The British Rowing Junior Championships marks the end of a tremendous year of racing. With several standout performances throughout the year by some of the crews in this category it is now their last chance to battle out any previous rivalries and for many, their last time racing as a junior. The buzz of Henley Royal and Henley Women’s Regatta is well and truly over which leaves those not receiving GB or England vests this summer with little to do over the next two months other than relax and prepare for next season.
Sir William Perkins’ School
The quad entered into the Diamond Jubilee challenge cup earlier this month was knocked out in the second round by Latymer ‘A’ after beating an Australian crew two days before. SWPS have dominated junior doubles rather than quads this year after taking the win in J18 doubles at Henley Women’s Regatta and failing to qualify their top quad into the A/B semi finals at National Schools Regatta. Due to the lack of entries in this event I would expect both SWPS crews to be aiming for the top few places, but they will have a matched battle with the crew from Gloucester.
Gloucester Hartbury
I’m sure the crew from Gloucester Hartbury who raced the Diamond Jubilee will have been very disappointed with their result at Henley Royal. The odds do seem to be stacked against this crew. Their crab at National Schools’ cost them the gold medal and, at Henley Royal, what seemed at first like a little flirtation with the booms suddenly escalated into something far more intimate. After being beaten by Latymer’s ‘B’ crew by over three lengths these girls will be coming back with a vengeance and I wouldn’t be surprised if they take the win this weekend – providing there are no more issues with bladework or steering.
St Leonards School
Although this crew may not be looking to medal this weekend they have definitely gone from strength to strength this season. They have beaten Queen Elizabeth High School numerous times this year by several lengths at Hexham Regatta, Durham City Regatta, Tees Regatta and Talkin Tarn Regatta. The club is known for switching athletes between sweep and sculling aswell as boat sizes in order to give their rowers a very well rounded experience so this combination may be a little newer than the others they will be joining on the course. It seems this crew has a friendly rivalry with the girls from Cambois and Tyne after beating them at Hexham Regatta, but Cambois took the win at Wansbeck. Hopefully it will be a tight race between these three crews which will entertain some interesting results.
Composite Crews
Composites are always a very exciting aspect of summer racing, with little knowledge of what each individual brings to the boat it is often hard to predict the speed and strength of composite boats. This year there are two composite quads in the Junior Women’s Quad category, one from Cambois and Tyne Rowing Clubs, the other a mixture of Clydesdale, George Watson’s and Lock Lomond Rowing Club. These crews will have had very little training time together and so far have no results so it will be interesting to see how they fare against the likes of SWPS and Globe Rc who have remained in their crews for a majority of the season.
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