Chester Long Distance Sculls is again being held over 5000m on the River Dee, but this year is the first time that Royal Chester have decided to use the new banding system, BROE2. This means that for the fourth head of the season, Chester LDS has banded the junior sculling races, as well as the senior races. The organisers have decided to split J18 sculls into two bands, the top band points ranging from 134 to 375 points, and the lower band 114 to 6. Here I shall be previewing the six competitors in the lower of the two bands.
Four of the scullers here are from King’s Chester, with Parsonage, Clark and Meakin’s PRI only differing by only 11. This suggests that with what King’s Chester have done recently; these athletes will be experienced in sweep boats, and may even be stalwarts of the school 1st eight. However, they seem to have not sculled a lot, so this should be a good interschool battle to watch. The other sculler from King’s Chester is Varbiro, with a PRI of six. This means he has one, possibly 2, sculling races, meaning that I do not think he will be challenging for the win.
From Warrington RC is the most experienced sculler in the race, Critchley. Warrington have a good sculling prestige, with pre-qualifying one crew for the Fawley, and although Critchley was not in this crew, this coaching should have rubbed off on him. He is the least experienced of the three Warrington sculler, but by far the most experienced in the lower tier, so should be in a good position to win on Sunday.
The final sculler in this group is from Merchant Taylors School, Scott, there is limited data on this sculler, but he should put up a good fight and be competitive in the category.
Predictions
- Critchley
- Parsonage
- Meakin
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