This weekend’s upcoming Henley Long Distance Sculls gives athletes the ability to prove their rowing prowess over the 3000 meter long course upon the River Thames. With 16 crews competing for the win, their start order indicating their rowing skill and power, the first 5 boats to set off, consisting of Henley, Hinksey and A.B Severn clubs should give us a good race.
Henley Rowing Club
Three Henley Rowing Club crews, Lenthall, Rodger and Merritt, will start in 1st, 3rd and 5th place respectively. The Lenthall crew has been seen to perform well in previous races such as Staines Regatta in which they came 1st by three lengths, a considerable distance in a head to head race. With previous experience in head format races such as Wallingford Long Distance Sculls in which Lenthall placed third in the WJ16 1x, this crew should be powerful enough to stride through the Henley course!
The Rodger crew also has some impressive racing history with Rodger having competed in the JSR winning Henley eights crew this past summer against impressive competition. Merritt from the third henley crew also was a participant in the winning eight at JSR, displaying both of these crews ability to perform under the pressure of high profile regattas. Not only has Merritt competed at JSR but also British Rowing Junior Championships, placing third in the WJ15 quad, no mean feat. Hopefully all of these crews will perform to high standards upon their home stretch this weekend!
A.B Severn Boat Club
Under the crew name of Coxshall, this boat will set off 2nd in the competition. Coxshall has raced individually at Stratford – upon – Avon Regatta and won in the WJ16 single at Worcester Autumn Regatta as well as the WJ16 2x proving her racing ability in regattas. As for other doubles races the Coxshall crew has also come second in the B final at JSR this summer. Based upon their previous racing past, especially Coxshalls single racing in particular, we should see another powerful boat in the competition.
Hinksey Sculling School
Hinksey sculling school Megaw will be taking on the competition heading off 4th in the start order. Based upon previous results such as their performance in the JSR WJ15 4x division this summer, in which they placed 4th in the A final against a fierce competitor pool, they should do well in HLDS against a similar group of racers!
Prediction
My prediction is that the Henley Lenthall crew will come first on the weekend, then A.B Severn in second and finally the Henley Rodger crew in third place.
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