The Fuller’s Head of the River Fours (HOR4s) returns to the river Thames in West London this Saturday (November 14th) at 1:30pm, when 2400 competitors will take to the water in almost 550 boats for one of the largest rowing events in the world.

2009 heralds the 55th HOR4s and also marks the 30th anniversary of the event’s association with sponsors Fuller, Smith and Turner.

In response to the changes to the British Rowing points system introduced earlier this year, race organisers have aligned the events offered with the new status categories and introduced in a 6 point minimum for all sweep crews taking part in the race. However, even with the local restrictions on points, internationals and cox age, the race continues to be immensely popular, and entries closed nine days earlier than expected.

The 2009 HOR4s has an impressive field of international level rowers taking part, including most members of the 2009 GB senior and under-23 rowing squads who will be racing for their home clubs, against a number of foreign internationals and Olympians.

Competitors who have raced at a Senior World Cup, World Championships or Olympics in the last two years are required to race in the Elite events and, as a result, Saturday’s race promises some exciting competition for the top categories.

Both Open and Women’s Elite quads have proved very popular this year, with double the number of entries in 2008. Likewise the lightweight quad events, now in their second year, have also attracted almost twice the number of entries. November 14th will provide an early opportunity to see the form of the 2010 Oxford and Cambridge boat race squads as they compete against each other for the first time. Both the universities have a strong international flavour to their crews and each has entered five boats, with their respective three top crews set to compete in the hotly contested Elite 4+ event.

Fuller’s Brewery has now been associated with this event for 30 years, for which the committee and all those involved with the race, express their heartfelt thanks.

ELITE QUADS
The Tideway Scullers’ School in Chiswick are back to defend their Elite quad sculls title for the fourth year running. Fresh from their ‘Great 8’ win at the Head of the Charles, usual suspects New Zealand Olympic Bronze medallist Mahé Drysdale, GB Olympic sculler Alan Campbell and Slovenian Olympian Iztok Cop return to start in Head position, with the fourth seat in the quad taken by ex-U23 James Dunley. Hot on their heels is a crew from Reading University containing GB internationals Charles Cousins, Alex Gregory, Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend. This is the same line-up came that second to TSS in 2008 by only 9 seconds and no doubt they will be aiming to close that gap even further on Saturday.

Leander, starting 3rd, has also entered an impressive line-up. Mark Hunter, Olympic gold medallist in the lwt double scull, returns to racing after a year off, backed up by three other Olympic medallists: Matt Wells and Steve Rowbotham (Bronze in the Hwt 2x) and Matt Langridge (silver in the men’s eight).

The Women’s Elite Quad event is also shaping up to be a battle of the internationals! A strong composite crew racing as ASR NEREUS / LONDON RC / READING UNIV, contains Dutch Olympic silver medallists Femke Dekker and Nienke Kingma, who’ve joined forces with GB rowers Laura Greenhalgh and Anna Bebington, who is racing under her new married name of Watkins.

Chasing them will be yet more internationals racing for London RC: Winner of the 2009 Wingfield Sculls women’s race, Sophie Hosking; New Zealand Olympian Emma Twigg, GB silver Olympic medal winner, Annie Vernon, and double Olympic medallist Elise Laverick (who is more usually seen racing in the colours of LRC’s local rival Thames RC).

ELITE LWT QUADS
Now in their second year, both the Open and Women’s lightweight events have grown in popularity with twice the number of lwt crews entered in the 2009 race. In the open category, the favourites are Leander II, with a crew of internationals (Chris Bartley, Chris Boddy, Ross Hunter and Paul Mattick). Their main competition comes from the Imperial College crew starting 18th, which contains GB sculler Adam Freeman-Pask, Dutch International Jaap Schouten and Italian U23, Jose Casiraghi). However, both Durham University and Leander III, who’s crews contain a number of Senior internationals and recent U23s, will also be putting the pressure on.

In the Women’s event, the London RC/ TSS composite and Reading University crews both contain a mix of internationals and U23s. Canadian lwt Tanya Lahdenranta makes her first appearance at the HOR4s in the LRC/TSS crew, along with Steph Cullen, Cat Copeland and Elaine Johnstone.

ELITE FOURS The Elite coxed four event is where the rest of the action is this year – with Leander, Molesey, Cambridge and Oxford (racing as Isis) all rolling out their big guns, competition will surely be fierce. Molesey Captain, Andy Hodge is back in a four with fellow Olympic gold medallist Tom James who returns to competitive racing after a year off. Internationals Tom Solesbury and Tom Ransley complete the line up for MBC. Another member of the gold medal winning Olympic 4, Peter Reed, races for Leander with Alex Partridge, Ric Egington and Tom Burton.

Oxford’s top boat contains Dutch International Sjoerd Hamburger, Irish International Martin Walsh and the Winklevoss twins, US Olympians Tyler and Cameron who, as Harvard students, also set up the ConnectU social networking site, the forerunner of Facebook.

The Elite 4- event is much more open, though it still has some high level crews competing. Leander will be hoping to defend their 2008 title with two of last year’s winning crew (James Orme and Tom Broadway) returning.

In Women’s E4- the Marlow / UL / Agecroft / Molesey composite of Olympians Katherine Grainger, Jess Ediie, Olivia Whitlam and international Melanie Wilson will prove hard to beat.