Friday Review:
Trentham Boat Club vs Claires Court School
Claires Court School put on a display of dominant sculling over Trentham, reminding us of why they are one of the crews to watch in this event. The crew were level at the quarter mile marker with Claires Court moving out to a lead of three-quarters of a length, which, ultimately, they never relinquished. They maintained a comfortable margin all the way to the finish line and are through to Saturday, matching the performance of their Fawley quad.
Lea Rowing Club vs Shiplake College
The next race in the Diamond Jubilee was another sculling masterclass from Shiplake College, something that we are becoming increasingly used to. Shiplake jumped out to an early lead, leading by a quarter of a length at the end of the island and extending that to one-and-a-half lengths by the time the crews reached Fawley. They continued to move away from a very respectable Lea crew to win by four-and-a-half lengths.
The Tideway Scullers’ School vs Redwood Scullers, USA
This was by far the closest Diamond Jubilee race of the day so far with the Tideway Scullers’ School getting out to a half a length lead at The Barrier. They maintained this lead all the way to Fawley, before being rowed down by Redwood past the Remenham Club. However, in the latter stages of the race, Redwood experienced some steering problems meaning that Tideway Scullers’ could stay in touch, with the margin being half a length at the finish with Redwood taking the victory.
Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club ‘A’ vs Henley Rowing Club
This was another race that sadly resulted in another blowout. Wycliffe got out to an early lead, leading by a canvas at The Barrier and half a length at Fawley. They then sculled away from Henley over the second half of the course to win by two-and-a-half lengths. It must be said that this crew from Henley is very impressive, considering that they are only J16s and still have two more years of racing junior events at Henley.
Saturday Preview:
Claires Court School vs Shiplake College
This race is between the second and third place finishers at the National Schools’ Regatta. As such, I expect it to be a fairly close race. Claires Court didn’t race at Henley Women’s Regatta and haven’t been tested so far so their true current speed is relatively unknown. However, they did match Shiplake’s time to The Barrier and Fawley today, but I still think Shiplake will have the upper hand in what promises to be a very exciting race.
Redwood Scullers, USA vs Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club ‘A’
I think a lot of people were expecting Redwood to be a lot faster than Tideway so perhaps they aren’t as fast as we first thought. Wycliffe were pretty dominant in their race today and I think that may continue tomorrow but it will be close.
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