Off the back of a winter racing disrupted by fast waters and floods, each of the 28 crews entered into Hampton Head’s WJ18 Quad’s category will be eager to display the fruits of their land-based labour against several mainstays of the sculling scene. In a race of just 3km, the stage is set for more aggressive and dramatic racing from these crews, many of whom will be looking for success ahead of Schools’ Head and onwards to regatta season.
Sir William Perkins’ School Boat Club
Leading the draw in this event is a quad from Sir William Perkins’ School. Perhaps better known for their performances in smaller sculling boats – notably this season, two wins at Reading Small Boats in the WJ18 double and single – SWPS have entered several smaller boats in the first division with both a WJ18 quad and eight entered for the second. Having reached the Friday of the Diamond Jubilee at Henley Royal Regatta last year, these girls’ speed in a quad is long-documented and certainly not to be underestimated. After what is sure to be a confident performance in the morning’s smaller boats, I’m looking forward to SWPS successfully transferring its trademark small boat speed into another highly competitive boat.
Lea Rowing Club
Chasing the SWPS crew on Saturday will be the unmissable orange of Lea RC from Hackney. These girls posted a win in WJ16 singles and WJ18 doubles and a 2nd place finish in WJ18 quads at Wallingford Long Distance Sculls in October, falling short only to Henley RC, who haven’t entered this event. Like SWPS, Lea’s quad from last season put up a competitive display at Henley Royal Regatta, reaching the Thursday against eventual semi-finalists Sydney RC. 3 months on from their Wallingford dominance, it’ll be exciting to see how well they’ve held this form through the winter months.
Putney High School Boat Club
Putney High School have entered 2 boats in this event – though we cannot be sure of crew line-ups, it’ll be likely that the 4th seeded crew, steered by Habdank-Toczyska, will feature some returners from last year’s spritely WJ16 crew who made the finals of Henley Women’s Regatta and ultimately represented GB in the J16 match against France. Habdank-Toczyska herself placed 3rd in WJ17 singles at Sculler’s Head late last year, and a whole fleet of Putney pairs and doubles posted highly competitive results at Pairs Head 2023. With their home stretch on the Tideway, Putney High School will have benefitted from more water time than other competing clubs who have been forced to land train due to recent flooding, but only time will tell if this experience will carry last summer’s speed into this race.
Molesey Boat Club
Racing also on their home stretch of water, Molesey BC will absolutely be a crew to watch on Saturday. Producing incredibly successful junior athletes over recent years such as Olivia Cheesmur, a bronze medallist at the U19 World Championships in this event and world record holder over 5k, and 5 medalling crews at the National Schools’ Regatta last year, this crew’s familiarity on their home water and the confidence of such a high achieving club will surely be a significant source of speed. The club have entered several boats in the morning division so it’s possible that some if not all members of this quad will be racing on tired legs, but nevertheless, do expect a fierce performance from these girls.
Predictions
It’s truly a delight to make a prediction on this event – with each crew boasting similarly impressive results and athletes from this season and last, it could be anyone’s race to win. Sir William Perkins’ quad are a well-established unit and it’s hard to look beyond them for a fast and powerful race. I’m backing SWPS for the win, closely followed by Lea RC and home titans Molesey BC in what is sure to be a close race with huge potential for upsets.
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