Update: Since this preview has been written, Hampton Small Boats Head has been cancelled.
With a long, ever-growing list of Autumn head race cancellations this year, the events that are able to run are few and far between – indeed, the Hampton Small Boats Head was not able to run last year, and I’m sure all the competitors are relishing the opportunity to sprint down the 3000 metre course, appreciating the chance to break out of crew boats and show their individual strength. There are a total of 46 entries to the Junior 16 Single Sculls, and some of them look to be incredibly strong.
Hampton School Boat Club
The hosts of this event, Hampton have thirteen scullers entered for the race – however, one in particular has caught my eye – Aiden Hughes is one of the only two scullers in this category to have competed at the British Rowing U19 Trials earlier this month. Although he finished 183rd, which was likely a disappointing result for him, this shows that it’s very likely that he’s one of the strongest rowers in this Hampton cohort. There were several other entrants from the Hampton J16s to the Trials, but none are racing in this category, instead racing in pairs or coxed fours. As is usual for school boat clubs, sweeping is much more prevalent at Hampton, with Hughes rowing in the six seat for the Junior 15 Eight that finished in second place at National Schools’ Regatta in the summer, a very impressive feat from not only Hughes, but the whole squad. It’s also worth noting that out of the Hampton scullers, Alex Pooley is starting ahead of Hughes; although on paper he looks to be weaker, having raced in the Junior 15 Second Eight at National Schools’, it does make me wonder if, being the hosts of the race, Hampton would not choose for their fastest scullers to start first.
St. George’s College Boat Club
St. George’s College, a relatively local club, only entered one sculler for the race – however, he is, in my opinion, the favourite to win by far. Barnaby Doyle is the other sculler who raced at the U19 Trials in Lincolnshire, and after starting 193rd, he was able to finish in 49th position with a time of 19:38 – over a minute ahead of Hughes’ time of 20:54. To break into the top 50 as a Junior 16 rower is an incredible feat, and, although his crew racing is perhaps not up to the scratch with some other clubs, finishing in tenth place at the National Schools’ Regatta in the Junior 15 Eight, his strong result at the trials highlights his individual performance and strength – and indeed means that he may end up representing Great Britain in the coming summer. It’ll be interesting to see how he races in the future – whether he’ll able to row for in a smaller boat class, or in the Junior 18 squad, or if he’ll stay with the rest of his year in the eight.
Claire’s Court School Boat Club
Claire’s Court entered five scullers for the event – out of those entered, Theo Shoukry is my favourite to do well, but notably he, Thomas Cox, Finley Garston, and Benjamin O’Neill, who made up the top Junior 15 Coxed Quad last year, are all racing in the single this weekend. The reason I support Shoukry is his strong performance at the Henley Long Distance Sculls earlier this month; he finished in fifth place, with a time that wasn’t too far off the winner’s. Cox and O’Neill were also on the start list for the Henley Sculls, however they didn’t start – it’s possible they raced in the quad that placed second in the Junior 16 Quads. Nonetheless, these results show some very strong squad depth, and at least one or two of the scullers are bound to perform well.
Wallingford Rowing Club
Wallingford haven’t had many races so far this season – with their own event, the Wallingford Long Distance Sculls, being cancelled, their squad’s not yet had a chance to prove themselves in an individual race. There are ten athletes from Wallingford entered, but I’d like to draw attention to three in particular; Freddie Elsmore-Wickens, Sean Stuart, and Arthur Liddy. These three made up the bow three of the bronze medal-winning Junior 15 Coxed Quad at National Schools’ Regatta, with the stroke seat of the boat being absent from the draw. To win a medal at the national level is no easy feat, and all three of these scullers are certainly very strong. To provide a comparison, Sean Conway, who is also racing in the single, is effectively the fifth strongest sculler there, barely being kept out of the top quad, and he placed eighth at the Junior Sculling Regatta in the single in May. That means all three of the aforementioned rowers will likely be in the top levels of junior sculling, and I’m excited to see them come out of crew boats and into the single, which is arguably a whole new ball game.
Henley Rowing Club
The final club of note in the draw is Henley Rowing Club. Coming off the back of a very strong result at Henley Long Distance Sculls, winning the J16 Quads category by almost ten seconds over a twelve-minute race, they’re another crew that’s yet to split up into singles. Because of this, it’s difficult to pick any one individual out of the four entered – those being Charlie Green, Finn Whiteman, Oscar Newson and Maxim Lutsenko – the former three being the bow three of the Junior 15 Coxed Quad which raced at National Schools’ Regatta, with Lutsenko not having raced in the quad since a string of smaller regatta victories in June. However, having spent a lot of time recently in the eight, they may not be in top sculling form for the weekend.
Prediction
As I made clear in his paragraph, I think the overwhelming favourite to win this event is Barnaby Doyle from St. George’s College Boat Club. We’ve already seen a phenomenal performance from him at GB trials, and I don’t doubt that he’ll be able to replicate it this weekend. Chasing him for the podium will likely be Aiden Hughes from Hampton, and any of Elsmore-Wickens, Stuart or Liddy from Wallingford RC.
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