Hampton is always a popular event and there are many entries in this category as we would expect. At approximately 3000m, the course is much shorter than other head races which always leads to close and exciting racing. Crews have to have a near perfect row to stand a chance of performing highly, making this a cateogry to watch, especially with so many top athletes featuring who have been appearing at the forefront of the rowing scene recently.
Henley
Henley will certainly be the ones to beat this weekend. Whilst at this event last year they lost out to Becket by 5seconds, they’ve held onto most of their girls and are looking very strong this season. From Georgie Robinson-Ranger and Lottie Orr taking the top two spots at EIDs and sending several girls to the GB winter camp in Spain, to winning both categories at Fours Head, they’ve dominated the junior women’s scene thus far, and it would be a surprise to see them come unstuck.
Lady Eleanor Holles
As a crew we’d expect to see perform well, LEH showed they’ve maintained their form coming into this season as they come off the back of a win at last weekend’s Quintin Head. Now facing opposition that beat them at NSR last year from Henley RC and Nottinghamshire County, this will be a bigger test, especially on their own stretch of water.
Latymer Upper
Latymer ‘debuted’ their crew in this category last week where they were 2nd behind LEH at Quintin. They will still be an inexperienced crew, and this won’t play to their favour over this short course where small mistakes will be costly. However, they’ve made a decent start and will be looking to build on their performance at Quintin and start to challenge the more seasoned sweepers.
Marlow
Marlow had a successful season last year, although perhaps not as successful as they’d have hoped, missing out on a medal in this category at NSR. Having said this, they come into this year with four girls racing as part of the eight at GB France last summer and Charlotte Fennel stroking the 4+ at Junior Worlds. I’d expect them to be ones to keep an eye out for if their depth can stretch to match that of some of the other entries.
Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association
The girls from Nottingham seem to have raced under several club names, but I believe this crew will include some who raced under Becket last year before the switch to NCRA in late summer. Becket came on a lot through last season to take the bronze in WCh8+ at National Schools. However, at Brit Champs where they raced under NCRA, they were beaten by a crew made up of Henley’s 1st and 2nd eights, so I expect Henley will dominate them here.
Lea RC
Lea last raced this category seriously in the 2016 season, where they were 6th at National Schools, so at this early stage it will be interesting to see the quality of this eight. Four Lea girls raced alongside Marlow in the GB France eight last summer, so they definitely have some talented girls to work with.
Llandaff are not a club we see often fielding crews in this category, but they have had some excellent scullers racing singles at the Hampton Small Boats Head in the past. Other crews racing include Great Marlow School, who finished in the middle of this category last year, who I would expect to be similar in speed to Sir William Borlase. Monmouth School for Girls may struggle against some stiff competition, and we will be excited to see what the girls from Norwich School can do as they pioneer a girls eight as numbers grow at their club.
Prediction:
1. Henley
2. LEH
3. Marlow
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