As the head racing season heats up and the Schools’ Head peeks around the corner, this category is packed with heavyweights of junior rowing looking to start the year off with a win in a small boat category this weekend. Although the course is relatively short, the competition is fierce and looks to be a good day of racing. This year’s competition has attracted various top-quality clubs looking to walk away with a medal hanging around their necks.
Kings College School Boat Club
Kings College School Boat Club are no stranger to the big stage. Having a very strong performance at Quintin Head earlier this month winning the J18 category by three seconds. This strong team is made up of some formidable talent with the likes of Finlay Murray who is a recent recruit for Yale Lights. Having entered two different boats into this year’s event, they will be looking to continue their winning streak and take the top two spots. These KCS crews also saw success at the Head of the Charles in Boston earlier in the year with a dominant performance in the coxed four category. It will be interesting to see if their skill can translate into the coxless boat, but I do think that they will put up a fight and will make life difficult for the other boats.
Dulwich College Boat Club
Another crew that will look to challenge Kings College School Boat Club is the Dulwich College Boat Club. Another established Tideway program they too are off to a positive start this season coming 12th at Quintin Head. With this feat under their belt, the crew will be knocking on the door of a podium finish this year. Losing many of their returning athletes from last year’s first eight they are a relatively young squad. Having entered three crews into the category this year, we can see a strong depth of crew that coach Tristan Mayglothling is training to hopefully take a medal home this weekend.
Molesey Boat Club
The final crew to watch out for this weekend is that of Molesey Boat Club. Having had a dominant start to this season in both sculling and sweep they are looking to continue their string of positive results. In Wallingford LDS earlier in the season they saw great individual performances from the likes of Moloney and Halzon-Bayley coming first and third respectively. They are also no strangers to sweep boats especially the coxless four. Having won comfortably last year at NSR in the category. It will be interesting to see if the club are still as dominant as last year having lost their silk pair of Peck and el-Sayed. This relatively young crew may be starting at the back of the pack but I would not be surprised if they upset some crews and come away with the win.
Notable Mentions
One crew that cannot be overlooked is that of Norwich School Boat Club. Although there is little known about this year’s squad coached by Doug Barell they are looking to defend their win in this category from last year. Finally, Hampton School Boat Club being on their home turf and coming second last year in this category may also be looking to prove themselves this year and come away with the gold.
Predictions
With the vast talent attending the race this year, it will be hard to pinpoint a winner, however, I can see either crew of Kings College School Boat Club taking the top spot closely followed by Dulwich College Boat Club coming in second. However, I can see both top crews being fiercely hunted down by Molesey Boat Club.
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