The Fours Head this weekend will be the biggest head race yet for the girl’s quads entered this year. With 41 crews from clubs all over the country, it will be very interesting to see which crew manages to stay on top, despite the addition of competition. With junior trials fast approaching, it will be an excellent opportunity for good racing practice and, even though it is not in sculls, being able to see a comparison between clubs.
Marlow RC
Marlow RC is definitely a program capable of producing the winning crew. The Marlow quad came 2nd at the most competitive events throughout the season last year, including National Schools Championships, HRR and HWR. Each time being beat by the Shiplake quad. However, with some fast J16s last year, their J18 girls squad will have only improved, so I believe that this year the Marlow girls will be filled with motivation, finally and deservingly winning some races.
Shiplake College
There is no way to dim the fact that the Shiplake College quad last year was undefeated and clearly filled with incredibly skilled athletes. Despite these girls moving on from junior rowing, last year’s successes did not come from the athletes on their own. The coach obviously knows how to create a fast quad and squeeze the most of their athletes. For this reason, I am confident that the next top quad to come from Shiplake will be just as impressive.
Tideway Scullers
Another strong program with good depth to their team who will put up a strong fight for the win this weekend. Performing consistently well in both sweep and scull last year, their quad came 4th at Nat schools but also had great success in the single and fours categories. It will be interesting to see how the speed of this quad compares to the other schools and clubs, especially as some of them will be looking to do well at trials soon.
Lady Eleanor Holles BC
Despite not racing in that many coxless quad events last year, they kicked off this head season at Wallingford LDS, laying down an impressive time from both their A and B quad, placing first and second. With this in mind, I think the girls from LEH might be feeling quietly confident for this head race and ready to repeat their victory. Despite this, with more crews entered and some of the larger clubs attending, it will make it slightly more challenging.
Prediction
To conclude, I am excited to see what all the crews entered have to offer, including the smaller clubs that I have not had the chance to speak about. You only need 4 good rowers to make a fast quad so I hope to see some surprising performances. Despite my hopes for an underdog winning, I predict that either Marlow BC or Shiplake College will be the winning crew this weekend.
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