For many junior women, Henley Women’s Regatta is the pinnacle of the season, and the draw for this year’s Henley Women’s Regatta looks to be a very strong one. Most of the crews entered have raced each other at various events this season, including most recently Schools’ Head. With superb results backing up these crews throughout the season, as well as some very capable international crews entered, the junior women’s eights look as if they will provide some impressive and close racing.
Emanuel School
With a strong set of results over the past season, the Emanuel School crew looks to be going into the upcoming race in a relatively strong position. Following events such as a development day with GB coaches at Caversham this year, the crew has proven their abilities in sweep events. At 2018 National Schools’ Regatta, various members of the crew came 5th in the J16 G 4+ event and later came 2nd overall in the W4+ Junior Challenge event and 9th overall in the women’s junior championship coxless quad at Fuller’s Head of the River 4s. At Quintin Head the WJ18 8+ placed a respectable 6th, and the squad was also successful at Pairs Head, winning the WJ18 2x Club, taking 2nd place in WJ18 2- Club and 4th in the WJ18 Intermediate double. For the past two years, the Emanuel crew has come 6th overall in the GSch 1st 8+ at Schools’ Head, a strong result showing consistency in training and ability. Though the majority of results for crew members are from smaller boats, the results which are available for the crew as a whole suggest that they will do well in the upcoming regatta.
Henley RC
With a very strong crew entered for this event, I’m sure that Henley will place among the top crews. As always, they have the advantage of rowing on familiar waters, and a strong set of past results to send them into the races. The crew came first in the WJ18 8+ at Wallingford Fours and Eights Head and was has also been very successful in both fours and quads, with 3rd place in the coxless four at Fours Head and wins in the quad at both Henley Sculls Head and Wallingford Long Distance Sculls 2018. The crew also most recently won the GSch 1st eights at Schools’ Head 2019 and Girls Second Eights at the National Schools’ Regatta, a fantastic achievement, which proves their ability and suggests that they will do very well at Henley Women’s.
Reading Blue Coat School
Most recently, the Reading Blue Coat School crew came 3rd in the W Sch/Jun 8+ category at Hammersmith Head 2019, a fantastic achievement for what is a smaller, lesser known club than some of the others racing. The juniors have done fairly well at other recent events, with 5th place for both the J15 and J16 eights at Quintin Head and 10th place in the GSch 1st 8+ at Schools’ Head.
St Paul’s School (USA)
As an international crew, it is somewhat difficult to pit the St Paul’s crew against the British crews entered. However, at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships this year, the St Paul’s girls won gold in the 1st eight for the third consecutive year, a wonderful achievement. In addition to this, they came 14th overall in the country at the 2019 US Rowing Youth National Championships, and also won in their match against Phillips Exeter Academy in May. The St Paul’s crew certainly seem to have had a strong season, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in Henley.
Bedford Girls School
Various members of the BGS crew raced in the WJ16 8+ which came 7th overall at Schools’ Head and followed this with first place in the B final at National Schools’ Regatta. In addition to this, the girls’ fours took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at Kingston Head, and came 4th in the women’s coxed four at Nottingham Head of the Trent. It does seem that this crew has a little less experience rowing together than some of the others entered; nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how they pull together at HWR.
Enniskillen Royal GS (IRL)
Yet another very strong crew entered for this event, the Enniskillen crew have had an incredibly successful season which they should be proud of. Recently, certain crew members rowed in the WJ16 four which won at National Schools’ Regatta, and the crew also took 4th place in the girls’ championship eights at Schools’ Head, a remarkable achievement. In terms of more local races, the eight won the WJ18 8+ at Commercial Regatta, Erne Head of the River and Castleconnell Head of the River (where they also took the title of the fastest women’s eight of the day). At the Irish Rowing Championships, the WJ18 8+ stormed their way to the top spot, securing a new course record by over 6 seconds, whilst the women’s club 8+ also won gold. The girls have also proved their strength on the ergometer, with lots of the crew being successful at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, with one athlete, Zoe McCutcheon coming away with the title of Women’s Junior Indoor Champion. Overall, it has been a fantastic season for the girls, and I am excited to see how they fare.
Predictions
I’m certain that racing will be very tight from the aforementioned crews, as well as the Wimbledon High School crew and the St Paul’s Girls School/Tideway Scullers School composite crew which are also entered. It is difficult to make predictions as due to the closeness of ability for the majority of the crews, so I would imagine that conditions on the day will also influence the final results.
1. Henley RC
2. Enniskillen
3. St Paul’s School (USA)
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