Fours Head is now only a week away, so crews will be using this valuable opportunity to race this weekend at Henley Long Distance Sculls, or others perhaps at Kingston Head, as a preparatory race before the major event next week.
Henley- Wright and Lister
Henley are a club known for their consistent performances across both sweep and sculling. Wright was very successful as a sweeper last year, racing at both Munich International Regatta and later the Junior World Championships in the four. Although she looks to be part of Henley’s four entry at Four’s Head, she was part of their winning quad last year so this crew will be aiming for the top of this category. Similarly, Lister was part of Henley’s second eight last year, but with excellent depth to their squad I’d also expect them to put in a good performance.
Sir William Perkin’s- Keen and Porter
SWP raced two quads fairly consistently last season. At the Junior Sculling Head, their top quad placed 10th, with their second quad placing 25th. Their top quad also qualified through the time trial at Henley Women’s but were knocked out by eventual finalists Isle of Ely. They will be looking to build on their performances last season, and I’d expect their top quad to place well.
Marlow- Strudwick and Robbins
Last season, Marlow’s quad had a strong start, with a bronze medal in WJ184x+ at Head of the Charles and a 2nd placed finish at Four’s Head in junior quads. They didn’t race a quad much in the latter part of the season, but placed 2nd at the Junior Sculling Regatta. Strudwick was part of their top eight last year, so I’d expect this quad to be fast.
At Worcester Autumn Small Boats Head, Worcester RC won this category with Kings School Worcester a fair way behind them, so I’d expect Worcester RC to be potentially trying to rank into the top few places here.
Stratford-Upon-Avon BC and the American School in London were 10th and 11th respectively at the recent Wallingford LDS, quite far behind winners from Henley RC, so I would expect them to place similarly here.
The other clubs entered with comparatively smaller junior women’s squads will likely struggle to match the pace of the top crews mentioned above.
Prediction:
- Henley-Wright
- Marlow- Strudwick
- Henley- Lister or Sir William Perkins
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