Following the 5k trials held in November, we now have the fiercely competitive February U19 trials, this time in pairs. Considering that the Early ID trials were held in singles, it was amazing to see six sweep athletes in the top ten, with many more making up the top 25. This is a testament to the junior sweeping squad’s strength this year so expect exciting competition. It will also be interesting to see which athletes can maintain their positions at the top of the pack and which athletes shoot up the rankings following the swap to sweep boats.
St Paul’s School Boat Club: Jonathan Miles, Alp Karadogan, Patrick Wild
It is unsurprising to see St Paul’s athletes at the top of the Early ID results, but to have three positions out of the top five, as well as beating the entire sweep field, is a very impressive performance. Karadogan and Wild were members of last year’s first VIII, which won the quadruple, with victories at the Head of the Charles Regatta, School’s Head of the River, National Schools’ Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta. Jonathan Miles was also part of the Head of the Charles Regatta-winning eight but spent the rest of the season in the Junior 16 first VIII, where he won silver at the National Schools’ Regatta. There is also considerable GB experience within these three alone, with Karadogan in the U19 men’s eight in 2023 and both Karadogan and Wild in the U19 men’s coxless four in 2024. This means both athletes will be experienced with the selection process and looking to press their advantage at the weekend. There were good St Paul’s performances outside of this select three, with Daffey placing 12th and Tans placing 42nd. Both were J16 level last year, so moving into J17, they will be eager to chase down some older athletes.
Shiplake College Boat Club: Edward Galer, Henry Day Clark
The other standout sweep performance came from Shiplake College Boat Club, with their top two (Galer and Day Clark) placing seventh and eighth, respectively. The athletes were a mere three seconds apart, and having a training partner in the build-up to the February trials will mean that both will be in top form this weekend. Last year, Day Clark was part of the first VIII that made The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup final and clinched bronze at the National Schools’ Regatta, a mere 0.47 seconds in front of Eton College. On the other hand, Galer raced the National Schools’ Regatta in the second VIII, where he managed to get the silver. A third Shiplake College Boat Club athlete, Isaac Dean, came in close behind, placing 24th.
St Edward’s School Boat Club: Elam Hughes
Another athlete with prior GB experience is Elam Hughes, who recently won gold in the U19 men’s eight in 2024. Placing sixth at the Early ID time trial, this experience has clearly paid off, as he has put himself into a great position going into the sweep boats. Despite not getting the result they may have wanted at the National Schools’ Regatta last year, the St Edward’s School Boat Club recently showed impressive depth at Quintin Head, with all three of their Junior 18 eights placing within eight seconds of each other. Watching how the returning Hughes will fight for his position will be exciting.
Notable Mentions
Several of the other big sweep schools did not manage to place quite as many athletes into the top 30 back in November. These included Edward Bayfield from Abingdon School BC in 11th, Daniel McGregor from Bedford School BC in 13th, Jonathan Cleugh from Radley College BC in 20th, and Henry Clarke from Eton College BC in 26th. That said, the transition from sculling to sweeping in pairs is one not to be understated, so there is a good chance that the rankings will be entirely re-written.
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