Big Field for Head of the River Fours

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Olympic rowers to compete alongside local clubs

With 2483 people competing in 546 crews, the 52nd Fuller’s Head of the River Fours is one of the largest one day rowing races in the world. This year it takes place at 13:30 on Saturday 18 November over the famous 4 ¼ mile championship course on the river Thames, from Chiswick Bridge to Putney Bridge.

As well as being the first chance for the Cambridge and Oxford (who race as Isis) 2007 boat race squads to flex their muscles against each other in public, the Fuller’s HOR4s is one of the few races where GB international rowers are able to compete for their home clubs.

There are 20 different events being raced on the day, with everything from women’s junior quadruple sculls to men’s elite coxless fours. This variety ensures that as well as attracting many international level rowers, the event also caters for hundreds of school, university and club level rowers from across the UK and Europe, with competitors travelling from as far as Sweden and Serbia.

The race will last a couple of hours; spectating along the whole course is free and there are plenty of good vantage points from which to watch. Refreshments and stalls selling rowing related goods will be available from outside many of the local Tideway clubs, especially on Putney embankment and at Hammersmith.

Spectators on the day will have plenty of quality crews to watch, as most members of the 2006 GB senior, Under 23 and junior squads will be taking part. There will also be a coxed four of Internationals from the Serbian Rowing Federation who are competing for the first time.

Also racing are all four oarsmen from the GB Coxless Four who won gold at the World Championships in Eton earlier this year. Pete Reed, Steve Williams and Alex Partridge race together as Leander in Elite Coxed Fours while Andy Triggs-Hodge defends his 2005 win for Molesey in Senior 1 Quadruple Sculls.

Three of the four members of the women’s quad who won silver at the World championships will be battling against each other for the chance to win women’s Elite Quads: Sarah Winkless and Kath Grainger race in a Marlow/Thames composite and Frances Houghton for University of London.

Zac Purchase the current lightweight 1X World Champion and world record holder will be racing in a Marlow/London composite crew in Senior 1 Quads, whilst heavyweight World Champion, New Zealander Mahé Drysdale races for Tideway Scullers in Elite Quads with up and coming GB sculler Alan Campbell.

The local clubs and academic institutions together with numbers of crews entered are listed below:

CLUB	LOCATION	NUMBER OF CREWS
AURIOL KENSINGTON RC	Hammersmith	8
BARNES BRIDGE LADIES RC	Chiswick	6
CRABTREE / BOSPOROS	Putney	1
CYGNET RC	Chiswick	4
FURNIVALL SC	Hammersmith	2
HSBC RC	Putney	1
IMPERIAL COL MED BC	Chiswick	1
IMPERIAL COLL BC	Putney	8
KINGS COLL LONDON BC	Putney	4
KINGSTON GS	Kingston	2
LONDON RC	Putney	15
MOLESEY BC	Molesey	12
MORTLAKE ANGLIAN & ALPHA BC	Chiswick	11
PUTNEY TOWN	Kew	8
QUEEN MARY COLLEGE	Chiswick	3
QUINTIN BC	Chiswick	5
SONS OF THAMES	Hammersmith	5
ST GEORGES HOSP BC	Chiswick	2
ST PAULS SCH BC	Barnes	5
STAINES BC / GREY COLLEGE	Staines	1
THAMES RC	Putney	23
THAMES TRADESMEN RC	Chiswick	4
TIDEWAY SCULLERS	Chiswick	11
TWICKENHAM RC	Twickenham	4
UNIV OF LONDON BC	Chiswick	4
UNIV OF LONDON WBC	Chiswick	6
VESTA	Putney	9
WESTMINSTER SCH	Putney	5

November 12, 2006