It’s back to the Tideway for the last time before School’s Head in just over two weeks time. The next time we will see racing on this stretch it will be the deciding showdown for head season. Taking place on a segment of the School’s head course, from Chiswick to Hammersmith, the times we see on Friday could be a big indicator as to the final standings at School’s Head. The cancellation of Hampton Head has made finding results tricky, but here’s our prediction for J16 Quads:
St Pauls School Boat Club
Whilst primarily a sweep-based program, St Pauls isn’t wholly unknown within sculling, they qualified a quad into a high-quality Fawley draw last year at Henley and, though they were knocked out on day one, they pushed Star & Arrow right to the finishing post. However, the VIII entered into J16 Open Eights, given their gold medal in J15 VIIIs last year, is likely to be their first VIII with their two entries into this category probably being made up of their second VIII. Whilst not quite replicating their crewmates exploits with an overall win in J15 Second VIIIs, they proved once again Paul’s reputation for depth was well earned with a win in the B final. However, they may struggle with a lack of race experience in sculling boats against some of the more established names in this category.
Tideway Scullers School
The only other program in this category with two entries, the clue is in the name with Tideway Scullers. This current crop of J16s achieved a respectable 7th place finish out of a ridiculous 61 entries in J15 4x+ last year NSR, but they have a reputation to live up to. Their J16 predecessors secured a 2nd place finish at the School’s Head and a 3rd place finish in this event at NSR last year and the program as a whole qualified a very impressive 3 entries into the Fawley last year, with their top boat making it do day three before being knocked out by eventual finalists Maidenhead. The status quo and the home-field advantage point towards Tideway as strong favourites to take the win on Saturday, but an upset it never off the cards.
Kingston Grammar School Boat Club
Blessed with a stretch of mirror flat water, Kingston will have had time to perfect their sculling. They picked up a 1st and 3rd in J16 2x at Kingston SBH earlier in the season, an impressive step on from a 19th place finish at NSR last year. Kingston Grammar crews haven’t got a famous record at the top level, but the tide could be changing with this new set of J16s.
Norwich School Boat Club
Despite coming a respectable 9/16 at School’s Head last year in J16 4x, Norwich opted for an VIII at NSR, they did the same in J15, finishing a respectable 9th. However it appears that they have opted for the same path as St Pauls, with an entry – likely their top boat, in J16 VIIIs, meaning that this quad could be made up of members of their J15 4+ from last year, which finished a midtable 14/21 at NSR last year. As evidenced by past results, Norwich have experienced success at all age groups and should not be underestimated.
For this round on the Tideway, I could see either Scullers or Pauls coming away with the win. But with their established pedigree in sculling boats and proven success, Tideway Scullers just edges it for me. Pauls and Kingston have also shown speed earlier in the season and should not be underestimated, I think they will make up the other two top spots.
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