With only a small number of entries this year, Junior eights will only have to race two or three times down the Henley course. However despite the small crew entries, two of these crews are of an extremely high standard, and racing will be close.
Latymer Upper
Latymer have a strong girls rowing program, which is especially dominant at the younger age groups shown by their domination in j15 eights at national schools. This doesn’t seem to transfer as effectively to the senior girls however. Latymer have entered a quad, most likely the same crew from national schools, and so this eight will probably be their second boat and include their nationals girls coxed four which came third in the C final. This is a respectable result, though not exceptional. I think this crew is capable of beating Yarm In the first round, however this does depend on the other girls that make up the crew, as Latymer don’t seem to have raced an eight in regatta season so far it is hard to predict their speed.
Yarm
Yarm didn’t have a very successful national schools campaign, with their champs girls eights coming last in the time trial and then 8th in their semi final. Yarm is a small club and is probably finding it difficult to find the depth to field a strong eight. However they have been in this crew for the whole year, and have far more race experience compared to the new crew from Latymer. This should give them an upper hand to give their best performance on Saturday in the heat.
Headington
Headington’s domination is shown by their draw allowing them to go straight into the second round of this regatta. They won this event last year after beating multiple strong international crews, but this year it looks like they’ll have an easier run into the final having to beat either Latymer or Yarm. Their eighth consecutive win at national schools shows they are well above the standard of other British crews, however with one American school entered, now they have to show their crew is still of international standard.
Bedford Modern School
Bedford came 6th in their semi final of national schools, ahead of Yarm but failing to make the top eight girls crews in the country. They’ll be facing some tough international competition in their first round against National Cathedrale School. This will probably be far higher standard of competition than these girls are used to, however it’s exciting to get British crews racing others cross across the Atlantic and it should be a great experience for all the athletes.
National Cathedrals School
National Cathedrals School first eight won Stotesbury cup regatta, the USA’s largest high school regatta, held in Philadelphia. They also won Virginia state championship a few weeks earlier. This is clearly an Impressive crew and they won’t be travelling all this way to settle for second place. They should easily overcome Bedford and then it remains to be seen if the USA national championships can beat the British ones. It should be an incredible final to watch.
Prediction: Final Headington VS. National Cathedrals School
Winner is too close to call. Though it’d be great to see a British school beat the Americans two years in a row!
Good Luck to all Crews
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