British Rowing Junior Championships 2023 – Open Junior 16 Quads Preview

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The British Rowing Junior Championships are returning to Strathclyde Loch for the first time since 2015. This year the competition has seen over 1000 crews enter across 34 events ranging from J14 through to J18. 16 of these crews have entered the J16 Boys Quadruple sculls event and will race primarily across a 1900m time trial followed by semi-finals and a final of 2000m. The event is being held on the 14^th–16^th of July.

The Windsor Boys’ School

The Windsor Boys’ School, current champions of the event, have entered one crew into the event in the hopes of retaining their title. This Windsor Boys’ quad has gone from strength to strength this season, winning both the Junior Sculling Head and National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake. Most recently, The Windsor Boys School Quad was selected to represent the GB team at the upcoming GB vs France match. These results, combined with the reputation of The Windsor Boys’ School put this crew in an extremely strong position to come away with the gold medal in this event.

Kingston Grammar School

Kingston Grammar School Boat Club has entered one boat into this event and will be hoping to add another national medal to this season’s bronze at Junior Sculling Regatta, where they also had their B quad place 10th. Their impressive 22/23 season also includes fourth-place finishes at both Junior Sculling Head and National Schools’ Regatta. On top of this, they also placed third at the trials for the GB vs France match this year. Looking at these results suggests that Kingston Grammar School can be expected to be in serious contention for a medal.

Lea Rowing Club

Lea Rowing Club has seen progressive success over the season and has finished in the top 10 at all national competitions. This includes 8th place at both the junior Sculling head and the National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake as well as a 6^th place finish at the Junior Sculling Regatta. Recently they have improved greatly upon these results with a 2^nd place finish at the GB vs France selection trials. This continuous improvement as well as the results Lea has been producing shows they are well placed for a medal at this event.

Predictions

Alongside these three crews, I also expect The Grange School Rowing Club to be contending for a medal due to their hard-fought battle with Lea RC throughout the year, with the clubs not being separated by more than 10 seconds at any national event so far this season. Ultimately, I predict The Windsor Boys’ School to come away with the gold medal, with a tightly packed top 4.

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