Here we have it, the long awaited EID trials for many juniors around the country, desperate to perform out in Boston. On the 20th November, 117 Scullers broke the 6.50 2k rate 24 cut off, to take to the River Witham in Boston. This gave them a clear view on where they stand against the top junior Scullers of the UK this season. With many surprises and expected results, here is my review.
1st – Marcus Chute, Windsor Boys School
With a time of 18.27.8, Marcus annihilated the field by just under a minute. To all of us this was something we either expected or were quite surprised about. Winning is not a rare occurrence for Chute though, he got an silver medal at national schools, an gold medal at Brit Champs and making the final of the Fawley Challenge Cup all last season. With all his crew being J17s, this season we will expect big things from Windsor Boys as a whole.
3rd – Jake Birch, Shiplake College
Although Jake prominent style is sweep rowing, he is no stranger to make a sculling boat fast. He has been on the Junior rowing scene since he was a small J14 winning many national events for Hereford Rowing Club through to J15. Then making a move to Wycliffe College as a J16 in the 2020 season became shortlived for Jake because of Covid. Then moving to Shiplake College for an extra challenge, here he is getting 3rd place at the EIDs.
4th – Guy Hutchins, Henley RC
Guy Hutchins, another athlete who’s no stranger in the junior rowing world. With a time of 19.35.0 as a J17 is simply outstanding. Just like Jake, Guy has been rowing since he was young. This has seen him get an exceptional 4th place in the J15 singles at Brit Champs 2019, and this was when he was a J14. With Guy getting 4th place, he will be certainly one to watch out for not only this season, but next season as well.
Overall, an great set of results for the first EID trial in just under 2 years. A lot of expected results and a lot of surprises. A particular school to mention is Windsor Boys, they had 4 athletes in the top 15. This will be one of Windsor’s best seasons this year with a strong amount of depth and strength they hold within their squads. Another mention goes out to St Edwards, Shiplake, KCS and Kings Chester for getting some of their athletes into the top 10, which is very remarkable as their main style of rowing is Sweep.
This trial puts out there that this season will be like no other, and it will be very interesting to see what comes out of this in the upcoming regatta season.
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