At this year’s Henley 4s and 8s head, amongst limited entries, we see five J16 Fours and 4 WJ16 fours enter to compete over a 3000m course. For the J16 category we have Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club and Henley RC entering crews. As for WJ16 there is Surbiton High School and Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club.
Mens J16 division
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BC
Amongst the 5 boys crews competing, Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BC holds three of the positions in this race with a starting position of 1st for the Bennet crew, 3rd for the Browning crew and 5th for the Blackbourn. Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BC has performed exceptionally well in the J15/J16 categories in previous years across all crew types. However in 2021s JSR we saw this boat club enter into the J15 Op 8x+ and take first place in the time trial whilst maintaining it all the way through to win the A final. Whilst there is no specific information upon each of their crews, with such good performance in the bigger boats and a strong start position for two of their crews, we can expect an exciting head race on the weekend.
Henley RC
The other two crews competing consist of the Daly crew starting off in 2nd and the Simpson crew holding 4th in the start order. At JSR Henleys ‘A’ boat crew placed 5th in the A final amongst many other strong crews. Assuming that the A crew at JSR consists of similar members to the Daly crew competing this weekend we can expect them to finish strong. On top of this Daly was in a crew at Upper Thames Autumn Head late last year and placed 2nd in the J16 4x event. He was also in the British Rowing Junior Championships Op J15 4x- crew A boat placing 5th in the B final.
The Simpson crew has also competed at British Rowing Junior Champs in the Op J15 4x+ group however they came 18th in the time trial and didn’t progress through to any of the finals. Simpson has also been seen in the same crew as Daly in the Upper Thames Autumn Head suggesting a stronger row there for this particular crew member. With the mixed results and setting of 4th in the start order, it will be interesting to see how the Simpson crew progresses throughout the head and if they can push for a 3rd place finish.
Womens WJ16 division
Surbiton High School BC
As for the Women’s crews Surbitons ‘A’ boat and ‘B’ boat will be heading off 1st and 3rd respectively. Previous WJ16 crews from this school have shown their exceptional ability to dominate big name events such as National Schools Regatta in the WJ16 second 8s in 2019 and then an impressive win at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2021 in the junior women’s 4s.
As for their ‘A’ crew at other events closer to date, they have placed 3rd in the A final at JSR in the WJ15 4x+ in their most impressive win pre WJ16.
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Boat Club
Setting off in second is Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BCs Sharma crew and in 4th is the McDonnell crew. In the past their ‘B’ boat came 6th in the A final at JSR in the WJ15 8x+, a relatively strong finishing place. Although there is little information about these crews their school tends to perform well at other events so they should hopefully do the same based upon their previous results from 2021.
Predictions
For the J16 boys crews I predict the Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BC ‘Bennet’ crew will place first, followed by the ‘Browning’ crew from the same boat club in second and Henleys ‘Daly’ crew in third.
The girls I think will place first for Surbitons ‘A’ crew, second once again for Surbitons ‘B’ crew and third will be the Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School BCs ‘Sharma’ crew.
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