The Boat Race public tests are in November at the British Indoor Rowing Championships, where each university sends around 20 rowers to compete. Everyone races 2 km on an indoor rower with the club presidents using adjacent machines. Both universities also send crews to the Head of the River Fours race in London, which is raced over the reverse Boat Race course, that is to say the Championship course from Mortlake to Putney. In December, the coaches put out "Trial Eights" where two crews from the same university race each other over the full Boat Race course. These crews are given names such
Putney Vale Putney Vale Putney Vale is a small community at the foot of Roehampton Vale, just off the A3. It is part of the Roehampton Ward of the London Borough of Wandsworth. The area is bordered by: Geographically, Putney Vale is effectively surrounded by Richmond Park and Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common, with the A3 separating the two. The primary local landmarks are the non-denominational Putney Vale Cemetery & Crematorium, where a number of notable burials and funerals have taken place, and an Asda supermarket. There is a large residential estate, called Putney Vale Estate, tucked away behind the supermarket and