Ahead of the imminent Henley Royal Regatta, the junior quads here are without doubt the blue ribbon event for junior women, but we can still expect a high standard of racing in the junior fours. This year, we see eighteen entries, including three US crews who may have the potential to cause an upset.
Henley RC
Henley would, unsurprisingly, be the standout crew in this category. Their growing list of success, including wins at the Pair’s Head, Four’s Head, Women’s Head, Schools’ Head and National Schools’ in the eight reflects their strength in the sweep categories. This lineup were bronze medalists at National Schools’ in late May behind LEH and Glasgow, a result many would be proud of but I’d suspect they were unsatisfied. With Mary Wright a standout in this crew, after gaining a Junior Worlds vest last year and topping the trials process so far, this crew will want a positive final result in the four before hopping into the quad for HRR.
Glasgow Academy/ George Heriot’s
Whilst Glasgow were silver medallists ahead of Henley in coxless fours at NSR, that crew are now racing the quad this weekend and this is a different composite combination from a variety of Scottish clubs. Glasgow Schools and Academy showed a lot of strength at the recent Scottish Championships, and whilst they face a much larger field here, this will put them in good stead to perform well.
Latymer Upper
Latymer’s focus seems to be on the quads this year, with two entries in J4x this weekend. The majority of this crew were in Latymer’s eight at National Schools that finishes 5th in the A final after stepping on a lot after SHORR. were the slowest of the Champ eight entries at SHORR. This four were only five seconds short of Henley, finishing in fourth in Ch4- at NSR, so will certainly be aiming to make the semis and potentially final this weekend.
Putney High School (A)
This crew didn’t race competitors Henley RC on the Sunday of National Schools’, but were the favourites going into Saturday’s non-championship girls’ coxed fours, after taking the silver medal at SHORR and third place at Wallingford Regatta. They won the G.Sch.4+ by an impressive ten second margin, but are yet to face the Henley RC four, so how these two crews compare will be interesting to say the least.
Sir William Borlase
This Borlase crew with one substitution built on a fourth place at Wallingford Regatta to take the silver medal behind Putney High in the G.Sch.4+. With a fairly significant margin between them & PHS at National Schools’ and stronger competition here at HWR, they will have to step on once again if they want to be competitive in this field, but they proved they had the drive to do this at NSR so I wouldn’t count them out.
Marlow RC
This Marlow crew were the bronze medallists in the G.Sch.4+ at National Schools’, finishing six seconds behind Borlase. Marlow have shown they have a competitive squad this year to work with which will have made a healthy training environment for these girls, who are in a similar position to Borlase in that they have to step on this weekend to close the gap to some of the faster crews.
Headington School
In previous years we’ve seen HSOBC field their top quad and a second eight at HWR, allowing completion of the junior women’s ‘triple’, due to a lack of a Princess Elizabeth Challenge cup equivalent. After Henley have topped the women’s sweep this year, we see a change in the entries to focus on a quad and a four, with this crew made up of members of their first eight that finished in the silver medal position at NSR. They will be looking to give Henley RC rivals a run for their money at the top end of this event.
Of course, we have little to go on to gauge a speed for the crews from across the pond, but the domestic entries should keep their eye on Phillips Academy, Lower Merion High School and Mt. Saint Joseph of the USA.
RockOver
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