It’s in the run up to Schools’ Head, and after last year’s cancellation of Hammersmith due to poor conditions, with many other events already cancelled this year such as Hampton Head, the organizers will be praying for good conditions and favourable wind on the tideway. Hammersmith Head is always a very good indicator of speed at this point in the season, and especially in the J16 8+ category, with 22 entries from virtually all the major rowing schools, we should get a good idea of the Schools’ Head placings, and perhaps even NSR, with Schools’ Head only two weeks later.
Abingdon
Abingdon’s J16 squad held a fairly low-profile last year, until they appeared to take 4th in J15 Champ 8’s at NSR. However, this season they have raced as 8’s at Wallingford Head, competing in J18 8’s, and coming in the middle of the pack (On time, if they were in J16 8’s). Most recently their mixed 8’s placed 6th and 7th at Quintin Head, about 1 minute behind the winners. This makes their speed hard to judge, given they have only raced in similar mixed 8’s, and with two entered into Hammersmith, this could be the case again.
Bedford School
Bedford hardly featured last year, with a 4th in the C Final at NSR- and so far this year we are yet to see a major result from them, with a low placed finish at Wallingford Head, and a win at Bedford 4’s and 8’s (in an event only contested by two Bedford J16 8’s) is all I have to go on. However, it will be interesting to see how the next generation of Bedford rowers will fare against the other schools, given last years 1st 8’s huge successes.
Hampton
Hampton are a bit of a dark horse this year, as it appears their two J16 8’s entered into Hammersmith have only raced once in 8’s this season, after not entering Wallingford or Quintin Head. Their mixed 8’s Ham and Cheese, and Ham and Pickle, placed 2nd and 3rd at Henley 4’s and 8’s, coming in almost 20 seconds behind Shiplake. However, like Abingdon it is hard to tell whether they have once entered mixed 8’s, or if not, how fast their outright J16 1st 8+ is. It will remain to be seen.
Eton
Eton rarely feature in the J15 year, given their focus on single sculling as J14’s, so their 8+ last year produced a fairly unimpressive first in the C Final. However, although they have also not raced a lot so far this season, their one result, from Teddington Head, shows promise. One of their J16 4s came 2nd, and more importantly their J16 1st 8+ came 1st, beating a crew from Westminster, with their 2nd 8+ 3rd. However, this will be their first race competing against an almost clean sheet of major competitors, and with 2 8’s entered, it will be interesting to see how they fare.
Kings College School
KCS have also kept a fairly low profile this year, after their fairly disappointing 6th in the C Final at NSR last year, but they did produce a respectable 8th at Quintin Head earlier in 2019, but they may well have gained some speed since then and will be hoping to beat some of their major competitors on their home river.
St Pauls
After a 4th at Schools’ Head, St Pauls went on to produce a slight surprise win in J15 Champ 8’s at NSR, beating their main rivals Westminster to the top spot. Already this year they appear to be tussling with both Westminster and Shiplake to be the fastest J16 8+, with a 3rd place at Quintin Head, and this is probably going to carry on throughout the season- it will be interesting to see who comes out on top on Saturday.
Shiplake
Shiplake appear to have a seriously fast J16 8+ this year, and with the legendary coach Dave Currie at the helm, they will be hoping to live up to last years J16’s, who qualified for the Temple. So far this season they’ve put a quick time down at Wallingford, only 9 seconds behind the winner, a 2nd at Quintin Head, and a win at Henley 4’s and 8’s. I would expect these athletes to be seriously competitive at Hammersmith, and throughout the season.
Westminster
Westminster have two 8’s entered, and regardless of whether they are mixed or not, I’m expecting them to be very fast. They were fairly dominant last year, with a 2nd at Schools’ Head, and at NSR, and this year it is no different, with a very close 2nd and 3rd at Wallingford, in mixed boats, and a huge win of almost 40 seconds at Quintin Head. They’ll be hoping for a win on their home river, and I’m sure they will already be thinking about turning those silvers last year into golds this year.
Other Crews
Dulwich have two crews entered, although I’m not expecting anything special given their 10th at Quintin Head. Shrewsbury also have an 8+ entered, and are definitely an unknown quantity, as since they took 5th in J15 Champ 8’s last year, I’ve seen almost nothing of them. Reading Blue Coats have one 8+ entered, that would appear to be much faster than what we usually expect from the club, after a 5th at Quintin Head. Radley are also unknown, with two boats entered and only a 12th at NSR to show for themselves- but they could potentially be very fast. Finally, there is a boat from St Edwards Oxford– who produced a surprisingly fast time at Wallingford, and one from Team Keane.
Predictions
I’m expecting Westminster to take a clear victory, followed by either Shiplake or St Paul’s. After that I think it will be very interesting to see how the others do.
MarginalGainz
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