The first of six weekends of back-to-back northern regattas commence this Saturday on the river Wear over a 750m course. For many of the junior rowers entered here it will be their first regatta of the season, signalling an end to a head season that was hindered hugely by poor weather conditions. This event is not only a chance to become re-familiarised with side-by-side racing but also allows for some practice before the prestigious Durham Regatta; held on the same stretch of river in a month and a half’s time.
WJ18 1x
The Sculler from Yarm School has not come up against their competition recently whereas all other entrants regularly race each other in the northern circuit. Chester-Le-Street have three girls entered with ‘Hall’ likely to challenge for the win, having been in the GB trials system for two years. Durham School ‘Wearmouth’ makes a return to racing in the single, having spent most of the year in larger crews, though she does have a lot of experience in this boat class. Tyne United ‘Woods’ was due to race at Durham Small Boats Head but scratched, hopefully she will provide some good competition on the Wear this time around. ‘Mortimer’ of Cambois RC has been part of an impressive quad this season and having posted a 2k time of 7 minutes 36 seconds at the recent Northern Indoor Rowing Championships, I’m sure she will be difficult to beat, come the weekend.
WJ18 2x
There are ten doubles entered, meaning that it will take four rounds of racing for the winner to be named, which adds an element of tactics into the racing, in a bid to secure the win but also conserve energy. Cambois RC have three boats entered, their ‘Cohen’ boat could be their most competitive as the named athlete has been involved in the GB trialling process, their ‘Mortimer’ double were victorious at Chester-Le-Street regatta, beating CLS in the process. Tyne ARC are fielding two doubles, one of which appears to be the ‘Kerr’ crew who were three lengths slower than St Leonard’s School at the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta; although the St Leonard’s crew entered for Durham City is a new line up. At Tyne Long Distance Sculls, Queen Elizabeth High School were beaten by Cambois and St Leonard’s however with countless hours of training having occurred since then, hopefully we will see some closer racing. Chester-Le-Street have two boats entered, their ‘Warren’ boat should be the strongest, with ‘Warren’ being half of the JW Pair that placed 14th out of 15 at GB Trials in April. Durham School have also entered, and having recently returned from training camp in Rotterdam should be pushing for the win.
WJ18 2-
Yarm School and Durham School will go head-to-head having spent a day training together, last week, in preparation for regatta season. Durham School won this event at Durham Small Boats Head which should give them confidence, although Yarm School will be in pursuit of the win; especially if their boat includes ‘Portsmouth’– half of the Yarm School pair who raced at the Coupe in 2018.
WJ18 4x-
There is a large field in this event, including the Tyne ARC quad who comfortably beat St Leonard’s two weeks ago, at Strathclyde Park. Durham ARC have entered their first WJ18 quad for many months which will be interesting to see, as well as Yarm School, who no doubt will be highly competitive- as their current squad includes GB-vest holders. At Chester-Le-Street Regatta, Cambois came home with another win in what has already been a commanding season for them, beating Queen Elizabeth High School and Chester-Le-Street in the process. Durham school also have not raced in the quad for some time although earlier in the season, at Rutherford Head, they performed well. This event could provide some of the closest and quickest racing of the two-day regatta in Durham.
WJ18 4-
This event sees a straight final between the two halves of a composite eight that raced together at Rutherford Head. St Leonard’s and Queen Elizabeth have not come up against each other in this category since last regatta season, where at Wansbeck regatta SLS had the upper hand. Yet, with so much time for development since then, the result could easily swing the other way.
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