This Saturday, a whopping 773 boats will be racing the 3000m downstream course into Molesey, with an impressive J15 4x+ turnout of 44 boats from a wide array of participating clubs and schools. If the weather continues to play ball for this weekend, we should be eagerly anticipating the up-to-date standings of the J15 coxed quads, which will really show the other clubs where they are in the grand scheme of things. From Claires Court to the American School In London, Twickenham Rowing Club to The Windsor Boy’s School, there is sure to be some quality racing this Saturday, with many clubs meeting each other for the first time competitively.
Windsor Boys’ School
What good would a preview be without them? With their ‘A’ Boat having dominated Hampton Fours and Eights Head earlier this year, they have already set a pace for this season’s crew to follow, putting 20 seconds between them and Kings College, a comfortable margin by any means. Following on from their success this year in regatta season, the ‘new’ J15s haven’t had much of a row out yet, missing out at Reading Small Boats Head (where the J16 1x, J17 2x and J18 2x all swept the floor with competition). However, their mass appearance at Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head in October saw them beating the opposition from Bedford School by 12 seconds, though it is worth noting that all four crews had similar times, all within 20 seconds of each other, so it is possible that a crew reshuffle has occurred, possibly making an even faster combination to battle the coming opponents this Saturday.
Kings College School Boat Club
Coming in second at Hampton Fours and Eights Head this year, Kings College are not out of the running yet. They’ve continuously put down strong performances, from a win in the J15 1st quad at Teddington head this November (importantly beating Molesey- if only by 2 seconds!) to coming 2nd in the band 2 event. Especially with the win over Molesey and a wide base of athletes capable of filling several boats, I’m expecting big things to come from Kings College on Saturday.
Molesey Boat Club
Coming 2nd at Kingston Small Boats head earlier this month, Molesey also took the silver in the J15 2x, showing the versatility of their rowing squad. To top this off, one athlete also took the win in the J15 1x- another fantastic achievement from the club. As well as this, Molesey took the 3rd at Hampton Fours and Eights Head in February, something they’ll be looking to better this weekend, especially with the recent successes in small boats.
Prediction
I’m predicting a close battle between Windsor Boys’ and Kings College School Boat Club, who have both shown promise this year in rowing. If Windsor Boys’ are putting out their best crew, which is likely considering the size of this event, then we could be looking at future British Champions, we’ll just have to wait and see! As far as other crews go, I’m expecting there to be varied efforts from other clubs attempting to get a placing up with the usual suspects, which will help them to get the recognition they will want, and may well deserve.
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