Now for one of the most popular events at the regatta, The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.

8 crews have been selected, and for the first time in a very long while my old school of Abingdon aren’t among them! But of the selected crews there are four British, 3 American, 1 Canadian and 1 German school.

The top of the draw has the top US school crew, 135 Gonzaga College High School. They have had an outstanding season winning at both the SRAA championships and taking the prestigious Stotesbury Cup and will be looking to become the first US school to win the PE since 2006. They start their campaign against Bedford School who just missed out on the medals in the 1st 8’s division at the National Schools. I think the Americans will be too strong for Bedford.

Somewhat surprisingly Salisbury School of the USA aren’t Selected. They won the National Scholastic Championships but 5 of that crew are 19 years old and so are ineligible to race in this event. So their speed has been neutered somewhat. They race Reading Blue Coat School on Wednesday which should line them up to race the 2nd of the Selected crews; 133 Eton College.

Eton have a fantastic pedigree in this event, the defending champions they were also winners in 2009 and 2010. Under the guidance of Alex Henshilwood they are always a force to be reckoned with at Henley. At the National School’s they picked up the bronze medal and Henshilwood has been tweaking the line-up of his top boat all season. His final line-up raced in Senior 8’s at Marlow finishing an excellent 4th place. They have a relatively straightforward first round clash against Monmouth and then a bigger challenge from Salisbury.

The third Selected crew in the top half of the draw are Philips Academy, Andover of the USA. Andover are one of the top US crews, 2nd at the NEIRA championships. They have been in the UK for a few weeks and raced in Senior 8’s at Marlow Regatta winning the B-Final. They also have a relatively straightforward start to their regatta having drawn St Georges College, Weybridge. They missed out on an A-Final spot in the 1st 8’s at the National Schools Regatta and may struggle against the Americans.