Given that lots of top rowers are at trials this weekend, the remaining scullers are a varied mix. A few girls are good rowers turning 18 this year, so they can’t trial. There should be a bit of a drop off for the rest of the field, and at this point some J17 girls will be in the mix time-wise.
HED– It’s safe to say Headington will probably dominate this event with their 7 entries. Approximately half of the girls are in the top Eight. These include King-Smith and Rundle, who both represented GB at Coupe this past summer. King-Smith in particular should be eyeing for the win, with a gold in the W.Ch.2x at Nationals and 5th place at April Trials in the Single.
EMA– Jennings is the only Emanuel entry in this event, and she should be looking to show off the strength of her club. She’s had a good start to her season with a Pairs Head win in the J18 pair, and if she can carry that to sculling, she should be in a really solid position going into this race.
LLA– Llandaff has one entry, but as with Emanuel, she should be looking to get her club near the very top. At Henley Sculls, Palmer got an impressive second place in the W.J18.1x, beating plenty of experienced Henley girls. She has a great shot of placing well and beating most of the Headington girls.
Other good clubs are competing, like LEH, but it appears their top girls are at trials. There may be some surprise results, but it appears the winner of this race will probably be a trialist-level rower that is too old to trial.
Final Prediction: HED- King-Smith for the win, followed by LLA and EMA.
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