HEADINGTON School continue to dominate junior women’s rowing – repeating the 2016 double victory in eights and quads, writes John Wiggins.

But there was not such good news for Oxford University, who lost both lightweight boat races at Henley.

However, the Dark Blues avoided a whitewash with wins for their women’s lightweight alumnae and the Keble College women, who won their inter-collegiate race.

Three of the four scheduled national head of the river races went ahead in varying degrees, while the biggest – the men’s eights head – was controversially called off due to a threatening weather forecast.

The Schools’ Head saw more than 350 boats compete over a much-shortened course due to rough water.

Not all coped well, but of those that did, Headington skilfully retained their championship eights title, adding the girls championship J16 eights with their second eight, who were also runners-up in the first eights category.

The championship boys’ eights was won by Shiplake College (with Wallingford RC’s Seb Newman aboard) with Radley College (fifth) ahead of Abingdon School (tenth) and St Edward’s (fourteenth).

The best result for St Edward’s was their third-placed J16 coxed four, while Abingdon managed fourth place in the second eights.

Hinksey Sculling School did well in the coxed fours, with second in the boys and eighth in the girls’ events.

The action moved to Eton Dorney 24 hours later, where aggregate times showed Headington to be queens of the water again, grabbing first (and third) place in the J18 quad scull and second in the J17 quad.

A win in the J15 octuple and second in the J14 octuple shows that their future remains bright.

Hinksey’s best result was fourth in the boys J17 quad, while Wallingford RC secured fifth in the WJ15 octuple.

In the boys J14 Octuples, Abingdon were seventh, Radley College 13th and St Edward’s 18th.

On Sunday, Wallingford enjoyed success in the veteran’s eights head of the river.

Their men’s Masters C crew, for 40-somethings, finished an impressive third overall.

Their elders, by another 30 years, won the Masters H event, while the women were pipped in the Masters D competition.