This summer, junior rowing is going out with a bang, with an exciting return to Strathclyde Country Park on Saturday where 974 crews will compete for the coveted British Medals. Whilst the course length remains the same at 2km, the historic return to the Scottish location will mean a change of scenery for many who are yet to experience competition at Strathclyde. The traveling distance has not put rowers off though, with a healthy 23 crews entered this year, coming from Aberdeen in the north east to right down in London with the ‘usual suspects’ of the category, who I’m confident will be wanting to finish their season on a high with a national medal.
The Windsor Boys’ School
Having dominated the event last year and been a seemingly unstoppable force at events this year, such as their 1st/2nd at the Junior Sculling Regatta in May along with their National Schools’ parade, winning the category by 5 seconds. This puts them in an excellent position of the weekend, since they know that they can beat their opponents, having already proved the might of this developing crew in the run up to the British Championships. Although nothing is ever guaranteed, save a catastrophic event I’m confident that Windsor will at least go home with a medal, but the most likely colour of that medal would be gold. And with two boats entered, we could see a repeat of the Junior Sculling Regatta, with potentially two medals taken out of the hands of rival crews.
Guildford RC
Coming in 3rd At the Junior Sculling Regatta and then slipping down to win the B final at the National Schools’ Regatta, Guildford look to be one of the top placers among the entries list for this year’s event. The absence of several features from the NSR A final could mean that Guildford have a chance at a medal, though they will have had to have done lots of effective training since to put them in as good a place as possible for Saturday.
Tideway Scullers School
Also featuring in 3rd place position at the aforementioned National Schools’ Regatta, Tideway Scullers School have been hot on Windsor’s heels all season, with a progressive arc from 9th at the JSR to an impressive 3rd at the National Schools’, less than a second off a silver medal. However, the absence of second place ‘Tiffin School BC’ this year could see Tideway take to the podium and improve on a 7th place finish at the Nottingham event last year.
Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club
In a tumultuous year for Wycliffe, they have gone from dominating the scene over the winter Head race season to displaying individual success at events like the Junior Inter Regional Regatta and more, only to stumble when they again united at the National Schools’ Regatta, where expectations of a medal were soon lost as the crew just scraped into the A final, and ultimately came 6th overall in the event. Given the club’s previous success, it would be fair to say that they deserved better, and this is the mindset that I’m sure the boys will be going in with on Saturday, giving it their absolute all to take back what they deserved to accomplish at the National Schools’ Regatta. Over long distances in the Head season, Wycliffe were able to show that they can beat the titans at the Windsor Boys’ School, and if they row like they did at the Junior Sculling Head, it could be possible for that feat to happen again.
Predictions
Within the next 4 days, the competitive season will be over, and we’ll be one step closer to the dreaded winter training programmes to come. Therefore, all crews will be wanting to end the season on a high, making the long hours of training worth it in one final epic event that has regularly produced quality racing, and this year will be no exception. With Windsor Boys set to take one (or more) of the top spots, it will be up to the likes of Tideway and Wycliffe to attempt to dethrone them, though the nature of many crews doubling or even tripling up over the weekend could cause some to be more tired than others, which may shake up the finishing positions. We shall just have to wait until Saturday to find out!
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