Only four Diamond Jubilee races took place yesterday and will be resuming again on Friday where eight crews have been given byes. The quality of Junior Women’s rowing so far at Henley Royal Regatta has been exceptional and I have no doubt the quality will only increase as we delve further into the competition. The crews progressing to the Friday after yesterday are as follows: Latymer Upper School ‘B’, NCRA, Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft Germania and Sir Williams Perkins’s School. Because 8 races are taking place tomorrow, that means the 4 winning crews from Saturday morning will have to race twice in the same day later in the evening, the day before the final.
Kinross Wolaroli School, AUS vs Latymer Upper School ‘B’
Latymer ‘B’ defied many expectations yesterday as they led their Aussie opponents down the entirety of the Henley course. Their time of 2:09 to the barrier makes them one of the fastest crews to compete in the Jubilee on Wednesday as well as winning with the largest margin (3 1/2 lengths). Kinross will be packing their bags this evening preparing to begin their long and unexpectedly early journey home with their heads held low after being beaten by a ‘B’ crew.
Enniskillen Royal Boat Club vs NCRA
After several warnings for steering, NCRA just about managed to take the win over the club from Ireland by 2/3s of a length. With a time of 7:41 NCRA produced the joint fastest finish time alongside Latymer ‘B’ and will go on to race Tideway Scullers in the quarter-final. Although they have produced strong results this season I think it is safe to say Tideway scullers will be giving NCRA a run for their money.
Wallingford RC vs Frankfurter Rudergesellschaft Germania
The J16’s from Wallingford put up an impressive fight against the German crew, losing by just over a length. I think we will see Frankfurter start to struggle as they progress through the event and face Lea tomorrow. Although they overpowered Wallingford yesterday, their technical ability and blade work will definitely hold them back in future races.
Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, AUS vs Sir Williams Perkins’s School
Yet another Aussie crew has been beaten by an English school crew. SWPS produced the slowest time of the day (7:58) after paddling down the course over 3 lengths ahead of their competition. SWPS will be preparing for a tough race tomorrow against Latymer Upper ‘A’, and at this point, the result could go either way. No doubt both Australian crews joined each other for a rather unexpected Mahiki Wednesday.
Shrewsbury School vs Henley Rowing Club ‘C’
I would expect an easy win for Shrewsbury tomorrow given their recent National Schools result, however, I wouldn’t put it past Henley to pull it out the bag and produce some pacy times to the markers. As a J16 crew, I’m sure Henley won’t be expecting to go quite as far as their top quad but the experience of racing Henley style is always something worth grasping when the opportunity arises.
Headington School vs Surbiton High School
Headington School will be looking to storm through their next few races and, after producing the fastest time at Henley Women’s Regatta in their quarter-final against Gloucester, I have no doubt they will not fail in doing so. The Surbiton crew has been spotted training on the course over the last few days and look like a very capable crew but will their strength be enough to match Headington’s technical advantage?
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