR is the greater number of junior events at the latter, which could be grown in a different direction to allow for J16 boys to try the Henley course like the girls are able to already thanks to HWR.
It’s hard to know what the future holds for Henley Women’s Regatta. There is a lot of nudging- much of which has been rewarded- for the introduction of further women’s events at Henley Royal, yet a lot of support in favour of HWR, too. But it’s clear to see, we can’t have our cake and eat it. Do we protect Henley Women’s Regatta, allowing it to grow the prestige Henley Royal is renowned for without pushing to introduce new events at HRR? Or do we continue to strive for an equal number of men’s and women’s events at Henley Royal Regatta so that in an inevitably bittersweet way, Henley Women’s would be made redundant? Could Henley Women’s be transformed into an entirely new development event in years to come? Could we have equal events at HRR while still retaining the value of HWR, it remaining to honour the reason it was started in the first place?
Let us know below.
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With seemingly endless bouts of bad weather this season, BUCS Head has been added to the list of affected events with all beginner categories cancelled and the championship & intermediate events moved to the Sunday. The Tyne is still set to be blustery and cold which will in turn provide challenging racing conditions for the clubs that manage to make it safely to Newcastle. Entry statistics for Sunday showed that 50.2% of crews on the start list were in women's events- a great thing to see for the growth of women in the sport.
Newcastle will be the first women’s crew down the track this weekend on their home water in the championship eights. They had another solid run on the Tyne at Rutherford Head in December finishing second behind ULBC. In their absence, the blue star will have their sights set on a gold medal, but sure to challenge them will be Edinburgh who, like Newcastle, have sent many athletes to compete on the national U23 squad in recent years. They’ve proven the strength of their women’s squad on numerous occasions and a win at Four’s Head in the coxless four would hint that this season will be no different.
Imperial are the only BUCS entry that raced at Quintin where they didn’t appear to have a great run. However, results from private fixtures would indicate they’ve made a significant step on in the last few weeks which now leaves them the opportunity to prove whether they’ll be back in the mix for WEHORR. Looking at the Rutherford Head results, the margins would put them very close in speed to Durham who will be hot on their heels and looking to repeat last year’s result where they finished ahead of IC. Following Durham are Bath, who finished a little behind Imperial’s coxed four back at Four’s Head and second at Bristol University Head in the eight, while Nottingham are the last crew in this field off the back of a solid eights win at Newark Head.
The intermediate eights is a much larger category with 31 crews entered. Demonstrating great depth are Edinburgh and Newcastle, adding a second and third eight onto their championship eight entries, while Exeter, UCL and Surrey all have two crews in the intermediate eights. The case for college rowing is clear with four Durham entries in the intermediate events, too, with presumably a couple of them coming from the college boat clubs. The big names with entries already in the championship event will likely dominate the intermediate event with firm competition from the clubs who have their first eight in this category such as Exeter, Liverpool and Queen’s University Belfast. Newcastle's presumed second eight were quite a margin behind their first crew at Rutherford although the CRI rankings might hint that this is a different crew entered. Glasgow had a good run at Rutherford and might surprise a few of the crews further up the start list after beating Durham's second eight there.
The final women’s event in division 1 is a four-boat race for the medals in the championship lightweight women’s quads. Eyes will be on Reading, a very strong sculling programme who sent an athlete to U23 worlds last year in the lightweight double and no less than dominated the quads at HOR4s. They will be trying to hold off entries from Nottingham, Exeter and relative newbies on the university rowing scene, De Montfort.
Moving into the afternoon, Reading will be looking to take home more gold medals in the openweight quads and will no doubt be tough to beat. Chasing them down the course are crews from Edinburgh, Bath and Durham. Edinburgh tend to prioritise their sweep crews but always show plenty of depth and will field a quality crew, while Bath have produced many quality scullers including the double that finished fifth at European U23s last summer and are likely Reading’s biggest opposition. Reading have proven they're currently home to some of the top young sculling athletes in the country and really it looks like it will be a chance for the other entries to see how small they can make the margin.
The intermediate quads is a 24-strong field which will see the likes of Newcastle and Edinburgh competing with clubs with sculling as their primary focus including Reading and Hartpury. Nottingham had a good result at Four's Head, finishing as the quickest university behind two Reading crews so should be looking to perform again here but again, Reading's second place finish at HOR4s puts them in a strong position to top both the championship and intermediate quads. With their top quad entered into intermediate, this could be a chance for Newcastle to make their mark but this will depend on whether they've chosen to put a lot of their top athletes into the fours instead. It’s great to see a range of UK wide universities getting entries in, from Glasgow Caledonian to Bangor, and hopefully we will see some of the smaller clubs challenging the large programmes this weekend.
We can expect a lot of the same tussling that goes on in the eights as crews split into fours for the second division. Newcastle, Edinburgh, Imperial, Durham and Nottingham all have entries in both coxed and coxless championship fours as well as the championship eights. Edinburgh were the top dogs back at Four’s Head in the W4- with about ten seconds separating them from Imperial. The London university will be looking to close that gap amongst tough competition from what will be very strong Newcastle entries and further entries from Sheffield and Aberdeen who are stepping into championship for the fours. Nottingham are ranked high on the start list, which might be a cause for worry for some of the other entries, but if this is indeed the crew listed under the same name as their coxed four from HOR4s they will have a little more work to do to catch the likes of Edinburgh. Durham's coxless four looked to have a good race at Rutherford Head and will be worth keeping an eye on for those BUCS points.
It will be much the same story in the coxed fours, this time with Scottish clubs University of Glasgow and Robert Gordon University racing the championship eights clubs. At last year’s BUCS regatta, Glasgow were just 0.1s from taking the gold medal in the intermediate fours and if they’ve held onto their athletes could be a dark horse here whilst the second halves of the championship eight entries will look to prove their depth. The final event of the day is a large field of intermediate women’s coxed fours. St. Andrews were third at HOR4s behind Oxford and Cambridge, albeit a fair way off the pace of the top end crews. They will likely be under pressure from the likes of Edinburgh and Newcastle as well as Bath and Surrey. With only two weeks between BUCS and WEHORR, this weekend will be an absolutely crucial marker for crews looking to finish their head season well back on the Tideway.
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Only 6 entries into Championship Eights, with Newcastle starting first ahead of Imperial, Edinburgh, Durham, Glasgow and Nottingham. No surprise at Brookes’ absence, but no showing from London and Bristol makes for a far thinner field, as both unis seems to be training as normal this weekend, maybe transport concerns are behind the absence. The racing disruption so far this year (45+ events cancelled since September) has meant that many universities have only attended their local events, so for many of these crews this is their first tussle of the year. Imperial’s fast time at Quintin places them near the top of many people’s expectations. At Rutherford Head a few months ago, UL had 12 seconds on Newcastle, with Durham 9 seconds behind Newcastle, so using UL as a guide, Imperial should come away with a win followed by Newcastle and Durham. Given the large number of race cancellations, IC will undoubtedly have benefited from tough racing in fixtures with the likes of Goldie and Isis over the past few weeks, too.
Edinburgh’s only major race has been their first ever (recent) visit to Four’s Head, which had a far stronger showing in their quads than fours, but given the standard of the programme, nobody would be surprised to see Edinburgh slide into the top 3. Nottingham often compete in the rear end of Championship alongside Bath and Bristol, but this year they should make light work of Glasgow University.
Intermediate eights has 33 entries, and again are starting off with Newcastle, Imperial and Nottingham’s 2nd eights. The IC 2V still showed at Quintin that they had the speed to oust Bristol, but at Rutherford the Newcastle 2V was only 16 seconds behind their top crew compared to Imperial’s 30. Newcastle’s depth will surely shine through, however previous BUCS Head’s have seen Newcastle opt to enter their first lightweight eight, which has resulted in inter 8+ wins the last 2 years the category ran. The biggest challenge from other first eights will surely come from Bath and Exeter. Strange for Bath not to enter championship, however their strategy of entering a top 4+ and a second 8+ at Henley Royal Regatta last year went quite nicely for them, so they may be repeating this strategy. Exeter were hit hard after their coach last year had to leave, but with a new coach, a very successful Henley campaign still fresh, and a great trial run with some actual racing at Worcester Uni Head, I imagine their eyes are firmly set on the blue and yellow of Bath.
Only 5 entries in Championship Quads, with Newcastle starting and trailed by Reading, Durham, Hartpury and Strathclyde. A very different line-up to last year at Gloucester before the storm set in and racing was abandoned. Reading being one of the top sculling universities in the country will want to take down Newcastle, as despite a comfortable win at last year’s BUCS Head, when the Regatta swung around Newcastle came home with a silver as Reading went home with only the BUCS points in Champ 4x. Queen’s Belfast and Edinburgh took home the other two medals, and to see neither in championship is a bit odd. Durham tend to prioritise their sweeping, while Hartpury do the polar opposite and religiously scull, with Hartpury’s tactic tending to work better for the boys from Gloucester. A disappointing BUCS Head on home water last year, but a solid result at Four’s Head and some strong sculls at GB Trials mean Hartpury shouldn’t be ignored. Strathclyde had a great 2019 season which saw some great performances in their singles and doubles, so a fast quad isn’t off the table at all, it’s just a question of if their smaller club size can compete against some of the giants of UK sculling.
Intermediate 4x is looking to be led by Reading’s 2nd quad, as the notorious quality of their second and third boats will earn them plenty of BUCS points – thinking back to Henley 2018 when Reading Uni made up ¼ of the Prince of Wales. However, the Irish probably have this event, as the Queen’s quad is probably the most likely to come away with a gold medal as their second boat did last year in this category – a very significant drop-off would need to have occurred for Queen’s to not be eyeing up that gold eagerly. Division 1 has seen Edinburgh place 2 other Championship entries, but an intermediate for their quad suggests it may not contain their best 4 athletes. The lightweight category only has an entry each from Nottingham and Reading, meaning that Newcastle have only entered 1 quad into the event. The top end of Inter 4x also sees entries from De Montfort, Bangor and Loughborough’s top crews. Special mention must go to De Montfort, who have hopefully had a fire ignite within their club after the incredible success of their men’s double from last year who not only won Champ 2x but raced at HRR, on top of their very successful beginner quad getting a silver medal at BUCS Regatta against some of the best-funded programmes in the country. They may not have a spectacular result this weekend, but the DMU quad are certainly one to watch.
The champ 4- draw is identical to the champ 8+ draw with a bit of reshuffling, and it’s often a safe bet to say that a 1st VIII is split into a 4- and 4+. There is no intermediate 4- category, forcing all smaller programmes into inter 4+, but there does exist one of the last lightweight sweep categories at a major British event. Nottingham and Newcastle are widely regarded as the two university programmes championing lightweight rowing above all others; Nottingham got a bronze in Lwt 2- and a silver in Lwt 4x at BUCS Regatta, while Newcastle won Lwt 8+, Lwt 4x and Lwt 4-, and got a bronze in Lwt 2x. A dark horse joins the race in the shape of the University of Surrey, who operate out of Molesey Boat Club, and have a significantly smaller programme than the other entries of Bath and Exeter. Newcastle and Nottingham for 1 and 2, free-for-all for 3.
As mentioned above, most of the championship entries are the same as with the eights, with a few exceptions. Exeter’s top 4+ starting 3rd will be based off CRI, and should rightly make the other fours a bit uneasy. A scratch from York eliminates any real surprises the event may have had, as again Imperial look poised to take home gold with Newcastle snapping at their heels. Inter 4+ has 34 entries and it’s here that you’ll find most smaller universities’ top crews, getting a good look at each other before HORR. The non-championship programme crews to watch in this category are undoubtedly St Andrews and Leeds. Both of these universities enjoyed unrivalled success at Henley last year due to St Andrew’s incredible run in the PA and Leeds becoming a household name after THAT race in the Diamond Sculls, which as a result has shined a light onto Leeds rowing as a whole.
]]>For the last three years, the University of Cambridge have recorded back to back Boat Race wins on the Thames stretch. This year, they will be hoping to repeat history as they fight to defend their title. In 2019, University of London were only six seconds behind, and so they too will be ravenous for victory in this year’s rematch. UL have a very strong women's squad this year with a number of U23 vests and HWR wins among them after the arrival of post grad athletes from programmes like Edinburgh, Yale and UCLA. But, to a throw a spanner in the works, Oxford Brookes have entered three crews who will be sure to ruffle the waters; Brookes usually keep their cards close to their chest at this stage of the year so an entry here is very out of character. With the guidance from ex-Goldie coach and Olympic silver medallist Richard Chambers, and straight off the back of another legendary Wimbleball training camp, will Brookes “A” come and spoil the light blue’s party? They may stand a better chance than the University of Oxford, as the dark blue boat hasn’t overcome Cambridge since 2016, and Osiris haven’t since 2015. Despite this, the results from Fours Head a few weeks ago really make things interesting as Oxford won Band 1 Academic 4+ by more than 20 seconds over CUWBC. Keen followers of the varsity race should have an exciting weekend ahead.
With the top three places, predicted to be very competitive, it's not worth forgetting the rest of the competition, with entries from Lea, City of Oxford, Vesta and Mortlake Anglian & Alpha. There was a large gap in the field last year between UL and CUWBC versus third and fourth fastest (Imperial and Thames), and with Imperial looking to take a win in Senior Eights and seemingly no entry from the top Thames and Molesey women, these other crews don’t look like they’ll be vying for podium positions.
As mentioned above, Imperial are likely favourites to win Senior Eights after their second place finish last year in a category which sees a few more universities entered: this is Bristol’s first big race with new women’s coach Holly Stead, while Nottingham showed some decent speed in the 4- at Fours Head. Marlow and Vesta have notoriously steadfast women’s squads backed up by some close times in coxless fours at HOR4’s, while the strength of UL's squad this year could mean their B crew still have plenty of speed.
With no British Senior Champs this year, this is the first chance for the top boat clubs in the country to race against each other and set the tone for the rest of the season. As we know, Henley Royal Regatta has introduced The Island Challenge Cup for Student Women's Eights, which should not only vastly increase the numbers of students racing but also benefit the top clubs whose Remenham entries are often taken by universities. Of course in 2021 the regatta expands to 6 days and will see the introduction of Club Eights and Junior Eights categories, so there’s no better time to be competitive within Women’s Rowing. Whatever the results, we predict it is going to be a close one!
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As much as we are all thinking about the preparation for coaches and athletes this weekend, for many this could be the first big regatta for parents attending in support and as many stalwarts in the spectating world would say... easier said than done! We spoke to some parents who have been-there-done-that at more regattas than we count about their best tips for surviving the busy weekend ahead.
If you can't be there in person, check out the YouTube livestream here.
Parking payment has been changed for the 2019 race. The parking is now run through Eventbrite and is £20 in advance or £25 on the day. This is done on a daily basis, so booking in advance for all three days can save you £15.
The nearby Sainsburys Taplow Superstore is a good spot to get refreshments near the regatta, which is conveniently close to the lake. Most people find themselves passing the Sainsburys on their right-hand side after coming off the M4. Note that need to be "checked out" by a parking attendant if you pop out throughout the day so you can be let in on your way back.
Dogs are very welcome at the regatta provided they're kept under control, so don't worry about leaving them at home! It's a great day out for the whole family with lots going on. There really is no atmosphere quite like it.
The gate opening times are:
Friday: 7:30am
Saturday: 6:00am
Sunday: 6:30am
Find out where your school/club marquee is situated (we've got a copy of the map here)
This mostly depends on whether your child will be racing at the regatta for one or two days. Remember that at Dorney we are very close to Heathrow (around 25 minutes by car), so there are plenty of hotels and B&Bs nearby, as well as in Slough and Maidenhead. It might be worth looking a little further out, as clubs and schools will have likely booked the majority of nearby accommodation. AirBnB is always worth a look.
For starters, your child will almost certainly want a National Schools Regatta official top. They're usually £25 so it is worth bringing cash for that! Demand for NSR merchandise is very high so it is also worth going early to avoid disappointment. There are refreshments available but especially on a hot day, it is worth bringing your own with you. Picnics are a great idea, as well as gas operated BBQs.
There is a great Shopping Village to look around, as well as many universities who are open to talk about rowing at university, the academic side of things and how students balance this, which can be very valuable to hear from real students.
Bringing binoculars can be very helpful in the event those you are supporting are racing on the opposite side of the course, or simply to look further up the course.
There is water available for two-legged and four-legged friends alike at the boathouse at the finish end of the course near to the boating pontoons. It is important to stay hydrated for both athletes and supporters, especially in hot weather as we are often blessed with during NSR! There are portaloos to use the bathroom spread up the course and several by the boathouse.
There is seating available at the finish line, but many prefer to bring their own chairs to sit by their school's marquee in a group.
Bicycles are NOT allowed; you may see many people on bikes, but these are coaches and officials only. Cycling is not allowed for spectators and can negatively affect the crew you're supporting. This is also applicable to the island betwewen the racing lake and warm-up lake. It is reserved for coaches and officials only.
Pack for all weathers! The weather can change greatly as the day progresses, so be prepared to shelter from both the sun and the wind. Out in the open, a stiff wind can make it feel very chilly.
There are several photographers at the event.
Check out AllMarkOne above for our photographs, we will be uploading images live, all day, every day. If we didn't get the shot you're looking for, Ben Rodford Photography and Rowing Photography both take fantastic photographs also. We'd recommend checking through the photos online both during and after the event, with so many talented photographers attending - don't feel pressured to purchase photos on site.
The start line end is normally very quiet so we would recommend watching the semi-finals from there if you want a different experience; it also makes for a nice stretch of the legs during the day! Standard start-line procedures apply, athletes train for months and years focusing on these races, with the 2-5 minutes on the start pontons being the quietest and tensest of them all.
Enjoy the racing! The weekend is ultimately about the kids so let it be theirs. Be mindful of when they might not want to have that picture taken as they are focussed on their race, but absolutely cheer at the top of your lungs for them! A fantastic time is guaranteed.
Many thanks to the parents from Winchester, Shiplake, St. Paul's and Norwich for sharing their top tips with us!
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This weekend Nottingham is graced by the largest student regatta in Europe, as BUCS Regatta descends on the course for 3 days of intense multi-lane racing. An incredible 49 categories of racing means that we can't cover them all (we're only human!), but here are our previews for all the Men's Championship events.
The first men’s championship event of the regatta is the lightweight single sculls. Coming into the event, it’s looking like an Edinburgh 1-2 as both Gavin Horsburgh and Dale Flockhart are racing. Gavin is the only representative of the LM1x A final from senior and U23 trials racing after finishing fourth there, and with no results from last year’s racing to work off, a strong first BUCS in this category will add to his already strong medal collection. Let’s hope his Edinburgh training has paid off after last racing at BUCS in 2016 with Heriot Watt University. Dale, also from Edinburgh, won lightweight doubles with James Temple (who is ALSO racing in this category), and finished third in this event at BUCS last year. On top of comfortably winning the B final at senior trials in this category, him and Gavin shouldn’t face much opposition. Tom Smith from Imperial College could prove a challenge, right at Flockhart’s heels coming 2nd in the same final at trials, and with A Final returners from last year, Sebastien Tyrie of Exeter and Miles Taylor of Queen’s Belfast, an entirely light blue podium is not looking likely.
One of the most exciting events of the entire regatta, some of the best sculling in the country is on show in this event. Last year’s winner Josh Armstrong from, you guessed it, Edinburgh, is returning to hold onto his crown from the past 2 years and keep his BUCS at a 100% win level. Hot on his tail will be the one, the only, the people’s champion, Dave Bell. Dave finished an excruciating 3rd in this event last year, but will boat race training with Cambridge and time out of a single mean he’s lost his touch, or will the people’s champion become BUCS champion…we can only eagerly wait and see. Both Sam McKeown and George Bourne from Queen’s Belfast and Durham respectively were in last year’s A final and will be desperate for a medal. The B final at Senior Trials was Armstrong 1st, McKeown 2nd and Bourne 3rd with 5 seconds separating the 3, so this will be a grudge match for McKeown and Bourne and a chance to hit back. George Lawton from Reading made it to the C Final at trials but did not start, leaving him as a wildcard of sorts. However well the rest of the field performs, all eyes will be on Armstrong for his hat-trick performance.
The 2 universities leading the field of lightweight fours must be Newcastle and Nottingham. Consistently medalling in this event year on year, their lightweight programmes have regularly beat away the Cambridge and Oxford fours entered in the event, and it’s almost a certainty that they will medal. Both crews have stellar athletes such as James Stephenson, 3rd in the B final of LM1x at recent trials, for Newcastle, as both clubs draw in lightweights from all around the country. While the category may be dying off in international racing, the competition certainly isn’t. While Cambridge and Oxford will undoubtedly field some of their athletes from the lightweight boat races, up-and-coming clubs like UWE and Surrey will challenge more than those other unis will expect. Surrey has Fawley winner Sam Bodkin and other top talents, and masked by their universities’ lesser rowing renown they might just sneak into that bronze medal position, if not higher. The standard and form of the lightweight four is always incredible (much like their rate) and I would highly recommend watching this event.
The big one. All to play for, the championship 8 final is the regatta’s premier event. And when university eights are mentioned, the name that instantly springs to mind is Oxford Brookes. However, Brookes cannot field their top boat at BUCS due to the rules about competitors fully attending the university, meaning that a significant portion of their athletes, including from the 1V, aren’t eligible to race. Therefore, their top crew at the weekend will not be their 1V from the head season and going into the regatta season. Regardless, their 2 championship and 4 intermediate eights will still dominate the field amongst some of the biggest names in university rowing. Their 2 biggest rivals are the tideway-based crews of Imperial College London and the University of London. Imperial are hot off their PA success last year, and after losing Alex Ball to Leander Club they still have the experience of athletes like Caspar Woods, mixed with fresh talent like Max Ridgewell from last year’s Eton 1V. UL also has incoming fresh talent like Isaac Workman from last year’s Windsor Boy’s quad, and will be looking to move up from the previous two year’s silver medals. Cambridge have also entered an eight, but for you hopefuls out there, it won’t be the blue boat. Newcastle and Edinburgh don’t specialise in eights, but with both having vast pools of top athletes, quick crews are standard. With Edinburgh letting its top athletes in their small boats, I imagine that Newcastle will have the edge here.
The men’s championship first event on Sunday’s programme is the Lightweight eight category. A very rarely seen event in this country, this will be the premier lightweight category with some big names involved. Newcastle will be wanting to hold onto their gold medal in this event, likely merging two of their lightweight fours from Saturday to form their top boat, but the fact that they have entered 2 eights in this category shows the depth their lightweight programme has. Oxford University have also brought all their lightweights back to produce 2 eights also. Last year they were a good 10 seconds off Newcastle, but with a comfortable success over Cambridge in the Lightweight Boat Races they’ll cut that margin down easily. Cambridge have also entered their lightweight 8, and they will be out with a vengeance to take some Oxford scalps. UL has entered a lightweight 8 for the first time in 5 years, after winning the event in 2012, 2013 and 2014. A strong resurgence from them could knock even Newcastle off their lightweight throne.
Championship doubles being the day after the singles means that we can expect a lot of the same athletes from Saturday racing again. Reading’s George Lawson and his partner will want to retain their title, but I’m sure that the Edinburgh double will have something to say about that. An interesting entry comes from De Montford University in Leicester. Their double of Dave Potter and Alexander Adrienne were the fastest non-qualifying double at Henley Royal Regatta last year, and kitted out in their cobra, and with a year’s racing together under their belt, they could be a very dangerous prospect for most of the field to face.
With 3 times the entries than the openweight double, the lightweights are clearly using every chance they can to get racing. Again, I Imagine that the lightweight singles will make up a lot of the medals here, with the Edinburgh top double being the crew to beat. Surrey’s double of George Glenister and presumably Sam Bodkin will be a vicious prospect to other young crews racing. Newcastle have flooded entries with 4 crews, and with other top universities like Glasgow, Nottingham and Bristol involved, the semi-finals will be close and desperate races in order to secure those precious A-final places.
Brookes aren’t known for their performances outside of eights, partially because they are rarely seen not in one, but the 2 Brookes fours in this category will be looking for a win, albeit in a tighter field than the eights. UL will want to keep last year’s gold medal position in their ownership, however after the cancellation of this category at BUCS Head, it’s hard to know where this crew stands. Imperial College look to be fielding a top 4-, and after their Prince Albert success last year, it’s almost a guarantee that this boat will be rapid. Durham were second in this event last year, and in their programme, which doesn’t seem to have prioritised an eight this year, this boat might just be their trump card.
Coxed fours are always a great race as they provide a top indication of who’s in contention for the PA this year. Brookes have again entered, their boat stroked by U23 silver medallist Sam Nunn. Cambridge have thrown a four together with Dave Bell switching from his sculling the day before. Bath and Exeter have both progressed rapidly in the past few years, expanding their squad sizes and sending more athletes to EUSA and GB Trials than ever before. They won’t be prying for medals, but don’t expect it to be these two likely top crews at the bottom of the rankings.
Monday opens up the men’s championship events with the lightweight quads. In a category heavily populated with some smaller names in rowing, there are many opportunities for smaller programmes to slide in – last year saw Nottingham Trent, Exeter and Bath make the A Final. This year however looks a bit more predictable. The sculling giants of Edinburgh and Reading have both fielded undoubtedly quick boats, with lightweight giants Newcastle and Nottingham fielding 3 boats together. Surrey’s lightweights, like in the double, could be a real force here. UL continue their expedition into lightweight events with a quad also, and Henry Smith from Oxford’s lightweight 8 will stroke their quad to get up and compete with the rest.
The lightweight pair, one of the most technically impressive races in the programme, has 15 entries, most of which I imagine are coming from lightweight 4’s the day before. While we see the same universities come up in almost every event, it’s nice to see a programme like Bournemouth entered, who usually spend their time around the middle of intermediate eights. Cambridge and Oxford have also put in entries, although if these are from their boat race squads or from their colleges is unknown.
The men’s pairs showcases some of the finest sweeping talent in the country, with many of the names here straight out of U23 trials. The Newcastle pair of Will Stewart and Cormac Molloy came 5th in the B final at trials in an event dominated by clubs. Caspar Woods of Imperial and Oscar Lindsay of Durham have been split up from their trials pair and are back to their own boat clubs, and neither will want to appear to have been the slower man in that pair. Thomas Strudwick and Jonty Page of Goldie makeup the last of the pairs who made an appearance at trials, representing Cambridge. With last year’s winners Alastair Douglas and George Stewart of Surrey not racing, all eyes are on Lindsay and his partner to step up from silver to gold.
This weekend Nottingham is graced by the largest student regatta in Europe, as BUCS Regatta descends on the course for 3 days of intense multi-lane racing. An incredible 49 categories of racing means we can't cover all of them, but here are our previews for all the Women's Championship events.
A rarely seen category now, the women’s’ lightweight eights will see a second battle between the blues, with Oxford and Cambridge lining up against eachother once more as the first event of the regatta on Saturday. The girls in dark blue took the win over Cambridge by 2.5 lengths at the Henley Boat Races last month- the question for Oxford will be whether the remainder of the field from Bristol and Exeter will put out a quicker crew. Exeter produced the U23 lightweight double last year that raced at the World Championships in Susannah Duncan and Danielle Semple, alongside coach Richard Tinkler. They’ve shown real quality in the women’s lightweight events and although their top two athletes look to be racing a double, if their depth can hold them up, they may well produce a pretty quick crew. It’s worth noting that like Exeter, Oxford and Cambridge have athletes entered into the lightweight doubles on Saturday. Depending on where these doubles rank in the squad, the result from the lightweight boat race may well be overturned come this weekend.
The championship pairs entry looks to feature a lot of quality crews. Cambridge are putting out three boats, the first of which is Pippa Whittaker who we would assume is racing with her GB trials partner Tricia Smith, where they were second in a hotly-contested C final. Meanwhile, the CUW B crew hints that it could be the young lightweight King twins. The sisters have shown a real skill in rowing together after qualifying as juniors in the women’s pairs at Henley Royal Regatta last year. The C crew looks to feature their fellow Lady Eleanor Holles school alumnus and now Cambridge first year Clare Jackson, who was in the spare pairs race this year.
Lauren Irwin and likely Helena Barton from Durham are the next on the start list off the back of a successful trials. They were 4th U23 pair at trials last year, and Lauren finished as the fastest full U23 pair alongside her Brookes partner last week. She will have hopes of making the team once more after finishing 4th at last year’s world championships in the eight. Edinburgh are showing real strength at the moment, and here they have an entry under India Somerside, who herself has an U23 world championship vest in the women’s four. Perhaps joined by one of Edinburgh’s trialists in Lydia Currie or Alex Rankin, the latter of whom was the fastest U23 sculler at trials, this pair will no doubt be quality.
Imperial’s entry we’d expect to be Daisy Bethall and Helen Kirkpatrick. Helen looks to be ICBC’s top women’s athlete this season and has made a solid start to the trialling process, albeit with some chopping and changing after a pairs partner swap at the most recent trials also brought with it a swap of sides. She will have her eyes on her first GB vest in the U23 squad this summer, and this pair should also put down a strong performance.
Issy Powell looked to pull-out of trials last minute, so could be suffering from injury, but the UL pair entered will be looking to finish near the top of this category regardless with a very strong women's squad behind them. Newcastle have two entries, the A crew under Frances Russell with her junior worlds experience back in 2016, and Millie Perrin, who stroked the Cambridge women’s reserve crew to victory in the 2018 Boat Races. Crews from Aberdeen and Nottingham make up the rest of this very strong field, which is sure to provide some brilliant close racing.
The standout entry on the lightweight women’s doubles draw has to be Danielle Semple alongside presumably Susannah Duncan of Exeter University. As bronze medallists at the U23 world championships last year in Plovdiv, they are surely the crew to beat. Fiona Chestnutt put in a good performance at trials and perhaps she will feature in one of Newcastle’s two crews in this category, where she would then face her world university games crewmate of last year in Alex Styles. Alex features in the first of three crews from Oxford Brookes, whose women’s squad are showing ever growing success after taking the women’s Victor Ludorum at BUCS last year (shared with Newcastle University). Nottingham too have shown good performances from their lightweights and we would expect them to be strong. It will be interesting to see how the doubles from Oxford and Cambridge fare in this field- while they are the only universities with dedicated clubs for lightweight rowing, there are a great deal of strong athletes here from integrated programmes.
The quads are the last championship event of day 1. The focus at university level tends to lean towards eights and the sweep boats, but the format of junior women’s rowing in the UK lends itself to producing strong women’s scullers. With only 64 athlete spots in the quads at Henley Royal Regatta for junior girls racing the Diamond Jubilee, most girls will maintain a strong focus on sculling in their junior careers (unlike the junior boys where 256 athletes can race sweep in the Princess Elizabeth, there is no girls sweep event).
Bath have produced some quality scullers in recent times at their GB start centre, while it looks like bulldog Lily Lindsay has swapped one blade for two as the listed name in Cambridge’s quad. This is an interesting entry considering her strong history in sweep, both as a student at Yale and Cambridge, but equally representing USA. She has raced at two junior worlds, medalling at the second, and gained a bronze medal last year at U23s in the eight. It will be interesting to see how she and her Boat Race winning crewmates fare in the quads.
Exeter too could put out a good crew and we would expect Reading to be another crew to beat considering their major focus on sculling and abundance of strong results behind them. Newcastle and UL have entries under the same names as some of their pairs. Racing two events on one day would be brave indeed, or it may be that there are some crew swaps expected. Nevertheless, these clubs consistently turn out quality crews and will look to be near the top of this field.
Moving onto the Sunday, the first women’s championship event of the day is the lightweight single sculls. Laura Macro is the first in a strong field representing Bath. She raced this category at the U23 european championships last summer where she finished 5th as the latest GB representative for their programme. Saskia Devereux comes from a strong family of scullers in her brothers Seb and Miles. She will represent Durham and look to build on her 5th U23 placing at trials last winter. Laura McDonald of Edinburgh won the aspirational singles at Henley Women’s last year and will be looking to put in a strong performance too, alongside Imperial’s Pippa England, Nottingham’s Lucy Gillbanks and Oxford’s Ellie Watts. Chloe Knight will be a real contender to top this event after finishing as the fastest U23 lightweight sculler at final trails.
The openweight single sculls is an equally stacked category. Cambridge’s Pippa Whittaker has commonwealth gold medals under her belt in the single and double sculls, as well as experience in Thames RC’s fantastic quad last year, so will be right up there in this event as she switches back to sculling. Lucy Glover (Edinburgh), Fiona Bell (Queen’s Belfast) and Georgie Robinson Ranger (University of London) will look to build on their racing at final trials. Georgie was the fastest at trials, finishing 6th in the B final, with Lucy and Fiona winning and finishing 5th in the C final respectively. Lucy has a wealth of international experience in medals at junior & U23 level and will have hoped to place higher amongst the U23 cohort at final trials. She will no doubt be a real contender this weekend. Helen Kirkpatrick will move from the sweep to the single, but has shown her strength as a sculler at some of the GB winter trials. Amongst the rest of the field is ex-lightweight Imogen North for Nottingham, as well as several current or previous start athletes in Bath’s Zara Mulholland and Nottingham’s Jade Lindo & Molly Johnson. Sean Olusanya of Exeter, a nominee for the Fillipi Spirit award last year, is also another recognisable name on the draw, who has proven her strength at trials in the past and as a Henley Royal qualifier.
Light blue Lou Brett has a few Boat Races behind her, and like the previous lightweight categories, we see Oxford and Cambridge fielding crews in the lightweight four. It will be interesting to see how what we’d assume to be the top halves of the lightweight boat race crews will fare. Exeter’s four races under Izzy Lingard who has experience a few years back representing GB at Coupe whilst still at Headington School in the middle of their period of immense domination. With the calibre of lightweight athletes in their squad, we’d expect Exeter to be very strong.
Sunday’s racing closes with the championship eights, often earmarked as the blue riband event. After victory at Brit Champs back in October and winners of this event last year, UL will no doubt be favourites going into this event. Continuing to look at Brit Champs results- particularly after bad weather forced the cancellation of WEHORR- Newcastle will be hot on their heels, followed by Edinburgh. Imperial and Oxford Brookes have had some good results this season and will look to build on their placings back in October. The Brookes women have some way to go before they mimic the success of their men’s squad, but seem to be growing from strength to strength. We’re now at a very different time in the season, so we may see the order of crews from Brit Champs shaken up a fair bit as crews reap the rewards of their winter training.
The final day of racing opens with the lightweight women’s pairs. As mentioned earlier, we’d expect the King twins to be the ones to beat here. No doubt brilliant athletes in their own right, it must be said that this particular pair have really shone. Wins as juniors at pairs head and Home International were a start, but qualifying in the pairs at HRR as juniors was a big statement. The rest of the field features some names we’ve seen in some of the events on Saturday and Sunday, so the way the first few days of racing pan out will be the best indicator as to how this category will organise itself, perhaps with some wiggle room amongst those with strengths in sculling over sweep.
With both a coxed and coxless four event, the medallists in each will be somewhat dependent on which universities enter their top crew in each category. The big names in the eights have crews entered in both categories (the likes of UL, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Brookes, Imperial) and here it becomes a bit of a gamble as to who enters where. With only one name, it’s not enough to go on to say who will be the frontrunners in either category. UL will likely field two quick fours from their eight lineup, with top performers at final trials in Nuala Gannon as the fastest U23 and Oonagh Cousins. That said, the fours are a good opportunity for the smaller squads from Bristol, Durham and Nottingham to really shine where they might not have the depth to challenge the very top end in the eights. With any luck, they’ll shake things up and push the big championship eight crews out of the spotlight.
We should see some of the multiple entries in the lightweight doubles coming together in the quad on Monday. It could be a battle between Exeter and Brookes, as it looks like the former have the edge of some real strength at the top end, while Brookes might have better depth behind them to field a rapid quad. Any of the other entries shouldn’t be discounted either, with our money on Oxford or Newcastle also putting out a nippy crew.
The final event of this year’s BUCS regatta will be the women’s championship doubles. A quick skim of the draw reveals a lot of names we’ve seen entered in lightweight events who could well challenge the best of the openweight scullers, some of whom look to be in sweep events on the Monday regardless. Rosalind Wilson of UL has shown herself as a strong sculler with a junior worlds vest and previous results at trials and is entered in a double here, perhaps to be joined by UL’s top young sculler at the moment Georgie Robinson Ranger in what could be a quick crew. The crews from Edinburgh, Nottingham, Brookes and Reading should be up there, perhaps with Bath or Exeter sneaking in there.
]]>Images from today's Junior Sculling Regatta can be found by clicking on the image below:
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